JUDGING THE DAIRY TYPE OF CATTLE 



287 



usual spread between shoulder points and forelegs. In 

 itself it is evidence of weakness and the judge would be 

 justified in so ruling, but it need not be regarded as serious 

 enough to cause severe discrimination. The legs should 

 be short and carried comparatively straight, and wide 

 enough apart to give evidence of good constitution. Too 

 many dairy cows stand with their legs quite close together, 



Fig. 158. — "The chest of the dairy cow should be deep, yet not as wide 

 through, comparatively, as the beef cow." 



evidencing too narrow a chest. The positions of legs and 

 feet of the dairy animal should be carried the same as the 

 beef type, as described on page 245. 



The body of the dairy cow is often referred to by stock- 

 men as the barrel or middle piece. As a whole, it differs 

 from the beef animal, in lacking flesh and possessing more 

 length and perhaps wider spacing between the vertebrte and 

 ribs. The chest of the dairy cow should be deep, yet not as 



