36 THE LURE OF THE LAND 



not be permitted to become infected with her own filth, 

 as is too often the case. She is to be kept clean and 

 well curried, and especially is she to be well fed if a 

 maximum production of milk is to be obtained. The 

 small farm indeed must have two cows, calving at dif- 

 ferent periods, so that there is always milk and butter 

 to be had upon the farm. In fact, for the small farmer 

 who lives near a large city there is probably no safer 

 investment than to keep a few cows for milk-marketing 

 purposes. 



ECONOMICAL FEEDING. 



Even with the small farm the cows can be kept in 

 clean, dry lots and barns, and fed during the summer 

 months with the green products of the field. It is esti- 

 mated that one cow kept in a stall can be maintained 

 with one-third of the land which it would require if 

 she were turned out to pasture. Hence the farmer 

 with no more than seventy-five or one hundred acres 

 may keep from fifteen to twenty cows, and keep them 

 well. He can do this by growing the crops which 

 he feeds them instead of turning them out to pasture. 

 Unless cows that are kept up are properly stabled and 

 have pure water and pure air, as well as good food, 

 they are much more subject to disease than when they 

 run at large in the pasture. Therefore the small 

 farmer with a small herd must give extra care and 

 attention to the health of his cattle. He cannot afford 

 to let them go more than a year at a time without a 

 careful inspection by a competent veterinarian to de- 

 termine whether any of them is afflicted with incipient 

 tuberculosis or other contagious disease. It would be 

 fatal to a herd that is kept in the stable to have a single 

 individual thus afflicted. Only by vigilance of this 



