IN THE CATSKILLS 



ture,or browsing in the woods, or ruminating under 

 the trees, or feeding in the stall, or reposing upon 

 the knolls. There is virtue in the cow; she is full 

 of goodness; a wholesome odor exhales from her; 

 the whole landscape looks out of her soft eyes ; the 

 quality and the aroma of miles of meadow and pas- 

 ture lands are in her presence and products. I had 

 rather have the care of cattle than be the keeper 

 of the great seal of the nation. Where the cow is, 

 there is Arcadia; so far as her influence prevails, 

 there is contentment, humility, and sweet, homely 

 life. 



Blessed is he whose youth was passed upon the 

 farm, and if it was a dairy farm, his memories will 

 be all the more fragrant. The driving of the cows 

 to and from the pasture, every day and every season 

 for years, how much of summer and of nature 

 he got into him on these journeys ! What rambles 

 and excursions did this errand furnish the excuse 

 for! The birds and birds' -nests, the berries, the 

 squirrels, the woodchucks, the beech woods with 

 their treasures into which the cows loved so to 

 wander and to browse, the fragrant wintergreens 

 and a hundred nameless adventures, all strung upon 

 that brief journey of half a mile to and from the 

 remote pastures. Sometimes a cow or two will 

 be missing when the herd is brought home at 

 night; then to hunt them up is another adventure. 

 My grandfather went out one night to look up an 



