1 146 Rural School Leaflet 



LESSONS ON THE COW 



I. THE DISTRIBUTION AND CARE OF COWS 



E. S. Savage 



The cattle-bearing sections of the United States. — -There are in the United 

 States about fifteen millions of cows, both beef and dairy. The question 

 naturally arises, in what States are they found? There are some cows 

 in every State; but there are six States in the Union which deserve the 

 title " The Six Great Dairy States," and five States which deserve the 

 title " The Five Great Beef States." The great agricultural State of 

 Iowa is found in both these lists, therefore it has the title " The Greatest 

 Stock-Growing State." Texas, also, is found in both lists, but it does 

 not stand so high as Iowa because of the vastness of its area. 



Our own State of New York is the greatest dairy State in the Union, 

 with 1,589,594 cows; Wisconsin has 1,437,505; Iowa, 1,406,792; Minne- 

 sota, 1,085,388; Illinois, 1,050,223; and Texas, 1,013,867. No other 

 State has more than 1,000,000 dairy cows. 



In numbers of beef cattle, Texas outranks the others by far, having 

 2,469,321 beef cattle. It must be remembered that the area of Texas 

 is vast. Nebraska has 705,191 beef cattle; Iowa, 614,930; Kansas, 558,153 ; 

 and Montana, 372,798. No other State in the Union has more than 

 200,000 beef cattle. Thus it is seen that, in this country, cattle are raised 

 in largest numbers in the northern tier of States and in the Mississippi 

 Valley. 



Elgin, Illinois, is the greatest butter-market in the United States and 

 the Elgin Board of Trade governs the price of butter in the Middle West. 

 New York City is the greatest milk-consuming city in the United States. 

 Chicago is the greatest market fur beef cattle. Other great beef markets 

 are Kansas City, St. Louis, and St. Joseph. Buffalo has a large beef- 

 cattle market. Of course all the larger cities are great markets for raw 

 milk and for beef in retail form. 



Care of the dairy cow. — All cows deserve better treatment than they 

 receive. They arc entitled to the best of treatment, for they give us 

 milk, butter, and cream while they live, and even when they die they 

 give us shoes and robes and coats to keep us warm. Beef, the meat that 

 they yield, is an important article of food. 



A good cow is entitled to six things from her master: (1) kindness; 

 (2) a clean, dry home; (3) plenty of light; (4) pure air; (5) pure water; 

 and (6) an abundance of salt. Every caretaker of cows should see that 

 these conditions are met, as well as that his cows have plenty to eat. 



Every animal in a well-managed dairy herd will be so tame that the 

 owner and attendants can easily catch her in the open lot at any time. 



