“_Resolved_, That the president of the Board (His Excellency Governor
John F. Hartranft) be authorized and requested to appoint a commission of
experts, who shall inquire into and report upon the reliability of the
Guenon or escutcheon theory for selecting milking stock; said report to
be made to the secretary of the Board on or before the 1st of November
next.”
In accordance with this request, His Excellency Governor Hartranft issued
the following commission:
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA,
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, HARRISBURG, _April 24, 1878_.
To GEORGE BLIGHT, Esq., _of the city of Philadelphia_; CHALKLEY
HARVEY, Esq., _of the county of Delaware_, and WILLIS P.
HAZARD, Esq., _of the county of Chester_:
GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to inform you that you have been
duly appointed a committee by the State Board of Agriculture to
investigate and test “The Guenon Milk Escutcheon Theory,” and
report the result thereof to the secretary of said Board.
JNO. F. HARTRANFT,
_Governor and President of the Board_.
_November 1, 1878._
To the Honorable JNO. F. HARTRANFT,
_Governor and President of the Board of Agriculture_:
YOUR EXCELLENCY: In compliance with the commission tendered us,
we beg leave most respectfully to report that we have visited a
number of herds and have examined two hundred cows, the result
of which is herewith submitted.
Having performed to the best of our ability the duty assigned
us, we beg leave to be discharged from further consideration of
the question.
Respectfully yours,
GEORGE BLIGHT, _Philadelphia_,
CHALKLEY HARVEY, _Chad’s Ford_,
WILLIS P. HAZARD, _West Chester_.
The Pennsylvania Guenon Commission having been appointed “to investigate
and test the Guenon or Milk Escutcheon theory, and report the result
thereof,” respectfully report that they have examined two hundred
cows, heifers, and bulls, and the result of their examinations has
been to convince themselves and others of the merits of the system, of
its exceeding value to the practical farmer; and they believe that if
generally followed for twenty years, the value of the neat cattle of the
State would be increased vastly, the amount of milk and butter produced
would be much larger, and the quality of both articles better, while the
quality of the meat would be improved. Having believed in and practised
the system for many years, they would add that their recent extended and
careful examinations and contact with a number of owners of all grades of
stock, has tended to confirm them more thoroughly in their belief. As an
adjunct to previous knowledge to assist purchasers or breeders of cattle
in getting or raising the best, and weeding out the poorest, they think
it is worthy of being acquired by every farmer. And they would recommend
their fellow farmers not to be dismayed at the apparent difficulties
to be surmounted in obtaining a knowledge of the system, as it is only
absolutely necessary to acquire a knowledge of the first four orders
of each class, and a few other points, to practically apply it, as all
animals below those grades are not worthy of being kept. Any intelligent
man can readily master the system, and soon become proficient in it by
practice. This knowledge, applied with the tests heretofore usually used,
will enable any one to become a good judge of cattle.
The manner of making up their account of each animal is to examine the
escutcheon and the udder, from which they place her in the class and
order nearest to those delineated by Guenon, and then estimate the
quantity, quality, and time that she will milk. These estimates must be,
of course, only _approximate_, as they are based upon the indications of
the escutcheon, the size of the cow, and her probable condition. As it
is readily seen that where estimates are based upon what the cow should
do _within three months of her being fresh_, it would be impossible to
always grade the exact value of all the cows in a herd, each of which is
at a different period of gestation, or in a different condition or state
of health, and where also the cow is affected by the way in which she is
fed and cared for, by the season, by the state of the temperature, and
other circumstances. The estimates are based upon what the commission
thinks the cow would do when all the conditions are favorable to her
development, and where she is properly fed and cared for. A record is
made by the commission on the spot. An account of the qualities of each
head is drawn up by the owner. Each is made at separate times, and
without the knowledge of the other party. Then the two accounts are
copied off into parallel columns for comparison. If the accounts agree in
seventy-five per cent. out of one hundred, it certainly must be presumed
the system has sufficient value to make it worthy of adoption by all
farmers and breeders. As every farmer knows the yield is much influenced
by the feed, the care, the exposure, and the treatment of the cows;
therefore, a certain amount of allowance must be made, for these various
things will so alter matters, that no one can tell to a quart, or a pound
of butter, or to the week in time of milking. In fact, every farmer knows
neither the owner himself, nor his man, can tell to a quart how much
his cow or cows actually give, unless a daily record is kept every day
of every year. For even if he does keep such a record, he will find the
various circumstances named above affecting the quantities in his record.
Therefore the earnest seeker after truth, comparing the statements
made in the two columns, must not expect the two to tally without some
variations. The true spirit with which he must examine these statements,
will suggest itself in the question: Is this a system by which I can
judge of the value and quantities of a cow correctly? Is this a system
that will tell me the points of a cow, good or bad, more correctly than
by any other method? Let the candid inquirer weigh these statements,
and think if he knows of any method by which he can go into a herd and
surely pick out the best cows, and leave the poor ones to those who judge
not by this system. Every farmer has his own mode of judging, but take
the shrewdest and most practiced, can he avoid often the bastards? What
the commission find they can do, is that in a large majority of the
percentage of cases, they will give a good estimate of the qualities of
any animal. Their opinions of the time a cow will go, is based upon what
they think should be the treatment of all cows, viz.: that every cow
should have a rest of from four to six weeks, at least.
[Illustration: JERSEY COW NIOBE, H. R. 99.—Owned by Samuel J. Sharpless,
Philadelphia.