THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION. 67 



have a large body, yet a small barrel, covered with hide and hair 

 of the proper texture and handling qualities, than a large barrel 

 covered with a hide and hair of inferior quality. 



The two points, constitution and capacity, are both essential. 



The third point is the question of whether the cow is a work- 

 er or a loafer. If you have been watching this cow you have no- 

 ticed that she has been working every minute since she has been 

 up here on the stage. Whenever a cow chews her cud she is work- 

 ing and the persistency with which the cow eats and chews her 

 cud is a good indication of her nervous temperament. 



Another important indication is the size and character of 

 the eye. The cow's face should be broad between the eyes, well 

 dished, and her eyes should be prominenet, bright, placid and 

 alert. The animal with dull, sluggish eyes set back in the head is 

 as a rule a loafer, standing under the shade of a tree fighting 

 flies in the summer time, while her sisters are grazing back and 

 forth across the pastures gathering food for the economical and 

 profitable production of milk and butter fat. 



A further indication of the proper nervous temperament is 

 the prominent and open jointedness of the backbone. You will 

 notice as I pass my hand along this cow's back each of the spinal 

 vertebrae stand out prominently with absolutely no covering of 

 beef or fat. This is an indication that every pound of food this 

 cow has consumed, outside of what has been necessary for her 

 own maintenance, has been converted into milk and butter fat. 

 Were this a beef animal, right and ready for market, you would 

 find stored up and evenly distributed along her back from 2 1 /* 

 to 4 inches of fat or beef. Every pound of food consumed by the 

 cow that is manufactured into beef is lost and wasted from the 

 dairyman's standpoint. For this reason the animal which con- 

 verts its food into beef and stores it on its back regardless of 

 what breed it belongs to is a loafer from the standpoint of butter 

 production. The same is true relative to other regions of the 

 animal and you will notice the absolute freedom from beefiness 

 throughout this cow's entire contour. 



The fourth essential point to be considered in selecting dairy 



