206 THE FARMER AT HOME 



and a few are brindled ; but they are principally distinguished by 

 their white faces, throats and bellies. In a few the white extends to 

 the shoulders. The old Herefords were brown, or red -brown, with 

 not a spot of white about them. It is only within the last fifty or 

 sixty years that it has been the fashion to breed for white faces. 

 Whatever may be thought of the change of color, the present breed 

 is superior to the old one. The cows are not generally admitted to 

 be equal in milking qualities to those of some other breeds ; but, they 

 have their admirers in this country as well as in England. And if 

 universally judged deficient in these qualities, the deficiency is bal- 

 anced by the great weight to which they can be fattened. And the 

 oxen are thought more profitable for the shambles than for the yoke, 

 notwithstanding their great strength and docility. 



HERON. This bird builds in cliffs over the sea ; though it some- 

 times will be found in numbers on high trees. The heron was for- 

 merly much esteemed as food ; it is remarkably long-lived, some- 

 times exceeding even sixty years. It is a great devourer of fish, and 

 does more mischief to a pond than even an otter. It has been found 

 that a heron will eat fifty moderate sized dace and roaches in a day ; 

 and that in carp ponds, visited by this bird, one heron will eat up a 

 thousand store carp in a year, and will hunt them so close as to let 

 very few escape. 



HICKORY. This name is applied to one of our well-known 

 trees. The wood is coarse-grained, very heavy, exceedingly tough 

 and strong, and red at the heart ; but it is not as durable as the wood 

 of some other trees. It is employed for the shafts and springs of car- 

 riages, for large screws for presses, for bows, chair backs, whip handles, 

 wooden cogged wheels, cask hoops, and a variety of other purposes. 

 It is one of the most economical kinds of wood for fuel. The nuts of 

 one species of this tree are much prized. They are commonly called 

 shag-barks, from the roughness of the scaly surface of the bark of the 

 tree on which they grow. 



HIDE-BOUND. This is applied to a certain disease of cows 

 and horses, in which the skin adheres to their sides. Want of 

 proper care, spare diet, and bad food sometimes long, rank grass, in 

 swampy situations, and musty hay or oats, may be the causes of this 

 affection. The skin of the hide-bound animal loses its pliability and 

 flexible nature ; the surface of it is hard and dry ; the minute scales 

 with which it is covered no longer yield to the hair, but separating 

 themselves in every direction, they turn it in various ways, and so 

 give to it that irregular and ragged appearance which is one of the 

 characteristics of want of condition. 



HIGH WATER. That state of the tides when they have flowed 

 to the greatest height, in which state they remain nearly stationary 

 for about fifteen or twenty minutes, when the water begins again to 

 ebb. The nme of high water is always nearly the same in the same 



