416 The Feeding of Animals 



tying cows b}^ their licMds in one spot for five or six 

 months, nnder the plea that exercise is work and work 

 costs food. The statement had better be in accord- 

 ance with the experience of all time, that exercise is 

 health and vigor and that food is well used in main- 

 taining these. The cow is more than a machine; she 

 is a sentient being, susceptible to many of the influ- 

 ences which are essential to the physical welfare of 

 the human species. Let no one take this opinion as 

 an excuse for the cruel and wastefnl exposure of 

 farm animals to inclement weather, which is so often 

 observed, for this is simply a violation of the laws of 

 kindness and economy in the other direction. 



A sympathetic relation should be established be- 

 tween the animal and the herdsman. Close observers 

 declare that such a relation promotes greater thrift 

 and larger production, especially with dairy cows. 

 These animals, possessed of the instincts and affec- 

 tions of motherhood, respond to fondling through its 

 influence upon their nervous organization. 



Moreover, the economic relation is not the only one 

 man sustains to the animal world. Farm animals are 

 man's companions and friends, for which he may enter- 

 tain even sentiments of affection. The daily life of the 

 farm-house is full of pleasant experiences that belong to 

 the care of, and association with, the grateful creatures 

 whose wants must be supplied, — the motherly cow, the 

 faithful horse or the nois}^ cackling fowl. No farmer 

 has reached his best estate who does not find in the 

 animal life about him an enjoyable companionship of 

 which he need not be ashamed, and without a sense 



