Rural School Leaflet 1147 



A dog, be he ever so gentle, is of little use in connection with a dairy herd. 

 A club or a whip should have no place in a dairy barn. 



Light and ventilation explain themselves. We must supply all the 

 light and the pure air possible. It is not costly to provide light in a stable, 

 neither is it very costly to provide efficient means of ventilation in old 

 stables if the owner is a live, hustling manager with his mind open to the 

 best in his power for the comfort of his animals. All the dairy papers 

 and experiment stations are ready at any time to help and to suggest 

 means of bettering stable conditions, with plans that may be had for the 

 asking. Most of these plans are simple and economical, and farmers are 

 fully capable of putting them into execution. 



Cows should be watered at least twice a day. The water should be 

 pure, and, if possible, it should be free from ice at all times of the year. 

 If cows have a place to drink where ice does not form, and if they are 

 watered twice a day, it does not seem necessary to warm the water arti- 

 ficially. It is important to avoid chilling the animal so that she will not 

 have to stand and shiver after drinking. Any system is a " good watering- 

 system " which will furnish pure water and which works so that the cow 

 gets all that she requires at least twice in twenty-four hours. 



A cow should be furnished with about one ounce of salt every day. 

 The practice of our best dairymen varies. The writer would suggest 

 feeding each cow about two ounces of salt three times a week, either 

 mixing it in the grain feed or merely throwing it into the manger any. 

 time during the day. 



If boys and girls, in helping their fathers to take care of the cows, will 

 keep in mind the foregoing suggestions, our State will have not only the 

 largest number of dairy cows, but also the finest, cleanest, and tamest 

 cows in the world. 



II. A STUDY OF COWS 



E. S. Savage 



Young folks in the State of New York should become more familiar 

 with the animals of the farm. They should be taught to love farm ani- 

 mals; for cows can be loved and petted as well as dogs and horses, and 

 a child's friendliness will be as fully appreciated by cows as by other 

 animals. 



Children in the schools can be taught to study animals at home and 

 to report their observations at school. The teacher of a rural school 

 should visit the homes of the children as much as possible and observe 

 the animal life with the children. In this way parents will become more 

 interested in the school work. In the hope of giving some suggestions to 

 teachers, the writer has prepared the following topics and questions con- 

 cerning the cow: 



