THE JUDGING OF COWS 121 



there is no worse indication. The skin need not 

 be especially thin but it must be "mellow" to the 

 touch, elastic and loose, so that behind the shoul- 

 ders one may pick up a handful of it. This quality 

 of being a "good handler" has always been a much 

 esteemed character and the word was used by 

 writers more than a century ago. Some judges 

 place much emphasis on the color and abundance 

 of the "secretions," meaning thereby the oily mat- 

 ter in the skin, the waxy material within the ear 

 and the yellow dandruff at the roots of the long 

 hairs in the tail. Most cows who give even small 

 amounts of very rich milk are likely to exhibit 

 these indications in a marked degree. Desirable 

 characters are a bright, active, prominent eye, a 

 lively ear, a great broad muzzle and powerful jaw, 

 a horn not too heavy, and always an air of supple 

 slendemess which we call feminine as opposed to 

 the rugged masculinity of the bidl. 



There remains the udder, to which more points 

 are given and on which more stress is laid than on 

 any other one feature. It must be acknowledged 

 that some cows which are excellent dairy animals 

 from the standpoint of production nevertheless 

 carry miserably misshapen udders, but this is their 

 misfortune. A beautiful symmetrical udder is a 

 point worth striving after. It should be "square," 

 with the four teats wide apart but not "strutting." 

 it should be attached far up between the thighst 

 behind and yet be carried far forward under the 



