250 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



refuse to eat any thing whatever except the wild grasses 

 on which they have grown up, and no amount of coaxing 

 or imprisonment Avith such dainty food set before them as 

 would delight the heart and fill the stomach of a properly 

 educated cow will induce them to eat or drink. 



We know of one instance (among several) where a cow 

 was penned up, and an abundance of corn-fodder, cow-pea 

 vines, bran, corn-meal, turnips, potatoes, kitchen-slops — in 

 short, every thing that could be thought of to tempt her 

 — were laid at her feet, all in vain ; not a morsel would 

 she touch, not a mouthful of water would she drink. 



"Greek met Greek;" the owner resolved to starve the 

 cow into eating ; and the cow resolved to show that she 

 had a mind of her own. So for five days the struggle 

 went on ; and just as the owner, alarmed at the rapidly- 

 departing flesh of his mulish animal, concluded to own 

 himself vanquished, the cow settled the disputed question 

 in a very emphatic manner. She leaped the fence, an un- 

 usually high one, and was never more seen by her owner. 



But then again there are many Florida cows that eat as 

 readily as their Northern sisters, and these are the ones to 

 experiment upon ; the younger the cow, the more tractable 

 she will prove to be in this respect. The old cows are like 

 old people, they do not take kindly to new habits or ideas. 



Another point to be gained in the treatment of Florida 

 cows is to teach them to yield their milk without the inter- 

 vention of their calves. 



This will be a difficult matter for obvious reasons. While 

 perseverance on the one side and obstinacy on the other are 

 in progress, the cow may '*go dry," as holding back the 

 milk, even for a few milkings, tends directly to this result. 



But when this catastrophe threatens, the calf should be 

 hurried to the rescue, and, after milking its refractory 

 parent, be again removed from sight. 



