234 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



And now as to the cow-pen itself. We have already 

 seen how important a matter the enriching of the land by 

 means of the nightly penning of the cows is to the Flor- 

 ida farmer. But it might easily be made the source of 

 much greater riches than it is. 



The usual mode, as we have said, is to plow the land be- 

 fore penning the cows, and, after the ground is well cov- 

 ered with droppings, to plow and inclose another space, 

 using the first as a garden or sweet potato patch. 



By this primitive method the most valuable portions of 

 the manure are totally lost ; and yet the average farmer 

 who follows it thinks he is doing the best he can. 



The droppings are left for weeks or mouths on the sur- 

 face of the ground, leached by sun, rain, and air, the am- 

 monia, that most valuable plant-food, escaping into the air 

 as fast as the manure is deposited, while the liquid portion 

 evaporates so as to be a complete loss, and, as every one 

 knows, this is the most valuable of all manures. 



Now matters might easily be managed much better than 

 this. We would suggest that the cow-pen, instead of be- 

 ing made movable, be a permanent one. 



Make it a barn-yard instead of a pen, and then there 

 could be a roomy shed placed in one corner of the calves' 

 division, into which the cows might enter from the one 

 side and the calves from the other; so that the milker 

 would not only be protected from sun and rain while milk- 

 ing (and the latter is a very frequent accompaniment to 

 the dainty pleasures of the cow-pen, especially in June, 

 July, August, and September), but would also be saved 

 from kneeling down in the midst of the uucleanliness at- 

 tendant upon the usual method. 



But this would be only an incidental gain, as it w^ere; 

 the greatest gain of all, apart from the comfort of the 

 milker, would be found in the increased amount and vastly 



