How to Select Cows / or, The Guenon system simplified, explained, and practically applied

by Willis P. Hazard

“The result of this first test seems conclusive, but they acquire new force from those of a second trial in which the method was subjected to another test through M. Guenon and his brother. Your committee, availing themselves of the presence of the latter, caused the same cows to be examined by the two brothers, but separately, so that after a cow had been inspected, and her qualities as indicated by the signs in question had been pronounced upon by one of the brothers, he was made to withdraw; then the other brother, who had been kept aloof, was called up, and desired to state the qualities of the same animal. This mode of proceeding could not fail to give rise to difference, to contradiction even, between the judgments of the two brothers, unless their method was a positive and sure one. Well, gentlemen, we must say it, this last test was absolutely decisive. Not only did the judgment of the two brothers accord perfectly together, but they were in perfect accordance also with all that was said by the proprietors in regard to the qualities, good or bad, of every animal subject to this examination.”

On the 26th of May, 1837, a similar test was made by the agricultural society of Aurillac, whose committee, in their report, use the following language:

“Each cow was examined separately by M. Guenon, who wrote his notes upon her, and delivered the paper closed to one of us. Immediately after, another member of the committee questioned the owner of the cow, or the person in charge of her, in regard to her daily yield of milk, its quality, and the time during which she continued to give milk after being got with calf. The answers were taken down in writing, and then compared with the notes written by M. Guenon. They were generally found to accord, and proved to the satisfaction of your committee and of every one present, all of whom attended with lively interest to these proceedings, that M. Guenon possesses great sagacity in judging of cattle, and that his method rests upon a sure foundation.”

The Bordeaux committee added: “To the proprietors and to the lookers-on, all this was very surprising for the examinations were as quickly made as the results were certain. As to ourselves to whom the method was no longer a secret, it was with renewed interest and astonishment that we viewed the accuracy of the results. This system we do not fear to say is infallible. We only regretted the whole society was not present.”

The committee further reported that Mr. Guenon had, after more than twenty years observations and researches, discovered certain natural and positive signs that were proof against all error, while the writers and professors who have particularly occupied themselves with the bovine race, can only indicate some vague signs for judging of the fitness of cows for secreting milk. That this method is valuable, whether it tells the yield of milk only, or indicates the improvement of breeds, which are liable to deterioration from mismanagement in crossing, and that it is applicable not to full-grown animals alone, but also to calves at as early an age as three months. Thus it affords a sure means of forming a judgment of full-grown animals, about which we might be misled on account of their form and their parentage, and secures the improvement of herds by enabling us to dispose of those calves which will not repay the cost of rearing them. We shall thus no longer rear calves at great expense for two or three years that should have been consigned to the butcher, nor sell calves that would pay best to rear. If this system is pursued, only cows and bulls of best quality will be kept, and in very few years how great will be the improvement of our herds, and largely increased the cheapest and best of all foods, milk, and the production of butter and cheese.

The committee of the Agricultural Society of Bordeaux, therefore, decreed Mr. Guenon a gold medal, made him a member of the society, ordered fifty copies of his work, and distributed one thousand copies of their full report among all the agricultural societies of France.

The next public test Mr. Guenon submitted his system to, was that by the Agricultural Society of Aurillac, and that society reported that Mr. Guenon examined the herd of their president, of one hundred cows, from which were selected designedly, the best, the moderately good, and the most indifferent of the establishment. Upon each, Mr. Guenon pronounced with precision, and his decisions corresponded almost invariably with the statements of the persons in charge. The only variations were very slight ones, in regard to the quantity given. But this herd was fed unusually high, and Guenon was totally unaccustomed to the usages of the country in feeding cattle, and this caused him to pronounce the yield a little less than it really was. A proof of his system, for he declares the yield will vary according to the feed and management, which all observant farmers know to be the case. Mr. Guenon examined some of the cows a second time, and also the calves, and those calves he assigned to the first orders the cowherds said were from their best cows, that gave a great deal of milk.

The notes of his reëxaminations corresponded exactly with his first statements. The committee therefore awarded Mr. Guenon a gold medal, made him a corresponding member, subscribed for twenty-five copies of his book for each of the sub-societies, and distributed their report through all the agricultural channels of France.