238 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



wander forth with their dams to the luxuriant hammock, 

 the latter will, sooner or later, betake themselves to their 

 usual winter haunts minus their offspring. 



And then, when this happens, their owner has a perplex- 

 ing problem before him ; whether to turn the little ones 

 out (first marking and branding them) to shift for them- 

 selves, or to feed them at home all winter. In nine cases 

 out of ten the latter is simply impossible ; so out they must 

 go, alone — in all likelihood never more to be seen by their 

 owners. 



From the first to the middle of November is the usual 

 time of turning out the cows, and it is not wise to defer it 

 later, as both cows and calves are apt to suffer from a short 

 supply of food. 



All through the mild Florida winter the open hammock 

 lands, scattered all over the country, are alive with the 

 cattle thus set adrift by their owners, each of whom has 

 his own particular brand and ear-mark by which to identify 

 his property. 



Numerous natural grasses and shrubs grow all winter 

 long under the dense shelter of the grand old oaks of the 

 Florida hammocks, and the long gray moss which lends so 

 weird a charm to the scene affords also no despicable source 

 of nourishment to the cattle who take up their temporary 

 residence in its midst. 



''Once upon a time," when we were unversed in the 

 *'curous" ways of this "curous critter," we used to won- 

 der why there was so little moss hanging low down from 

 the oak trees. Noav we wonder no more ; we know. The 

 cows confiscate all that comes within their reach, and that 

 is why the human moss-robbers must literally " look aloft" 

 for their share of the booty, upon which, doubtless, many 

 a hungry cow has looked with wistful eye. 



As a rule the cows which are hammock-fed during the 



