DAIRY CATTLE 177 



JUDGING DAIRY CATTLE 



It is harder to become a good judge of dairy cattle than of 

 beef cattle. While one may judge quite accurately the 

 percentage of carcass a steer will return, and the quality 

 of the same by the general quaUty and condition of the 

 animal, he can only guess as to how much milk a cow will 

 give and what will be the percentage of butter fat in her 

 milk. The scales and the Babcock test are the two best 

 means of judging dairy cows, but these appliances are not 

 used in the show ring, where animals are judged according 

 to t5rpe. Carefully selecting and retaining for breeding 

 purposes cows with good records for a great number of 

 years has developed animals of a certain type that are best 

 suited for the production of milk and milk sohds. The type 

 of these animals is the " dairy type," and the man who is 

 most proficient in recognizing the points making up the 

 dairy type is the man who is the good judge of dairy cattle. 

 However, a great deal of a cow's worth depends upon her 

 individuality, and there are no points on the surface of the 

 animal that can be made to indicate the animal's individ- 

 uality. This is why the best cow in the show ring is often 

 second best in yield of milk. 



What Determines Dairy Type. — Milk production is a 

 function of the cow performed by certain organs. The 

 four principal systems upon which milk production de- 

 pends are: the digestive system, the circulatory system, 

 the nervous system, and the secreting system. It is im- 

 portant that the organs of these systems be well de- 

 veloped. Those characters that show fattening tendencies 

 should be repressed so far as possible, because it is im- 

 possible to find extreme development of both milk and beef 



T. AND L. ANIMAL HUSB. 12 



