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.