The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1895-03-21
HCw To SELECT A DAIRY COW.

HSW ~ SELECT a DAIRY COW
Abstract of Lecture ] .;i,ered Eefore th.
. 'tudents sf the School OF Agriculture
Ohio state University. toIumbuS. by + arrf 4
&. T. Morrow. humpaign. Ill. Being n .
Third of "A series cn .A.ilk-iIs Producer,
and Production"
The general form and certain GU.
ward ind;cationn may properly | c
considered with care il; selecting COWS
or in attempts To estimate their re-.
atiss value whc. actual tests of quar-.
tity and quality of product are nc
practicable. There is fairly we'll de-
lined beef form in cattle-not a
breed characteristic. but approached ID
by most cattle classed as superior as
meat producers. In this side view c +
the body presents close approach to a
parallelogram. as does n rear view, cr
section of the iody cut across ju. t
forward of the E.ps. while a sectio n
just back of the shoulders VII be n
oval. approaching circle. There wi
be general piump and well rounde d
appearance. Thc neck viii be short but
full. gradually swelling into the shou,-
ders. The head will be short rather
than long. The bony structure, IS
shown in legs and tail. will be fine
In contrast with this the typical
GARY form is lean and angular. and
The body is wedge-shaped. 1t will e
deeper forward of the hips than back
of the fore legs. II will spread from
the shoulders to or beyond the middle,
and from the rear to the same point.
section at or back of the shoulders
will start almost at a point 1T the top.
AT the loin. of course, the top should
be near fiat and broad. Leugth from
the hips to the rumr, with flatness ard
1hinness Of the thighs are liked. The
head will be rather long and slender,
Int with large broad muzzle, large nos
trilsand bright eyes. The neck will be
or seem long and be slender. not grad
ually swelling into the shoulders.
]fineness of bone in legs and tail is
liked. but the back is preferred if there
is an appearance of loose -jointed-
ness
The udder should be large, with CO
paci,y instead OF size being gained ty
1leshiness- Length and lreadth of at
tachment to the body is preferred 10
sr'eat depth. As 4 matter of symmetry
tn. four quarters are preferred CT
equal size and like form as nearly as
may be. Large milk veins and lar;
orifces or milk wells,'' where they err
ter the body suggest q literal supply
of blood to the region of the udt.er al d
probable liberal manufacture of milk.
While the present writer has never
been able to give a satisfactory eXpla-
nation for any connection between tic
in which the hair les on any
part of the body of a COW and the guam
tity of milk given, many excellent
judges of cows attach great Importance
TO the ''escutchcon. This is the upward
and outward turned hair on the back
of and above the udder. extending out
''n the thighs. An elaborate system
has been devise by wiica this is to tie
judged. In general the greater the
quantity of upper or out turned hair
the more favorable is the Judgment.
Carefully and elaborately prepared
score cards" have been arranged ly
which cows may be judged. In these
'sSSSA aPtAShS ei Va liS
points and a definite assignment to
value to each is given in number, a
perfect cow having 100 points. Such ,
:ards have much value to the STU
dent or beginner in dairy hus- !
landry. They serve to call his !
attention to the points thought i'm
oortant and to accustom him to care
iul and methodical examination. Cn !,
he other hand would no more think
If purchasing cows or awarding prizes
% cows solely on the showing made by
he score cards than / would OF decid-
ng the relative merit of two friends
,y like method. Different persons
attach a differing degree of
to a given point" and
hen it is very difficult to apply arith
netical calculations to final judgment
# living things A very slight in
eriority in number of unimportant
points may make the total ''score" less
han decided inferiority in vitality
important point. 1t is clearly recog-
lized that many good judges do like
nd use the score card.
One point must always be kept prom
rently in mind. We may not know
xactly how milk is produced. but we
10 know that it comes. somehow, from
he food. The great dairy COW must
'e able and willing to cat, digest and
large quantities OF food. A
arge abdomen is important. as is indi-
alton of health. vigor. vitality.
This suggests the danger of going to
xtremes in insistance on dairy form"
he COW must be a good animal first;
hat is. she must have ability to well per-
o,m all the functions necessary topre-
ervation of life and health. Fineness
f bone or general delicacy OF structure
lay be carried too far. Another COM
ION com mplication in judging pure bred
ows is the difficulty in properly ap-
ortioning the relative Importance of
reel characteristics and general dairy
There is no reason to
elieye that color. or the size, shape or
bsence of horns materially affects tie
bility to give milk, but such things
re taken into account by the breed
r. There must be considera bic
of definition of terms in
ldg:ng different breeds. That which
-ould be called small or fine in one,
light be called large or coarse in an
ther breed.
1t must be insisted on that coed
airy form is not confined to any one
reed. Based on trials continuing
trough a year the Minnesota Agricul-
,ral Experiment station authorities
elieve excellence in the dairy depends
ore on form than on breed. Thus
,ws of the beef type" plump and
locky" were decidedly less protita BILE
ian those spare and angular with
eep bodies Depth of body is con- :
dered important. 1t is only fair to
ly that there were but two specimens
t the beef type in the herd. One of
,ese was Shorthorn. the other an
,erdeer-Anrus. In the best dairy |
,rm class the Jersey, Guernsey, Hot :
5ein-Friesian Shorthorn and different i
-psSes were repre en,ei.
There are too many exceptions to the
lie. to make it safe to rey exclusively
I form rs q means of drtel min ing value 6
i-v w. Thus the only pure
red shorthorn COW in the herd at the
llinois Experiment station is :'rcdi;-