OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 41 



THE COW. 



Did 3^ou ever stop to think how much we are indebted to the cow ? 

 People who lived two or three thousand years ago seemed to have 

 had a higher appreciation of the value of this animal than we 

 have. The word " cattle " means wealth, and the English word 

 " chattel," derived from " cattle," is still a reminder to us that we 

 have valuable property in this animal. 



It is believed by many that the cow was the first of the wild 

 animals to be domesticated, and that she has contributed more to the 

 development of our civilization than any other animal. In early 

 days she was considered so valuable that a man's wealth was meas- 

 ured by the number and size of his herds. Abraham was rich in 

 cattle, and before the real beginning of agriculture the chief occu- 

 pation of man was tending and improving his flock. 



So valuable has this animal been to the human race that it was 

 considered sacred by many early races, chief of which were the 

 Egyptians and Hindus. Cattle was the chief medium of exchange by 

 early civilized tribes, and it is said that the first coin of the Greeks 

 had an ox stamped on it. To kill needlessly or mistreat cattle of 

 any kind w^as considered a crime by the Greeks, Hebrews, Egyptians, 

 and Hindus. 



The cow is just as valuable to us as she was to the ancients who 

 held her in such high esteem. She gives us milk, butter, cheese, and 

 her flesh for food, and without it man could hardly live. She gives 

 us her hide for clothing, and without it we should be sorely in need, 

 and we should have to go back to the wooden shoes that very poor 

 people have worn in different ages. She gives us fertilizer for our 

 crops, and if this plant food should be suddenly taken away the 

 farmers' fields would degenerate. She gives us her bones for buttons 

 with which to fasten our clothes. Her hair is used in making fur- 

 niture and many other useful articles. She not only gives us all 

 these things, but she gives us power to pull our carts and plows; in 

 ancient times this was almost the only power used by some peoples 

 in cultivating their land. 



The cow is used for three things — for beef, for milk, and for butter 

 and cheese. For the past 200 years, and especially for the past 50 

 years, man has studied the influence of different kinds of food on the 

 cow and has employed the knowledge gained in breeding animals 

 suited to his several needs. As a result, we have three distinct breeds 

 of cattle — one that gives an abundance of milk, one that gives milk 

 especially rich in butter, and the third, called the beef cow, most 

 of whose food is converted into flesh which we use for beef. 



We are indebted more to the British Isles and to Holland for our 

 improved cattle than to any other country. It is said that the Eo- 



