OUR FARM-YARD MILK-GIVERS. 169 



able for beef when useless for milk. The practical farmer 

 and dairyman secure the main benefits of these fixed types 

 of cattle by a mixture of their blood with that of the 

 native stock. The home cow is called " our royal divin- 

 ity " by Mr. John Burroughs, whose pleasant sketch is 

 here partly given : 



10. " What a variety of individualities a herd of cows 

 presents when you have come to know them all, not only 

 in form and color, but in manners and disposition ! Some 

 are timid and awkward, and the butt of the whole herd ; 

 some remind you of deer; some have an expression in 

 the face like certain persons you have known. A petted, 

 well-fed cow has a benevolent and gracious look ; an ill- 

 used and poorly-fed one a pitiful and forlorn look. Some 

 cows have a masculine or ox expression ; others 'are ex- 

 tremely feminine. The latter are the ones for milk. Some 

 cows will kick like a horse ; some jump fences like a deer. 

 Every herd has its ringleader, its unruly spirit one that 

 plans all the mischief and leads the rest through the fences 

 into the grain or into the orchard. This one is usually 

 quite different from the master- spirit, the 'boss of the 

 yard.' The latter is generally the most peaceful and law- 

 abiding cow in the lot, and the least bullying and quarrel- 

 some. 



11. " But she is not to be trifled with her will is law ; 

 the whole herd give way to her, those that have crossed 

 horns with her, and those that have not, but yielded their 

 allegiance without crossing. I remember such a one 

 among my father's milkers when I was a boy a slender- 

 horned, deep-shouldered, large-uddered, dewlapped old 

 cow that we always put first in the long stable, so she 

 could not have a cow on each side of her to forage upon ; 

 for the master is yielded to no less in the stanchions than 

 in the yard. She always had the first place anywhere. 



