228 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



grass, a long wire-like grass growing in tufts, said to be 

 very nutritious, and upon which the cattle certainly do 

 grow fat. In the hammocks are other luxuriant grasses 

 and shrubs, and an abundance of the long, gray moss, so 

 widely known as " Florida moss." These forests, both pine 

 and hammock, afford free pasturage to all, and the cows 

 being turned out all the day long feed themselves without 

 expense to their owners both winter and summer. 



The calves are kept at home during the milking season, 

 not only to prevent them from getting more than their 

 share of the milk, but also as a hostage to secure their 

 mothers' return at night, and as a rule their detention has 

 the desired effect. The cow, turned out in the morning, 

 comes back to the pen toward evening with curious regu- 

 larity. We have often wondered how they manage it ; for 

 sometimes they wander much farther afield than at others, 

 yet almost invariably they may be seen at the same hour 

 solemnly marching into the pen where their eager little 

 ones are anxiously waiting their advent ; for they too know^ 

 the hour for their supper-time, and may be found gazing 

 wistfully through the bars at their sedate-looking parents, 

 murmuring in low-eved accents the mournful refrain, 



"Thou art so near, and yet so far." 



The whole process of milking a Florida cow by what we 

 may term the ''native method," is full of novelty and 

 amusement to a stranger. The milker drops the sliding 

 bars of the dividing fence, and one of the patiently- waiting 

 cows steps through into the calves' pen to be met ere fairly 

 clear of the rails by an instant bombardment from its lov- 

 ing, most disinterested child ; and it behooves the milker, 

 if he wants to secure any portion of the lacteal fluid, to 

 be very quick in putting up the bars again and gaining 

 the side of the cow just admitted. 



