i8o 



JUDGING CATTLE 



Quality. — Quality is indicated by clean, fine bones, free 

 from roughness and coarseness ; fine, soft hair ; and loose, 

 mellow skin of medium thickness with an abundance of 

 yellow secretion. Coarseness of any kind means plain 

 breeding or lack of breeding for any particular purpose. 

 Coarse, rough cows are poor mothers, and poor mothers 

 make poor dairy cows. The yellow secretion means that the 



secreting glands of 

 the body are in good, 

 healthy, active con- 

 dition. Well-fed and 

 cared-for cows show 

 more secretion than 

 those that are poorly 

 kept. The amount 

 of secretion varies 

 with the breed of the 

 animal, and it may also vary with diiierent individuals 

 within the breed. The amount of secretion and the color 

 of it is said by some to be an index to the quality of the fat 

 content of the milk. 



Temperament. — The term temperament includes, in 

 our generally accepted meaning of the word, disposition, 

 but it means more than disposition. Dairy temperament 

 might be defined as the inherited attributes of the dairy 

 animal which make it possible for her to change large quan- 

 tities of food into milk and milk solids, and to transmit those 

 qualities to her offspring. The temperament of the dairy 

 animal is spoken of as " nervous." This does not mean 

 that the dairy animal should be erratic, according to our 

 often accepted meaning of the term " nervous." The term 

 is used here to mean just what the derivation of the word 



Fig. 72. — Wedge shaped side of a dairy cow. 



