HOW TO SELECT COWS TEXT

This addition has been thought useless. Enough is shown of the escutcheon when she is standing. In order to see well the escutcheons with all the fullness which my sketches give them, it must be supposed that the udder of each cow is seen at its greatest plenitude of milk, such as would separate the hind legs to the greatest extent. In this way the escutcheon is seen as if the entire skin of the animal was placed flat, or as if the envelope of the milk bearing apparatus formed a plain surface, on which are drawn the elevations, the depressions, and all that is not visible to the eye, without the aid of hands or of movement of the cow, both that which is hidden at the further side and in the folds of the udder and of the thighs of the animal on foot. In order to examine and to distinguish perfectly the escutcheon, one should place himself behind the animal and make it advance some steps, in such manner that the movements which it makes in walking should show, one after another, the parts which one needs to see. One can also, in passing the nails over the space occupied by the escutcheon and leading the hand downward from above, in a manner contrary to the rising hair, and ruffling it, recognize without difficulty its form and its extent. Theoretical explanations are always abstract and diffuse in their development. My method may at first appear difficult and complicated, which, indeed, pretended savans have chosen to affirm. Nevertheless it is not so, and in order to comprehend it, it is sufficient to study it. It is with this as with everything else, to know it is necessary to study and to practice. The beautiful art which I am about to explain to agriculturists is most easily acquired. Its technical dictionary is composed only of certain words, of which the readers should, first of all, know perfectly the precise signification. These words are _Escutcheons, Epis or Tufts ascending_, and _Epis or Tufts_ descending. After he knows perfectly the different forms and the importance of these characteristic signs, he will know the whole subject as well as I do myself. The Epis or Tuft, as one will see, participates with the escutcheon in the distinction of the orders—it multiplies the sub-divisions. It seems at the same time to complicate my method and to render it less accessible; but I have not felt myself at liberty to omit it, since it has an incontestible and important value. If, among certain animals, the form and extent of characteristic signs are not exactly those of the drawings, but a sort of intermediate between the characteristic signs of two classes, he who applies the method should approximate them to the drawing of the classification from which they differ the least, and from that deduce the probable value. To render my work perfectly clear, I had to enter into the developments very much in detail. Nevertheless, so extensive are these details that I believe I have given neither too many nor too few, and have confined myself simply within the limits of the possible, the indispensible and the useful. And now, whoever my opponents may be, I proclaim boldly and without fear, that the escutcheon is the only incontestible characteristic sign that can enable one to discern, by simple inspection, the aptitude for milk production of each animal. All animals of the bovine species in good state of health, to which no accident has happened, and whose escutcheons are of the first orders of each class, will manifest always, and without exception, as much for the production of milk as for generative ability. Beauty of form, to my thinking, represents but an ideal, and although one ought to take it into consideration, it is a simple accessory without value of its own, when the question is that of the production of milk. May I have been able to justify by this work the fruit of the experience of my whole life, the honor done me by many agricultural societies in admitting me to their membership, and by the government which has shared the expense of this new edition, with the twofold purpose of encouraging my efforts and facilitating the propagation of my method. GUENON’S METHOD OF JUDGING OF THE VALUE OF STOCK. Fifty years ago there was dawning upon the world the first ray of a great discovery. A star was rising in the agricultural world, which was about to shed new light, and like many other valuable discoveries, it was made by one among the lowly, and partly by chance. The author of this new discovery has said, “Error flies with the rapidity of lightning, all obstacles vanish before it. Truth, on the contrary, is admitted coldly, often even with doubt, suspicion, and distrust.” It is owing partly to this, partly to the fact that this new light was given to the world when the mind of farmers were not ready to _receive_ new ideas of progress as they now seek them, and much to the fact that it was the invention of a foreigner described in a foreign tongue. True a translation of it was made through the medium of an American monthly magazine of agriculture; but it was one of limited circulation. At that time the number of periodicals devoted to that interest was few, and such new and important questions were not thoroughly discussed and the knowledge of them placed in every farm-house in the land, as it is at the present day. Shortly after the appearance of M. Guenon’s treatise in the magazine, it was reprinted in book form, and received the large circulation of sixty-five thousand copies, between that time and now, and the book most probably sells better to-day than it did then. By many who procured that book the subject was studied, and advantage taken of its revelations, being stored away in the reader’s mind for actual practice. By the great majority it was read, but not studied; driven from it by the apparent complications of the system and the two hundred sub-divisions of it; by many, perhaps, it was attempted to be put into practice, but without their having given the subject that close investigation which was needed to prove the system correct. It was mostly by this class of persons, because the system was not found to be infallible, that it was denounced and given up, even by men otherwise intelligent; as if anything human could be infallible. Thus it is that by the ignorant its revelations were received with incredulity, and by many of the intelligent with doubt; but to the earnest seekers after practical information, it has unfolded a mine of wealth, and they have proved the system by continuous experience, and found it to be the most reliable mode of judging of the value of every member of the bovine species. It was a happy thought that suggested itself to the Pennsylvania State Board of Agriculture, to have the system tested by uninterested parties. But extremely difficult, it was, to obtain persons to make the test. For those to whom application was made declined it on various grounds, principally because, as Guenon himself has stated in his latest edition, many pretended savans would endeavor to throw ridicule upon it; many others would identify the gentlemen making the tests with it, as if it was their system that they were testing; while not a few still more narrow-minded, would think they were trying to humbug them. Thus it was difficult to fill the places, which offered neither honor nor profit. It will be seen, by these extracts, that the Governor appointed three experts to test the system. This they did in the summer of 1878, examining two hundred cows, jotting down their opinion of the yield, quality, and time of each of them, and afterwards printing them alongside of the reports of their owners, so that the public could form their own estimate of the results of the examinations of the commission. They are here reprinted, to show how it was carried out. Particular attention is called to the examinations _of the blanketed cows_ in Thomas Gawthrop’s herd. On M. Guenon and his System. It is proper we should inquire into M. Guenon, and the origin and development of his system. Monsieur François Guenon, a husbandman of Libourne, in France, was the son of a gardener, and followed for sometime his ancestor’s trade. He seems to have had a mind above those in his position. As we look at his portrait, he appears to have a clear eye, a cool head, great determination, firmness of character, a well-balanced mind, and with it all, a vigor of constitution which buoys him up, and enables him to over-ride obstacles. He says himself, he was of an observant turn of mind, fond of comparing things, and deducing consequences from what he learned by observation and comparison, particularly from the Book of Nature. Young, ardent and healthy, with the vivacity of his race, he felt himself destined for better things than those a gardener’s life would insure him. What wonder then that his eye was keen to see, his mind to grasp and analyze any new turn of thought that chance might throw in his way. Like most self-made men, who have made their mark in life’s pilgrimage, he set himself to work to improve himself—to acquire that which would expand his mind, and fit it to receive any new inspiration, and be able to develop it. He studied the works of the best writers on botany and agriculture; and applied his knowledge by following up all the ramifications of the vegetable kingdom, and studied their external signs, that distinguish the different sorts, and ascertained their qualities and productiveness. In France, they have few fences, and the cattle of a neighborhood are driven to the grazing ground, and herded together, and, in turn, members of each or several families, (the younger portion,) are put to watch that the cattle do not stray out of bounds. Such companionship with their stock makes the owners fond of them, and they are treated as pets, and become very docile. When young Guenon was about fourteen years of age, he would drive their cow to graze. His cow he was very fond of, and could identify her among any number. She was a good milker. The Escutcheon or Mirror. In his authorized account of the discovery and perfection of his system, Guenon uses the following language: “When fourteen years of age, I used, according to country custom, to drive our only cow to the grazing ground. I was very fond of her, and could have identified her among ever so many. One day as I was whiling away the time in cleaning and scratching my old companion, I noticed that a sort of bran or dandruff detached itself in considerable quantities from certain spots on her hind parts, formed by the meeting of the hair as it grew in opposite directions, which spots I have since called _ears_, from the resemblance they often bear to the bearded ears or heads of wheat or rye. This first attracted my attention, and I recollected having heard my grandfather say that it was probable that there were external marks on cows whereby their good qualities or their defects might be known—just as we judge of the vital force of a plant and its qualities by means of its leaves and lines in its skin. Reflecting on the subject, I arrived at the conclusion that if in the vegetable kingdom there exists external signs, whereby the good and the bad qualities of a plant can be positively known, there ought to exist in the animal, or its kingdom, also, marks whereby we may judge, by inspecting an animal, of its qualities, good and bad, and I thought I had discovered one of these signs. I sought the bearded ears or quirls, and scratched those spots in quest of dandruff, the abundance or scarcity of this being what first engaged my attention. Every new cow was compared with my own as a standard, and her superiority, equality, or inferiority determined in my own mind. In the course of the comparisons thus instituted by me, with reference to the dandruff alone, which was at first the only thing that governed me, I had occasion to remark that great diversities existed among cows in respect to the shape of the bearded ears (quirls) which produced the dandruff. This suggested a new train of reflection and observation, which resulted in my becoming convinced that these _shapes_ were the signs by which to distinguish cows, and to know the good and bad qualities of every individual among them.” [Illustration: Imported Jersey Cow BLACK BESS.] [Illustration: Imported Jersey Cow TIBERIA. Belonging to C. L. Sharpless, Philadelphia.] In his original plan, Guenon divided these different shapes into eight classes, each of which was sub-divided into eight orders. As he progressed in his investigations, he afterwards added two more classes, and reduced the orders to six in each class. These he supposed would cover all cases which might come up for examination. He also divided cows into three grades, which, in accordance with their _size_, he styled high, low, and medium. From this it will be noted that Guenon, in classifying cows, was governed first by the class, second by the order in the class, and finally by their size. These _classes_ he divided and named as follows: 1st class, or Flanders. 2d ” ” Left Flanders. 3d ” ” Selvage. 4th ” ” Curveline. 5th ” ” Bicorn. 6th ” ” Double Selvage. 7th ” ” Demijohn. 8th ” ” Square Escutcheon. 9th ” ” Limousine. 10th ” ” Horizontal. The ten orders in each of these classes were simply designated by their appropriate numerals. Each _class_ was better than the succeeding one, and each _order_ better than the following one of the _same_ class, but might be better than the preceding order of the _next_ class. Of this seeming multiplicity of classes, orders, and sizes, Chalkley Harvey, one of the commission appointed to test the system, writes thus: “Now this may seem somewhat discouraging to your readers, but with all due respect to Guenon, to whom all honor and praise should be accorded for his brilliant discovery, I think that it may be so simplified that every farmer, dairyman, and dealer can learn it all in a short time, and may find the study quite interesting. I began it laboriously, supposing that a mastery of all the details was necessary to make it of any use, but more than twenty years of constant application in practice has simplified it to my mind, and has added a little, I think, to the original discovery. The substance of Guenon’s discovery is that the milking qualities of any cow, of any breed, are indicated by an outward sign that all may see and easily understand. The hair on a cow, as on other animals, grows downward on the hind-quarters, but there is an exception to this rule on the back part of the udder, where it usually grows upward. The first lesson for a beginner is to notice this fact. Let him stand behind a quiet cow, and rub the hair on the udder both ways until he sees or feels just what I mean. Guenon called the surface that is covered by this upward growth the escutcheon; others have called it the milk-mirror; but this is no improvement in any respect, and I shall name it as Guenon did, for there is no real objection to that name, and there is serious objection to making confusion by calling the same thing by different names. The escutcheon, then, is that surface on the cow’s udder where the hair grows upward. But it is not confined to the udder, it extends upward above the udder, often to the vulva, and outward upon the thighs on both sides of the udder. (See Flanders cow, class first, order first.) These escutcheons are different in size, in shape, and in quality, (quality means the quality of the skin, and of the hair growing on it,) and these differences indicate the different milking qualities of the cows, including quantity and quality of milk, and the length of time they will give milk after being with calf. On the edges of the escutcheon where the upward and the downward growths of hair meet, a feather is formed, and this is most conspicuous on the back part of the thighs where escutcheons extend that wide. If the hair is long, as it generally is in winter time, the observer can define the limits of the escutcheon better by applying his hand, and smoothing the hair to its natural place. He will now perceive that the hair on the escutcheon is shorter and softer than elsewhere, as well as turned upward in its growth, and sometimes nearly resembles fur. “Let us now particularly consider the shapes and sizes of these escutcheons. There is one general shape to which they conform, and that is that they are wider below than above, and at or near the top of the udder they narrow in abruptly; some continue up as far as the vulva, and even above it, and others but a little distance above the udder. The size and shape of this upper part of the escutcheon is of less importance than that of the lower part, but both must be considered—the larger the escutcheon the better. All great milkers have very large escutcheons. In large ones the upturned growth often begins on the belly, in front of the udder, extends along between the teats and up the back part of the udder, over the whole width. Indeed, the udder is not wide enough for it, and it encroaches on the thighs, where we may find the hair having an upward growth on them, inside next the udder, beginning not far above the hock joints, and running up as high as the wide part of the escutcheon extends up the thighs, and which often terminates with corresponding curls in the hair at the outlines, and the higher up and wider these are apart the better. Though the extension of the escutcheon to the front part of the udder on the belly has been mentioned, that is not a matter of practical interest in ordinary cases. All that needs to be studied is plain to be seen by standing behind the cow. When the escutcheon is small, it does not reach the thighs, and often does not cover the whole of the back part of the udder. These differences in size can be distinguished at the first lesson taken in the cow-yard, and when that has been done, the next thing is to consider their shapes. A good escutcheon is symmetrical. The feathers on the two thighs are at equal distance from the middle line of the body, and extend up to equal heights on the back parts of the thighs. A broad and high escutcheon, (speaking now only of the lower broad part of it,) that is _alike on both sides_, certainly indicates a superior milker. There is nearly always another sign accompanying such an escutcheon, and that is one or two _ovals_ just above the hind teats, on which a _fine_ coat of hair grows downward. These may be large or small, may be one or two, and may be alike in size, or unlike, but they are always good signs. Two are better than one, and the larger and more uniform they are the better; they are almost always present on large and symmetrical escutcheons. No escutcheon is ever first class if it has not one or both, and one, at least, of good size. What constitutes ‘good size’ will be better learned by a few observations than can be taught by inches, and I want to leave something to the ingenuity of the learner, to make the study interesting. “Now, let us consider the shape and size of that part of the escutcheon which I have spoken of as the upper part; that is, the narrow portion that has its base on the top of the lower and wider portions, and runs up toward the vulva. Sometimes, though very rarely, this does not exist at all. Sometimes it is broad, and extends all the way up, with perfect symmetry. Sometimes it terminates in a curved line, at a greater or less