THE DAIRY QUESTION — OLD STYLE. 223 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE DAIRY QUESTION — OLD STYLE. 



And now we arrive at the dairy question, and a very- 

 important one it is too, as every housekeeper knows. 



"A curous kind of a critter is a Florida keow, anyway 

 you take her ; curous, mighty curous." 



So pronounced a tall, raw-boned New-Englander, as he 

 stood on the deck of the staunch steamer that was bearing 

 the writer to a new Florida home. 



" Why 'curious'?" we pondered, thinking over this cow 

 question ; but we did not like to betray our ignorance by 

 asking questions ; so we waited patiently until time and 

 experience had solved the mystery. 



And now we have come to the conclusion that our New- 

 Englander was right. Viewing the native Florida cow, as 

 usually treated, with the eyes of a thrifty Northern farmer 

 or dairyman, it is indeed a " curous critter, " and its mode 

 of treatment more "curous" still. 



To the great mass of the people in the North, the term 

 "cow-penning," as regards land, is an unknown quantity, 

 and very few can give an intelligent reply to the question, 

 ' ' What does it mean ? " 



What its true significance is, we shall see presently; just 

 now, to begin at the beginning, we will turn our attention 

 to the "curous critter" itself. 



For many years past immense herds of cattle have been 

 roaming all over the noble State of Florida, and luxuriat- 

 ing in her genial climate ; but of late these herds have 

 been scattered, and driven back further and further south, 

 until now, in the northern, middle, and eastern counties, 

 we find their representatives comparatively ' ' few and far 



