Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-03-16
A Good Milking Cow.
Wisconsin Western Farmer.


Such cow should be good for
the pail as long as wanted, and when
dried should fatten easy. The head
should be long, but rather small, the
chops thin, and horns small. The eyes
should be bright but of quiet, placid
expression. The neck thin AID neat
toward the head, but rapidly swell and
deepen toward the shoulders. The
dewlap should be small, the breast
medium in width, and should project
decidedly in front of the legs. The
girth behind the shoulders should be
deep, the ribs should spread out wide.
giving roundness TO the chest, and
each rib should spread out wider than
that in front of it to the last rib, giving
to the choicest parts great breadth.
She should be well formed, full in
breadth and length, wide across the
hips and rump, but not heavy; should
be inclined to shortness in the legs.
The thighs should be thin, the tail
should be broad at the upper part and
taper nicely to the end. The hide
should be Soft without coarseness,
and with soft glossy hair.
The milk veins should be large, as
indicating powerful development of
the muscular system, which is very es-
sential to bou1tiful milk-secretions, the
udder should be medium in size, the
covering of which should be thin and
free from humps. The teats should
be of good size and be of equal dis
lance from each other every way, and
nearly of equal size from the bag to
near the end, then taper sharply
when too large at the points, the ORR
fees are apt to be too large, so that
the milk is not retained after the bag
becomes full.
A COW answering this description will
seldom fail to be satisfactory mixer.
But it is a question of some import
ance to know what breed of cattle COM
bine the greatest number of these
good qualities and in the highest de-
gree. That stock should be preferred
which mature the youngest and yields
the greatest amount of good milk and
fattens the most readily and for most
purposes brings the highest price.
The half or three quarter grade short
horn will fill these points to greater
extent than any other breed, provid-
ing they have come from good milk
ing strains on one or both sides. 1t
has been discovered that nearly all the
superior mixers, except the Durham
and their grades, loose flesh while CIV
ing milk and are very slow to fatten.
Several such cows for the first week
in June, 1868, gave an average of forty
pounds of milk to the the COW, q
speak of the short-horn cross on our
common stock, while other mixed
breeds of Ayrshire, Devons, Dutch and
common stock, did not give more than
thirty pounds to the COW. The whole
herd Of forty cows had good clover
pasture, and all the mixed feed of bran
and shorts that they could eat. The
length of time that the cows had given
milk was about equal in the different
lots.
Some families of short horns have
retained their milking qualities to a
greater extent than others, and a few
breeders have taken special pains to
keep the milking qualities in their cat
tie. The Thorndale strain trace their
pedigree through long line of rich,
good mixers, especially the Sixth
Duke, formerly owned by George T.
Plunket, of Hinsdale, Mass. He
proved to be an excellent getter of
milking stock, and was fully equal in
the getting style and beatty.