=Physical Defects.= If you find that you have a cow with the capacity and the tendency to produce, it is time to look for the physical defects in the animal. Probably more men fail to notice physical defects than any other thing, when buying cattle. Begin by examining the mouth of the cow. The age of the cow can be approximately told by looking at the front teeth. If the cow is young, her teeth are square, flat, and close together. When the cow gets older, they are round and wedge-shaped and tend to separate. At about twelve years the cow begins to lose some of her front teeth. In judging a cow’s development and possibilities her age must always be taken into consideration. The eye must look bright. A sick cow usually shows it in her face and in the way she holds her head with her nose sticking a little too far forward. She has lost her spirit. If the skin is rough, it is likely to indicate in some cases poor digestion and in other cases coarseness. In either case we do not want the cow. The thin form of the good milk cow without an ounce of surplus flesh must not give the impression of debility, but of efficiency and strength. The cow having digestive trouble is usually shrunken in the paunch and has the appearance of her skin being drawn tightly around her body in front of the udder. She should not be constipated, nor should she have scours. The udder should not be meaty. After a cow is milked, her udder should be nearly like an empty sack. Each teat should be milked to see that it contains no evidence of garget. Each quarter of the udder should be felt to see that it contains no portion slightly more solid than the others. The teats should be examined for slight lumps which have usually been caused by rough milking and which may make a lot of trouble. =Diseases.= Tuberculosis in cattle is a disease that is more contagious among barn-fed cattle than among those kept more in the open. In fact, I have never heard of range cattle being tubercular. Nevertheless, under conditions that exist on the average farm, the tuberculosis germ will thrive and cause havoc. It pays to be careful not to introduce such a disease into the herd. Often the fattest, sleekest cattle are affected and while they do not die from it quickly, yet as it progresses in a herd an animal will now and then die from the disease. Hogs and even chickens running with the cattle become affected and much loss results. The accuracy of the tuberclin test in the main has been established beyond doubt. Laws now require that cattle which are shipped from one state to another be tested, and the infected cattle can not be legally shipped except to a slaughter house subject to inspection. However, many cattle are shipped under false certificates sworn to by unscrupulous veterinaries. The only thing that we can do about it is to be careful in buying, deal with responsible men and buy the cattle guaranteed.