ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. I47 



From these widely different purposes dairy cows have shown a 

 confirmation widely different from that of the beef cows. The 

 confirmation and external appearance is a fairly safe guide from 

 which to judge her purpose. It is not an easy task to judge the 

 capacity of a dairy cow for producing milk and butter fat econ- 

 omically from her external appearance and confirmation. 



It is plainly evident that success in dairying is in capacity 

 in individuals and not in the herd. There are such wide var- 

 iances of the same breed. 



The merits of a dairy cow can be estimated by accurate 

 records of pounds of milk and testing the butter fat. These 

 alone will not accomplish all the qualities that are possible for 

 the dairy cow to possess. The question as to how long the cow 

 has the power to continue the flow of milk during the period of 

 lactation from year to year, whether she has a strong constitution 

 are points of excellence to be decided in the cow. These 

 factors aside from the regular confirmations or the pounds of 

 butter fat must depend upon the good judgment of the dairyman 

 in selecting his animal by external confirmation. 



The type of a good dairy cow we have often heard, and such 

 expressions as "the dairy cow must be wedge-shaped, must have 

 large nose, thin neck, large paunch and broad between the thighs, 

 large udder, large milk wells and veins" are, strictly speaking, 

 means to an end. 



The first and all important point in selecting a cow, is to note 

 the size of the udder, whether it is large, uniformly shaped with 

 the teats well placed the proper distance apart ; to note whether 

 the udder is flabbor and not fleshy, which is particularly appar- 

 ent after milking. According to the general rule a cow that is a 

 large milker must necessarily have developed a large udder, and 

 if in a healthy condition, is the indication of the sufficiency of 

 the animal. The development of a large udder requires a good 

 supply of blood, and a large blood supply means a large heart, 

 and healthy skin and the milk veins more apparent which run 

 from the udder to the anterior portion of the body. 



