Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1915-01-29
WHAT CONSTITUTES
A Good Dairy Cow
WRITTEN FOR THE ---
News Budget by F. H. Scribner of Rosendale

fact her whole makeup from her
nose to the tip of her tail contri- |
butes something to the perfect dairy
type A celebrated breeder once
said if he could see an animals head
he would not need to see more, as
the head would determine the rest
of the body. This is true in a meas
ure although l would rather see the
whole animal. The medium sized
ular medium sized body, and the
short, compact head a corresponding
! ly compact body, with tendency
toward beefineSs while the longer
angular head would denote a large
open jointed body with little surplus
flesh.
| A broad mouth is always indicative
of good feeding qualities and as
this is the business of the COW, this
characteristic should be sought for
and bred for, which together with
tween the eyes, and a strong mus
cular jaw would constitute an almost
ideal head for a good dairy COW, and
should be connected to the body with
a long, thin neck, free from meati-
ness
The idea of extreme angularity of
the body is not as prevalent as for
merly, for cows of this makeup of
ten lack constitutional vigor, and
when put to the test of large pro-
duction lack sufficient stamina to
carry them through.
/ A large barrel to a cow is com
pared to a large stOrehouse for a
manufacturing institution, a place
where material is stored for manu-
featuring purposes and cow should
have a good capacity Of body for it
takes a lot of food to make a lot of
milk
The udder should be capacious and
we'll attached to the body extending
well back and well forward, occupy
, ing a large space On the body. 1t
should be free from meatiness and
covered with a soft, pliable skim
udders of this character are more
easy to empty out and is associated
very closely with persistency. The
teats should be of good size and
we'll placed, which make the work
of milking desirable and more pleas
urable
, The milk veins should be promi-
. nent and elastic to the touch with
the milk wells large and numerous,
those are an Indication that the
blood flow is going in the right di-
: rection, and are always in evidence
on every good COW.
The temperament of the COW is
an essential feature, and the term
nervous temperament" if often con-
bility, but it is simply what we
, might term dairy organization" or
an ability or disposition to eat, di-
: gest, and convert food into milk, eX-
: cept what is absolutely needed for
2 the body maintenance. 1t also gives
: to her that stick-to-it-iveness which
all dairy men like The good Judge
: takes this in at a glance, he sees
( her bright, active eye, the express
5 sion of activity and intelligence in
her face, the freedom Of surplus flesh
? over the entire body, the open joint
f edness and the spacing between the
t ribs and vertebrae, all of which are
indications of a dairy temperament
) and go to prove that she is a worker.
, Disposition might be classed with
temperament, but disposition is
: often caused by the bad disposition
. of her keeper. There are families
, that seem to be full of pure cussed-
( ness and a COW of this character is
always a source of annoyance to her
owner and does not make good foun-
dation animals. AS this chracteris-
: tic is usually transmitted such a COW
t is usually lacking in genuine ner-
. vous temperament and has not suf-
ficient nerve to be decent.
These points mentioned when
blended together in harmony and
!, symmetry, gives the cow an appear
ance of beauty which makes her at
tractive to her owner and consequent
ly creates a deeper interest which
goes a long way toward making
good cow.