260 THE VILLA GARDENER. 



only one cow, some other animal, the food for which will not be expensive, 

 such as a pet lamb or a goat, ought to be kept in the cow-house ; and this 

 lamb, or a donkey, should be turned out with the cow into the field. The 

 cow soon becomes attached to her companion, and this attachment is useful 

 in keeping her quiet : for it is well known that restlessness and anxiety not 

 only impair the quality of her milk, but considerably decrease its quantity. If 

 two cows have been kept together for some time in the same pasture, and one 

 is sold or taken away, the other will immediately begin to fall off in her milk 

 (which will become thin and poor), and her uneasiness will be so obvious as 

 to occasion pain to every one who sees her in the field. The dairy should 

 be cool and well ventilated ; but the construction of this building, and also 

 that of the cow-house, will be found in our Encyc. of Villa Architecture. 



356. The breed of cows used for large public dairies is generally unsuitable 

 for private dairies ; the object in the former case being quantity of milk, and 

 in the latter, chiefly quality. The Ayrshire breed is, perhaps, on the whole, 

 the best adapted for a private dairy ; but, where the main objects are butter 

 and cream, the Guernsey or Alderney cows are preferable. In order to have 

 a supply of milk and butter from one's own dairy throughout the year, it is 

 necessary to have at least two cows ; that one may continue to give milk 

 during the month or six weeks which the other is dry before calving; but, in 

 situations where dairy produce can be purchased for that period, then one cow 

 may suffice for a small family. Whoever keeps either cows or horses, must 

 occasionally send to market, either as a purchaser or a seller ; and this is 

 commonly the part of the business in which there is most risk of being 

 deceived. To endeavour to instruct the reader on the subject is out of the 

 question in a work like the present; nor would it be worth any man's while 

 to attend to instructions of this kind, even if we were to give them, unless he 

 contemplated becoming a professional dealer or a farmer. All that we can 

 say, that is likely to be useful, is, consult your neighbours, and employ such 

 professional dealers to buy and sell, as you find are generally considered in the 

 neighbouriiood to be respectable. In all cases, the well-known maxim should 

 be kept in view, viz. always to employ a man who has a character to lose. 



357. The paddock m which the cow is to pasture, and take her exercise, 

 may either be barely sufficient for the latter purpose, or it may be of such an 

 extent as not only to afford pasture for the summer, but hay for winter. In 

 the neighbourhood of London, a small cow, of either the Guernsey or Ayr- 

 shire breeds, may be kept on two acres of ground ; on the supposition that 

 the soil is good, and that for every crop of hay taken oft", a dressing of manure 

 IS put on. In ordinary soils, and with less careful treatment, three acres of 

 meadow are necessary. Whatever may be the quantity devoted to the cow, 

 one-half of it requires to be separated from the other by a hurdle, or other 

 fence, and mown for hay; and the portion mown, and the poriion pastured, 

 should alternate with e.-ich other. Two tons of hay, with little or no pasture 

 or other food, will, it is calculated, keep an ordinary-sized cow a year ; and, 

 therefore, if as much mowing-ground be set apart as will produce one ton and 

 a half of hay, there will be no want of food, even if the pasture should not be 

 very abundant. Straw for litter, of course, must be purchased. In the case 

 of residences where a part of the ground is under the plough, or where field 

 crops, such as clover, lucerne, mangold wurtzel, carrots, &c., are raised by 

 ?pade culture, a small cow may be kept very well on one acre of highly culti- 



