but  lie  answered:  “IToots!  Never  mind  the  spavin. 
She  has  a  grand  niou’  and  a  poke."  The  spavin 
would  have  been  a  very  serious  matter  had  it  been 
found  on  the  hook  of  a  work  horse,  or  upon  that  of 
a  service  bull,  but  to  this  wise  owner  it  seemed  of 
little  moment,  as  the  cow  had  a  large  mouth  and 
capacious  udder.  Buy  no  cow  that  has  not  this 
needful  combination;  for  it  is  required  of  every 
cow  that  is  to  prove  profitable  that  she  shall  have 
great  capacity  for  taking  in,  storing  and  digesting 
large  quantities  of  feed.  Beware  the  cow  that  has 
a  long,  sad,  anxious  countenance,  an-.’  ^muzzle  that 
might  easily  take  feed  from  V'rubber  bootW>r  an 
old-fashioned  deep-setting  milk  can.  The  elongsuN4 
•  / 
feed,  and  that  always  means  capacity  of  digestive 
apparatus  to  care  for  the  feed  consumed. 
THE  COW’S  EYES. — Favor  the  cow  that  has 
large,  bright,  prominent  eyes.  They  tell  of  good  con¬ 
dition  and  good  health.  Beware  of  the  cow  that 
has  dull,  sunken  listless  eyes;  or  eyes  that  are  re- 
traeted  into  their  orbits  and  apparently  swimming 
in  water.  The  latter  symptoms  frequently  are  seen 
in  the  cow  that  is  in  an  advanced  stage  of  tubercu¬ 
losis,  while  the  dullness  is  the  sure  sign  of  lack  of 
thrift.  ‘The  duller  the  eyes,  the  deader  the  beast." 
When  picking  the  Thanksgiving  turkey  in  the  mar¬ 
ket  rhe  wise  housewife  not  only,  handles  the  breast 
bone  but  locks  at  the  eyes  and  judges  of  "fresh- 
many  diseased  or  missing  molar  teeth.  The  teeth 
must  be  sound  as  an  indication  of  soundness  and 
strength  of  constitution  or  “efficiency’’  in  the  sol¬ 
dier.  So,  too,  we  should  find  sound  teeth  in  the 
cow  that  is  to  eat  well  and  last  well.  Remember 
that  the  incisor  teeth  of  cattle  are  directed  forward, 
shovel-shaped  and  loose  in  their  sockets.  Many  a 
beginner  or  unobservant  person  lias  been  “fooled” 
by  this  natural  condition  into  imagining  all  sorts  of 
troubles  as  the  cause.  The  teeth  are  loose  and  pro¬ 
jecting  that  they  may  not  lacerate  the  hard  palate 
of  the  upper  jaw  which  serves  the  purpose  of  an 
upper  sot  of  incisors.  If  the  cow  is  quite  bid  the 
broad  part  of  the  incisor  teeth  will  be  found  much 
You  EXXV. 
NEW  YORK,  SEPTEMBER  2,  191b. 
No.  4393. 
When  You  Buy  a  Good  Cow 
What  You  Should  Look  For 
Qualities  to  look  for.— Many  men  win 
Assure  one  that  the  purchase  of  a  cow  is  a 
“gamble  anyhow"  and  it  certainly  is  more  or  less 
of  a  “lottery.”  Still  there  are  measures  of  precau¬ 
tion  in  buying  which  will  make  the  proposition  com¬ 
paratively  safe  if  remembered  and  put  in  practice, 
and  some  of  these  we  shall  set  down  here.  Utility 
or  efficiency  is  the  chief  desideratum.  We  once 
drew  the  attention  of  :m  old  Scotch  cowman  to  the 
presence  of  a  large  hone  spavin  upon  a  hock  joint 
of  one  of  Ills  cows,  and  condoled  withJUim  about  it; 
head  and  narrow  muzzle  indicate  with  absolute 
fidelity  lack  of  constitution,  narrowness  of  make-up 
throughout  the  frame,  and  inability  to  take  care  of 
the  great  amount  of  fqedaieeded  for  generous  milk¬ 
making  and  calf-building.  Favor  file*  wide  forehead, 
face  and  muzzle;,  Width/d>etween  the’-  eyes  means 
more  than  what  i>*  deemed  to  he  “intelligence"  in  an 
animal.  It  is  the  indication  of  {mJpJUnde  of  bony 
u de  of  bony 
development,  of  .large  -SlcuU-Jiunses  or  cavities,  of 
great  capacity  for  the  drink  m*;v  "of  air  and  so  is 
associated  with  a  large  wiiulpltw*-  nod  targe  lungs, 
which  mean  much  as  indications  of  robust  consti¬ 
tution,  vitality  and  endurance.  The  wide  muzzle 
indicates  a  big  dental  battery  for  the  mastication  of 
ness"  by  them.  Dullness  to  her  means  staleness, 
and  the  principle  is  like  that  we  have  been  discuss¬ 
ing  as  regards  “life"  in  the  cow.  One  also  should 
note  that  the  eyes  are  free  from  disease;  for  “pink 
eye"  (contagious  ophthalmia)  is  prevalent,  quickly 
spreads  to  the  herd  from  an  affected  "new  cow,” 
and  is  indicated  by  opacity,  or  cloudiness  of  the  eye, 
swollen  and  inflamed  red  eyelids  and  flowing  of 
tears. 
THE  TEETH. — The  teeth,  too,  should  not  escape 
examination,  if  an  intelligent  purchase  is  to  be 
made.  If  the  teeth  are  poor,  or  lacking,  age  has 
made  perfect,  mastication  impossible.  The  army  ex¬ 
aminers  are  not  accepting  any  volunteer  that  has 
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A  Famous  Ohio  Dairy  Cow,  Guard  Hill  Snowdrop  259157.  Fig.  463 
