great agriculturists of France (and it is no mean
agricultural country) have tested it, under the direction of the
agricultural societies, and pronounced it entirely certain. This was
followed by an award, by the French government, of a pension of three
thousand francs per annum to Guenon, as a benefactor of the people by
the discovery he had made. The same has been amply tested in this
country, with the same certain results. It now only remains for every
farmer to test it for himself, and avail himself of the profits that
will arise from it. Guenon divides cows into eight classes, and has
eight orders under each class, making sixty-four cows, of which he has
cuts in his work. He also adds what he calls a bastard-cow in each
class, making seventy-two in all. Now, to master all these nice
distinctions in his classes and orders would be tedious, and nearly
useless. Efforts at this would tend to confusion. We desire to give the
indications in a brief manner, with a very few cuts; and yet, we would
hope to be much better understood by the masses than we believe Guenon
to be. We claim no credit; Guenon is the discoverer, and we only
promulgate his discovery in the plainest language we can command; and if
we can reach the ear of the American farmers, and call their attention
to this, we shall not have labored in vain.

The appearance of the hind-part of the cow, from a point near the
gambrel-joint up to the tail, Guenon calls the escutcheon. The following
cuts show the marks of all of Guenon's eight classes, the first and the
last in each class. The intermediate ones are in regular gradation from
the first to the eighth order. Each class is divided into high, medium,
and low, yielding milk somewhat in proportion to their size. We give the
quantity of milk which the large cows will yield. This also supposes
cows to be well fed on suitable food. Smaller cows of the same class and
order, or those that are poorly cared for and fed, will, of course, give
less.

The names of all these eight classes are entirely arbitrary--they mean
nothing. M. Guenon adopted them on account of the shape of the
escutcheon, or from the name of the place from which the cows came. But
cows with these peculiar marks are found among all breeds, in all
countries, and of all colors, sizes, and ages. These marks are certain,
except the variations that are caused by extra care or neglect.

[Illustration: Fig. 1. FIRST CLASS. Fig. 2.

_Order_ 1. FLANDERS