44 THE JERSEY, ALDERNEY AND GUERNSEY COW, 



to a hair. But if we are to take a farmer s view of the 

 subject, and breed for whatever will produce the most 

 money, then we should by all means seek for such a 

 large yield of yellow cream as will maintain the unques- 

 tioned superiority of the Jersey for the economical con- 

 version of food into butter, and such striking typical 

 beauty as shall keep her always the favorite cow for 

 ornamental purposes — a beauty that does not depend 

 on an adherence to arbitrary points, but on fineness of 

 breeding, symmetry of form, variety and harmony of 

 color, and the deer- like characteristics of head and eyes 

 for which the race is noted. Such a standard of beauty 

 as this, admitting great variety of color, allows us to 

 seek our great milkers through a much wider range of 

 animals. 



" The indications of great milking are the same with 

 these animals as with all others, and it would be inap- 

 propriate to give, in an essay on a single breed, a 

 treatise on the milch-cow at large. We all know by 

 actual test, and most of us by observation, which are 

 our best and richest milkers ; we can form a prett}?" 

 good opinion of the quality of the animals in our neigh- 

 bors* herds. From among such of these best cows as 

 are up to our standard of beauty we might select the 

 dams of our future herds ; and by always keeping the 

 best and selling off all below the best, as well as occa- 

 sionally some very good cow that has fallen away too 

 much in point of beauty, we might be able, in time, to 

 establish a stock of much greater excellence than any 



