234 SIGNS AND SEASONS 



In most of the eastern counties of the State, the 

 interest and profit of the farm revolve about the 

 cow. The dairy is the one great matter, — for 

 milk, when milk can be shipped to the New York 

 market, and for butter when it cannot. Great barns 

 and stables and milking-sheds, and immense mead- 

 ows and cattle on a thousand hills, are the promi- 

 nent agricultural features of these sections of the 

 country. Good grass and good water are the two 

 indispensables to successful dairying. And the two 

 generally go together. Where there are plenty of 

 copious cold springs, there is no dearth of grass. 

 When the cattle are compelled to browse upon 

 weeds and various wild growths, the milk and but- 

 ter will betray it in the flavor. Tender, juicy 

 grass, the ruddy blossoming clover, or the fragrant, 

 well-cured hay, make the delicious milk and the 

 sweet butter. Then there is a charm about a natu- 

 ral pastoral country that belongs to no other. Go 

 through Orange County in May and see the vivid 

 emerald of the smooth fields and hills. It is a new 

 experience of the beauty and effectiveness of simple 

 grass. And this grass has rare virtues, too, and 

 imparts a flavor to the milk and butter that has 

 made them famous. 



Along all the sources of the Delaware the land 

 flows with milk, if not with honey. The grass is 

 excellent, except in times of protracted drought, 

 and then the browsings in the beech and birch 

 woods are good substitute. Butter is the staple 

 product. Every housewife is or wants to be a 



