Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1888-04-20
FARM AND GARDEN.
The Perfect Cow.

We have constantly held that there i:
no such thing as perfection in the ami.
nal kingdom. An animal is simply
more or less perfect in the line of pur-
nose for which it is kept We now
TTsise cattle for beef, or for milk rich in
fet and caseine, and do not expect them
70 be equally superior in both beef and
milk. This is now generally conceded,
and hence the breeders aim is to bring
an animal as closely to the single stand
ard of perfection as possible. Mr..
John Gould who is widely known for
his practically in dairy matters, con-
tributes an article on the perfect cow to
the EuraL Nelo Yorker, from which We
excerpt the following:
That the perfect cow has been dis
covered is very doubtful, for it would
imply a general purpose cow, and all
the qualities essential to the require
meuts q animal husbandry cannot be
wrapped up in one hide The dairy and
the beef qualities are so different.
and the results of such totally different
functions, that the perfect cow, consid
errd as a dairy animal, must Always be
classed as type" distinct in purpose
from the producing stock. No
single breed has given US uniformly ex.
Cellent cows of high performance, but in
all dairy breeds there is type of form
and performance, which, if recognized
and singled out and perpetuated by hered-
ity, may result in something like per-
feet dairy COW. When we find this type,
it may be perpetuated, if in breeding we
recognize the fact that the sire must be
given equal credit not only in transmit.
ting essential qualities, but in confirming
the type as well, and l do not hold to
the assumption that merit can be found
only IN purity of the existing breeds.
That the grade may be good dairy cow
is established; and if we breed from
dairy types and they are based on per-
fc7mance, the observing, painstaking far.
mer may raise his own cows.
The dairy cows mission will be to pro-
duce butter and cheese, and hence she
will not be large animal as measured by
the beef standard. The giving of milk
makes the dairy COW creature of benef.
cence, returning to her owner, in milk
and cheese and manure, with nothing
-.eid back but actual bodily support, all
the food consumed; while the beef cow,
with habits fixed by breeding, is 50
mlser," storing away as largely as pcssi-
bic the better elements of her food fol-
fat, flesh and bone forming, and
only yielding it up on the
block; SO that milk and beef qualities
must contend for mastery if bound up
in one animal, and the result must be
disappointing. That the beef element is
antagonistic to the milking habit is a
noticeably popularity. The truly beef
COW is a small and brief mixer, often
failing to give support for her calf, and
the ultimatum is reached when the beef
type actually undermines the function of
motherhood, and promises the oblitera-
ton of beety family; while mother
hood, in its broadest and most complete
sense, is the predominant trait OF the
dairy COW. Sc | think milk and beef
will never be combined with favorable
results.
Whether the "perfect COVE will be
recognized as butter COW, or an animal
for milk, | think admits of no distnc-
ton. Milk is valuable only for the solids
1t contains in fats, cheese and sugar.
and the COW that produces butter has no
power (nor can it be bred into herr to
furnish milk in which the facts largely
predOmlnate over the cheese element, OF
vice versa. No analysis covering any
periods of time or of the
milk of any dairy breed fed upon the
ratlons generally furnished dairy cattle
at large, have ever shown that the ratio
OF butter value by weight, was in excess
OF the normal proportion of caseine by
weight; and In the case of any herd the
normal milk will be as valuable for
cheese as for butter, the price of either
or the feeding value of the milk not be-
ing considered, and the richness of milk |
Is due to the absence, to greater or less |
degree, of the usual Lightweight per
cent. Of water that makes the bulk of |
milk
Neither is the bulk or weight of milk |
any criterion of its value, and the value !
attached to the size of a COW in the |
future viii be regulated by the amount |
Of solids in her milk, Z. e., the small |
COW that puts as much solids in her |
twenty pounds OF milk per day, will |
De held as having superior value over a !
arge COW whose fifty pounds of milk |
contain only an equal amount of solids.
Unless the large COW can show a better
performance in actual butter and cheese |
On proportional ratiOns, the smaller COW
must win, as her smaller body calls for
;orrespOndingly less consumption of food |
or bodily support.
Farm and Garden Notes.
Plant the best of everything.