MILCII COWS. 83 



taking in selecting and developing. Some animals arc called 

 cows which are hardly entitled to the name. Webster defines a 

 cow, " a female of the bovine genus of animals * * 

 whose milk furnishes an abundance of food and profit to the 

 farmer." Judged by this standard, cows are comparatively 

 scarce. A " female bovine " that has had a calf, is not neces- 

 sarily a cow. An animal that has so small a development of 

 udder that a close inspection is necessary to distinguish the sex, 

 is not a cow. Yet multitudes of just such animals are supposed 

 to be cows, and are kept as such. Many a farmer wastes his 

 substance in feeding half a dozen such brutes the year around, 

 and gets no more return than he might derive from two genuine 

 cows. Apathy on this subject is due not only to traditionary 

 usage, but to a prejudice against what are called " new fangled 

 notions," and " fancy farming." It is true that some money 

 has been foolishly spent in this direction. It is true that some 

 cows bearing large names and pretentious pedigrees, have been 

 absurdly overvalued. But it is just as true that a really good 

 cow is cheaper at a seemingly high price, than an ordinary cow 

 at a common price. We will suppose the former to cost $120, 

 and the latter just one-third as much, $40. Here is a difference 

 of $80, which, at first sight, looks disproportionate and extrava- 

 gant. But after purchase, the one cow needs no more barn 

 room, no more feed, and no better care than the other. The 

 interest on $80 for one year, at six per cent., is $4.80. How 

 'long will it take the superior cow to pay this difference, the 

 only difference, be it remembered, in a year's outlay on the 

 respective animals. We will suppose the best cow to average 

 eighteen quarts of milk per day for ninety days after calving, 

 and the other cow to average ten quarts per day during the 

 same period. Here is a difference of eight quarts per day, 

 which at eight cents per quart, makes a difference of sixty-four 

 cents per day : $4.80 divided by sixty-four cents gives seven 

 and one-half days — say one week — as the time required to pay 

 this interest. During this very week, be it remembered, she 

 gives, besides, as much milk as the other cow, and during the 

 other fifty-one weeks of the year ; all her excess of yield above 

 that of the other cow, is clear gain as compared with that cow. 

 Let us extend our calculation over the whole period of ninety 

 days. By the supposition, the superior cow gives eighteen quarts 



