MY FARM OF EDGEWOOD 



and I think that he ofifered some such corollary 

 as this : 



"Squire, them English cows is handsome 

 critturs enough to look at ; but ye have to keep 

 a follerin' on 'em up with a meal tub." 



It is very easy to lay down a charming set 

 of rules for the establishment of a good herd 

 (and for that matter— of a good life) ; but— 

 to follow them ? 



I will be bound to say that there was never 

 a prettier flock of milch cows gathered in any 

 man's stables than the superior one which I 

 conjured up in my fancy, after an imaginative 

 foray about the neighborhood. But.it was not 

 easy to make the fancy good. Mr. Flint, in 

 his very capital book upon milch cows and dairy 

 farming, gives a full elucidation of that theory 

 of M. Guenon, by which the milking proper- 

 ties of an animal can be determined by what 

 is called the escutcheon, — being certain natural 

 markings, around the udder upon the inner 

 parts of the thighs. It is perhaps needless to 

 say, that such minute observation as would 

 alone justify a decision based upon this theory, 

 might sometimes prove awkward, and embar- 

 rassing. Upon the whole, I should counsel 

 young farmers in summer clothing, and away 

 from home, to judge of a cow by other indicia. 



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