466 Guenons System of Selecting Cows by the Escutcheon. 
purcliased is a good one, how much milk she will give, how 
much butter she will make, and how long she will milk. In 
these times, when competition is so keen in the butter and 
cheese market, it behoves every man to understand his business, 
and have his herd of the best. The cow is his best machine ; 
and the old adage of " goods well bought are half sold " applies 
here perfectly. A well-selected cow will always prove a profit- 
able investment. This system will enable any one to tell the 
cow which is going to fail in her milk, and go dry for too long 
a time to be profitable ; and it should be acquired, if only for 
that purpose. 
Sketch of Guenon. — First, let us see who Guenon was. Guenon 
as a boy was a young cowherd, living near Libourne, in France. 
His father, a gardener, had early taught his son the varieties of 
plants, and thus he was led to notice the classifications and kinds 
of fruits and plants. He studied the works of the best writers 
on botany and agriculture, and applied his knowledge by follow- 
ing up all the ramifications of the vegetable kingdom, studied 
their external signs, and ascertained their qualities and pro- 
ductiveness. His mind was thus trained for developing his 
after-discoveries. 
When he had the care of cows as a cowherd, he took them to 
and from the pasture, and watched them all day ; for in France, 
having no fences, the children, in turn, watch their own and 
their neighbours' cows. Thus various breeds and qualities of 
cows were constantly under his eye. A thoughtful lad, he was 
one day rubbing them down, when he noticed the difference in 
the hair, parts of it running upward, contrary to the usual 
growth of hair on the animal. In addition to the significance 
of the variations in the leaves and kinds of plants, he had heard 
mentioned some quirls in the hair, and other signs, which were 
said to have some significance. The thought struck him,»could 
there be any visible marks denoting different values ? The 
thought once raised, he pursued it from day to day, from year 
to year, all the time discovering new points, which finally led 
him to believe he had made important discoveries. Like the 
learner of the present day, he met many things which frequently 
made him doubt, and which were great drawbacks to the system 
of classification he was endeavouring to form from the yet con- 
flicting appearances. 
His attention to the matter having first been drawn by the 
dandruff on certain spots on the hind-parts of the cows and the 
variations of the hair, in pursuing these inquiries be found a 
great variety in the shapes of these quirls. This led to a 
new train of reflection and observation, which resulted in 
his becoming convinced that these shapes were the signs by 
