Dairy Farming

 "Type," in this connection, refers to the conformation of the animals which indicates or suggests the purpose it serves. A person familiar with cattle in general, but not with highly developed dairy cattle, looking for the first time upon a high-class dairy cow in full flow of milk would have his attention especially directed to three points as follows:

1. The extreme angular form, carrying no surplus flesh, but showing evidence of liberal feeding by a vigorous physical condition .

2. The extraordinary development of the udder and milk veins.

3. The marked development of the barrel (body) in proportion to the size of the animal.

 These three points should be kept in mind as describing the special characteristics of the dairy animal in comparison with those bred for beef, or with inferior dairy animals. Sometimes the error is made of attributing this lack of flesh, so characteristic of a good dairy cow, to insufficient feeding. The dairy cow does not, however, have the same appearance as an animal not of the dairy type that is in thin flesh because of insufficient feed. A high-class dairy cow never carries much flesh when in full flow of milk. The stimulation to produce milk is so strong that all the feed she can consume and digest above that needed for maintenance is utilized in producing milk. Such an animal, although thin in flesh, has an alert, vigorous appearance, her hair is soft and healthy, her skin pliable and loose, her eyes are bright, her paunch is full, and a general appearance of thrift and contentment is noticeable. An animal thin in flesh on account of insufficient food has a stupid appearance and shows a lack of vigor, while the rough, long hair stands on end. The paunch may be large or not, depending on the bulkiness of the feed consumed by the animal.

  There is but one entirely satisfactory way to select cows for dairy purposes, and that is by records of production of each individual, as determined by the use of scales for weighing the
amount of milk and the Babcock test for measuring the amount of butterfat in the milk. Official testing of pure-breds and cow test association, or dairy herd improvement association work, have made commendable progress during the past decade; but there are still vast numbers of cows used for dairy purposes on which no tests for milk and butterfat production have ever been made. In determining the value of such animals for dairy purposes the estimate must be based upon conformation (shape or build), or the degree to which the animal approaches what is known as the dairy form or type. While such estimates may be very inaccurate, the
development of the function of milk production through generations of selection and breeding in that direction has brought about certain characteristics in the conformation of the animal that may be taken into account in judging of the development of these functions. 
  The breeders on Jersey Island in 1834 formulated the first scale of points for dairy cattle. At the present time the breeders' associations have prepared for each breed a carefully drawn scale of points that are of assistance in acquiring a skill in the selection of cows by conformation. A scale of points undertakes to describe the conformation of the animal that, in the judgment of the author, denotes the highest development of the characteristics sought. The comparative importance of the parts described is represented by points that total 100 for the perfect animal. The lack, up to the present time, of a real scientific basis for preparing a scale of points makes them unsatisfactory in many ways, but they are of great general value, especially to the beginner.

Milk, with its products, serves as one of the most important sources of food for all civilized nations. The more highly developed and prosperous the people, the greater the amount of milk and dairy products they consume.

It has been pointed out that the native races of Africa, America and Australia, which have never developed beyond the stage of barbarism, do not use milk as a food. The primitive races of Europe and western Asia made use of milk, as their descendants have done, and this fact may be a reason for the great intellectual development of Europe and America.

At least one authority in presenting the results of his investigations in human nutrition, which have changed the viewpoint of the entire civilized world on the subject, remarked: "The keeping of dairy animals was the greatest factor in the history of the development of man from a state of barbarism."

A large part of the best and highest priced agricultural lands of the world are utilized for the keeping of dairy cattle. It is a well-known  fact that the most prosperous nations, as well as the best developed physically and mentally, are those in which the dairy cow has long been the foundation of agriculture.