CHAPTER IX 



The Accurate Proof of the 

 Cow's Value 



Experience, care and good judgment exercised in exam- 

 ining cows soon lead to efficiency in detecting the points, the 

 presence or absence of which indicate production. Especially 

 valuable is the knowledge gained by a close study of the 

 world's greatest cows and fixing thoroughly in mind the 

 peculiar characteristics that account for their great work. In 

 fact, it is possible and advisable to study them so carefully 

 that a distinct picture becomes impressed upon the mind's 

 eye, and then it is always possible to use them as models by 

 which to measure other cows. 



Mistakes in the selection of animals should not be a 

 cause for discouragement. The best of judges make plenty 

 of them, and few are the herds, indeed, in which there are not 

 counterfeits when judged by the pail and churn. Accurate 

 as may be the ability of selecting good cows and discrimi- 

 ating against poor ones, no judge has yet become sufficiently 

 accomplished to prophesy the true productivity of the indi- 

 vidual cow. 



A careful consideration of the points to be observed in 

 selecting cows will invariably enable one to choose a good 

 cow, but, after he has chosen, he knows not just how good 

 the cow may or may not be. The eye is not accurate enough 

 to determine within a few pounds, or sometimes within a few 

 thousand pounds, of how much milk a certain cow has the 

 power of producing in a year. Neither is it possible to know 

 within 1 or 2 per cent how rich her milk may be. So long 

 as it is true that a careful consideration of the outward ap- 

 pearance of the cow is no more accurate than this, although 

 being a valuable and absolutely necessary guide in selecting 

 animals to add to the herd, it is well, in learning which ones 

 to keep and which ones to dispose of, to supplement it with 

 additional information. This will give the accurate worth of 

 the herd, since its future character depends largely upon the 

 merit of the individuals in it. 



The most accurate method of learning the cow's real, 

 productive power is the simplest, and yet the mere suggestion 

 of it seems such a bugbear to many that it is the least used. 

 This fact is not only true of the farmer and dairyman but 



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