Vol. LIV. No. 2354 
NEW YORK, MARCH 9, 1895. 
*1.00 PER YEAR. 
HOUSTON. Fig. 48. 
Ideal Dairy Shape. 
THE DAIRY COW’S SHAPE. 
WHAT A BUTTER MACHINE BOOKS BIKE. 
The “ Type ” That Fills the Butter Print. 
We have had much to say about the robber cows in 
the dairy. These four-footed thieves eat your grain 
and hay with great relish, but when it comes to ren¬ 
dering an account of it at the pail, they are very back- 
ward about 
coming for¬ 
ward with the 
butter. A care¬ 
ful use of the 
Babcock test 
will show these 
thieves up, but 
this will not 
pay for the food 
they consumed 
in growing into 
cows. For ob¬ 
vious reasons, 
the “ Babcock ” 
is of no use in 
telling what a 
heifer may be 
expected to do 
after she calves. 
It is a good way to lose money—this feeding a 
cow for a year or more in order to learn that she 
is a thief. In many dairies, cows are not bred 
but bought, and in this case, the dairyman ex¬ 
pects to find a certain per cent of his purchases 
worthless. That per cent will vary according to 
his ability to determine the outward signs of a 
good butter cow. It is evident that there must 
be some regular characteristics of form and 
shape that indicate special ability in animals. 
A trotting horse has one shape, a cart horse an¬ 
other and so on with runners or coachers. 
The “points” of the ideal dairy cow have 
often been described, but we think that the first 
actual demonstration of their practical value in 
determining the cow's dairy standing, is given by 
T. L. Haecker in Bulletin 35 of the Minnesota 
Experiment Station (St. Anthony Park). The 
facts and illustrations here given are taken from 
that bulletin. The station herd consisted of 23 
cows of all sizes 
and breeding. 
It was proposed 
to make a year’s 
test, feeding all 
on the same 
kinds of food, 
and keeping ac¬ 
curate accounts 
of the cost of 
this feeding 
and of the prod¬ 
uct, so as to 
show the exact 
cost of a pound 
of milk or but¬ 
ter from each 
cow. Several 
things were to 
be learned 
from this, but 
the one point now before us is to see whether out of 
these 23 cows, the “robbers” were of one general 
shape, while the “benefactors” were also generally 
alike. Results show that this was so. By actual per¬ 
formance at the churn, the cows were easily divided 
into four general classes. 
Three cows stood at the foot so far as profit was 
concerned. They averaged 1,240 pounds in weight, 
and in shape were about like the cow, Dido, shown at 
Fig. 50. They were large, “ blocky ” and square— 
level and well-rounded, and evidently good beef ani¬ 
mals. Such a cow as is here shown might be expected 
to make beef rather than butter. The figures given 
later on show that is what she did. 
Now note the cow Beckley, shown at Fig. 52. There 
were four in this class. That is a fair dairy animal. 
DORA. Fig. 49/ 
Spare, Angular and Deep. 
DIDO. Fig. 50. 
Type of Beef Cow—Blocky and Fat. 
BETTIE. Fig. 51. 
Spare and Angular, but no Depth. 
but still somewhat too round and smooth for a good 
butter maker. That frame shows a tendency to lay 
on too much flesh—though the hips and withers are 
sharper than in the purely beef type. The neck is 
too short and heavy, and the thighs too full. Note 
the difference between this type and the previous one. 
Next up the scale came three cows about like the 
cow Bettie, shown at Fig. 51. This cow is spare and 
angular. Her hips and shoulders are prominent, and 
she would not put on fat easily ; but she is too long 
and lacks depth between flank and middle. Such a 
cow would be likely to be hurt by very heavy feeding, 
as she seems to lack stomach capacity and depth. 
The best cow in the herd, Houston, is shown at Fig. 
48, and the second best, Dora, at Fig. 49. By “best,” 
is meant the one that produced the cheapest pound of 
butter. These 
cows are fair 
types of the 
best 12 cows in 
the herd. See 
how these cows 
differ from 
those in the 
other groups! 
The leader, 
Houston, Fig. 
48, is about the 
ideal shape for 
a butter cow. 
Notice the thin, 
spare neck, 
the prominent 
bones, the great 
paunch, slim 
tail, lung 
power, and well set udder. You would also find 
the eye bright and lively, and the skin loose, • 
soft and dark yellow in color. That is the cow 
to select for butter. She is built to form a direct 
line between the feed box and the churn, 
breeds counted for little in this test, but you 
will not be surprised to learn that Houston is a 
cross between Jersey and Guernsey, Dora a 
Jersey, Bettie a Guernsey, Beckley a grade 
Jersey and Dido a Short-horn. A grade Hol¬ 
stein made the most butter of any cow in the 
herd, but it cost more per pound than Houston’s 
or Dora’s. This Holstein was shaped much like 
Dora, and probably had some Guernsey blood. 
During the winter these cows were fed on 
ensilage, hay and grain, consisting of bran, lin¬ 
seed meal and barley. On pasture, they were 
fed a small grain ration. They were heavily 
fed. as will be seen from the table on the next 
page. The rule in good dairying, is to give the 
cows all they 
will eat clean, 
of a well-bal¬ 
anced ration. 
Of course, un¬ 
der such man¬ 
agement, the 
robber cows 
have a grand 
chance to steal, 
because they 
have all the 
food they wish, 
and are all too 
seldom inter¬ 
fered with. It 
is easy to see 
how a big, fine- 
looking cow 
like Dido, 
might deceive a 
dairyman. She gives a big mess of milk, and costs less 
to feed than little Dora. A man might figure out the 
cost of the food and weigh the milk, and think that he 
had ample proof that Dora was the robber. With milk 
at three cents a qaart, there would be little, if any, 
difference in profit; and if the beef value of Dido 
were taken, she might prove the more profitable cow. 
But the object of this feeding was butter, and judged 
BECKLEY. Fig. 52. 
Too Much Inclined to Fatten 
