134 Animal Husbandry 
and allowed to project forward, it should meet the one from the 
back a short distance in front of the animal. Viewed from the 
rear and top the dairy cow should gradually widen from the chest 
to the hips. Straight edges placed along either side and projecting 
forward should meet a short distance in front of the animal. 
Viewed from the front and top she 
gradually widens from the withers 
backward and downward (Fig. 59). 
The dairy cow should be spare. 
If she tends naturally to take on 
fat, she is worth just so much less 
asamilkcow. There should be an 
absence of fleshiness throughout, 
Fic. 59.— Dairy cow of good type. particularly in the region of the 
shoulders, the back, the rump, and 
about the tail-head, places likely first to show fat among animals 
possessing such atendency. 
214. Quality. — The quality is a very important factor in the 
choice of a dairy cow. It is well determined by the condition of 
the skin, hair, and bone. The skin should be soft, mellow, oily to 
the touch, and comparatively thin. Care must be exercised in 
respect to the thinness of the skin, as a thin, papery skin is usually 
associated with weakness of constitution. The skin lining the ear, 
as well as that in the region of the udder, inside the thighs, and at 
the root of the tail, should be of a golden color, and the secretions 
abundant. The hair should be soft, silky, and comparatively 
short. Black hairs will usually be harsher than white hairs, even 
on the same animal. While many good milking cows are loose 
in form, possessing an open conformation, yet the bone should be 
dense and of fine texture. Dairy cows possessed of a tight, heavy 
skin, coarse, harsh hair, and of a heavy, rough, coarse bone are 
deficient in quality. 
215. Constitution. — Because of the peculiar conditions ade 
which most dairy cows are kept, the constitutional vigor deserves 
