DAIRYING ESSENTIALS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 2981, 31 December 1925, Page 2

DAIRYING ESSENTIALS.

CAPACITY OF COWS. Milk is a manufactured article, produced by the cow from the food which she consumes. The capacity of a cow for producing milk depends largely upon her capacity for digesting food and assimilating it into her tissues. For the accommodation of a large and ellirient digestive apparatus, a good dairy cow should have a long, deep, and wide barrel, with well sprung ribs. This form of middle-piece gives ample room for the storage of food, and a capacity for disposing of large quantities of the coarse, bulky fodder which the cow consumes.

The quantity of milk which the cow produces, presumably depends to a large extent upon the number and activity of the epithelial cells within the udder. The number of such cells is limited by the size of the udder and the amount of fatty tissue it contains, The dairy cow, therefore, should have a large udder capacity, the larger the belter, Imt. the size of the udder should not he due to any great amount' of fat or llesli. There should he an elasticity of the tissue, with a shrinkage of the udder when empty. The udder should have a considerable surface, extending far forward and well up behind. 11 should lie well balanced and symmetrical in shape, indicating good development in till quarters. It should he spread considerably from side (n side, also, while the teats should he evenly and squarely placed. To make room for such a capacious, well-developed udder the hind legs of the cow should be wide apart, the thighs should he thin, and the Hanks high arched.