Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1884-11-28
FARM AND FlRESIDE.
what is n Good Cow:

richer IN a few years. we he0eS'
sarily have to do many things IN
the dark, because the mind is not
able to grasp everything. But
there are some things that we
know. and others that we may
know, and such knowledge as we
have or may have should be appll-
ell to our business. 1t is idle to
deny the fact that in our agrl'
cultural affairs in general we do
altogether too much without think !
ing. just let us think for a mo
ment of the immense amount oil
random breeding that has been
done in THE cOuutey in the past
and is still being done, all because
we do not realize the Importance
of the question asked at the be-
ginning of this article. As we
have said so many times, aud as
is naturally the case, the country
is full Of native cattle. Year after
year these cows are bringing forth
calves.
Are the calves any better than
their dams? Often not, and it is
pretty safe to say, generally not.
Are the dams good for anything ?
Very frequently not worth the
food they consume. Well, then,
how is 1t that such COWS are used
for breeding calves that are not
better than themselves Because
their owners do not stop to think.
They breed recklessly. If they un-
derStand the principles of breeding,
they do not apply them, and if they
do not understand them, they make
no effort to ascertain what they
are. The millions of dollars that
areannually lost through this reck-
less sort Of breeding are an evil
dence Of prOfigacy that would
suggest that we all have more
money than we know what to do
with. The owner of a COW that is
good for nothing, or to say the
least, is not up to standard, feeds
out just as much feed as would
keep a good COW, goes to the same
trouble of producing a poor calf as
he would to produce a good one,
and has tor his reward another in
feriOr COW to eat his feed and fod-
der without paying for what she
consumes. In mercantile transac-
tons such a course would lead to
bankruptcy in short order; and
the only reason it does not do so
on the farm, is because other de.
partments are drawn upon to make
the loss in this one good.
If there was any excuse for
pursuing such a course, the case
would be different. But there is
none, for, while it is not desirable
to use a poor COW for breeding pur-
poses, she may be so used, if the
sire is properly selected. There is
no absolute need of throwing such
COW away, although we should
never use her as a breeder. 1t will
take 50 much the longer to get
good COW, if she is so used. If a
sire is selected that has had milk
ing ancestors on both sides, he will
transmit milking qualities to the
offspring of even such COW will
finally be the result. But no COW
is fit for breeding for dairy pur-
poses, unless her annual yield of
milk at FIVE years Of age is five
thousand pounds. If she gives
that much milk, she may be re-
garded as a good dairy breeder
without looking for further evil
dence. But there are some general
points which are accepted as being
evidence Of the possession Of dairy
qualities. The COW must have a
large stomach, the reasons for
which are obvious. This will be
indicated by broad hips. She
should have bright eyes and horns,
and lustrOus hair, as this indicates
natural vigor.. She should have a
large udder and large veins leading
to il. Largeness Of udder means a
broal, deep and long udder. The
tea;s should be set well apart and
the skin ought to be soft and
elastic. II is generally considered,
too, that a COW having a yellow
skin and the inside of whose ear is
yellow, will give a richer quality Of
milk than one not possessing these
characteristics. We haveObseryed
that this is a very excellent indica-
ton, although we are unable to
explain why. 1t is one of the things
that we have not learned yet.
The period luIng which the
COW continues to give milk must
also be taken into consideration in
determining her value ~ breeder.
4 good dairy COW, when kept
properly, ought TO give milk for
ten mouths, and cows celebrated
for their large yield of milk, are
usually long mixers. 1t must be
observed that i'm order To reach the
standard o. annuii quantity the
longmilker need produce very
much les daily yield than the
short mixer Now it we have
cows, with these characteristics, it
will not he difficult, if we carefully
select the sire, 10 huild up a milk.