California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



She JJainh 



VThen the Cows Come Home. 



When klinKle, klingle. klingle, 



Way down the dusky dingle, 



The cows are coining home: 

 How sweet and clear, and faint and low, 

 The airy tinklings come and go. 

 Like chimings from the far-off tower, 

 Or patteriuRs of an April shower 



That makes the daisies grow; 



Eo-ling, ko-lang, kolinglelingle, 



Way down the dark'ning dingle, 



The cows come slowly home; 

 (And old-time friends, and twilight plays. 

 And starry nights and -sunny days. 

 Come trooping up the misty ways. 



When the cows come home.) 



With jingle, jangle, jingle. 

 Soft tones that sweetly mingle, 

 The cows are coming home; 

 Malvine and Pearl and Floramel, 

 DeKamp, Red Rose and Gretchen Schell, 

 Queen Bess and Sylph and Spangled Sue, 

 Across the fields I hear her "loo .00" 

 And clang her silver bell. 

 Go-ling, go-Iang, golingledingle. 

 With faint, far sounds that mingle. 

 The cows come slowly home; 

 (And mother songs of long gone years. 

 And baby joys and childish fears. 

 And youthful hopes and youthful tears. 

 When the cows come home.) 



With ringle, rangle, ringle. 

 With twos and threes and single. 

 The cows are coming home; 

 Through vinlet air we see the town. 

 And the Summer sun i.s slipping down. 

 And the maple in the hazel glade 

 Throws down the path a longer .';hade. 

 And the hills are growing brown. 

 To-rmg. to-rang. toringleringle. 

 By threes and fours and single. 

 The cows come slowly home: 

 (The same sweet sound of wordless psalm. 

 The same sweet June-day rest and calm. 

 The same sweet smell of buds and balm, 

 "When the cows come home.) 



With tinkle, tankle, tinkle. 

 Through fern and periwinkle. 

 The cows are coming home: 

 A-loitering in the checkered stream. 

 Where the sun-rays glance and gleam, 

 Clarine, Peachbloom and Phebe Phillis, 

 Stand knee-deep in the creamy lilies. 

 In a drowsy dream: 

 To-liuk, to-lank, tolinklelinkle. 

 O'er banks with buttercups a-twiukle. 

 The cows come slowly home: 

 (And up through memory's deep ravine 

 Come the brooks old song and its old-time 



sheen. 

 And the crescent of the Silver Queen, 

 When the cows come home,) 



With klingle, klangle, klingle. 



With loo-oo and moo-00 and jingle. 



The cows are coming home; 

 And over there on Slerlin Hill, 

 Hear the plaintive cry of the whip-poor-will, 

 And the dewdrops lie on the t.-ingled vines. 

 And over the poplars Venus shines. 



And over the silent mill; 



Ko-ling. Ko-laiig. kolinglelingle. 



With ting a ling and jingle, 



The cows come slowly home: 

 (Let down the bars; l>'t in the train 

 Of long-gone songs, and flowers and rain. 

 For dear old times come back again 



When the cows come home.) 



FOR MILK OR FOR BEEF. 



^^AIRYMEN, as well as the common 

 Hll*| farmer ami stock breeder, are inter- 

 j|r|l ested in the question of breeding 

 ^1 "for milk or for beef." Isnotthe 

 ^X ti""e solution in breeding for both 

 milk and beef-? The best beef cattle in 

 the world, the short-horns, were derived 

 from a stock noted for dairy cattle. 

 There is yet a class of short-horns that 

 seem not to have lost their excellence as 

 milkers by being improved for beef cat- 

 tle. It is certainly possible to combine 

 the excellencies of both dairy and beef 

 stock in one; and the nearer the farmer 

 and dairyman comes to doing this, the 

 better. A cow that will produce fine 

 c:^lves, the males of which can be soon 

 grown into fine beef stock, that will 

 readily take on growth and fat, is cer- 

 t;iinly worth more than a cow fit for 

 nothing but milk. After a cow has be- 

 come too old for profitable milking, if 



she can be fattened for beef, and will 

 sell at a high price, it is surely a great 

 advantage. Her heifer calves, lit at 

 once for beef and for milk stock, are more 

 valuable than scrubby looking stock of 

 any breed. The small Jersey's are val- 

 uable for hilly farms, where heavy stock 

 cannot run with comfort and safety, 

 also for family use in towns and cities; 

 but on rich valley lands, good short- 

 horn milkers are certainly the best. 

 The same nutrition that produces meat 

 and fat, will j)roduco milk. The beef- 

 making short-horn, while in dairy use, 

 will expend in milk and butter produc- 

 ing, what, if not giving milk, would go 

 to beef producing. In other words, 

 while in use as a dairy cow the strongly 

 organized and capacious power of build- 

 ing up, will be devoted to the elabora- 

 tion of milk. When she is dry the 

 same force will work to lay on flesh. 



We are sure that oiir dairymen will 

 find it to their interest to cultivate the 

 beef qualities as well as the udder. 

 Either quality may be done separately, 

 biit it is not inconsistent to combine 

 both the milk and beef producing qual- 

 ities in one, and thus produce the "com- 

 ing cow." 



Managing Cows In Holland. 



From a condensed report of Dr. Star- 

 ing, in the London Field, on the Daily 

 Husbandry in Holland, we make the fol- 

 lowing extract: 



In the dairying districts — mostly ex- 

 posed tracts of land without a tree — the 

 usual plan of protecting them against the 

 cold and wet is to fasten round their 

 bodies a thick tow cloth, and occasional- 

 ly a rough shedding is erected to serve 

 them as a shelter. On their return to 

 the stables they are attached by the neck j 

 to two stout posts, having movable rings 

 that slide up and down as the animal 

 changes its position. The usual arrange- 

 ment is for the cows to stand face .to 

 face in two rows. Between the latter 

 runs a feeding passage, and behind the 

 cattle there is a channel and plenty of 

 room to remove the droppings. From 

 time to time pea, rye, barley, and oat 

 straw are substituted for a change, and 

 either rape or linseed cake — about a 

 cake a head — is dissolved in the water 

 they drink. Some farmers, however, 

 prefer to give the cake in its dry foi-m, 

 thinking it goes further in that way and 

 is more wholesome. Turnips are not 

 much grown or used as cattle food in 

 the dairying districts; they are occa- 

 sionally given, however, as a supple- 

 mentary article of diet, also beets, car- 

 rots, white and red clover and spui'ry; 

 and in the vicinity of towns the refuse 

 of breweries and distilleries is a com- 

 mon feeding material. 



The calves are never allowed to suck, 

 and receive for the first four weeks pure 

 milk, after that sour milk, and butter- 

 milk, or whey according to circum- 

 stances. At the end of four months 

 the same nourishment is given them as 

 to the full grown cattle; but they often 

 get sour milk, etc., besides. In those 

 localities, such as the neighborhood of 

 Nykerk and Nymegen, in Guclderland 

 and Veghel, and Breda, in North Bra- 

 bant, where the fattening of calves is 

 largely and successfiilly carried on, the 

 usual plan is to put them directly after 

 birth into small pens or boxes, which 

 are just large enough for them to stand 

 up and lie down in and are kept dark. 

 The calves get twice a day as much 

 fresh drawn milk as they will consume, 

 and for the first week each animal is 

 fed exclusively on its own mother's 

 milk. Such importance do some far- 

 mers attach to the calves consuming 



nothing but milk, that they muzzle the 

 creature in order that they m.'vy not 

 chew and swallow any of the litter. A 

 calf fattened in the above way will 

 weigh in ten to twelve iveeks, fat and 

 lean together, 150 to 200 pounds. 



California Raisins. 



The production of raisins in Califor- 

 nia is rapidly assuming the proportions 

 of an important industry. The grape 

 crop now maturing is probably the largest 

 that the State ever produced, and with 

 an overstocked market, both for table 

 and wine, more than usual attention is 

 being directed to the manufacturer of 

 raisins. It is generally conceded that 

 the growing oC grapes in this State at 

 one and one-half cents per pound is a 

 profitable business, and the most ex- 

 perienced producers have demonstrated 

 that this rate can be realized from the 

 crop if it be turned to raisins. Three 

 pounds of muscat grapes will make one 

 of raisins, while the cost of cutting and 

 boxing is estimated at one and one- 

 half cents per pound and if one cent 

 be allowed for freight to San Francisco 

 and commission for selling, we have 

 seven cents per pound as the total cost 

 of production. No good California 



Rearing Stock to Make Good 

 Milkers. 



The best method of growing stock to 

 make them most profitable for the dairy 

 has recently been discussed at some 

 length by Sir. A. L. Fish, of Herkimer, 

 in the Utica Ikruhl. The pominent 

 idea advanced by Mr. Fish is that in 

 in order to rear cows for "fluent milk- 

 ers," they should have xucciilent food 

 from their birth till brought into milk, 

 which, he says, is usually at two years 

 of age, if the animal is well raised. He 

 argues that the food of a calf, when a 

 change is made from milk, should be 

 cooked and fed warm, or near the tem- 

 perature of blood heat, because it fa- 

 cilitates a more perfect digestion, for 

 which the distributing functions are in 

 waiting. This position, he says, is fully 

 demonstrated by the fact that in the 

 change from milk to grosser f<iod the 

 young animal shows less thrift, propor- 

 tionate to increased functional labor re- 

 quired to fit the food for assimilation. 

 The calf adds more weight in growth 

 from a given amount of food it takes 

 during the first week than ever after. 

 The extraordinary size that a calf will 

 attain at eight ntouths old, having been 

 supplied with all the new milk it would 

 take, three times a day, compared with 

 a calf otherwise equal, except that its 

 food is unjirepared for ready assimila- 

 tion, shows it expedient to prepare the 

 food as near as possible for ready dis- 

 tribution in the system, especially for 

 forced growth and for milch cows. 



A skillful breeder, he argues, must 

 unde.'stand adapting the various kinds 

 of food to develoi) essential points and 

 fix them by habit in the constitution. 

 The functional relations in the animal 

 organism are based upon the principle 

 of demand and supply. Hence the 

 early exercise of the faculties most es- 

 sentia! for practical use. 



He would have the animal reared on 

 food that is calculated to stimulate a 

 milky habit, and he would have the ani- 

 mal "come in milk" at an early age, 

 thus educating her from birth for the 

 special purpose of the dairy. Mr. Fish, 

 we understand, has been quite success- 

 ful in rearing "deep milkers, " and his 

 views may be suggestive to those who 

 are growing stock for the dairy. 



raisins have yet been sold as low as this, 

 but it is deemed best to keep the esti- 

 mate on the safe side. At seven cents 

 per pound the California fruit can suc- 

 cessfully compete with the imported, 

 and a large business can be done with 

 the Eastern States. The annual require- 

 ments of this market are estimated at 

 from 18,000 to 20,000 boxes, the quan- 

 tity varying somewhat with the price. 

 Last season the receipts of California 

 raisins at this port aggregated 18,000 

 twenty-pound boxes, and the production 

 of the State reached at least 20,000 

 boxes. Of this quantity about 6,000 

 boxes were shipped to New York, St. 

 Louis and Chicago. The best authorities 

 estimate the production this year at 

 00,000 boxes, consequeutly a market for 

 about 40,000 boxes will have to be 

 sought for in the Eastern States. If the 

 quality of the new crop comes up to that 

 of the best produced last year, not the 

 least difficulty is anticipated in placing 

 the surplus, though it were ten times 

 greater. The possible proportions that 

 this trade may attain are shown by the 

 imports of foreign raisins into this coun- 

 try, which for several years have ranged 

 from 1,000.000 to 1,300,000 packages, 

 valued at $1,. 500,000 to $2,500,000, at 

 New York alone. 



Here, then, would appear to be one 

 branch of the fruit business open to onr 

 farmers, that has not been overdone, and 

 is not likely to be for years to come. The 

 curing of raisins, unlike wine-making, 

 requires no costly appliances. A piece 

 of ground with a smooth surface sloping 

 to the south and provided with movable 

 covering to keep oflf dews and showers, 

 is all that is required. Indeed, some of 

 the finest raisins brought to this market 

 have been cured upon the ground be- 

 tween the rows of vines upon which the 

 grapes were grown. It is a well-settled 

 fact among the most experienced pro- 

 ducers in the State, that however supe- 

 rior machine-dried fruit of other varie- 

 ties may be, the best raisins are cured by 

 sunshine.— S. F. Call, Sept. 21th. 



Valtte of Fabm AxniAis. — .\ccording 

 to the Department of Agriculture, the 

 value of farm animals in January, 1876, 

 were as follows: Horses, 5032,440,985; 

 mules, $106,565,114; milch cows, $320,- 

 306,728; oxen and other cattle. $319. 623, 

 509; sheep, $63,606,318; swine, $175,- 

 070,484. Grand average as follows: 

 Horses, $64.96; mules, $75.33; milch 

 cows, $28.89; othercattle, $19.04; sheep, 

 $2.60; swine, $6.80. The average value 

 of horses was greater in New Jursev, 

 $110.84; least in Texas, $33,17. Of 

 mules, greatest in New Jersey, $128.32, 

 and least in Oregon, $45.68. Cows, 

 greatest in Massachusetts, $48.33, and 

 least in Florida, $14.62; other cattle 

 greatest in Rhode Island, $49.62, and 

 least in Florida, $8.14. Sheep, greatest 

 in New Jersey, $5.01, and least in North 

 Carolina, $1.58. Swine, greatest in 

 Massachusetts, $18.03, and least in Flor- 

 ida,$2.'>6. 



Flxx gbowecg has within the last half 

 a dozen years become quite an important 

 crop in several of our coast counties. 

 The San Francisco Oil Factory has 

 mostly contracted for the crop each year 

 in advance at fair paying prices. We 

 hear some complaint this season from 

 farmers that this establishment is bear- 

 ing down upon the flaxseed producers so 

 as to discourage them from further culti- 

 vation of flax. The farmers look upon 

 the Oil Manufactory as a growing mo- $S 

 nopoly, and want other market opportu- 'Xi 

 nities, new oil mills, or must go at some- ! ,k 

 thing more remunerative. 



