MILKING POWER.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 673, 7 October 1921, Page 6

MILKING POWER.

You can’t push feed, into a cow’s mouth and push milk out of hei udder— not .unless she possesses the stimulation to give milk, is another wise statement by a Missouri investigator. Just where the stimulation comes from, he says, we do not know. We think we have made certain findings along these lines, but as yet what we actually know is but little. This is a frank admission from a man who is qualified to express an opinion. It suggests the fiarciai nature of the attempts being nmole in oui show rings to determine dairy form. In the first place, the udder usually determines the winning animal, but not the quality of the udder, merely the shape of it. Were judges to study this matjter for a moment they would see that the bestshaped udder is usually the more fleshy one, whereas the man who is after milk Wants an udder of quality —one that will milk to a rag, as the saying goes. They-decorate the animal with a show udder, and degrade the one with a utility udder. Texture more than shape and size should be the determining factor. Another mistake, from a utility standpoint, in the way the judging of heifer classes is gone about is to give the leading honours to the prettiest animals, whereas any breeder knows that it is not the good-looking youngster that makes the good quality adult. This, however, is a problem difficult of solution. The fact remains, however, that the awards in heifer competitions are often most misleading. Generally speaking, the only c.iass in the dairy cattle section of the show which is at all educative in character is that for a bull and several of his female progeny. The most gkat/fying development in dairy cattle judging in this country is the provision of classes by the Jersey Society for scmi-officially tested cows. To be able to inspect the cows that are making good at the pail makes the educative value. The old abuse continues of allowing the cows in milk to remain till about mid-day with their udders distended almost to bursting-point. Surely the judge can be asked to deal with this class first thing in the morning ! Apart from the fact ithat an udder carrying from IS to 20 hours’ milk is not shown in its natural *form, the effect on the udder cannot be beneficial. In the case of pedigree cows it is probable that such treatment will have a very prejudicial effect.