Oxford Democrat., 1915-07-20
Production and Conformation.

When farmer buys or sells COW one
of the factors which enters into the de-
termination of the selling price is the
shape and appearance Of the animal, or
in general, its conformation. In the alb
sence of definite records of milk produc.
ton, the COW which looks as though she
were good mixer will demand a high
er price than the one which does not
have that appearance.
This raises an important question up
on which very very little definite infor-
nation is at hand. What are the char
acteristics which indicate good milking
qualities, and what relative Importance
is to be attached TO each one Of them?
In other words, what are the external
criteria of productiveness? On this
question, definite and precise informa-
ton is sadly lacking. One man puts his
faith in one feature, while another man
attaches very little weight to that, and
regards as of the greatest Importance
some characteristic which is scarcely
taken into account at all by the first.
Here, as in many other cases of animal
husbandry, there is a definite need for
precise, quantitative information which
will eliminate the element of guesswork,
and substitute for it definite, numerical
facts.
There has begun recently at the Maine
Agricultural Experiment Station an in-
vestisation which has for its object to
accumulate a mass Of permanent and re-
liable data in regard to the relation be-
tween the external conformation OF a
cow and her ability as a milk producer.
The plan which is being followed in
wolves the exact measurement OF whole
series of external characteristics OF the
COW and then the mathematical correla-
ton of these measurements with her
known capacity as milk producer.
This work is being carried on with all
the principal dairy breeds, Jerseys, Hol-
stems, kyrshires, and Guernseys, and
also with grade animals for which deti-
mite milk records can be obtained.
The measurements include, all told,
some As different characters of the ami
NAL. These involve both the absolute
size and the proportion OF nearly all
parts of the body. First comes the de-
of the size and proportion
of the head, which is believed by many
dairymen to be an important indicator
of capacity. Next the measurements
take account of various proportions OF
the body itself, including the girth at
different points, the height at the with
ers, the breadth between the fore legs
and the conformation of the rump. Es-
pecial attention is given to the position
and size of the hip and pin bones. Also
account is taken Of the form of the I'D
der. the milk well and milk veins, etc.
Careful drawings are made, from which
can later be taken, show
ing the size and shape of the escutcheon,
which has been thought at various times
to be a valuable indicator of worth at
the pail. /
Already complete records of this kind
have been obtained for some so cows,
whose exact capacity as milk producers
is already known. Ii is intended to con-
tinue this work until a sufficiently large
mum Der of records have accumulated to
make the statistics reliable and valuable
for the qusntitative determination of the
value of the different external
by which dairy cattle are
ordinarily judged In this work, various
breeders in different parts of the state
are cooperating and also students in the
College of Agriculture of the University
of Maine.
One of the results which is indicated
by the preliminary results already in
hand is that certain of the proportions
of the body which have been considered
to be of value in cattle judging can have
no real value. When these proportions
are carefully measured, instead of SIM
ply Judged by the eye, it is found that
they are almost exactly the same in all
kinds of cattle, regardless of milking
ability or even of breed.-Chas. ID.
Woods, Director Maine Experiment Sta
ton.