114 A FARMER'S YEAR 



200/., and turned into the pleasure grounds of the inn. Now 

 the Duke has had to give over 6,000/. to recover the home of 

 his ancestors, but doubtless he will be able to recoup himself 

 for the most of this outlay by re-selling the hotel. Indeed, 

 should the brewers' mania for the acquisition of tied houses 

 continue, I dare say that were he to keep the property in hand 

 for a year or two he might make a handsome profit on the 

 transaction. 



February 21. ^Winter has come at last, for the thermometer 

 shows that there were ten degrees of frost during the night. One 

 of my best cows, Miss Pegotty by name, calved last night, or 

 rather tried to calve, with the result that when Hood went into 

 the cowhouse this morning he found the calf dead and the cow 

 not far off it. I think that the calf was the largest which I ever 

 saw, and that the trouble was undoubtedly occasioned by nobody 

 bei.ng with the cow This sounds like carelessness, but in fact it 

 is not always so. All mammals seem to prefer to produce their 

 young at night, although in the case of cattle this rule has many 

 exceptions. Therefore, when a cow is overdue, and shows the 

 usual signs of calving, the cowkeeper has sometimes to sit up 

 night by night to watch her, until at last he is almost worn out. 

 In the present case, for instance, I believe that Miss Pegotty has 

 been expected to calve for the last fortnight, and that Hood and 

 his brother have watched her during all that time. Last night, 

 however, the signs of immediate calving vanished, and Hood, on 

 whom the watching had devolved for several nights, thought that 

 he was quite safe in taking a rest, with the result stated above. 



It will be a terrible business if we lose Miss Pegotty as well as 

 her calf, for she is one of our most prolific and reliable cows. She 

 has been dosed with a pint of whisky in gruel, but is quite unable 

 to get on to her legs. The farrier has come to visit her, but does 

 not recommend that she should be slung, as he thinks that the 

 pressure of the slings might upset her inside, which indeed occurred 

 to me as probable. I may explain that the slinging was suggested 



