The Delta independent., 1911-05-05
Selecting a Cow for Milk.

The COW is a machine to convert,
cheaply, feed into milk. Like other
machines, large capacity is usually
accompanied by economy in produc-
ton.
The first consideration in select
ing a dairy COW to make money is
tc get one with a large stomach ca
pacity. A light feeder never makes
a good profit The abiliay to handle
a large amount of food is indicated
by great depth and width just in
front of the hips. The COW should
have long ribs we'll sprung. The
round. short ribbed pony built COW
soon dries up. The long. flat ribbed
COW has ample depth of body, but
lacks the necessary width to be
profitable feeder. The ribs must be
both long and well sprung. A broad
jaw furnishes grinding surface for
a large quantity of feed. The mar
row jawed COW is not profitable.
A good feeder, to be a profitable
dairy COW, must convert her feed
into milk and not change it into
flesh that is put on the body. A
good indication that the feed will be
used to produce milk is a shoulder
that is thin and sharp at the top,
with little muscle on the sides when
the COW is in good condition. "a
beef cows shoulders are thick on
top and when she is in good copdi-
ton they are thickly covered on the
sides.) The brisket should be light
and the COW gradually increase in
depth and width backwards.
The hip bones of the well fed
dairy COW are prominent. They pro-
ject enough so that one could hang
his hat on them. A good beef ami
mails hip bones are so well cover
ed with flesh that they hardly show.)
The thighs should be thinly covered
with flesh.
The udder is the organ that man
ufactures the milk from the blood,
and there must be a large udder to
produce a high yield. Nature never
places the bulk of the udder below
the underline To secure a good I'D
der the flank must have high arch
and the body must be cut up be-
tween the hind legs almost to the
tail, to make room for a large I'D
der. The best udder extends well
forward and we'll up behind The
teats should be placed well apart an
should be long The milk veins
running along the belly m front of
the udder are large and crooked in
good dairy COW when she is milk
ing we'll. These veins enter the
body through openings in the belly,
called milk wells. In a good dairy
COW these openings are as large as
the end of a mans thumb. Usually
in a beef animal the milk wells are
located just in front of the udder,
In the highest yielding milk cows,
the milk wells are near the front les
The eyes of a high yielding dairy
COW are wide apart, large and set
out from the head. The backbone
is sharp. These two features indi-
cate the development of the enor-
! nous nerve power that is needed
to digest large quantities of feed
and transform them into milk.
The skin should be soft and the
hair should be fine and silky.
The bone should be fine. coarse
boned COW usually produces milk
at too high a cost. The head should
he long and lean. A coarse or thick
meated jowl does not go with large
Yields. The nostrils should be large
and the neck thin.
The best way for a beginner 10
learn to judge cows, is TO take
course in stock judging at an agri-
cultural college. When he cannot
do this. he should inspect as many
high yielding dairy cows as he can
find and If he will study their points
thoroughly. he will soon be able TO
do fairly good work in selecting
cows that will pay at the pail A
dairyman should keep up this STUDY
as long as he lives.