The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-04-27
THE DAIRY COW.
One Mans Opinion That Does Not
Conform to the Rules.

have MIXED not few good dairy
cows and have carefully examined
hundreds of them, and here l give
some of the characteristics that were
invariably present regardless of scale
of points adopted by societies or asso-
Citations.
The COW has very large barrel
which is not round at all This is an
absolute necessity to give her large
digestive capacity. The COW tnat can
consume the largest amount of cheap
roughage produced on the farm di-
geSt, assimilate and transform it into
butter, is the true dairy cow.
This large barrel and heavy, we'll
filled digestive organs naturally bring
about some other conformatons pecu-
liar to the dairy COW. One is the back
bone is drawn out of a straight line
by the continued pressure or weighing
down imediately above the abdominal
cavity. Another is that the ribs are
we'll sprung below, but where they
strike the backbone the curve has
been Strengthened out and they strike
the backbone at rather an acute angle
This in turn gives us certain promi-
nent features. The backbone appears
quite prominent; higher where it is
supported by the bOny structure of
the fore leg and shoulder, and also be-
hind where it is supported by the hind
legs and pelvic structure
The hips are well set apart, this be-
ing necessary to bring the hind legs
well apart to make room for the I'D
der 1t is well not to forget that the
cow gives milk out of her udder and
unless there is provision and room for
complete udder development we can
not expect much profit from that
point. The hams are cut away, the
thighs curve in to make room for this
important organ and the admirers of
the sleek, blocky animal call her cat
manned"
We now come to the udder, which is
of prime importance, second only to
the digestive capacity. The udder
should be large, blocky, and of a hem
ispheric shape with large base. The
outline should describe the arc of a
circle and lengthen out along the bel
ly. 1t should aso extend well up be-
hind. The front part of the udder is
often deficient. This defect should be
avoided, especially in cows we wish
to breed from. 1t indicates a lack of
continued milk flow. Avoid the fun
nel-shaped udder with the teats all
close together; the teats should be
well set apart.
The udder should be pliable and elias
tic so as to have good capacity. and
of good substance to withstand the
strain of heavy milk flow. 1t is a very
good indication when the udder is
well covered with a network of veins
and arteries lying so close to the sur
face as to be visible. The milk veins
should be large, prominent and tortu-
Gus, with large openings where they
enter the abdominal wall.
The head is long, lean, and the jaws
well developed and powerful. The
eyes prominent and gentle, brain well
developed, with broad junction be-
tween head and vertebrae, indicating
a good, strong, nervous system which
is an absolute necessity in a good
dairy COW. The neck slender, rather
long, tapering, of a muscular texture.
The shoulders thin and slender aud
spread well back towards the barrel,
indicating a good lung and heart cap
acity, wherein lies the motive power
mi ha bn
pelvic arch and the rump are always
quite prominent in the typical dairy
COW for obvious reasons. The general
outline of the cows body is the triple
wedge with the heel of the wedge at
the lower central part of the abdomen,
tapering upward to the backbone,
backward to the rump and forward to
the neck.
l have now given, in my crude way,
the main features of the typical dairy
COW such as | find her in life and in
fact and not in books and fancy score
cards.
This COW is special purpose nipple
ment to use up the cheap roughage of
the farm and turn it into milk and
butter fat. All the food you may feed
her is turned toward the udder. She
knows not how to store it over her
carcass. She can do but one thing, but
she does that profitably for her owner,
which is more than can he truthfully
said of thousands of so-called general
purpose cows kept, apparently, simply
to convert the feed into manure-L.
w. Lightly in National Stockman.