Without pushing this method of judging of the good milking qualities of cows into the objectionable extreme to which it was carried by its originator, it may be safely asserted that the milk-mirror forms an important additional mark or point for distinguishing good milkers; and it may be laid down as a rule that, in the selection of milch cows, as well as in the choice of young animals for breeders, the milk-mirror should, by all means, be examined and considered; but that we should not limit or confine ourselves exclusively to it, and that other and long-known marks should be equally regarded. There are cases, however, where a knowledge and careful examination of the form and size of the mirror become of the highest importance. It is well known that certain signs or marks of great milkers are developed, only as the capacities of the animal herself are fully and completely developed by age. The milk-veins, for instance, are never so large and prominent in heifers and young cows as in old ones, and the same may be said of the udder, and of the veins of the udder and perineum; all of which it is of great importance to observe in the selection of milch cows. Those signs, then, which in cows arrived at maturity are almost sufficient in themselves to warrant a conclusion as to their merits as milkers, are, to a great extent, wanting in younger animals, and altogether in calves, as to which there is often doubt whether they shall be raised; and here a knowledge of the form of the mirror is of immense advantage, since it gives, at the outset and before any expense is incurred, a somewhat reliable means of judging of the future milking capacities of the animal; or, if a male, of the probability of his transmitting milking qualities to his offspring. [Illustration: MILK-MIRROR [L.]] It will be seen, from an examination of the points of a good milch cow that, though the same marks which indicate the greatest milking qualities may not always indicate the greatest aptitude to fatten, yet that the signs which denote good fattening qualities are included among the signs favorable to the production of milk; such as soundness of constitution, marked by good organs of digestion and respiration fineness and mellowness of the skin and hair, quietness of disposition--which inclines the animal to rest and lie down while chewing the cud--and other marks which are relied on by graziers in selecting animals to fatten.