Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1904-01-20
Selecting the Dairy Cow,

tive of the most momentous results.
Selecting the Dairy Cow.
Address by A. W LITCHARD, Rushford, n. Y.
When one wishes to replace COWS he
has sold, or increase his dairy.
What is he to do?
There is no use asking the breeders
or fellow farmer, as to which are the
best, for he will only reply they are
al good, and as far as poor ones are
concerned, he has none. There is no
use of seeing the COW MIXED for the
milk tells but little. So you are com.
PEELED to use your own judgment, be
ing governed by what you can see
Some rules hold good in selecting q
good COW. I care not what the breed
NAV be, and we will not enter into the
questions of breeds farther than to
say all breeds of dairy cattle, like all
nationalities of people have in them
good qualities tn IN some bad ones.
In selecting a good dairy COW, /
want to start with the head. Her head
should indicate quali.y-broad be-
tween the eyes. The eye full and
snappy. Some one has said the eye
is the window to the soul. The eye
indicates the nervous temperament
and without high nervous organiza-
tlon, no COW can be q good prt Queer
of milk. Her mouth should be large
and her jaws strong and the nostri'e
large, so that she may consume and
masticate large amount of food.
The large nostrils indicate large
lung capacity, which is highly essen.
tial to good mixer. Her skin will
indicate much as to her quality of
milk. 1t should be soft, not too thin,
nor too thick, but rich in secretions,
and velvety to TIE hand. Her organ.
ization should be open with ribs Cat
and we'll apart. The longer she is be
tween the hip the better. Her thigh
thin and incurved giving ample room
for the udder, which should run up in
we'll, front and back, the teats being
of good size and uniformly placed.
II we're to select dairy COW only
on one characteristic, it would be tht
udder and yet too many man has
completely failed in the selection from
this one feature. A we'll balanced I'D.
der with large milk veins generally in
dicates G Cd performer, but other
faults unseen, may entirely overbal-
ance both. More men have beer
fooled on large milk veins than any
other feature of the dairy COW, but In
the main they have held good. The
milk wells should be large, and the
more of them the better.
Now We come to tie most important
part as it seems to US, of all of Them
the constitution and vigor of the COW
She is a machine and if the machine is
weak in its construction, the work of
Transforming food into milk will be
imperfect and the result failure
We will briefly maintain few minor
points, though very essential Be
certain she does not leak her milk.
If convenient, milk her yourself be-
fore you purchase. Be guarded
against serious fault, though not
often found-sucking herself.
Have her milk tested, for sometimes
she may be excellent in all the points
I have mentioned and fail in this one,
though good Judge can generally
satisfy himself on that point.
would never attempt to select a
general purpose COW. for If I did,
would expect to fail at both ends.
Select the breed best suited to your
cond ition, and the one you are most
in sympathy With, and with proper
care and food plentiful, if you fail,
niue times out of ten, it will be more
your fault than the COWS.
In proof of what good COWS will Dr.,
aud whether the butter fat in the milk
can be increased or decreased by feed,
| submit the following. A few years
ago the college of agriculture at
I hacs, N. Y, purchased the milk
from farmer out in the country from
eight cows, weighed it every day for q
year, and at TIE close of the years
est, they purchased the COWS and put
them in comfortable quarters, and ieo
them on good balanced rations with
the result below, for the second twelve
months.
No Milk Fat Per cent fat
l. Farmer 31428 1T 5.64 Ii
:. Cornell 4S981 3O2 6l8