30 KEEPING 02OJ COW. 



average man wishes only to know the cheapest and easiest way to 

 have an abundant supply of rich, wholesome, and clean milk, and 

 with pride enough in the possession of a good cow to furnish a 

 good shelter and comfortable quarters. Beyond these, breeders of 

 fancy and high-priced stock may go to any extreme, and find a 

 paying business in doing so, but the village or city owner of one 

 or two cows, kept solely for his own use, can not afford to indulge 

 in any of this " upper-tencloin " style of cow life; it won't pay 

 him. As a row of corn was cut and fed, the land was plowed, 

 manured, and more corn (common field) drilled in thick, so that 

 the ground for the whole summer presented the appearance of an 

 experimental corn field, with corn at every stage of its growth. 



This was kept up through the months of July, August, Sep- 

 tember, and October. Indeed, the half of this yield was more 

 than sufficient for keeping the cow in superb condition, so that 

 much the greater portion was cut in the tasselling stage and cured 

 for winter feed. After September begins, it will not do to sow 

 corn; the worms destroy it, but in our southern Bean, or "cow 

 pea," we have one of the very best of soiling crops. Sown either 

 broadcast, or in drills, it does equally well, makes a rapid growth, 

 an:l affords a tempting and nutritious food for cattle. It grows 

 until checked by frost, and I know of no plant, save Indian corn, 

 that produces more weight to a given quantity of land. In this 

 instance we fed it daily during October and late into November, 

 before a frost put an end to its use in its green state. Anticipating 

 a frost, it was cut and cured for winter feed. Properly cured, no 

 hay equals it for cattle. 



November twenty-fourth our cow went into winter quarters, and 

 for her winter feed there were over four thousand eight hundred 

 pounds of well cured corn-fodder, and one thousand five hundred 

 pounds of good pea-vine hay far more than she could consume. 



Early in December, after spreading over the land all the manure 

 on hand, it was plowed again with a two-horse turning plow, and 

 sowed thickly to oats, harrowing them in. A seasonable rain 

 gave them a good start, so they were well prepared for the vicisi- 

 tudes of winter a good stand and vigorous growth. The cow 

 now received a daily ration of corn fodder and pea hay, 

 run through the cutter, and after mixing thoroughly three 

 quarts of wheat bran and one quart of cotton-seed meal, were 

 wet with water (warm in cold weather). This was given her 

 in the morning, and the same quantity at evening. The corn 

 fodder and pea-hay for a day's feed were fifteen pounds of each, 



