TYPICAL DAIRY COW.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 June 1917, Page 3

TYPICAL DAIRY COW.

LECTURE BY MR. E. GRIFFITHS. I LYIUJI dc arN M\va3sto fiCSerbseev There was a good attendance of boys, mostly students from the High School, at the lecture given in the Good Templar Hall yesterday .by Mr. E.'Griffiths on "The Typical Dairy Cow." In order to illustrate the lecture, Mr. Griffiths had brought on to the stage a Jersey ,cow. which, deeply bedded in straw, stood placidly throughout the lecture. Tn introducing the speaker, Mr. Sergei apologised for the absence of Mr. J. S. Connett, president of the Society, who had to attend a meeting of the Harbor Board. A GREAT PRODUCER. Mr. Griffiths stated that the cow on the stage was not a perfect Jersey cow as regards type, but Sad been brought in because she was quiet. She was, however, a good dairy cow. having obtained the New Zealand record for butter fat on semi-official test in her first and second years. The cow, Lady Peggy, put up the great yield of 5341b of butter-fat during her first year's milking, and floOlbs for the second calf. She had not been tested this year, but would be tested during the coming season. When it was realised that the average butter-fat production was lSOlb per cow it would be seen that she had some claim to be classed as a good dairy caw. Mr. Griffiths stated that he had gone into the matter very thoroughly and at the conclusion would be pleased to answer any questions. THE FUNDAMENTAL FUNCTIONS. The fundamental functions of the cow were production, and reproduction, and her intrinsic value depended upon the efficiency with which she accomplished these duties. A careful study of any great producing cow revealed the manner in which she accomplished her purpose. Viewed from the standpoint of production, she must cat and digest food, she must breathe. Her blood must circulate and she must yield milk and but-ter-fat;, all r" which was work.' If her efforts along lines were effective, certain portions of her body and certain characteristics asserted themselves accordingly, and might be termed the essential points that indicated great and economical production. JTVE ESSENTIAL POINTS. There were five essential points that must be present and well developed in the external form of a cow if she were to prove a profitable milk and butterfat producer under present conditions. There were indications of constitution, capacity, nervous temperament, blood circulation and ability. Each point wa3 essential. If a cow had four and not the fifth, she would be incomplete. When judging a cow—and he pointed out that id was more difficult to judge a cow now tlun in the spring time when got up foi show —it was wise to first view the animal (broadside on, from a distance, so as to obtain a knowledge of her constitution and capacity. Having formed an opinion from that point of view, pass the hand along the neck, vertebrae and hide, •hips, rump, hind quarters, tail and mammary system, and also milk the cow to discover any faults. CONSTITUTION. Of all farm animals the dairy cow was the hardest worked, laboring night '\ and day, gathering, consuming, digest- i ing and assimilating food and convert- ' ing the nutrients into milk and butter ] fat. A good cow would produce in one ' year more human food than was contain- 1 ed in the carcase of four steers, each 1 weighing SOOlbs. The cow was working 1 all the year round, and continued pro- ] duction demanded vitality. Strength of j constitution depended primarily upon i the amount of pure fresh air that enter- < cd the bodv and the manner in which 1 it was utilised by the lungs in purify- i ing the blood. A large open nostril and i good open wind pipe were essential, also < plenty of heart and lung room. Good 1 depth from the top of the shoulder to 1 the floor of the chest, in a fairly wide : chest, not too wide, depth in a dairy cow being more important than width, which 1 was more necessary in beef cattle. It i had been found that of animals slaugh- i tered dairy cows had larger and heavier ] hearts and lungs than beef cattle. The i herns and eyes were less important, but i nevertheless indicated other features of ( the animal. i CAPACITY, ■ A large mouth indicated a good feeder, ■' and a narrow pointed mouth a poor ' feeder. To do good work a cow must feed. A powerful jaw was also neces- > sary to masticate the food, and it was : essential that the animal" should have plenty of storage room, a large barrel, long, broad, and deep. She must also have good digestive capacity and this , could be ascertained by the feel of the i hide. A soft, pliable hide indicated ' good digestion, whereas a hard-harsh , feel or thick hide showed that the animals was not in proper health. • NERVOUS TEMPERAMENT. This meant the inherent propensity to work, to eat food, to digest and convert every available ounce not required for maintenance into milk products. It does not mean that the cow is excitable, fretful or hard to manage, but that she is strong in the development of the nervous system. As the stamina in the Arab horse enables it to endure long journeys with very little feed and water, so does the nervous temperament of the cow affect its function of milk making. Some anfmals have the lymphatic temperament which means' that they are .sluggish and lazy and, of course, do not pay to keep for milk production. The temperament of a cow can, to some extent, be .judged by her own actions, but more by the breadth between her eyes, and a long broad forehead tapering to the poll That is where the brain is and it is the brain that controls the nervous system, which controls all .functions. A cow with a narrow face is more likely to show nervousness than a nervous temperament. The eye should be large, bright >-d prominent, alert, not excit- ' able, mit 'placid. The spinal column should be open and prominent. The hips should be broad and prominent and the bone not too coarse. •BLOOD CIRCULATION. This Mr. Griffiths considered so important that be made no apology for reading a chapter from Van l'ett's cow demonstration which showed that the blood circulating to all parts cf the body played no small part in tin general plan the cow adhered to in making milk. The blood acted as a carrier and distributor of the nutrients which had been digested from tlis food, the process of digestion being • _ Ratted. Up to this time tha work of .".,; beef animal and the dairy animal were largely the

same, but at this point their paths divided, sJre remaining uses of the food differed. In the beef animal the blood, for the most part, carried the digested nutrients after providing for the maintena: 10 of the body to tho top regions, where they were distributed in the form of beef and fat over the shoulders, chin, back, loin, ribs, rump, thigh and twist. This was tho result of hundreds of years of breeding for the purpose. Milk had been sacrificed because the milk making nutrient, which are largely the same as beef making nutrients, hail been carried to other parts of the body than that where milk is manufactured for a cow never made a pound of milk j| any other part of the body but tho udder. On the other hand in Holland, the Channel Isles and Scotland breeders had ibeen striving to create an animal that, would consume a great volume of food and send the digested nutrients to the udder, where the manufacturing process of milk and butter-fat production are carried on Ho did not think it possible to produce a dual cow. The direction in which the blood flowed after picking up the milk making nutrients was important, as was also the volume of blood that circulated past the digestive apparatus,' and,' in time, through the udder. This was indicated by the escutcheon, mammary veins and' milk wells.

The escutcheon was that portion of the hind quarters where the hair ran in an opposite direction. A long and wide escutcheon indicated a largo amount of milk passing into the udder, taking with it large quantities of Wood. The mammary veins passed along the underline of the cow from the udder towards the shoulder. Every cow had tone rin'eaoh side. The larger and more tortuous they were indicated the greater capacity fcr milk production. W'hilo some cows with large veins might not be great milkers there, was not a great milker that did not have large milk veins.

ABILITY. This lead to tha udder. The udder should he well developed anl should be hung high behind with plenty of width. The thighs should be tltin and arched shaped to carry the udder. The perfect udder was one that did not hang too low. It should be carried high and come as far forward as possible. The teats should he placed at the centre of the four quarters. The formation of the animal should be carried level from the liip to the pin bone. If not, the udder underneath would bo badly shaped. The ! skin of the udder should he as thin a3 possible. It was generally considered that rich color of the udder, the tail and inside the ears indicated rich butter Sat production. The tail should he of •the whip order, coming down fine with good brush, but not too heavy. CAREFUL SELECTION. The speaker urged on his bearers the need for careful selection of their dairy cows. A poor cow cost just as much to feed and milk as a good one. He was often surprised at the comparatively email difference in the prices paid for good and poor cows. A dairyman could often, obtain good cows at clearing sales by having a knowledge of the points he had just mentioned, but the most valuable knowledge was obtained from Weighing and testing the milk. By securing pedigree sires from good butterfat families and breeding from their best cows was the way in .which successful farmers had built up their herds. VOTE OF THANKS. The boys took an :ntelligent interest in the lecture and at the conclusion asked several questions. Mr. K. 10. Browne, in proposing a vote of thanks, atdted thai lie hoped to further develop these lectin;-, the value of ivhich he 'hilly recognised.- He stated that Mr. R. Linn was giving a similar lecture in South Taranaki. Mr. Griffiths, in acknowledging, slated that he hoped that when 'the next cowf.idging competition'-.vas held a similar lecture would be givsa sj as to demonstrate to tlio competitors why the awards were mad«