Part 4

Now all of this knowledge must, to put it into profit practically, be supplemented by the careful examination of the hair and the skin, of the escutcheon, and the udder: of the hair, whether it is short, fine, soft, and furry; of the skin, whether it is soft and close-grained like a kid glove, thin, oleaginous, and yellow or golden. For if the hair is harsh, and long, particularly on the back part of the udder, it will shorten the time of giving milk, and indicates a poorer quality. The more oily or greasy to the feeling the skin of the udder and the perineum is, the more it indicates good quality and richness of milk, for the oil or fat is there, showing it is in the nature of that animal to give butyraceous milk. So with the color of the skin, if it is golden it is indicative of rich milk, and the majority think it will make a finer colored butter. There is one point more in judging by the escutcheon, and that is its size and position, and the general rule is, the higher up it is on the thighs, and the broader it is on the thighs, together with the higher and broader it is on the perineum, even up to the vulva, then the better it is. Then remember the escutcheon has two principal parts, called the thigh escutcheon and the vertical escutcheon; the thigh escutcheon extends over the udder and the thighs; and the vertical is over the perineum or that part of the posterior which extends from the udder up to the tail and above the vulva.

If the thigh escutcheon is high and broad, therefore very large, and extends far outward on to the thighs, it indicates a large flow of milk. If the vertical or upper part is broad and smooth, it indicates a prolonged flow of milk.

If the thigh or lower portion of the escutcheon is narrow, the flow will be proportionally small. If the vertical or upper part is narrow and irregular, it is unfavorable to a prolonged flow.

Chalkley Harvey says further of these marks: “Imperfections, that is blemishes of form, occur in considerable variety on both large and small escutcheons. They are all certain evidence of a diminished value of the cow as a milker. A small and imperfect escutcheon on a good cow, is something I have never yet seen. Any want of symmetry in the form of an escutcheon is an imperfection. The two sides should be alike. A small but perfect escutcheon may be better than a larger one that is imperfect. A very good one is both large and perfect.

“Thus far we have considered the escutcheon in reference to its form and size alone, and may now say, that the quantity of milk depends on these, but its quality is indicated by other signs, which we find to a great extent in the same place. It is too well known to require any assertion, that some cows give a large quantity of very poor milk, and others an equally large quantity of rich milk. It is equally well known that some cows give but little milk, though they yield a good quantity of butter; and I repeat, that the signs indicative of these differences of quality are found in the escutcheon, and they are easily recognized. If the skin in the escutcheon is soft and oily, and particularly if it is of a rich yellow color, (though this is more easily seen by examining the end of the tail,) suggestive of “gilt edged” butter, that cow will give good milk. In such cases we will find her hair soft and short. There may be some long hairs, too, but the undergrowth will be as mentioned, and often has almost the quality of fur. But if, on the other hand, the skin is white and dry, and the hair thin and harsh, the cow gives poor milk. If her escutcheon is large and symmetrical, she may give a large quantity of poor milk. The form and size of the escutcheon indicate _quantity_, the skin and hair indicate _quality_. These signs are true also as applied to bulls, being in such cases a proper guide in the selection of animals to breed milkers from. My own experience and observation, which has been considerable in the matter, convinces me that cows inherit their milking qualities more from their sires than from their dams; and it is probable that many who have been disappointed in heifers raised from some favorite milkers, will be disposed to agree with me. If this be true, then the Guenon method has an application that must prove valuable to those who breed cows for dairy purposes. Another interesting fact is, that we can discover all the signs on a calf, and are thereby enabled to select with much certainty those that are fit for the dairy, and to reject those that would be only a disappointment, if raised for that purpose. Of course, a very small cow, with ever so good an escutcheon, cannot be expected to give a very large quantity of milk, and might be inferior in that respect to one having a less perfect one, where the animal is of greater size. But in such cases, the small cow would give much more in proportion to the cost of keeping. In all cases, therefore, the size should be taken into account.

“There is a sign that may be mentioned here, (though it does not properly belong to the Guenon system,) which is a very certain evidence that a cow will give a large quantity of milk, though it expresses nothing in relation to quality. It is the large size of the vein running forward from the udder, on the belly, and just under the skin. This is called the milk vein, and when it is very large and crooked, and enters the abdomen through a hole that will allow the entrance of a man’s finger, it is, I repeat, a sign that the cow will yield a large quantity of milk.

“The time that a cow will continue to milk after she is with calf, varies in different cases—some ceasing almost as soon as pregnant, and others milking up to calving. Generally the best milkers milk the longest. Hence it follows, that a good escutcheon usually indicates continued flow as well as large quantity. Those escutcheons that are not large at the base, but that run up to the vulva symmetrical all the way, and pretty wide, indicate a yield of milk up to the time of calving.”

Our Mode of Judging Stock.

The beauty of the Guenon system is, that _it is an aid to all other modes of selecting stock_, and therefore, it gives a decided advantage to the person who understands it over the one who does not. For instance, let two buyers go into a herd, and let them be equal judges of stock, one of them will be very apt to buy a bastard, while the other one would very positively leave her alone, simply because the latter has a knowledge of the best and surest mode of all modes of judging stock. And this knowledge does not prevent him from using his half a dozen other modes of deciding its merits, but aids them. So, too, in selecting a bull for a propagator, the believer in Guenon will select one with a good escutcheon and a fine skin, while the other will decide almost entirely by the form. And so with calves, the one who selects calves by the Guenon marks will be pretty sure to have a dairy of productive cows, while the other will have to dispose of some unprofitable ones. The one makes money, because he is working intelligently with every light of science, while the other is only _guessing_ pretty well.

We first look at a cow from the front, and see that she widens as she gets back to her hips, or is wedge-shaped. Next we look at her side, and we again see that she rises on her back and descends on the belly as she goes back to the tail, or in other words she is wedge-shaped, too, from this point of view. These two looks at her have enabled us to see that she has a feminine appearance; that her head is small and neat in proportion to her body, with a waxy small horn, a mild but large eye, a broad muzzle, and that it is well set on her neck; that she has a good chest, and large deep paunch, with large full ribs, fuller below and joined to a rather high back bone; that is to say she has not the breadth of back we look for in a beef animal. If the chine is double, it indicates a cow above the average; if the chine is single, sometimes we can lay our three fingers in three depressions in it at about the middle of it, showing that she is a loose rangy cow, and fitted for her work. Now we will look at her udder and see that it runs forward as level as possible to the belly, and that it is large, with four good-sized, well-shaped teats slightly strutting from each quarter. Now we gently approach her, and pat her to gain her confidence, and get a chance to feel her hide, her milk veins, and examine her escutcheon. If we find her skin is thin, soft, and greasy, with short fine hair, with rather a furry nature, and showing the skin yellow under it; that her udder and her perineum have soft thin skin, with very short furry hair; that her milk veins are large, zig-zag, and knotty, entering the body with good-sized holes, and particularly if this vein is double, extending and ramifying over the udder well back in prominent veins, and if the veins extend over the perineum, we may then, with great confidence, look for a large well-shaped and formed escutcheon, marked first class, order first, by an oval on each side of the back of the udder, and perhaps two thigh ovals or dips where the vertical escutcheon rises from the broad or thigh escutcheon; and just to finish and find all points corroborating, we will look on the vertical escutcheon for some spots of oily lemon colored dandruff, and at the end of her neat, lightly made tail to find some large yellow pieces of dandruff. We don’t like to see it dry and brown; and as we step back from her, we just give a parting look to see that her hips are rather large, bony, somewhat drooping, that her capacious udder has room to project between her legs.

Then, we feel sure that a loose, open made cow, rather pointed, or sharp and well-defined, and the contrary of what we would look for in a flesh or beef producing animal; with a skin mellow and yellow, covered with soft, fine hair, and the nearer it comes to the quality and color of a first class Guernsey or Jersey cow, breeds which have for hundreds of years been bred for butter making, then we repeat we know she must be a good, rich milker and butter maker; for we never saw a thick, hard skin cow, with coarse, long hair, that was a good butter maker, or fit for anything but giving poor milk, _if_ a strong milker.

Our preference is for a medium sized cow, one that will dress five hundred and fifty or six hundred pounds; and, as far as our observation goes, a Jersey sire, with an Ayrshire dam, is the best cross for a milk and butter cow, and the most profitable for the amount of food consumed; though a Jersey or Guernsey sire to the milking stock of Durhams, or a Holstein, or a large yielding native cow, will produce a better cow for butter than the mother was.

To get thorough practice in valuing the escutcheon, take this book in hand, and go into your dairy-yard; compare the escutcheon of each cow with her picture in this book; see what it calls for time and quantity, and then thoroughly test your cow; don’t guess at it, as most farmers do; and make your own comparisons. Remember the size and class of the escutcheon will give you _the quantity and time_; the skin and hair will give you _the quality_; and always remembering the size of the cow, and of what breed she is, for they must qualify your opinion somewhat.

Opinions of the System.

A writer in the _Country Gentleman_ of July 17, 1879, S. Hoxie, of Whitestown, New York, so thoroughly expresses our experience and convictions, that we are led to quote it:

“The writer has been acquainted with ‘the escutcheon theory’ ever since about 1850. During this time he has been a practical dairyman in central New York. At first he approached the study of the escutcheon as a doubter. It seemed to him an absolute absurdity to claim a connection between the growing of the hair and the production of milk, two functions so entirely different.

“At first he examined the herd of cows which he helped milk every night and morning, and was surprised to meet with so many proofs of the truth of the theory. He then observed it upon other herds, and finally extended his observations to various breeds under various circumstances. He was at last compelled to come to the final conclusion that the theory, in the main, was true, but that other points and conditions of the animal must be understood in order invariably to reach a correct judgment:

“1. The breed modifies the quantity and quality of milk production. This is so manifestly true that it needs no argument. A particular order and class of escutcheon indicates a different quantity and a different quality of milk on a Jersey than it indicates on an Ayrshire cow.

“2. The condition of care and feed to which different families of the same breed have been accustomed during long periods modify milk production, and must be taken into consideration. For instance, certain families of Short-Horns have been cared for and fed through several generations with the sole view of beef production; other families have been trained to milk production. Escutcheons upon the former indicate far less quantity of milk than upon the latter. Thus some families with very fine escutcheons give very little milk. The escutcheons in such cases no doubt indicate an original capacity that a few generations of proper treatment might awaken and develop.

“3. The capacity and health of the digestive organs modifies the quantity, and we also think the quality, of milk production. Cows with large, healthy digestive organs will eat and properly digest more food, and give good return at the pail, than one with opposite conditions of the digestive organs. The former may sometimes give the larger quantity of milk, though, indeed, possessed of the poorer escutcheon.

“4. The activity of the nervous system materially affects milk production. This is often seen when the animal is unduly excited. The quiet dispositioned cow that attends to feeding, and is not disturbed by any excitement in the herd or in the surrounding fields, may have the poorer escutcheon, yet give larger quantities of milk than the extremely excitable cow, with the better escutcheon.

“Other conditions will suggest themselves to the observing and reflecting man, that materially affect the quantity and quality of milk production.

“These modifying conditions do not disturb the true theory of the escutcheon. _Other things being equal, the escutcheon is indicative of the quantity and quality of milk._ Many are misled in estimating the value of the escutcheon, because they have not the patience or the capacity to observe the varying conditions. The escutcheon is of immense practical value. It is easily seen the conditions of flesh do not change it, and animals of all ages, above three months, may be examined by it, and their milking qualities determined with a good degree of accuracy. Other things being equal, the animal with the better escutcheon will invariably make the butter maker. During nearly thirty years of observation, the writer never observed a first class cow that had a poor escutcheon. The escutcheon must be of great value to those who are breeding, and endeavouring to improve thorough-bred cattle of the various milking breeds. It offers a test that may be applied before milking age, and it may be applied to males as well as females. _Though the pedigree is ever so long, and though it contains many good ancestors, the animal should be rejected from the breeding herd, unless it has a good escutcheon._”

“One of the Farmers,” a regular correspondent of the _American Agriculturist_, writes in the number for November, 1878:

“THE VALUE OF THE GUENON MILK MIRROR.—Taken with a good udder and milk-veins, good digestive functions, and capacity for food, good health and thrift, the Guenon milk mirror is a valuable indication of both the quantity and duration of the flow of milk. This seems to be demonstrated by the experience of thousands who have given the subject careful study, and I have never yet met the man who ridiculed it, and called it “folly,” who was able intelligently even to outline the prominent types. The number of calves which do well or ill as milkers, very nearly as indicated by their milk mirrors, is so large, that one of the principal practical uses to which a knowledge of the Guenon system can be applied is in selecting calves to raise, and, of course, to those who buy cows, it comes equally well in use.”

THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BREEDERS OF DUTCH FRIESIAN CATTLE, composed of some of the most practical and intelligent farmers of the dairy region of central New York, have adopted a new set of rules for entry into registry in their Herd Book, wisely making the performance at the pail one of the necessary requirements. Thus, for a period of not more than twelve months from date of calving, the cow under 2½ years of age must give 6,000 lbs. of milk; over 2½, and under 3½, 7,000 lbs; over 3½, and under 4½, 8,000 lbs; over 4½, 9,000 lbs; also, rule 8: No animal shall be admitted to registry unless of the “milk form,” or of the “combined milk and beef form,” of medium or of large size, without coarseness, and if a female, having a well developed escutcheon, not below the 4th order of the 1st class, the 3d orders of the 2d, 3d 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th classes, the 2d order of the 9th class, or the 1st order of the 10th class of the Pennsylvania Commission. With such a record, and with such marks, no one need take the trouble to see the stock, but may safely order it, knowing exactly what they are to receive.

George E. Waring, junior, says:

“If the escutcheon teaches anything it teaches _the duration of the flow of milk_. This is its great value in connection with the Jerseys—a race of small, rich, and _persistent_ milkers. It does indicate quantity, it is true, but not Dutch quantity, nor Ayrshire quantity; only _Jersey_ quantity, which is quite another affair. It indicates, in at least equal degree, the continuance of the flow of milk. Indeed, this is the great value of Guenon’s discovery. It is easy to judge of the _present_ flow of milk in the case of any given cow, but, so far as I know, there is nothing but the escutcheon to tell us how long she will continue to milk after getting with calf. If she has a _first class_ escutcheon, I think we are safe in believing that she will hold out well in her milking. If she has a very defective escutcheon, we may depend on her to fall away very rapidly when a few months gone, and to shut down entirely three or four months before calving.”

From an exhaustive and admirable treatise on the Ayrshire breed, by John D. W. French, of North Andover, Mass., we make the following extracts from his remarks on the Guenon system:

“Pabst, a German farmer of large experience, with a view to simplify the method of Guenon, and render it of greater practical value, made five divisions, or classes:—

1. Very good, or extraordinary. 2. Good, or good middling. 3. Middling, and little below middling. 4. Small. 5. Very bad milkers.

“Magne, the French writer, made a still further simplification, by making four classes instead of five:—

1. The very good. 2. The good. 3. The medium. 4. The bad.

“In the first class he places cows, both parts of whose milk-mirror, the mammary and the perinean, are large, continuous, uniform, covering at least a great part of the perineum, the udder, the inner surface of the thighs, and extending more or less out upon the legs with no interruptions, or, if any, small ones, oval in form, and situated on the posterior face of the udder. Cows of this class are very rare. They give, even when small in size, from ten to fourteen quarts per day, and the largest size from eighteen to twenty-six quarts a day, and even more. They continue in milk for a long period.

“The second class is that of good cows, and to this belong the best commonly found in the market. They have the mammary part of the milk-mirror well developed, but the perinean part contracted or wholly wanting. Small cows of this class give from seven to ten or eleven quarts a day, and the largest from thirteen to seventeen quarts.

“The third class consists of middling cows. When the milk-mirror really presents only the lower or mammary part slightly developed or indented, and the perinean part contracted, narrow, and irregular, the cows are middling. Cows of this class, according to size, give from three or four to ten quarts per day.

“The fourth class is composed of bad cows. No veins are to be seen either on the perineum or the udder, while those of the belly are very slightly developed, and the mirrors are ordinarily small. These cows give only a few quarts of milk a day, and dry up a short time after calving.

“Mr. C. L. Flint, in his work on ‘Milch Cows,’ says:—

“These classifications, adopted by Pabst, Magne, and others, appear to be far more simple and satisfactory than the more complicated classification of Guenon. Without pretending to judge with accuracy of the quantity, the quality, or the duration which a particular size or form of the mirror will indicate, they give to Guenon the full credit of his important discovery, as a new and valuable element in forming our judgment of the milking qualities of a cow, and simply assert, with respect to the duration of the flow of milk, that the mirror that indicates the greatest quantity will also indicate the longest duration.

“My own attention was called to Guenon’s method of judging cows some eight or ten years ago, and since that time I have examined many hundreds, with a view to ascertain the correctness of its main features, inquiring, at the same time, after the views and opinions of the best breeders and judges of stock, with regard to their experience and judgment of its merits; and the result of my observations has been that cows with the most perfectly developed milk-mirrors or escutcheons are, with rare exceptions, the best milkers of their breed, and that cows with small and slightly developed mirrors are, in the majority of cases, bad milkers.

“I say the best milkers of _their breed_, for I do not believe that precisely the same sized and formed milk-mirrors on a Hereford, or a Devon and an Ayrshire, or a native, will indicate anything like the same or equal milking properties. It will not do, in my opinion, to disregard the general and well-known characteristics of the breed, and rely wholly on the milk-mirror; but I think it may be safely said that, as a general rule, the best marked Hereford will turn out to be the best milker among the Herefords, all of which are poor milkers; the best marked Devon, the best among the Devons; and the best marked Ayrshire, the best among the Ayrshires; that is, it will not do to compare two animals of entirely distinct breeds by the milk-mirrors alone, without regard to the fixed habits and education, so to speak, of the breed or family to which they belong.”

“In my own herd of Ayrshire cows, the largest milkers have the best escutcheons, and these cows have, in most cases, transmitted these marks to their descendants. On the other hand, the cows with medium or poor escutcheons have rarely transmitted to their calves better ones; but, generally, of the same or lower class than the dams.