“There is no point in judging a cow so little understood as the escutcheon. The conclusion of almost every one is, that her escutcheon is good, if there be a broad band of up-running hair from the udder to the vulva, and around it—see Fig. 1. These cows, with the broad vertical escutcheon, are nearly always parallel cows; that is, with bodies long, but not large, and with the under line parallel with the back. Their thighs are thin, and the thigh escutcheon shows on the inside of the thigh, rather than on its rear. “Next comes the wedge-shaped cow, with the body shorter, but very large, deep in the flank, and very capacious. This form does not usually exhibit the broad vertical escutcheon, running up to the vulva, but with a broader thigh may exhibit a thigh escutcheon, which is preferable to the other, thus—see Fig. 2. “In both vertical and thigh mirrors, where the hair runs down, intruding on the udder, (as low as above the dotted lines,) as in Figs. 3 and 4, it damages the escutcheon. If you find a cow with the hair all running down, and between the thighs—that is, with no up-running hair—stamp her as a cipher for milk-yielding. “The artist has made the udders to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 the same size, while in reality they will vary according to the escutcheon. “There are times when the udder of a cow, with an escutcheon like Fig. 4, will be enlarged by non-milking, for the purpose of deception. It is always safer to judge by the escutcheon, rather than by the large size of the udder. “The escutcheons of the best cows—those yielding the most and continuing the longest—will be found to be those which conform to Fig. 2. [Mr. S. alludes to the selvage: one of the best, and common among the best cows. H.] “The vertical escutcheon of Fig. 1, would not injure it; but if that ornamental feature has to be at the expense of the thigh escutcheon, Fig. 2 is best as it is. “Whenever an escutcheon is accompanied by a curl on each hind-quarter of the udder, it indicates a yield of the highest order.... “So far we have noticed only the rear escutcheon, or that which represents the two hind-quarters of the udder. The two front-quarters are just as important, and should be capacious, and run well forward under the body—see A. If the udder, in front, be concave, or cut up as in B, indicating small capacity, it represents reduced yield.