Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1880-10-28
The 9arm aud fireside.
HOW TO CHOOSE A cow.


Some persons have a sort of intuitive dis
elimination in judging COW. This is the re-
suit of experience as well as of peculiar in
describable sense Of fitness for a general ap-
pearance of good cow carries. with it to
the mind very complete sense of the fitness
of things. The chief points about a cow are
the uddef and the teats for the former Sc
cretes the milk and the latter convey it to the
pail. The udder should, then, be capaciOus,
and the teats of convenient size, well shaped
and well placed for the use of the milker. The
most capaciOus udder is one that has large eX-
tent at the junct,re with the cows body it
should be broad and extend far behind, and
should be broad and come we'll to the front. 1t
should not hang down and come to point, but
should be Squarely formed and of a tattiSh,
spheroid shape on the under part.
The udder of an animal is supplied with the
blood from which the milk is secreted by the
branches of the posterior, abdominal or NAM
mary artery, which emerges from the external
pudic trunk, one of the most important arte-
ries of the system. The veins which complete
the very highly developed circulatory system
of the udder, pass on to the abdominal subcu-
taneous vein, which is prolonged forward on
the wall Of the abdomen, and has an enormous
volume in the cow. This vein is known as the
milk vein, and it's volume is one of the COM
from the front of the udder to near the briSket
or chest, where it passes through to join the
external thoracic vein. The Importance of the
circulatory arrangement of the udder Justly
entities the development Of the milk vein to be
considered as test of great value in selecting
a good cow.
AS the blood from which the milk is formed
is supplied by the digestive apparatus, the next
point to consider is the form and capacity OF
the abdomen. A capacious stomach is consis-
tent with the habit of a generous feeder, and
the development Of the abdomen, with the re-
sulting wedge-like form of the body, is the
third point of promise in a good cow. At the
same time, the food consumed should be well
digested and thor oughly assimilated, and the
other digestive organs should be equally devel-
oped as the stomach, otherwise a paunchy ap-
pearance would b" given which would indicate
a gross feeder ther than a hearty, healthy
and profitable one Therefore, the whole form
should be well balanced; the chest wide be-
tween the ribs behind the shoulders, to give
ample room for the lungs and heart, and the
back broad and straight. AS the whole force
of the system should have been educated to
expand itself in the production of milk and
butter, the carcass should be finely built, the
bones fine, the muscular portions-as the legs,
head and neck-should be fine and thin and no
found in the carcass.
The extremities should be delicately formed,
the tail long and thin except at it's root, which
should be large and strong the muzzle should
be fine the head long, fiat and thin, but broad
across the eyes, to give room for a large brain,
which is the foundation for a highly developed
and active nervous system the horns fine, thin
and neatly curved the eye bright and active,
agreeing with the active brain, but calm, quiet
and mild in expression, significant of quiet,
contented disposition, and one not readily dis
turbed or worried. AS the secretions of the
body all come from the blood, and as a rich,
yellow color is desired in the butter, so the
skin should be filed with a yellow pigment,
and the inside of the ears and the thighs and
other places where the hair is light and the
skin plainly visible, should he of a rich orange
color so the scales of ear wax should he of
the same color. The hair should be fine, silky
and smooth, and, in short, the whole appear
ance should be satisfying to the eye, and con-
SiStent one part with another, and well bal
anced.
Some persons lay great stress upon the es-
cutcheon as distinguishing feature of a good
cow. This is the growth of hair upon the
rear part of the udder and thighs upward.
The hair is reversed in position, and grows up
ward instead of downward with various curls
here and there. Upon the peculiar shape and
extent of this varied growth of hair and the
position of the curlS, the advocates of this
test base their opinions of the character of the
cow. A well formed escutcheon, broad, well
defined at the edges, with distinct curves on
the lower part of the rear of the hams, is sup
posed to denote alarge capacity for milk and
persistent habit Of milking up to the next
calving. An Informed or defective escutcheOn
is held to denote thu reverse. 1t may be that
this test is good JAe 1 do not believe in it
further than this, l.amely that a calf with
well-fOrmed escutcheon, inherited with other
favorable characteristics from similarly well
marked and good COW, will, in all probability,
inherit the good qualities of it's dam, as it in
herits all her marks. But if the dam is poor
COW, l don't believe an escutcheon, however
perfect it may be, will make good calf. l
have had poor COWS, and have seen poor cows,
that had most excellent escutcheons, and have
had good COWS that have produced calves as
good or better than themselves, that havShad
10 eScutcheonS worthy of notice except for
their inferority.
AS to color, good COW may be of any color.
had one remarkably good cow that was black
and without horns, but in form and figure, she
was otherwise without a fault and was model;
but usually black COWS do not turn out well
neither do white ones ColOrdepends somewhat
on Cn6 Dre6u, IOr COlOT Is ~ DISTINGUISHING pdII
of some breeds, and this point will be explain
ed further on. But a cow of no particular
breed, and that has desirable form and other
good points, may be chosen as regards color ac-
cording to the following scale, namely, first,
brindle (yellowisli brown ground with black
stripes interminged and gradually shaded
DOWN, then yellOwish brown light red and
white patched; light red and darker red last.
1t is rarely that dark red, solid-colored COW,
holds on to her milk for a long time, for she
has the general failing of the Devon race, from
which she inherits her color.-Henry Stemart
IN Roral Neac Yorker.
DRINKS FOR THE SICK.
The sick, especially those afflicted withfever
often suffer from intense thirst. The quench-
ing of this without injuring the patient is a
matter which requires knowledge and good
judgment. DR.. II. II. Kane says that plain
water, when taken beyond a certain amount,
is very apt to disorder the stomach and bowels,
especially in fevers where much fluid and but
little solid food is taken. Enough water to
ouench the thirst would certainly be enough,
in most cases, to disorder digestion, or rather
further disorder it, and so important is the lit
tie that remains of this function that we can
not afford to abuse it.
Small pieces of ice held in the mouth and
allowed to dissolve, sometimes answers the pur-
pose, but not in the majority of cases.
Up to a certain point, the action of water