4 BULLETIN 434^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



is also important to know which of those yielding a profit are the 

 best, that their offspring may be used in improving the herd. Les- 

 sons in judging are an important part of school work in dairying, 

 as they aid the student in learning the desirable points of dairy 

 animals. 



How dairy coios are judged. — The teacher should bear in mind 

 that the aim of the lesson is tO' give the student such knowledge 

 concerning the dairy coav, and to develop his judgment to the extent, 

 that he will get full value in buying or selling cows. If a practical 

 dairyman of good judgment is buying a cow he wants to know the 

 amount of feed she consumes, how much milk she is giving, the' 

 percentage of butter fat, and her record for maintaining the milk 

 flow. An accurate milk record will mean much in indicating her 

 value. He will w^ant to milk the cow himself, to watch her eat and 

 drink, and to be assured that she is in good health. If he is going 

 to use her for breeding purposes, he will desire to learn what he 

 can of her breeding and of her ability to transmit her qualities to' 

 her offspring. If she is a registered animal, he may learn a good 

 deal from her pedigree. The importance of these points may be 

 impressed by having students weigh and test the milk of cows in 

 the district, keep records of the milk and fat produced, and study 

 the records of production of ancestors in their pedigrees. 



If the keeping of herd records is made one of the home projects 

 of the students, it w^ill be well for them to learn the methods used 

 in testing cows in cow-testing associations and for advanced registry. 

 Information may be obtained from the United States Department 

 of Agriculture and from the breed associations. 



Eecords of production are not always kept, and frequently it is 

 desirable to know the value of cows not giving milk. Fortunately, 

 there is a marked correlation between the form or type of dairy 

 cows and their power to produce. It is very important that the 

 dairyman know what constitutes true dairy conformation in milch 

 cows, so school work in judging becomes largely a study of dairy 

 types. 



The dairy type. — If beef animals have been studied prior to taking 

 up the work with dairy breeds, from the beginning there will be a 

 natural comparison of the beef type with the dairy type (fig. 4). If 

 an outline of a beef animal has been on the blackboard it will be 

 helpful to transform it to represent a dairy cow before the students. 

 Charts and pictures will be helpful in bringing out the contrast 

 between the two types (fig. 5). 



The functions of production and reproduction in dairy cows are 

 so closely related that the form which indicates heavy production 

 will usually denote a good breeder. When viewed from the side, 



