JUDGING THE DAIRY COW IN SCHOOLS. 3 
asked to fill them in. While discussing the dairy type it is well to 
have illustrations of good dairy cows constantly before the students. 
The teacher should make use of good pictures of prize winners as 
they appear in live-stock journals. If files of these papers are not 
kept, the good illustrations should be clipped and mounted upon cards 
for classroom use. A projection lantern with an opaque attachment 
will be found valuable in this work. 1 
The typical dairy cow. — In order to judge the dairy cow intelli- 
gently the student should understand that the modern dairy animal 
is very highly organized, virtually a living machine, the chief fune- 
Fig. 3. — An unprofitable dairy cow. 
tion of which is to make a valuable human food out of grains and 
coarse fodders. Originally cows gave only milk enough to support 
their calves until they were able to eat sufficient other food for self- 
support; but man, through selective breeding, with care and good 
feeding, has developed animals which yield a large surplus of milk. 
All so-called dairy cows do not yield a profitable surplus. As the 
expense of maintenance is large and variation in milk production is 
great, many cows are being kept which do not give milk enough to 
pay for their keep. One of the most important phases of dairy 
management is the elimination of unprofitable animals (fig. 3). It 
1 Lantern slides illustrating types and breeds of cattle, including the illustrations of 
this bulletin, may be obtained from the Office of Agricultural Instruction of the States 
Relations Service. Charts and stencils for use on blackboards may be made by tracing 
the outline of a diagram thrown on paper or cloth by a lantern. 
