214 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



economics that is the one thing in which we do 

 not wish to economize. The multiplication of 

 well-paid and well-paying labor is a thing to be 

 specially desired. If the soiling farm will keep 

 two or three more men employed at good wages, 

 and at the same time pay better interest than 

 the grazing farm, it should be looked upon as 

 much the better method. The question of fur- 

 nishing landscape for hogs is one that borders 

 too closely on the aesthetic or the sentimental to 

 gain the approval of the factory-farm man. 

 What is true of hogs is also true of cows. They 

 are better off under the constant care of intelli- 

 gent and interested human beings than when 

 they follow the rippling brook or wind slowly 

 o'er the lea at their own sweet pleasure. 



The truth is, the rippling brook doesn't always 

 furnish the best water, and the lea furnishes very 

 imperfect forage during nine months of the year. 

 A twenty-acre lot in good grass, in which to take 

 the air, is all that a well-regulated herd of fifty 

 cows needs. The clean, cool, calm stable is much 

 to their liking, and the regular diet of a first- 

 class cow-kitchen insures a uniform flow of 

 milk. 



What is true of hogs and cows is true also of 

 hens. The common opinion that the farm-raised 

 hen that has free range is healthier or happier 

 than her sister in a well-ordered hennery is not 

 based on facts. Freedom to forage for one's self 

 and pick up a precarious living does not always 



