- 239 
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 spy 1 
 
 r " 
 
 Van Pelfs 
 Cow Demonstration 
 
 By HUGH G. VAN PELT 
 
 Published by 
 
 Kimbairs Dairy Farmer 
 
 Waterloo, Iowa 
 
Van Pelt's 
 CoT^ Demonstration 
 
 By 
 HUGH G. VAN PELT 
 
 Iowa Dairy Expert 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 KIMBALL'S DAIRY FARMER 
 
 WATERLOO/IOWA 
 1911 
 

 ^,p:1 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 List of illustrations 5 
 
 Introduction 7 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Five essential points of a productive cow 11 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Constitution of the cow 19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Capacity 2^ 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Nervous temperament 35 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Blood circulation 41 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Ability 53 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Other desirable points ,. 63 
 
 CHARI'ER VIII. 
 
 How to secure cows combining the five essential points. . . .67 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The accurate proof of the cow's value 81 
 
 [41 
 
 ©CU30«.779 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Page 
 Parthenia Hengerveld — A many times champion Holstein cow 
 in the largest shows of America. Owned by W. B. Barney 
 & Sons, Hampton, Iowa Frontispiece 
 
 Bosniana's Anna — Champion Jersey cow Iowa and National 
 Dairy Shows, 1910. Owned by C. I. Hudson, East Norwich, 
 Long Island, N, Y 12 and 56 
 
 Auchenbrain's White Beauty 2nd — A champion Ayrshire cow, 
 
 owned by Penshurst Farm, Narberth, Pa 14 
 
 Colantha 4th's Johanna — Champion cow of the world. Record 
 1247.95 pounds butter, 80 per cent fat in one year. Owned 
 by W. J. Gillette, Rosendale, Wis 52 
 
 First and second prize Ayrshire cows at the Iowa and National 
 Dairy Shows, 1910. Owned by L. A. Reyman Estate, Wheel- 
 ing, W. Va., and Ryanogue Farm, Brewster, N. Y., re- 
 spectively 64 
 
 Boghall's Snowdrop — Champion Ayrshire cow at the Iowa and 
 National Dairy Shows, 1910. Owned by L. A. Reyman Est., 
 Wheeling, W. Va 10 
 
 Dairy Maid of Pinehurst — Champion 3-year-old cow of the 
 world. Record 1012.07 pounds butter, 80 per cent fat, in 
 one year. Owned by W. W. Marsh, Waterloo, Iowa 18, 20, 24, 26 
 
 Jacoba Irene — Champion long distance cow of the world. 2053 
 pounds, 15.3 ounces butter, 85 per cent fat in two years. 
 Owned by F. B. Keeney, Warsaw, N. Y 28, 34, 46, 50, 54, 58, 62 
 
 Lord Mar — An undefeated Guernsey bull. Owned by W. W. 
 
 Marsh, Waterloo, Iowa 70 
 
 The head of a champion Guernsey bull 82 
 
 Howie's Fizzaway — Ayrshire bull. Champion winner at National 
 Dairy Show, 1909. Owned by J. F. Converse & Son, 
 Woodville, N. Y 76 
 
 Netherhall Brownie IX. — Champion Ayrshire cow. Record 
 1025.11 pounds butter, 80 per cent fat, in one year. Owned 
 by J. W. Clise, Seattle, Wash 66 
 
 Noble of Oaklands — Many times a champion. Sold for $15,000, 
 highest price ever paid at auction for a Jersey bull. Owned 
 by Elmendorf Farm, Lexington, Ky 68 
 
 Glencoe's Bopeep^ — Champion Guernsey cow at the Iowa and 
 National Dairy Shows, 1910. Owned by W. W. Marsh, 
 Waterloo, Iowa 30-60 
 
 Sir Beets Cornucopia Netherland — Champion Holstein bull at 
 the Iowa and National Dairy Shows, 1910. Owned by W. S. 
 Moscrip, St. Paul, Minn 32, 72, 74, 78 
 
 Financial Countess — Ex. champion Jersey cow. Record 935 
 pounds, 10 ounces of butter in one year. Owned by C. E. 
 Parfet, Golden, Colo 40 
 
 A pair of great cows from the Island of Jersey 48 
 
 The head of a champion Ayrshire cow 85 
 
 Mauser's Queen — Champion Jersey cow Illinois State Fair, 1909. 
 
 Owned by H. V. Prentice, Worcester, Mass 12 
 
 Pietertje Maid Ormsby — Champion 30-day cow of the world. 
 Record 145.66 pounds butter, 80 per cent fat. Owned by 
 John B. Irwin, Minneapolis. Minn 16, 22, 36, 38, 42, 84 
 
 [S] 
 
[6] 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Present day competition has placed all industries on a 
 commercial basis. The successful merchant is the one who 
 can sell his wares at the lowest price and still make as large 
 as or a larger percentage of profit than his competitors. The 
 successful professional man is the one who receives the 
 greatest remuneration because of the value of his services 
 to his clients. The successful manufacturer is the one 
 whose methods enable him to produce an article and sell 
 it at a price as low as or lower than that asked by other 
 manufacturers and still make as great a profit. The farmer 
 who produces products on his farm for the least possible 
 cost, quality considered, is the one who is successful. 
 
 There has never been a time when the farmer could 
 not boast that of all humanity he alone is really independ- 
 ent. To so great an extent has this been true and so \/ell 
 has it generally become known among agriculturists that 
 there is a likelihood that the farmer has grown careless to 
 a degree and in his strife for higher prices has overlooked 
 a very important point ; namely, that a dollar saved in the 
 cost of producing 100 pounds of any commodity is in reality, 
 a dollar made and probably the easiest dollar that possibly 
 could be made upon the farm. 
 
 This is especially true of the dairy farmer or the man on 
 the farm who milks cows. There is a general complaint all 
 over the land that the dairy business is very confining and 
 where one farmer or farmer's son is found who likes to 
 milk there are 50 who would rather do any other farm labor. 
 Why? Because so many of the cows are not worth milking. 
 The conditions under which they are milked are repelling. 
 There are few farms on which there are not from 10 to 75 
 per cent of the cows that are absolutely making no profit 
 whatever and many that are a source of loss to their own- 
 ers. In the days when butter-fat was selling for 10 or 12 
 cents a pound, and a drug on the market at that, there 
 might have been some excuse for the manufacturer of dairy 
 products losing money on some of his cows, yet undoubt- 
 edly a larger percentage of the cows in those days were 
 making net profits for their owners than are at the present 
 time. When cows are kept upon land worth from $25 to 
 $50 an acre and can be fed corn worth from 10 to 12 cents 
 a bushel, oats from 8 to 10 cents, bran from $10 to $12 
 per ton, oil meal $10 to $20 per ton. hay from 
 
 £7] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 $3 to $5 a ton, it is a mighty poor cow that 
 will not pay for her feed and make for her owner some 
 sort of a net profit to remunerate him for his labor. Farm- 
 ers complained bitterly in those times because it was im- 
 possible to secure more for the butter-fat. Today the farm- 
 er is, in many localities, receiving an average of more 
 than 30 cents a pound the year around for butter-fat. If, 
 however, he will look the proposition squarely in the face 
 he will find that with corn worth 50 cents or more a bushel, 
 oats from 32 to 40 cents a bushel, bran from $25 to $28 a 
 ton, oil meal from $30 to $40 per ton, hay from $10_ to $20 
 per ton and other foods proportionately high that he is mak- 
 ing less real profit in feeding cows on land worth from $100 
 to $300 per acre than he did during those times which he 
 called hard. This statement is made advisedly and refers 
 to that class of cows which are to be found on the average 
 farm. 
 
 Farm conditions have changed so radically and yet so 
 gradually that few are the farmers who realize that they 
 really are milking a number of cows over 700 times each 
 year merely for the fun of doing so, and yet statistics de- 
 termined by considering the number of cows milked in the 
 United States and the number of farms upon which they are 
 milked, will bear out the statement that on the average 
 farm someone is wasting annually 27.2 days every year 
 milking cows that return no profit whatever. 
 
 There are two reasons why there are so many profit- 
 less cows. First, on the average farm cows are not cared 
 for properly. They do not receive feed in the proper 
 amourits or of the proper character. The barns in which 
 they are kept are often dark, damp, cold and poorly venti- 
 lated. The cows are milked, fed and watered at irregular 
 intervals and as a matter of fact they are not seriously con- 
 sidered from the standpoint of farm profits.. Cows cared 
 for under conditions such as these are victims of misfortune 
 and it matters little how well bred they may be or how ex- 
 cellent their individuality, it is out of the question to ex- 
 pect that they will make for their owner any great amount 
 of profit. 
 
 Secondly, there are being kept on the farms of the 
 United States a vast number of cows so lacking in breeding 
 individuality and ability that it is impossible for them to 
 produce profitably. It makes no difference whether they 
 are found on the common farm under adverse conditions 
 or in the high class dairy where they receive every possible 
 opportunity by way of feed, care and treatment, they will 
 
 £8] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 never return a cent of profit over and above the cost of the 
 feed they consume. It is estimated that out of the 22,000,000 
 cows that are being milked on farms in the United States 
 there are 14,000,000 of them that are entirely unproductive 
 of profits. Half of these, w^ould make a profit w^ere they 
 properly fed and cared for. The other half, or 7,000,000 
 cows, are unprofitable because they belong to one of two 
 classes of cows — either poorly bred or miserable individ- 
 uals. 
 
 In dealing with a description of cows and the building- 
 up of the herd to more profitable proportions, the subject 
 must be confined largely to the same economic, commercial 
 and businesslike basis that the manufacturer uses in select- 
 ing machines for his factory. True, the dairy cow is more 
 than a machine. She is a living, highly nervous and rather 
 sentimental being and in a great degree governed by the 
 force of habit. These traits she possesses and in addition, 
 if a good cow, all the qualities of an efficient, durable and 
 capacious machine. It is therefore significant that the manu- 
 facturer of dairy products has a task even greater than the 
 manufacturer of any other class of commodities. He must 
 not only commercialize his efforts as do other manufactur- 
 ers but in addition he must cater to the individual traits of 
 each living machine on his farm factory. 
 
 When the farmer finally realizes that in reality the 
 farms of this country are its greatest factories and that every 
 animal is there for the same purpose as the machine in any 
 other factory and that every machine must do its part well 
 if the factory is to be a source of gratification and large 
 dividends to its owner, then and not until then will all cows 
 milked on the farm be a source of profit to their owners 
 and not until then will the farm boy lose his desire to move 
 to town and work in factories of another sort for a few 
 cents per hour. Both the farmer and his son will then 
 realize that of all factories the greatest dividends and inter- 
 est on investments are returned by the factory, the roof of 
 which is the sky and the walls the horizon. Because of this 
 and because of the human interest in commercialism this 
 book will deal with the cow more largely from the stand- 
 point of a machine in the factory than from that of breed 
 characteristics. 
 
 [9] 
 
Form and beautv 
 
 noi 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 Five Essentials of a Productive Cow 
 
 The fundamental functions of the cow are production and 
 reproduction. Her intrinsic vakie depends upon the efifici- 
 ency with wliich she accomph'shes these duties. 
 
 A careful study of any grreat producing cow reveals 
 the manner in which she accomplishes her purpose. Viewed 
 from the standpoint of production she must eat and digest 
 food, she must breathe, her blood must circulate and she 
 must yield milk and butter-fat, all of which is work. 
 
 If her efforts along these lines are effective certain por- 
 tions of her body and certain characteristics assert them- 
 selves accordingly and may be termed the essential points 
 that indicate great and economical production. There are 
 five of these essential points that must be present and well 
 developed in the external form of a cow if she proves her- 
 self a profitable producer of milk and butter-fat under pres- 
 ent conditions. These are the indications of constitution, 
 capacity, nervous temperament, blood circulation and ability. 
 
 If all of these points are present it may safely be consid- 
 ered that the cow will be highly productive if she is given 
 the proper care and the treatment to which she is entitled. 
 
 Each Point Is Vital 
 
 So vital is each to great, economical and persistent per- 
 formance that it is difficult to classify them in order of im- 
 portance. Each is dependent upon the other and if any one 
 is lacking in development the machinery is incomplete and 
 he who milks such a beast does not milk a cow — only a part 
 of a cow. She is like a gasoline engine with a corroded spark 
 plug, a leaky gasoline tank, weak batteries, an undersized 
 piston or an inefficient governor. Satisfactory results can- 
 not reasonably be expected. 
 
 It often occurs tliat breeders in their eager desire to 
 breed cows of phenomenal ability overlook the importance 
 of the other points and when it seems they have succeeded 
 in their achievements and most excellent results appear to 
 be secured it is found that their animals lack constitution 
 and although they yield almost abnormally for a short period 
 they do not have the strength to contmue with the heavy 
 work; some of them die and others revert to the state of 
 
 [11] 
 
[12} 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 the loafer. Or it nia}- be capacity that has l)een overlooked 
 and consequences equally as discouraging occur. So long as 
 the animal may draw uj)on the stored up tissues of the body 
 wonderful production continues but when this has become 
 exhausted the animal is not capable of consuming a sufficient 
 amount of food to keep up the work and she declines rap- 
 idly in her milk flow and is retired to the ranks of those 
 that lack persistency. Such cows are difficult for even the 
 most expert feeder to manage. When they freshen and he 
 gradually increases their daily rations they respond readily 
 and continue to do so reassuring the feeder every time a 
 small amount of feed is added to their ration. Not expect- 
 ing that the limit of capacity is so near when response to 
 increased feed is so marked, the cow is overfed before her 
 Aveakness is recognized. 
 
 Great as may be the development of all other parts if 
 the significance of the nervous temperament is overlooked 
 the cow will simply loaf and there will be neither greatness 
 of production nor persistency. And in the same manner 
 a circulatory system of the right sort dove-tails with the 
 other essentials. 
 
 When this system is sluggish or developed in such 
 a way that it carries the blood to other parts of the body 
 than the udder there will be a rapidly decreasing milk flow 
 as soon as the maternal instincts of the cov/ have passed their 
 state of greatest stimulation. 
 
 No Point Can Be Overlooked 
 
 Therefore in selecting and breeding cows it must be 
 borne in mind that as important as any four of the essential 
 points may be the}^ are to a great degree worthless unless 
 accompanied by the fifth. 
 
 Careful consideration of all the characteristics indicative 
 of these essentials will by experience in their use aid greatly 
 in selecting and breeding cattle of the useful sort and many 
 counterfeits that might otherwise find their way into the 
 herd may be discovered before it is too late. 
 
 To avoid confusion and the overlooking of one or more of 
 the significant indices of development or the lack of it in 
 any part it is well to acquire a systematic method of examin- 
 i'lo- the animal. 
 
 Examining the Animal 
 
 It is always advisable to take in the general appearance 
 of the animal first for in many instances this is all that is 
 necessary. To the experienced eye the first impression 
 
 [13] 
 
[14] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 shows it to be faulty in one or more of the essential qualities. 
 This first impression is always gained with greatest ac- 
 curacy from a reasonable distance while the animal is stand- 
 ing or walking broadside to the observer. It is at this time 
 that constitution and capacity are most plainly revealed, 
 and never will a skillful judge decide between the com- 
 parative excellence of two animals that are closely matched 
 until he has observed them in this manner. As a rule 
 if the first impression is favorable it is well to walk slowly 
 around the animal studying it in the same manner on all 
 sides remembering that all animals do not present the same 
 appearance on both sides. This examination requires but 
 a very short time and if it has proven satisfactory and a 
 further study of the animal is desirable it is well to step 
 quietly to the head. After noting all indications presented 
 there the observer may walk slowly along the side and, as he 
 goes by, noting the form of the neck and by passing the hand 
 firmly along the shoulder and backward along the spinal 
 column he learns the character of these regions. With the 
 other hand he can lift the hide and at once there will be con- 
 veyed to his mind the condition that obtains and after no 
 great amount of experience he will find that different ani- 
 mals leave with him varying impressions as to quality in 
 this respect. 
 
 Hips and Rump 
 
 The comparative width across the hips and length in 
 the rump is usually apparent enough so it may be deter- 
 mined by the eye rather than by measurement with the arms 
 although in cases where animals are nearly the same in these 
 parts the latter procedure is sometimes advisable. By stand- 
 ing immediately behind the animal an impression of the 
 conformation of the hind quarters is obtained and all nec- 
 essary information relating to the length and quality of the 
 tail can at this time be quickly gathered. 
 
 Mammary System 
 
 The examination of the mammary system should now 
 take place and if possible should be made in detail by the 
 use of both the senses of sight and touch for many are the 
 indications of ability that escape the eye and as a rule enough 
 mistakes occur where both faculties are put to work. In 
 completing the examination of a cow it is always advisable 
 to milk or see some one else milk her in order to determine 
 certainly that there are no defects that are not apparent 
 when the udder is full. 
 
 [IS] 
 
Width across the hips and through the thur'.s 
 
 [16] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 Milk the Cow 
 
 More than one judge of wide reputation has given first 
 and championship prizes to cows of very inferior merit be- 
 cause he was so confident of his knowledge that he believed 
 it useless to have them milked before completing the ex- 
 amination. ]\Iany a man has purchased a cow and never dis- 
 covered her worthlessness in one or more quarters of her 
 udder until she has been paid for and no recourse remained. 
 
 During the examination the observer should proceed 
 promptly but he should not hurry. Although alert to dis- 
 cover the lesson told by each part he should go about his 
 Avork in a manner so careful and quiet that at no time will he 
 disturb the animal under consideration. 
 
 After considerable experience has been obtained little 
 time is consumed in the process and it is well to acquire 
 the habit of learning wdth certainty all that is to be known 
 of the animal in the shortest possible time and to decide 
 upon its merits without too much deliberation for there is 
 a danger of the judgment tiring. When this is the case 
 wonder and guessing enter into all decisions rendering them 
 either questionable or faulty. 
 
 im 
 
An open well distended nostril 
 
 [18] 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Constitution of the Cow 
 
 Of all farm animals the dairy cow is the hardest worked. 
 She labors night and day gathering, consuming, digesting 
 and assimilating food and converting the nutrients into milk 
 and butter-fat. Morning and night she returns to her own- 
 er an amount of finished product which accounts for all 
 the nutrients contained in the food she has eaten minus 
 those that have been absolutely required to keep her body in 
 a healthy and thrifty working condition and to nourish the 
 unborn calf that she may be developing to perpetuate her 
 kind. From the standpoint of results, if she be a truly pro- 
 ductive cow she will yield greater returns to her owner 
 measured in food values than any other animal he may 
 keep. 
 
 Cow Compared With Steer 
 
 A noticeable example of this fact is cited by Prof. Eckles 
 of the Missouri experiment station. Princess Carlotta, a Hol- 
 stein cow under his supervision, produced in one year 18,405 
 pounds of milk which was found to contain more human food 
 than is contained in the complete carcasses of four steers 
 weighing 1,250 pounds each. The following table gives the 
 comparative composition of the substances found in the 
 cow's volume of milk and the steer's carcass : 
 
 18,405 lbs. milk. 1,250-lb. steer 
 
 Proteid 552 lbs. 172 lbs. 
 
 Fat 618 lbs. 333 lbs. 
 
 Sugar 920 lbs. ... lbs. 
 
 Ash 128 lbs. 43 lbs. 
 
 Total 2,218 lbs. 548 lbs. 
 
 The whole of the milk solids was digestible but this was 
 not true with the solid material in the steer's carcass, for the 
 548 pounds is the record of the dry matter and includes 
 hair and hide, bones and tendons, organs of digestion and 
 respiration ; in fact the entire animal, a large portion of which 
 is not edible. 
 
 Quoting Prof, Eckles : "The analysis of the steer's car- 
 cass was made from samples taken after grinding up to- 
 gether one half of the complete carcass and is not in any 
 sense an estimation of the composition of the carcass. 
 
 [19] 
 
A well sprung front rib 
 
 [20] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 "Princess Carlotta produced proteids sufficient for more 
 than three steers ; nearly fat enough for two ; ash enough to 
 build the skeleton for three, and in addition, produced 920 
 pounds of milk sugar worth as much per pound for food as 
 ordinary sugar. 
 
 "These figures show the remarkable efficiency of the 
 cow as a producer of human food. It is because of this 
 economical use of food that the dairy cow and not the steer 
 is kept on high priced lands. When land is cheap and feed 
 abundant the meat producing animals predominate, but 
 when the land becomes high in value and feed expensive the 
 farmer turns to the dairy cow." 
 
 Continual Production Demands Vitality 
 
 To accomplish such enormous results and to continue 
 year after year for 10 or 15 years, which represents the work- 
 ing lifetime of a good cow, necessitates that she have a most 
 rugged constitution and much vitality. 
 
 But, great production is not the only tax upon the con- 
 stitution that is required to keep her in working condition 
 throughout a busy lifetime. Nearly half of the time if she 
 lives north of the fortieth degree of latitude she is stabled 
 and in the majority of cases her home is far from being 
 a healthful place. Oftentimes her stall is in the basement 
 of a barn that years ago was built for other purposes and in- 
 variably her quarters are devoid of windows, rendering 
 them dark, damp and poorly ventilated. PVom one year to 
 the other no sun light penetrates the air in which she is com- 
 pelled to exist during the winter. 
 
 Germ life flourishes. Only the cows with the greatest 
 constitutions are able to resist the germs of tuberculosis, 
 contagious abortion, pneumonia, garget and other diseases 
 with which dairy herds suffer. 
 
 Large and Small Cows Equally Susceptible 
 
 Very often the dairyman discriminates against one 
 breed or another because he believes that particular breed 
 to be more susceptible to tuberculosis than others. His be- 
 lief is based largely upon the fact that the breed in ques- 
 tion is small in size. Nothing could be farther from logic 
 for were it true that large cows had greater constitutions 
 than small ones then it would be likewise true that large 
 men are stronger in constitution than small men. It makes 
 little difiference how large a cow is, if she be housed in a 
 
 C21] 
 
[22] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 dark, damp, poorly ventilated barn where the sun never en- 
 ters she is just as liable to become diseased as a small cow 
 for the disease germs are without doubt present in great 
 numbers. Likewise it may be true that it matters little how 
 small the cow is if the organs vital to constitution are great- 
 ly developed in proportion to the other parts of the body 
 she will more likely resist disease than a larger cow weaker 
 proportionately in these constitutional parts. 
 
 Large Volume of Air Essential 
 
 Strength of constitution depends primarily upon the 
 amount of pure fresh air that enters the body and the man- 
 ner in which it is utilized by the lungs in purifying the 
 blood. 
 
 If the nostrils, the trachea, or windpipe, and other cham- 
 bers through which the air travels on its way to the lungs 
 are large, open and well distended the volume of air enter- 
 ing the body will be large and thus far the indications will 
 point to healthfulness. 
 
 Oxygen alone purifies blood, and fresh air is the only 
 medium in which it is conveyed to the blood. Every par- 
 ticle of air that reaches the lungs and comes in contact with 
 the bipod passes first through the nostrils and later through 
 the wind pipe. If these channels are small one of two 
 things happens ; either a small volume of air enters or the 
 cow must breathe more rapidly than the cow with a large 
 nostril. Observation teaches, however, that the respiration, 
 of one cow is not perceptibly more rapid than that of an- 
 other. Therefore the conclusion may properly be drawn 
 that the cow with the small nostril does not take into her 
 lungs the great amount of air that the cow with the large, 
 open and dilated nostrils and windpipe does. 
 
 Capacity of Thorax 
 
 Quite as important as an indication of vigorous consti- 
 tution is the size and capaciousness of the thorax or the 
 chamber in which the heart and lungs are located. Small- 
 ness or lack of development in this part of the body pro- 
 hibits greatness of heart and lung development resulting in 
 limited stamina, vigor and ruggedness. To insure ample 
 room for the fullest growth of the heart and lungs the 
 cow should be extremely deep from the top of the shoulder 
 to the floor of the chest, fairly broad in the chest, deep in 
 the region of the heart girth and well sprung in the fore 
 rib. Cows that are at once narrow and shallow in the chest 
 cavity, tucked up and pinched in the space occupied by the 
 
 [23] 
 
f24] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 heart are always troublesome and never persistent feeders 
 or producers. 
 
 Although reasonable breadth of chest is to be desired 
 the mistake is sometimes made in laying too much stress 
 upon its value and, to attain breadth, other more necessary 
 requirements are sacrificed. 
 
 It should be remembered that although the beef animal 
 and draft horse gain their constitution in breadth of chest 
 to a greater extent than by depth the opposite is true of 
 the running horse and the dairy cow and just as truly as the 
 horse bred for speed is endowed with constitution as great 
 as or greater than the larger and heavier draft horse so 
 does the dairy cow compare with the beef animal. 
 
 In fact no less authority than Gov. W. D. Hoard makes 
 the statement that upon following fifty head of animals 
 to the block he found that the heart and lungs of the dairy 
 cow were larger and weighed more than did those of beef 
 animals with which they were compared. 
 
 Eyes and Horns 
 
 Although of less importance than the considerations 
 already discussed it may be said that usually the cow with 
 eyes that are bright, prominent and clear and horns that are 
 rather heavy at the base and tapering gradually to a point 
 is more vigorous than the one with the dull sunken eyes 
 and horns that are almost as small at their base as near the 
 point. Certainly it is true that diseases of the heart and 
 lungs in advanced stages are accompanied by dull, expres- 
 sionless and oftentimes sunken eyes and to the careful ob- 
 server the first symptoms of weakness and disease become ap- 
 parent in the appearance of the eyes. On the other hand 
 the character of the horns and eyes may be and as a rule is 
 a truer indication of other conditions obtaining and does not 
 denote constitution with the same infallibility as do the 
 organs of respiration. 
 
 One may rest assured that if the vital parts are large 
 as compared with other parts of the body and the animal 
 has been permitted to breathe fresh pure air not infected 
 with disease germs during her whole life it is quite perfect 
 in one of the essential requirements. 
 
 [25] 
 
Medium sized incurving horns 
 
 [26] 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 Capacity 
 
 The capacity of the dairy cow refers to the total amount 
 of food she can consume and digest in a given time with- 
 out injuring her future usefuhiess. It depends upon the 
 size and strength of her organs of prehension, mastication 
 and digestion. 
 
 According to Prof. Henry 60 per cent of all the cow 
 can eat is required to sustain her body and only after this 
 amount is provided can there be any return to the feeder. 
 This being true it is evident that the greater the capacity 
 of the cow the greater will be the amount of return repre- 
 sented by the 40 per cent. 
 
 Capacious cows are always more ravenous feeders than 
 cows lacking in the development of this characteristic and for 
 this reason less difficult to feed. It is seldom that the feed- 
 er who uses judgment experiences trouble from ssuch ani- 
 mals "going ofif feed" or sickening from the efifects of heavy 
 feeding, but cows that are limited in the amount of food 
 they can handle are a continual source of worry when one 
 attempts to tax them to the limit of their powers of pro 
 duction. Furthermore the cow with great capacity accord- 
 ing to her size is a more economical producer than the less 
 capacious cow who as a rule is a more dainty feeder, for she 
 former will eat foods rougher in character and these are often 
 cheaper. 
 
 The Heavily Taxed Organs 
 
 More apparent still becomes the importance of great- 
 ness and strength of feeding and digestive capacity when 
 the fact is recalled that of all parts of the body these organs 
 are most heavily taxed when the animal undergoes heavy 
 feeding and as a rule they are the parts that first give way 
 under the strain of hard work of long duration such as is 
 demanded of the cow when her eflforts are commercial- 
 ized. 
 
 In this respect she differs greatly from the beef steer 
 which enters the feed-lot. He undergoes heavy feeding for 
 a period of from four months to a year at the most and is 
 sent to the shambles but the cow to be a desirable individu- 
 al must feed on and put to profitable use her food year after 
 year throughout a long life time without taking time to rest 
 
 [27] 
 
[28] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 from feeding. Even though there is a short time each year 
 when the cow gives little or no milk, she must maintain her 
 own body and nourish the offspring with which she is soon 
 to present her owner. These functions establish an addi- 
 tional demand upon her to consume heavily of food at this 
 time for she must build up the tissues of her own body 
 and that of the unborn calf so she may freshen strong and in 
 good condition for the next year's butter producing cam- 
 paign in which she must make good. 
 
 Large Mouth Indicates a Good Feeder 
 
 So well do experienced feeders of all classes of farm 
 animals realize that the animal with the large mouth is a 
 good feeder that this qualification has come to be one of the 
 recognized indications of capacity. The animal with a small 
 pointed mouth and a small muzzle is always difficult to 
 feed, being dainty and indifferent to the efforts of the feeder 
 to tempt its appetite. Associated with the small mouth is 
 a corresponding smallness of nostril ; a detraction from the 
 desired facial features. 
 
 Thorough mastication of the food is very necessary for 
 it is not only the action of grinding the food but it is during 
 mastication that the first process of digestion takes place. 
 It is when the cow chews her cud that the saliva secreted 
 by glands entering the mouth is mixed with the food, chang- 
 ing starches to sugar and beginning the many chemical 
 changes that take place before the food can be assimilated. 
 For these reasons strong jaws of well defined width and 
 depth are desirable. Weakness in these parts indicates poor 
 feeding qualities to quite as great an extent as does a small 
 mouth and is to be guarded against. 
 
 A careful study of the different processes and the many 
 organs involved in digesting the food after it has left the 
 mouth as well as a consideration, of the great amount of food 
 nutrients necessary for the maintenance of the animal and 
 for great milk production points to the significance of an 
 adequate and roomy space where the foods may be stored 
 and digestion carried on. 
 
 Large Barrel 
 
 This entails a large barrel, one that is long, broad and 
 deep. These specifications are insured by length from the 
 shoulder to the hip bone, broad, flat, well sprung, deep ribs. 
 
 On the other hand it often occurs that close coupled 
 cows, those with short bodies that are broad and deep are 
 
 [29] 
 
[30] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 excellent feeders and good producers and if there is to be 
 any sacrifice made in the dimensions of the barrel it is bet- 
 ter that length rather than any of the other proportions be 
 overlooked. 
 
 The cow that is long of body, slab-sided and shallow 
 ribbed is seldom, if ever, satisfactory either as a feeder or 
 as a great and economical producer of milk products or of 
 offspring. Even though she may yield well for a short time 
 she is not persistent and she soon declines in her milk flow. 
 Any efforts to stimulate greater production result in her 
 leaving her food or sickening with indigestion of one kind 
 or another because of insufficient capacity. 
 
 Not only is it important that the cow be capable of con- 
 suming a great amount of food at one time but it is very 
 important that every possible ounce of the food she takes 
 into her body be digested and assimilated. No portion of 
 the food is used for any purpose except the nutrients which 
 the digestive apparatus liberates in a form suitable for the 
 blood to absorb. All other portions pass on and are wasted, 
 wasted. 
 
 It may be that some cows although voracious feeders 
 and large of barrel do not utilize the food they eat in the 
 efficient 'manner necessary for economy of production. 
 
 Efficiency as Important as Size 
 
 Strength, power and efficiency of the digestive apparatus 
 are factors quite as important as size. They may be, and 
 quite likely are, of more importance. 
 
 The condition and efficiency of the organs of digestion 
 may be determined by the handling qualities of the animal. 
 By carefully lifting the hide from the body there is at once 
 conveyed to the touch one of two sets of conditions ; either 
 the hide is soft, pliable and elastic and the hair covering it 
 soft and silky— or the hide is hard, stiff and so tightly drawn 
 over the body that it is impossible to lift it away from the 
 ribs. Such hide is usually covered with hair that is coarse, 
 harsh and wiry; standing out from the body rather than ly- 
 ing smoothly. When the former condition exists, not only 
 quality of all parts of the body is indicated but an efficient 
 digestive tract is also assured. The animal will consume its 
 food, digest it quickly and be ready for more. But when 
 the hide is covered with harsh, wiry hair there is something 
 wrong with the digestive apparatus either temporarily or 
 permanently and even though the animal is a gross feeder 
 the best use will not be made of the food. 
 
 [31] 
 
[32] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 Texture of the Hide 
 
 The expert show yard judge during the course of his 
 examination of the animals before him always lifts the hide 
 from each and by the sense of touch studies the quality of 
 the animal and determines by the texture of the hide and 
 hair that which he cannot see with his eyes ; the strength, 
 power and efficiency of the digestive organs. He realizes that 
 the skin of the animal is a continuation of the inner and 
 vital organs the condition of which is reflected through the 
 outer medium. That these indications are more practical 
 than theoretical any successful feeder will assert for he has 
 noticed that the first indication that a cow is reaching the 
 limit of her feeding capacity is not when she begins leaving 
 feed in her manger or when her voidings assume an unnat- 
 ural condition but when the eye gets dull and the hair be- 
 gins standing out from the body and becomes harsh to the 
 touch. If these first warnings are not heeded then it is that 
 the cow begins leaving her food and soon the softness and 
 pliability have left her hide and it becomes tight, hard and 
 stiff. 
 
 True it is that care and feeding have much to do with 
 the condition of the hide and hair and likewise they have 
 much to do with affecting the digestive organs and the 
 method of care and feeding that adds tone to the vital organs 
 makes itself known to the touch of the judge. In other 
 words those parts that can be seen and felt indicate the con- 
 dition of the invisible organs rather than vice versa. 
 
 It is, of course, well to secure in one and the same ani- 
 mal both size and power of digestion but if the necessity 
 presents itself of sacrificing a portion of one or the other, 
 then digestive power should have preference. The large 
 barreled cow of poor quality will consume a large amount 
 of food at one time but because of her sluggishness will 
 waste a portion of it but the cow active in digestive traits 
 eating less at a time, but oftener, will eat fully as much if 
 not more on the whole, only recpiiring longer to do so and 
 she will make better use of it in keeping up the condition 
 of her own body and in yielding milk products. 
 
 [33] 
 
[34] 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 Nervous Temperament 
 
 The term nervous temperament used in referring to the 
 disposition of the cow means the inherent propensity to 
 work, to eat food, digest it and convert every available 
 ounce of it not required for maintenance into milk products. 
 Nervous temperament does not imply that the cow is ner- 
 vous in the generally accepted meaning of the term nor does 
 it mean that she is excitable, fretful or hard to manage, but 
 that she is especially strong in the development of the ner- 
 vous system. It naturally follows that such an animal is al- 
 ways alert, active and responds readily to all surroundings 
 whether they be favorable or adverse. 
 
 It is this nervous temperament that enables the dairy 
 cow to endure for a long period greater work than her form, 
 appearance and size would indicate. It is the quality that 
 gives the Arabian horse the endurance which enables him to 
 make long journeys with little food and water and the same 
 characteristic is termed stamina when found in the horse 
 bred for speed. In the dairy cow this trait stimulates the 
 function of milk making. 
 
 Lymphatic Temperament 
 
 There is another temperament that is found in beef 
 breeds — and often — in fact too often — in individuals of the 
 dairy breeds, termed the lymphatic temperament. Such an 
 animal is sluggish in disposition, inclined toward laziness, 
 with an inborn tendency to convert its food into fat and sel- 
 fishly distribute it over its body. This temperament is one 
 of the essentials to look for in selecting profitable feeding 
 steers and is a point well recognized by experienced cattle 
 feeders for they know that the steer which fattens readily is 
 the one that gorges himself at the feed bunk, lies down and 
 chews his cud contentedly with absolutely no consideration 
 for what goes on around him until another feeding time rolls 
 around and he hears the nubbins being broken over the side 
 of the feed bunk when he arises, stretches himself and lazi- 
 ly and deliberately walks over to his source of food supply. 
 
 Cows of this disposition are an unprofitable kind indeed 
 when compared with the one that at feeding time stands 
 at the gate or in her stall and bawls for her feed or at the 
 
 [35] 
 
[36] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 call of her master breaks into a run in her haste to reach the 
 feed and fill the milk pail and when her meal is finished 
 shakes her head and wishes for more. 
 
 Loafers 
 
 From the dairy standpoint cows with lymphatic tem- 
 perament are loafers and as a rule do not produce enough 
 milk and butter-fat to pay for the feed they eat, for it must be 
 remembered that all food converted into fat that is distributed 
 over the cow's body when she should be giving milk is 
 wasted from the dairyman's standpoint. The great need of 
 the American dairyman is to sort out and get rid of these 
 low producers. In the bovine family as in the human family 
 they never pay for their own board. Some friend or relative 
 must do that for them. 
 
 There are many indications of nervous temperament. 
 Chief among these is a face that is broad between the eyes 
 and a long broad forehead which may taper to the poll. It is 
 in this region that the. brain is located. It is the brain that 
 controls the nervous system which in turn governs all 
 functions of the cow ; among these are digestion, blood cir- 
 culation and milk secretion. If the face and forehead of the 
 cow are narrow there is sufficient indication that the brain ca- 
 pacity is limited and that the brain itself is small and the 
 control over the nervous system is limited. Nervousness 
 more likely results than nervous temperament. 
 
 Temperament Reflected by the Eye 
 
 Temperament is always reflected in the eye of an ani- 
 mal. A large, bright, prominent, placid, alert eye with an in- 
 telligent expression gives assurance of nervous tempera- 
 ment. In the same manner the dull, sluggish, receding eye 
 even though it may or may not have an intelligent expres- 
 sion denotes the sluggish temperament. No experienced 
 judge of human or bovine nature overlooks the story the eye 
 tells. It is well for the feeder and breeder of cattle to be ob- 
 serving at all times of the lessons that may be learned from 
 the eyes of his animals. 
 
 From the brain the spinal cord passes backward through 
 the spinal vertebra or back bone Open jointedness and 
 freedom' from fat indicate nervous temperament as repre- 
 sented by these parts. The statement is often made that the 
 spinal processes should be large and rugged indicating good 
 development of spinal cord. Anatomists of authority, how- 
 ever, assert that the higher the position an animal occupies 
 
 [37] 
 
[38] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 in the scale of intelligence the smaller and lighter the cord 
 relatively. It is therefore true that if the size of the spinal 
 processes are an indication of the size and weight of the spinal 
 cord they likewise indicate a lack of size and weight of the 
 brain and less intelligence. Judging from this, smaller and 
 more refined spinal vertebrae would seem to be more de- 
 sirable as indicative of greater brain power and nervous 
 temperament. 
 
 Freedom from Fat 
 
 Prominent hips and ribs that are apparent to the eye 
 and freedom from beefiness or superfluous fat over the entire 
 body are all important indications for they denote that the 
 nervous temperament has stimulated the conversion of the 
 food into milk and butter-fat rather than into beef which 
 would be the case if the animal was endowed with a lym- 
 phatic temperament. Add to these points style, activity and 
 freedom of carriage, alertness and consciousness of all sur- 
 roundings and you may guarantee that the cow possessing 
 these is a worker and if the other four essential points are 
 present she will, when given an opportunity, be a source of 
 profit to her owner. 
 
 To the great development of nervous temperament pos- 
 sessed by Dairymaid of Pinehurst, whose butter record is 
 1,003 pounds as a three year-old, her owner attributed to 
 a large degree her marvelous production. 
 
 Not only does she possess all the points referred to, in- 
 dicating that she is a worker, but see her when you will, . 
 if she is not feeding she is chewing her cud which is merely 
 the act of masticating and mixing with saliva the food she 
 has gathered and has just found time to chew. So thorough- 
 ly does her owner believe that nervous temperament or dis- 
 position to work continuously is one of the great attributes 
 of a great cow that when he attempts to select a cow for 
 phenomenal production, he takes his time after considering 
 other points, sits around and watches the actions of the an- 
 mal. He learns whether she is a worker or a loafer by not- 
 mg whether she works or loafs. Perhaps this is one of the 
 valuable lessons Dairymaid has taught. Certainly it is true 
 that the most valuable lessons that can be learned about 
 selectmg cows are taught by the cows themselves or by a 
 close comparison of good and poor individuals. 
 
 [39] 
 
[401 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Blood Circulation 
 
 After the cow has eaten and digested her food the next 
 process is that of absorption or the picking up of the nu- 
 trients, carrying and distributing" them over the body where 
 they belong according to the function of the animaL 
 
 In this respect the blood circulating to all parts of the 
 body plays no small part in the great general plan the cow 
 adheres to in making milk. 
 
 It is interesting to study the manner in which cattle 
 accomplish the purpose for which they are kept. At feed- 
 ing time or during the day when the cow is on pasture she 
 first gathers her food and bolts or swallows it, because she 
 is too busy at that time to masticate it. The food in this 
 condition passes into the first stomach which serves largely 
 in the ruminant as a storehouse for the food. When the 
 cow finds time she regurgitates the feed she has secured dur- 
 ing her busier hours and masticates it which is usually 
 termed, "the chewing of the cud." Then it is re-swallowed, 
 further moistened, softened and refined, finally reaching the 
 fourth stomach and later the intestines. During this course 
 it comes in contact with different digestive fluids such as the 
 gastric juice, the bile, the pancreatic juice and the intestinal 
 juices which have the power of taking from the food those 
 nutrients that are digestible and converting them into a 
 form to be picked up by the blood for absorption. It is 
 then thct the importance of the blood circulation asserts itself, 
 picking up and transporting, so to speak, the nutrients 
 which have been digested from the food. The blood acts as 
 a carrier and a distributer of these nutrients. 
 
 Every feeder of farm animals should be conversant with 
 the entire process of digestion, assimilation and the distri- 
 bution of food nutrients. The subject is of great impor- 
 tance and complete discussion of it would make a book in 
 itself. 
 
 Up to the time when the blood of the animal starts on 
 its course of transporting the digested nutrients, the work 
 of the beef animal and the dairy animal are largely the same, 
 but at this point their paths divide and the remaining uses 
 of the food greatly differ. In the beef animal the blood for 
 the most part carries the digested nutrients, after utilizing 
 those necessary for the maintenance of the body, to the.- top 
 
 [41] 
 
A net work of veins on the udder 
 
 [42] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 regions of the animal. Here they are distributed in the 
 form of beef and fat over the shoulders, chin, back, loin, ribs, 
 rump, thighs and twist. There is a reason for this. For 
 hundreds of years there have been successful breeders of 
 beef cattle who have striven to create an animal that would 
 consume a great volume of food, digest and carry it to those 
 portions of the body where it is assimilated and manufac- 
 tured into beef. They have bred animals for this purpose 
 because they have been advised that the aim of all their ef- 
 forts in creating pure bred beef cattle is the steer and his 
 end is the block. Through the packer they have learned 
 that the most valuable cuts of the beef animal are to be se- 
 cured from the portion of the animal above a line drawn 
 through the longitudinal middle of the body. This the pack- 
 er has learned from the retailer who, in turn, has learned 
 that the consumer appreciates and is willing to pay larger 
 prices for cuts secured from these parts than for those from 
 the underline known as chuck and flank steaks. 
 
 Milk Production Sacrificed 
 
 The breeder of beef cattle has been very successful in 
 his operations and the market toppers and prize winning 
 show steers and other beef animals of the present day show 
 yards have been the result. Milk has been sacrificed be- 
 cause the milk making nutrients which are largely the same 
 as beef making nutrients have been carried to other parts of 
 the body than that where milk is manufactured, for a cow 
 never made a pound of milk in any part of the body 
 except the udder. 
 
 On the other hand, over in Holland and on the Jersey 
 Isles, the Guernsey Isles and in the County of Ayr, Scot- 
 land there have been breeders equally intelligent who for 
 even a greater length of time have striven to create an ani- 
 mal that would consume a great volume of food, digest and 
 assimilate it and send the digested nutrients around to the 
 udder where the manufacturing process of milk and butter- 
 fat production are carried on. That they have been suc- 
 cessful in their operations is evidenced by such cows 
 as Colantha 4th's Johanna, Pietertje Maid Ormsby, Ja- 
 coba Irene, Olga 4th's Pride, Adelaide of Beechlands, Yeksa 
 Sunbeam, Dairymaid of Pinehurst, Dolly Dimple, Rosaire's 
 Olga and Netherhall Brownie 9th. This, of course, has 
 been accomplished by sacrificing the production of beef in 
 the same manner as the successful creator of beef animals 
 has sacrificed the production of milk. Experiments that 
 have been conducted show that the dairy bred steer will 
 
 [43] 
 
Prof. Hugh G. Van Pelt giving his dairy cow demo 
 
tion at the Oklahoma College of Agriculture 
 
Large veins carrying a plentiful flow of blood through the udder 
 
 [46] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 make as great an amount of gain from a given amount of 
 feed as will a beef bred animal, and to this extent, from the 
 standpoint of making beef, the dairy bred animal is quite as 
 profitable as the beef bred animal ; but owing to the fact that 
 for generation after generation his ancestors have been 
 bred for the purpose of sending digested food nutrients to 
 the underline of the body rather than to the top line, when 
 he reaches the market he is found to be profitless. He is 
 therefore discriminated against to the extent of several cents 
 per pound by the packer who knows that choice steaks are 
 not and never will be secured from the underline of the steer 
 or from the inside fat and tallow. But the steer is not to 
 blame. He did just what his inherent characteristics com- 
 pelled him to do. Too many generations had the blood of 
 his ancestors flowed to the underline of the body for him 
 or his master to change the course. 
 
 The Cow Not a Mysterious Being 
 
 Neither can the cow whose ancestors for hundreds of 
 years have been selected and bred for the special purpose of 
 beef production be blamed because she does not produce 
 milk as profitably as dairy cows. If the dairyman will per- 
 mit himself to consider for a moment he will realize that the 
 cow is really not a mysterious being and it is absolutely 
 impossible for her to manufacture out of a given amount 
 of feed both milk and beef at the same time. True it is that 
 a portion of her food may be manufactured into beef and a 
 portion of it into milk but it is certain that every pound of 
 feed which is manufactured into beef while the cow is milk- 
 ing is absolutely lost and wasted from the standpoint of milk 
 and butter-fat production and every pound of feed that is manu- 
 factured into milk and butter-fat is absolutely lost and wast- 
 ed from the standpoint of beef production. 
 
 Thus it is that the direction in which the blood flows 
 after picking up the milk making nutrients is of important 
 consideration for the feeder of dairy cows. Likewise the 
 volume of blood which circulates past the digestive appara- 
 tus and, in turn, through the udder or milk making factory 
 has much to do with the amount of milk and butter-fat pro- 
 duced. For if the volume of blood be great and the cow 
 well fed, the volume of nutrients will be great; and, in turn, 
 if the milk making cells are efificient and numerous, the vol- 
 ume of milk will be large. 
 
 The volume of circulating blood and the direction in 
 which it flows are indicated by the escutcheon, mammary 
 veins and milk wells. 
 
 [47] 
 
[48] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 The Escutcheon 
 
 The escutcheon is that portion of the hind quarters 
 above the udder where the hair grows upward. At each 
 side of the escutcheon the hair grows in the opposite di- 
 rection. It is a theory, and probably true, that the 
 reason why the hair on this portion of the body grows in 
 the opposite direction is because it is nourished by the large 
 arteries passing into the udder while the hair on each 
 side is nourished by other blood vessels in the same manner 
 as the hair on other parts of the body. There was a time 
 when judges of dairy cattle paid a great deal more attention 
 to the size and shape of the escutcheon than they do at the 
 present, because they probably had not yet realized that a 
 much simpler and perhaps a truer method of determining 
 the volume' of blood passing through the udder was by the 
 mammary veins. 
 
 The escutcheon that is long and wide, extending down 
 over a portion of the udder, is an indication of a large 
 amount of blood passing into the udder, taking with it large 
 amounts of nutrients. The mammary veins are found pass- 
 ing forward along the underline of the cow from the udder 
 toward the shoulder pits. Every cow has two of these 
 veins, one on each side. On some cows these veins are 
 short, straight and small. On others they are large, long, 
 tortuous and branched. In one case only a small amount of 
 blood is passing through the udder while in the other in- 
 stance the indication is that there has been an extremely 
 large volume of blood flowing in the proper direction for 
 milk production. 
 
 Mammary Veins 
 
 Cows dififer very greatly in development of mammary 
 veins. Some have a third vein termed a center extension 
 passing forward along the center of the belly. At the end 
 of each of these veins there is a hole in the abdomen through 
 which the blood passes back on its way to the heart and 
 lungs for purification and to be pumped back again on its 
 former route past the digestive apparatus and around through 
 the udder to other portions of the body where it carries nutri- 
 ents for the maintenance of the animal. These small holes in 
 the abdomen are called milk wells. If the vein is small, only 
 a small milk well will be found at the end. If the flow of blood 
 is sufficiently great the mammary veins become developed to 
 greater proportions and in turn the milk wells are large. 
 Oftentimes one well is not enough for each vein and then a 
 portion of the blood passes into the first milk well, the 
 
 [49] 
 
rso] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 overflow passing to a second well, sometimes a third and 
 occasionally a fourth or a fifth well. Such veins are known 
 as double extension veins. It is quite often that cows have 
 double extension veins on one side of the animal and occa- 
 sionally they are found on both sides. Many times the 
 veins branch, running back and forth across the abdomen 
 and extending upward on her sides and forward in certain 
 cases even as far as the shoulder pits. Invariably the great- 
 er the development of the mammary veins designated by 
 their length, size and tortuousness, the larger and more nu- 
 merous the milk wells, the more productive the cow. There 
 are a few who disagree with this opinion but it is only neces- 
 sary to examine the abdomen of every cow that has been 
 largely productive as compared with those that are un- 
 productive to agree that much importance should be based 
 upon the mammary veins and milk wells, circulation of blood 
 and production. I have never seen an extremely good cow 
 whose system of mammary veins and wells was not ex- 
 tremely well developed and I have never seen a really poor 
 cow with a great mammary system. It has been my pleas- 
 ure to examine such cows as Colantha 4th's Johanna, Jacoba 
 Irene, Dairymaid of Pinehurst and Financial Countess and 
 without exception their veining is tremendous. 
 
 Milk Wells 
 
 In the instance of Colantha 4th's Johanna the entire 
 abdomen is covered with veins ranging in size from that of 
 a man's thuinb to that of his wrist, terminating in numer- 
 ous wells which, in turn, range in size sufficiently large for 
 the insertion of a man's thumb to those only large enough 
 for the insertion of the small finger. These indices point 
 to the fact that a wonderful volume of blood has passed 
 through the udder. Common sense bespeaks the necessity, 
 when it is remembered that in the case of Colantha 4th's Jo- 
 hanna there was a yield in one year of 27,432.5 pounds of 
 milk containing 1,247.95 pounds of butter. In her case, as 
 in the case of every other good cow, it would matter little how 
 great her constitution, how capacious her digestive appa- 
 ratus or how strenuous a worker she might have been, had 
 the greater percentage of her blood flowed to the top of her 
 back, carrying with it the nutrients extracted from her food 
 she would never have produced the wonderful volume of 
 milk and butter-fat which she did ; and although she might 
 have been a profitable animal for the butcher she would have 
 been worth little in the dairy. 
 
 [51] 
 
[52] 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 Ability 
 
 Ability, used in describing the cow, refers to her powers 
 of performing her required function of milk giving. Al- 
 though ability is synonymous with capacity their difference 
 in meaning is great enough to justify their use in differ- 
 entiating between the cow's receptiveness for food and her 
 power for manufacturing the nutrient from the food into 
 milk products. 
 
 Given vigorous constitution, large capacity, nervous 
 temperament and copious blood flow to the lower regions 
 and the discription might apply equally as well to some 
 other animal as to the cow. It is the fifth point, ability to 
 produce milk that is the great distinctive maternal trait with 
 which nature has endowed all mothers to a degree great 
 enough to supply their babes with sustenance. This trait 
 has been developed in the cow by man to such abnormal pro- 
 portions that she has almost become an artificial being. 
 
 Milk Making 
 
 In all nature there is no demonstration of ability so in- 
 teresting to the dairyman as that exhibited by the udder in 
 taking from the blood, feed nutrients and, by a process un- 
 fathomable by man, manufacturing them into butter-fat, 
 casein and milk sugar, which are combined in certain well 
 regulated proportions with water and given off to supply 
 the necessities of her infant offspring and to add her mite 
 to the world's great milk supply. 
 
 Any indications, therefore, that denote efficiency in the 
 cow's specialty of milk giving must not be ignored. As 
 the whole of this important work is carried on in the udder, 
 this organ, with its accessories alone, remains as indication 
 of ability. 
 
 Size, form and texture of udder development are the 
 principal indices. Size should be sought in length and 
 breadth of udder rather than in depth, for several reasons. 
 Largeness of udder gained by depth results in a pendent 
 udder, one that hangs from the body and dangles or swings 
 between the legs. Such udders are disagreeable to milk. 
 When the cow lies down on the cold ground or cement floor 
 almost the whole of the appendage comes in contact with 
 the cold surface and garget or inflamed udders and spoiled 
 
 1531 
 
[54] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 quarters are more liable to occur. When the cow stands 
 ill or walks through muddy places the udder and teats get 
 wet and muddy and the least of the troubles that follow if 
 the weather is cold is that much of the mud finds its way into 
 tlie milk pail. 
 
 Deep Udder Objectionable 
 
 These difificulties can largely be overcome by good care 
 but the real vital disadvantage of the udder that is large, 
 because of its depth only, i.s that its joining surface with the 
 bc'dy is limited. Along the body pass the large arteries 
 through which is carried the materials for milk manufacture 
 and from these many small arteries pass downward into 
 and all through the udder. If the size is obtained by length 
 and breadth, a greater area of the udder comes in contact with 
 the large arteries and opportunity is presented for a greater 
 number of small arterial branches to be given ofif carrying 
 in them the blood laden with milk making nutrients to be 
 distributed among the numberless cells that form the work- 
 ing parts of the udder. 
 
 To be long the udder must be attached high behind and 
 carried far forward. There is no danger of the rear attach- 
 ment being too high nor the front attachment too far for- 
 ward. Cows with udders the front and rear attachments of 
 which are both to be found in between the hind legs are 
 never known as great producers of either milk or profits. 
 
 Width of udder development is determined by the con- 
 formation of the thighs. If encouraged by thin thighs that 
 are free from all signs of beefiness, they must curve out- 
 ward forming a broad well defined arch, which has its be- 
 ginning high, insuring breadth at the highest point where 
 the udder attaches. 
 
 Thin Thighs 
 
 Beefiness in the thighs as in any other part of the body 
 is to be guarded against so that in instances of cows with 
 well formed hind quarters the thigh can be measured with 
 the thumb and index finger. To recognize the importance 
 of this conformation one needs only to investigate the size 
 and form of the udder hung between beefy hind quarters. 
 Especially is this true with such pronounced beef making 
 proclivities as would excite the pride of the breeder of beef 
 cattle or give assurance that she was capable of winning 
 prizes in the show yard. Such a cow approaches the fulfill- 
 ment of the beef cattle breeder's slogan, "beef to the hocks." 
 Instead of being able to measure her thighs with the thumb 
 
 [55] 
 
[56] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 and finger both hands outstretched are required because of 
 the fleshy filling termed the twist that quite completely oc- 
 cupies the arch where the rear udder appears on the true 
 dairy cow. Were such a cow endowed with a well develop- 
 ed rear udder she would be at a loss to find a place to hang 
 it. 
 
 Misshapen Udders 
 
 Many cows have what are termed tilted udders — those 
 that are fully developed in the rear portions but greatly lack- 
 ing in the fore quarters. Slanting as such udders are from 
 the hind teats to the abdomen there is no suitable place for 
 the attachment of the front teats and they are set either 
 very close to the hind teats or on the slanting edge of the 
 udder. Such cows very often give from three-fifths to four- 
 fifths of their total volume of milk out of the rear quarters 
 and it is reasonable to believe that if the fore quarters of 
 the udder were equally developed much capacity would be 
 added to the udder and greater milk production result. 
 
 Pointed udders are even more objectionable for they are 
 more lacking in capacity. Such udders may be described 
 as being short in their rear attachment, extending down- 
 ward to a point from all sides where all four teats are placed 
 so close together that they have the appearance of origin- 
 ating or springing from the same hole. Cows of this char- 
 acter are disagreeable to milk and seldom yield profitably. 
 
 The quartered udder is the one that is divided by deep 
 fissures into apparent halves or quarters and is neither 
 sightly nor indicative of great production. 
 
 Cows of the Ayrshire breed are generally recognized as 
 having udders very nearly approaching perfection of form 
 and extremities of attachment. 
 
 The Desirable Form of Udder 
 
 Of all forms the udder most desiral)le is the one sym- 
 metrical and uniform in the development of each portion. 
 Each quarter and half should correspond with the other 
 and be so closely connected as to make the juncture almost 
 invisible. With size added to the udder of this form there 
 is ample room for the placement of four easily milked teats 
 of medium size set far apart, one on each corner. 
 
 Those who have had extensive experience with dairy 
 cows can call to mind some that had udders complying quite 
 closely with this description both in size and shape but they 
 were light producers and unprofitable. A careful examina- 
 tion would have revealed that their udders lacked quality 
 
 [57] 
 
[58] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 and texture. Instead of being made up of milk making cells 
 they were composed of fatty tissues, hard and resistant to 
 the touch and equally as large and well formed after milk- 
 ing as before. Udders of this character always point to a 
 worthless beast. As an indication of ability to yield largely 
 and economically the presence of quality and texture is all 
 important. Desirable as are all the qualities, size, shape, 
 texture and quality if any of them must for any reason be 
 sacrificed in the selection of a cow the two latter should be 
 retained at the expense of the former. 
 
 Quality of Udder 
 
 Texture is indicated by the handling qualities of the 
 udder and the hide and hair covering it and by the com- 
 parative appearance of the udder before and after milking. 
 The udder pliable and soft, yet firm to the touch, covered 
 with hide that is soft, unctuous and elastic, covered with 
 short, fine silky hair is usually of proper quality. Then if 
 large in the beginning it collapses during the process of 
 milking and the covering falls together in folds that are 
 plentiful, loose, soft and oily, all quarters of equal size and 
 shape there is no indication of poor quality. 
 
 Often cows are selected when they are dry and then it is 
 difBcult to determine definitely the size and shape that the 
 udder will assume when the animal freshens. The height of 
 attachment behind can be discovered but only approximately 
 how far it is carried forward. By the manner in which the 
 thighs are arched and curved the width of udder develop- 
 ment can be estimated but the examination of the udder does 
 not truly indicate the length and form that will appear when 
 the cow freshens As for the true length of udder the best 
 indication is the length from the hip bone to the pin bones. 
 When the cow is fresh and her udder is full a plumb bob 
 dropped downward from the point of the hip bone falls 
 immediately in front of the udder. Another dropped from 
 the pin bones falls immediately behind the udder. Conse- 
 quently, if the length from the hip bones to the pin bone 
 is great, the length of the udder will be correspondingly 
 great. 
 
 Short and Drooping Rump Undesirable 
 
 Cows short from the hip bone to the pin bone invari- 
 ably have short, pendent udders and likewise those long in. 
 these dimensions have udders that are attached high behind, 
 extending far forward' which are conditions always to be 
 desired. Many cows, though long in the rump, droop from the 
 
 [59] 
 
llie rump is a valuable index tu follow in selecting dry cows 
 
 [60] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 hip bones to the pin bones and are descril^ed by the expression 
 "drooping rumped." This conformation not only detracts 
 from the beauty of the cow but as a rule those cows which 
 droop at the rump also have tilted or slanting udders a 
 portion of which seems to have been cut away and this 
 naturall}^ detracts from the ability of the cow. 
 
 On the other hand those cows which carry out straight 
 from the hip bones to the pin l)ones have udders that are 
 straight on the bottom, symmetrical and carry well forward 
 with each quarter large and uniform in size. The fact that 
 the length of udder can be determined by the length from 
 the hip bones to the pin bone, and the shape of the udder 
 by the manner in which the rump is carried out, is likely 
 due to the law of correlation of parts which enables the 
 anatomist when he finds a bone to determine from its di- 
 mensions the dimensions of every other bone in the animal's 
 body from which it came. 
 
 The association of the drooping rump and the tilted ud- 
 der appears with more certainty in families than in individ- 
 ual animals. In some of the dairy breeds there are families 
 of cows that have been bred for many generations without 
 regard to the length and straightness of tailhead and invari- 
 ably in these families a large percentage of animals are 
 found that are at once miserable appearing "critters" and at 
 the same time are handicapped in their ability to yield 
 profitably because part of their udder is gone. Even though 
 in certain indivirluals that droop at the rump the udder is 
 not very perceptibly faulty it may be taken as a rule that if 
 offspring are continuously bred from animals of this con- 
 formation the associated characteristics will in time follow. 
 
 [61] 
 
[62] 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Other Desirable Points 
 
 Form 
 
 General form of the dairy cow is a point that has re- 
 ceived much consideration and has been the topic of exten- 
 sive discussion. It has not been considered as one of the 
 real essential points in this book because it is doubtful if by 
 securing the accepted form of the present day authorities 
 the points that are really essential to great and economical 
 production will follow or if by securing in the animal the 
 essential points for production the most desirable form will 
 result. Whichever is the case the great improvement need- 
 ed on every farm in America is not only an increase in the 
 yield of the cow but also a decrease in the cost of production. 
 
 By selecting and breeding cows that show marked indi- 
 cations of the five points discussed great progress will re- 
 sult in these directions and as a further result the dairy form 
 as called for in score cards and admired by breeders of dairy 
 cattle will be much more prevalent among, the general rank 
 and file of herds than it is at the present. 
 
 Beauty 
 
 Attractiveness of appearance, though hardly an essen- 
 tial to great production, should never be lost sight of, for, 
 other things being equal, the handsome cow will command 
 the greatest respect when placed upon the market and will 
 invariably sell for the highest price. If beauty were an in- 
 dication of small or costly production, then it might be well 
 to overlook its importance. Who, after seeing such cows as 
 those that stand at the head of each dairy breed today be- 
 cause of their great yearly records, will stake his reputation 
 for good judgment on the assertion that it is only the broken- 
 backed, drooping rumped, tilted-uddered, homely creatures 
 that yield well. 
 
 On the other hand it is safe to say that the breeder of 
 dairy cattle who will be most successful in the future will 
 be the one who because of the perfection of form and con- 
 formation and beauty of contour of his animals is able to 
 win laurels in the show yard and with the same animals 
 produce records that are large enough to prove beyond a 
 
 [63] 
 
[64] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 doubt that the handsome cows are the profitable khid to 
 keep on the farm and in the dairy. Working the show ani- 
 mals and showing the working animals is the great neces- 
 sity that is now being recognized by breeders of dairy cattle 
 for making popular the breeds and stimulating demand for 
 the blood. 
 
 Breed Type 
 
 Dairy breeds differ greatly in color markings, size, yield 
 and quality of milk and in several other minor ways. How- 
 ever, having been bred for so many generations with the 
 same real purpose in view, yielding butter-fat profitably, they 
 do not differ greatly in this particular. There is at this time 
 more difiference between the productix'e ability of various 
 animals in any particular breed than there is between the dif- 
 ferent breeds. 
 
 It is not the purpose to go into a discussion of breed 
 type further than to call attention to the fact that those 
 characteristics peculiar to the breed are distinguishing fea- 
 tures and must be given due consideration by the breeders 
 of pure bred dairy cattle and by the show ring judge. These 
 features are important in that they denote that the animal 
 carries the blood lines of the particular breed she resembles 
 and her production may be estimated accordingly. It is 
 therefore reasonable to e.xpect that with given form and 
 conformation she will yield milk in quantity and quality much 
 like the breed from which she is a descendant. 
 
 Color 
 
 Color is a breed characteristic rather than a factor in the 
 determination of the value of the cow. It has had much to do 
 in making the history of some breeds and many herds. Many 
 a great animal has been sacrificed because its color markings 
 did not meet the approval of its breeder. Color has much to 
 do in giving uniformity of appearance to a breed or to a herd 
 but should never be the controlling factor in selecting cows 
 for production. 
 
 Like many other of the less important yet desirable 
 characteristics it is an excellent plan to seek them through 
 the sire, special care being taken that other and more im- 
 portant requirements are not sacrificed. 
 
 Size 
 
 Considered from the standpoint of the beginner in the 
 dairy business or the breeding of dairy cattle, size is the one 
 great controlling factor. He selects cows that are large, re- 
 
 [65] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 g-ardless of all other considerations. This is probably be- 
 cause his earlier training has been with beef breeds of cattle 
 and his past experience leads him to believe that small cows 
 are delicate, small producers and unprofitable. 
 
 Size is an admirable feature when it can be secured with- 
 out a loss of quality but all experience proves that in making 
 a choice between two cows, one excellent in quality but 
 small and the other large but coarse and lacking a symmetrical 
 development of the essential parts the former is' alwavs to 
 be chosen. 
 
 Great producers are economical producers 
 
 r66i 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 How to Secure Cows Combining the 
 Five Essential Points 
 
 Although there are milHons of cows being milked on the 
 farms of the United States, there are comparatively few that 
 are not markedly deficient in one or more of the points that 
 denote real worth. It is a well recognized fact that a great 
 majority of the cows milked today are no better than the 
 cows that were being milked 50 years ago, although there are 
 many breeders and dairymen that have made great ad- 
 vancement. They have improved their herds by selection 
 and breeding and have pointed out to the world not only the 
 possibilities that rest with the dairy cow but also the man- 
 ner in which great cows can be produced. 
 
 Those who own cows well developed in all of the five 
 essential points are not desirous of parting with them be- 
 cause such a cow is always recognized by the intelligent 
 owner as a most profitable animal. She returns annually 
 more net profit than any other animal on the farm and in 
 many instances more profit than her selling price would 
 amount to were she to be ofifered for sale. For this reason 
 although cows excellent in, productive characteristics can 
 be bought by the hundreds, they are very high priced as com- 
 pared with common cow values. Nevertheless, they are worth 
 many times as much and, rather than to milk a lot of cows 
 that range from a loss to only a few dollars profit annually, 
 it is advisable to bear in mind the points of a good cow. Se- 
 cure in all events those that will return annual profits rang- 
 ing from $50 upward for such an increase will pay interest 
 on a greatly advanced cost price and at the same time pay for 
 the cow in a short time. 
 
 More Good Cows Needed 
 
 Such cows should be numerous on every farm in America 
 and no doubt the time is close at hand when they will be. With 
 land increasing rapidly in value, food stufifs and labor be- 
 coming expensive and scarce, he who milks is soon going 
 to realize that it is a costly luxury to keep cows that do not 
 pay a profit on the feed and labor expended upon them even 
 
 [67] 
 
[68] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 though they do proA-e themselves extremely valuable in 
 keeping- up the fertility of the farm. 
 
 The scarcity and high price of good cows renders it 
 impossible for everyone or even a large proportion of those 
 who milk cows to dispose of the animals they are now milk- 
 ing and fill their places with the more desirable type. There 
 is a method, however, of superseding the common cow- with 
 good individuals that is practical and advisable. That is by 
 selection and breeding. 
 
 Every breed of improved live stock known today has 
 l)een developed by following well known laws of breeding 
 and selection. The greatest of these laws is "Like begets 
 like or the likeness of some ancestor." Never was there a 
 law more true and he wdio is satisfied to milk and breed 
 offspring from nonproductive cows with the same sort of 
 ancestry may rest assured that he will never secure a great 
 cow during the life time of drudgery that milking scrub 
 cows assures. 
 
 Improved Sires 
 
 The solution of the problem of stocking farms with good 
 cows rests largely upon the use of improved sires. The 
 first consideration in selecting a sire should be the 
 productive records of his maternal ancestry, that of his dam 
 being the most important but dependant upon the records 
 and individuality of the granddams, great-granddams and 
 back through the pedigree for at least six generations. 
 
 There are many who would not think of using other 
 than a pure bred recorded sire and still in making the selec- 
 tion no consideration is given except the question of 
 whether or not ''papers" accompany the bull. These papers 
 are always valuable, not so much because they indicate that 
 the animal is pure bred, as because they tell the history of 
 the animal's ancestry. Thousands of pure bred bulls are in 
 use at this time whose purity of blood is boasted by their 
 owners yet whose pedigrees say, "This bull's ancestors back 
 for six generations were all veritable scrubs from the stand- 
 point of milk and butter-fat production for there never has 
 been a cow in the whole family that would give enough milk 
 to raise her calf respectably." "Like produces like or the 
 likeness of some ancestor." It makes no difference how good 
 the cows in the present generation, the use of such a bull 
 means retrogression and accounts for the fact that, on the 
 general farm, cows are becoming poorer every generation. 
 Bulls are being sold to thoughtless farmers at high prices 
 under the cloak of registration papers regardless of the story 
 
 [69] 
 
[70] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 the papers tell. It is the same old story of the signature on 
 the contraci reappearing as the signature of a note because 
 the indorser did not read the contract which contained the 
 information. 
 
 The Valuable Pedigree 
 
 The pedigree that foretells improvement in future gen- 
 erations is the one that points out that the females whose 
 names and records compose it have all been great yielders 
 of milk, butter-fat and profits. As surely as like produces 
 like or the likeness of some ancestor such a sire will produce 
 offspring that are an improvement over their mothers from 
 the standpoint of production. This is the great value of a 
 bull. Worthless indeed and an expensive possession is the 
 bull whose daughters at the same age and under the same 
 conditions produce less butter in a given time than their 
 mothers did. 
 
 After a careful consideration of the information im- 
 parted by the pedigree, the individuality of the animal should 
 be considered. Perhaps the first consideration should be 
 whether or not he has the prepotency necessary for the re- 
 production of the valuable traits of his ancestors. This is 
 indicated by masculinity and character. If present the ani- 
 mal will have the appearance and instincts of a bull ex- 
 pressed in his every characteristic. 
 
 Essential Points of the Bull 
 
 In addition every point indicative of production in the 
 cow^ should be present in the contour of the bull. He should 
 be outstanding in all indications of constitution, capacity, 
 nervous temperament, blood circulation and ability. 
 
 To determine the presence or detect the absence of any 
 of these essentials, the examination should begin at the head 
 and end at the tip of the tail. The following description 
 should be complied with : 
 
 The nostrils should be large and open; the mouth large; 
 the jaws broad, wide and strong; the face long and clean cut 
 from the eye to the nose and extremely broad between eyes 
 that are large, prominent yet placid and expressive. The 
 horns, though heavy at the base, should be of reasonable 
 size and not coarse; the ear of medium size, rather than 
 coarse, and covered with short fine hair instead of that which 
 is long, coarse and wiry. The neck should be long, clean 
 cut in the throat latch, well developed in the region of the 
 windpipe and well crested on top denoting masculinity. A 
 
 [71] 
 
[72] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 head and neck of this description go far toward indi- 
 cating- constitution, capacity, nervous temperament, charac- 
 ter and prepotency, all of which are desirable points to be 
 transmitted to the offspring. 
 
 The shoulders should be oblique and hot coarse, although 
 masculinity encourages coarseness to some extent and bulls 
 are always heavier, comparatively, in the front quarters than 
 cows. Depth of chest and obliqueness of shoulders tend to- 
 ward narrowness at the withers. There being no reason for 
 width at this point, it is a mark of excellency for the top of 
 the shoulders to be pointed giving the animal a wedge shaped 
 appearance when viewed from in front. 
 
 As further indications of constitution, capacity and quality, 
 the heart girth and Ijarrel should be long and deep, the ribs 
 deep and well sprung, and the body covered with hide that 
 is soft, pliable, elastic and oily, and hair fine and silky. These 
 points with the exception of the character of the hide and 
 hair are more evident in the male than in the female and 
 therefore more readily distinguished. Furthermore, in the 
 well bred sire of proper form the back bone shows greater 
 development, is more open jointed and larger, and, like the 
 well bred cow of desirable conformation, there is an absolute 
 freedom from beefiness in these regions and over the entire 
 body. 
 
 Much consideration should be given the hind quarters of 
 the animal, for these parts indicate the ability he is liable to 
 transmit to his female offspring. Reasonable width between 
 prominent hip bones, great length and straightness from the 
 hip to the pin bones and width through the thurls indicate 
 that there will be a like conformation in the calves. In the 
 case of heifer calves these points indicate that when they 
 have grown to cowhood they will have roomy productive 
 organs and long well balanced udders. If the rump is short 
 and drooping, and there is narrowness between the thurls, it 
 is quite likely that the calves will be of the same conformation 
 and few if any well formed and balanced udders will result 
 from his use. 
 
 A^iewed from behind, the thighs should be thin, well 
 curved and free from fat and beef, forming an arch that is at 
 once high and broad. By conveying the same peculiarity to 
 his effeminate oft'spring suitable provision is made for the 
 placement of an udder that may be wide and hung well up be- 
 hind. Bulls beefy in the hind quarters and not cut well up 
 behind should be guarded against as their heifers are seldom 
 of a desirable sort. 
 
 As an indication of the size of the udders and the place- 
 
 [73] 
 
[74] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 ment of the teats on the progeny of the bull the rudimentary 
 teats which should be found forward on the scrotum, should 
 be recognized as an index. It is believed that if these teats 
 are large the teats of the female progeny will be large and if 
 the rudimentaries are placed far apart the teats on his daugh- 
 ters will be placed far apart. In addition to being a desirable 
 trait, this is an indication that the udder will be both long 
 and wide. 
 
 Mammary veins and milk wells are important points to 
 observe in selecting sires, for, as in the cow, they indicate 
 the volume of blood flowing to the lower parts of the body. 
 In so much as it is so important that there be a great flow of 
 blood through the udder of the cow, it is necessary that the 
 characteristics of the bull indicate that he will transmit that 
 trait to his descendants. 
 
 Bulls differ greatly in size, length and development of 
 mammary veins much as do cows. Some of them have 
 large veins that pass as far forward as the shoulder pits and 
 others veins that are small and short with no signs of branches 
 and ending in milk wells that are so small that they are 
 difficult to find. It is not to be expected that these veins and 
 wells will be as large as those of the cow for the same reason 
 that the veins of a young heifer or a cow far advanced in the 
 period of lactation will not be as large as those of an older 
 cow or one that is giving a large flow of milk. Heavy pro- 
 duction develops the size and it is noticeable that cows well 
 fed and forced to yield large amounts of milk for a long period 
 exhibit greater veins and wells than those that have never 
 been stimulated to do their best. Nevertheless the presence 
 of large, tortuous, long branching veins and large, numerous 
 milk wells on the sire indicate that his heifers will have cor- 
 respondingly desirable veins and wells. When they come 
 into milk they may be developed by good care and feeding. 
 Other things being equal they will be more productive than 
 the descendants of a bull less developed in these respects. 
 
 Good vs. Poor Sires 
 
 Pointing to the great value of a good sire and to the utter 
 worthlessness of a poor one, are the experiments that were 
 carried on at the Missouri experiment station by Prof. Eckles, 
 who says : 
 
 "In 1884 the Missouri Agricultural College bought four 
 registered Jersey cows and the entire herd we have on hand 
 today is descended from these cows. Of course, herd bulls 
 have been purchased from outside but no female has been 
 bought. Since 1892 complete milk and butter-fat records have 
 
 [75] 
 
[76] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 been kept of every cow. Up until 1901 practically every fe- 
 male was retained in the herd regardless of her dairy quali- 
 ties. These conditions give an opportunity to study the effect 
 of sires which can hardly be duplicated anywhere. The first 
 bull used was Missouri Rioter, a son of Bachelor of St. Lam- 
 bert. There is no record indicating the dairy quality of his 
 dam. In fact his sire is the only animal in his pedigree 
 known to be a strong breeder. This bull was a very weak 
 breeder. His daughters averaged 4,336 pounds of milk per 
 year while their dams averaged 5,380, a decline on the aver- 
 age of 1,044 pounds of milk per year each. The average fat 
 production of the dams was 234 while the daughters everag- 
 ed onlv 216, a decline of 18 pounds per cow from the dams 
 to the daughters. * * * * 
 
 Hugorotus 
 
 "The next bull used in this herd was Hugorotus. He was 
 a cheap bull without any high testing animals in his pedigree. 
 His mother, however, is said to have been a good cow. The 
 daughters of this bull were inferior to their dams in milk pro- 
 duction, but on account of a higher per cent of fat they gained 
 slightly in fat production. 
 
 "Ten daughters fell a total of 3,770 pounds of milk per 
 year behind their dams but gained 100 pounds of fat. The 
 general results of using this bull were disastrous. In fact, 
 the poorest animals ever in the herd were his offspring. The 
 averages shown are made as good as they are only by the 
 fact that two full sisters sired by this bull, through some 
 'nick,' proved first-class animals. 
 
 "When the herd was culled on milk records alone, nine 
 out of the 11 daughters of this bull, then in the herd, were 
 sold to the butcher. The two remaining were the full sisters 
 mentioned. As long as this bull was in the herd, the general 
 tendency was backward. * =i= * * 
 
 Lome of Meridale 
 
 "The next bull at the head of the herd was Lome of Meri- 
 dale. This bull had a splendid pedigree from the standpoint 
 of records and his offspring show the results. His daughters, 
 with one exception, were all superior to the dams. The aver- 
 age milk production was raised from 4,542 pounds per year to 
 5,751 ; the fat production from 220 to 280 pounds per year. At 
 butter-fat prices the 10 daughters of Lome of Meridale re- 
 turned each year $150 more than their dams. What a differ- 
 •ence from the results from Missouri Rioter. * * * * 
 
 1771 
 
All the desirable points of the head are here 
 
 [78] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 Missouri Rioter 3d 
 
 "The next herd bull was Missouri Rioter 3d. This bull 
 was the son of Missouri Rioter and was the only real good 
 thing this latter sire left in the herd. The remarkable quali- 
 ties of Missouri Rioter 3d may come in part from his dam, 
 which was the best cow in the herd up to that time. She, like 
 the sire, was the offspring of Bachelor of St. Lambert. 
 
 "Tht best cows ever in our herd were sired by Missouri 
 Rioteer 3d. From dams with average records of 4,609 pounds 
 of milk he sired daughters whose records average 7,154 
 pounds. The dams averaged 238 pounds fat per year and 
 the daughters raised this to 348. Ten daughters of this bull 
 produced $275 worth of fat per year more than their dams. 
 * * >ic * This bull was raised on the college farm and, 
 as is often the case, because he was a home product instead 
 of coming from a distant state, he was not counted of any 
 special value, and was sold from the herd without any record 
 ever being made as to his purchaser and was never transfer- 
 red. His remarkable breeding value was recognized when it 
 was too late and now we would like the chance of giving 
 $1,000 to have him back. 
 
 Minnette's Pedro 
 
 "Minnette's Pedro is the last herd bull with a sufficient 
 number of daughters to give figures of any value. The herd 
 remained practically at a standstill while he was at its head. 
 In general this was not a very prepotent bull since we have 
 wide variations and a lack of uniformity in his offspring. 
 Among them are some excellent cows and some worthless. 
 From the good dams we secured good daughters ; from in- 
 inferior dams the same quality of daughters." 
 
 Summing Up 
 
 Of the five sires used in the history of the herd two 
 increased the production, two lessened it and by the use of the 
 fifth, the herd remained at a standstill. Were records kept of 
 results attained on all farms they would not in many cases 
 be found to be better and in many herds much worse. 
 
 By the use of one bull 110 pounds of butter-fat, worth 
 at least $30 is added to the average annual production per 
 cow. If in his lifetime he sires 100 daughters, each of which 
 work for 10 years he has proven his value. By the use of 
 another bull 18 pounds of butter-fat worth over $4 is lost from 
 the average annual production per cow. If in this bull's life 
 time he sires 100 daughters each of which works for 10 years 
 his absolute worthlessness is proven. 
 
 [79] 
 
Width of hip essential to reproduction 
 
 [80] 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 The Accurate Proof of the 
 Cow's Value 
 
 Experience, care and good judgment exercised in. exam- 
 ining cows soon lead to efficiency in detecting the points, the 
 presence or absence of which indicates production. Especial- 
 ly valuable is the knowledge gained by a close study of the 
 world's greatest cows and fixing thoroughly in mind the pe- 
 culiar characteristics that account for their great work. In 
 fact it is possible and advisable to study them so carefully 
 that a distinct picture becomes impressed upon the mind's 
 eye and then it is always possible to use them as models by 
 which to measure other cows. 
 
 Mistakes in the selection of animals should not be a 
 cause for discouragement. The best of judges make plenty 
 of them and few are the herds indeed in which there are not 
 counterfeits when judged by the pail and churn. Accurate 
 as may be the ability of selecting gpod cows and discrimi- 
 nating against poor ones no judge has ever yet become suf- 
 ficiently accomplished to prophesy the true productivity of 
 the individual cow. A careful consideration of the points to 
 be observed in selecting cows will invariably enable one to 
 choose a good cow but, after he has chosen, he knows not 
 just how good the cow may or may not be. The eye is not 
 accurate enough to determine within a few pounds or some- 
 times within a few thousand pounds of how much milk a cer- 
 tain cow has the power of producing in a year. Neither is 
 it possible to know within one or two per cent how rich her 
 milk may be. So long as it is true that a careful consideration 
 of the outward appearance of the cow is no more accurate 
 than this, although being a valuable and absolutely necessary 
 guide in selecting animals to add to the herd, it is well, in 
 learning which ones to keep and which ones to dispose of, to 
 supplement it with additional information. This will give 
 the accurate worth of the herd since its future character de- 
 pends largely upon the merit of the individuals in it. 
 
 The most accurate method of learning the cow's real 
 productive power is the simplest and yet the mere suggestion 
 of it seems such a bugbear to many that it is the least used. 
 This fact is not onlv true of the farmer and dairvman but ap- 
 
 [81] 
 
Masculinity and character 
 
 £82] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 plies also to a large percentage of breeders of no small repu- 
 tation. Great changes have taken place in most breeds dur- 
 ing the past few years and greater changes are yet to follow. 
 In the future the famous breeder will be the one who knows 
 his cows to a certainty, having learned them through the 
 only accurate manner, that of weighing and testing the milk 
 and keeping the records up to date and prizing them as he 
 now does that which the pedigree and conformation implies. 
 Then and not until then, will the greatest advancement ensue, 
 for few indeed are the breeders who can boast of the fact that 
 they ne\'er sold their best cow without knowing how really 
 great she was. 
 
 Keeping Records 
 
 Furthermore, when all who term themselves breeders of 
 pure bred dairy cattle weigh and test the milk of their cows, 
 the general farmer will soon do likewise and it is then that he 
 will appreciate the blood that the breeder has to dispose of 
 through his bull calves. Not more than one year of record 
 keeping is necessary to convince the most skeptical that blood 
 will tell and that like produces like and records will point con- 
 clusively to the fact that certain breeds and certain families 
 are decidedly more productive than others and that a still 
 greater difference exists between individuals. 
 
 Continuous weighing and testing of milk, keeping in 
 touch with the records, and by their use selecting the best 
 cows to keep and those to sell to the man who has not time 
 to keep records ; the use of good sires from productive an- 
 cestry and raising the best calves from the best cows will 
 result in time in a wonderful herd. 
 
 In fact it matters little how poor the herd being milked 
 today, careful and accurate selection of cows and sires to 
 mate with them will insure in a few generations a herd so 
 great that if properly fed and cared for will have few superiors 
 even including the breeder's herd. 
 
 Establishing records for individual cows with the scales 
 and Babcock test demonstrates and proves the successes and 
 failures in selecting cows. There is no better source of in- 
 formation for establishing knowledge pertaining to the types, 
 breeds and families of cows that are desirable. By learning 
 the mistakes once made one is in a position to guard against 
 the same mistakes the second time while great as may be the 
 mistake, if the maker never learns of it, he will readily 
 make the same mistake a second, third and indefinite num- 
 ber of times. On the other hand it matters little how great 
 the success once made, if the maker never learns of it, he is 
 not in a position to repeat it with certainty. 
 
 [83] • ""^^ "^ 
 

 Width of udder. 
 
 [84] 
 
VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 
 
 Cost of Production 
 
 Greatness of production as proven by weighing and test- 
 ing the milk is not the complete record of the greatness of 
 the cow for the question still remains as to the cost of 
 production. And, after all, this is the vital question and the 
 one that is growing in importance continually. It is the rule 
 that the cow which yields largely of milk and butter-fat is 
 the economical producer but it often occurs that of two cows 
 producing the same amounts of milk and butter-fat in a given 
 time one of them does so at a much less cost for feed. True 
 it is that the difference in profits is not so largely governed by 
 the cost of feed as in the yield but as conditions change, land 
 becomes higher in price, feeds and labor scarcer and more 
 expensive this difference will widen. Many dairymen even 
 now weigh the food consumed by their individual cows and 
 by doing so they reduce their business to the same commer- 
 cial basis considered absolutely necessary in other lines 
 of business. It pays, and pays well, for if in no other way 
 it teaches the feeder the capacity and the ability of each cow. 
 It enables him to exact the best work from her. Practical 
 lessons of this sort are the valuable ones in rendering re- 
 liable the opinions relative to both the selection and feeding 
 of cows for ereat and economical records. 
 
 [85] 
 
 Feminine qualities 
 
One copy del. to Cat. Div.