The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-05-14

THE TYPICAL DAIRY COW.
Points Which Indicate the Profit able AMI
nal to Buy.

Points which Indicate the Profitable AMI
mal to buy.
That the temperament governs both
the form and function of both animals
and man has been found to be true by
long series of experiments. For exam
pie, take a man with short, pudgy
fingers. lie has phlegmatic tempera-
mcnt and tendency to lay on tissue.
On the contrary, the average New En-
gland Yankee is nearly opposite. He
is lean. sharp and skillful and has
nervous temperament. We find this to
be true in the horse, bred for speed, the
dog for hunting and also the dairy COW.
The animal of nervous temperament
also has to be fed differently and as
Stimulates the food differently from or
binary ones. This is especially true OF
the dairy cow. The average cow is not
bred intelligently. however. Most
farmers breed blindly. Finely bred
Guernseys or Jerseys and Holstein.
Triesians show this nervous type to the
highest advantage. while the Here
ford has the phlegmatic character to
a marked degree. The Hereford has
been bred for over one hundred years
to lay on fat and it shows this char
acteristic in every line, the heavy shout
ders, the heavy chine, the heavy out
broad back. The dairy cow has no
trace of this and just so much as you
attempt to combine the two Won lose
The good dairy COW has an open nostril,
the same as a good race horse or fox
hound. also an open eye and a large de-
velopment of brain. The neck should
also be strongly and firmly joined to
the head, for. il weak there. the cow is
liable to fail easily in her work. Bat
at the same time the neck is thin. while
the shoulder is sloping and thrown back
ward.
The formation of the spine is Of par
ticular Importance. The back should be
strong and rugged. but with large
spinal processes. This gives a large
channel for the spinal column. which
transmits the nervous force. Most peo-
pie prefer straight back. but the
pelvic arch over the hips should rise
and many famous cows have had this
developed to wonderful degree. Many
want cow with a strong constitution.
that is, to stand out in north winds. to
drink cold water and to stand many
other strains. But strong cons tuition
means the power to endure to the
end what they are designed for, which
in the ease of dairy COW means
maternity and upon this depends
her entire usefulness. John l.. Sullivan
may have the constitution to stand up
and be pounded. but not the constitu.
ton of a clerk who is confined all iay.
Again the development of the navel has
much to do with the constitution. A
weak umbilical expression means wsals
vitality. while strong one means. be-
sides many other things, an ability to
resist disease.
The formation Of the udder indicates
the ability of the COW so far az profs is
concerned. 1t should rise high in the
rear and extend ont well in front. A
Inc drawn from these extreme points
shows 10y its length the power of the
COW. The nerves Of the mammai.y
gland are the most complicated in tie
whole body and arc connected with all
the vital organs. In closing would
say that with dairy cows we breed to
increase the nervous machinery, white
in the beef animal we breed to decrease
it. Remember that this does not mean
the excitable temperament.) But we
must remember that in SO breeding the
nervous temperament grows more sus-
ceptihle to disease and particularly 50
To milk fever. Therefore, to do well,
dairy cows should be given steady care,
kept quiet and contented in warm
quarters with agreeable foods, and the
| farther that idea is carried the better
Gav Hoard