110 SKETCHES OP BUBAL AFFAIBS. 



brutes in this country. The pavement was of Dutch 

 tiles, the walls of deal boards, not painted, or rough 

 sawn, but as smooth and clean as a dining-table in an 

 English farm-house. From one end of the stable to the 

 other runs a gutter; and above it, over each stall, a 

 hook is fastened in the ceiling. When the cattle are 

 within doors, their tails, from motives of cleanliness, 

 that they may not dangle in the dirt, and besmear their 

 comely sides, are tied up to these hooks in the ceiling." 

 Such are the winter quarters of Dutch cows; in summer 

 they remain in the open pastures. 



In England, where the cows generally feed within a 

 very short distance of the dairy, they are, for the most 

 part, driven home twice a day to be milked ; and thus 

 they are constantly beneath the eye of the owner, and 

 any neglect must immediately come under his notice. 

 But, in mountainous countries, or where the pastures 

 are very distant, it is found better to send milkers to 

 them, than to heat and disturb the animals by so long 

 a journey. It is a great object in such cases to bring 

 the milk home with as little shaking as possible ; this is 

 very conveniently done in Holland, by water-carriage ; 

 for all the best pastures are surrounded by small canals, 

 communicating with the larger, and the milk is thus 

 conveyed in small boats for several miles, without the 

 least agitation. 



The milk being brought home, the proper business of 

 the dairy now begins. By " the dairy," is understood 

 the whole building in which dairy operations are carried 

 on, where dairy utensils are kept and cleaned, and 

 where cheese is stored ; but this consists of two or 

 three apartments, and that one which is devoted to the 

 keeping of milk and to the making of butter and cheese, 

 is called the dairy, in particular ; though often, likewise, 

 called the milk-house. 



The proper situation for a dairy is on dry and rather 

 high ground, with a gentle slope. It is generally 

 shaded from the sun by trees, or is placed on the north 



