STABLING IN HOLLAND. 27 



many of the inhabitants. How long ago it is since those fields were sown down 

 to grass, if grass was ever sown, I do not know ; but it must be, at least, a 

 couple of hundred years ago. But those dairymen are very careful about their 

 grass, and if the summer is rainy and the land wet, you'll hear remarks about 

 cows eating with five mouths, and will find many cows stabled in July or 

 August, to be kept in till next spring if the weather does not improve. This is 

 commonly the case, and, as a rule, cows are not stabled till about November 1, 

 when the grass begins to fail. If the grass fails before, they are promptly 

 stabled ; if the grass is plenty and the weather not too rough, they may stay 

 out a little longer, each cow provided with an ' overcoat ' in the shape of a 

 heavy, coarse blanket, which she keeps on all the time. But the first snow- 

 storm or heavy frost drives the last ones to the stable, which they will not 

 leave again ' till the lark sings high in the sky, and the grass is tall enough to 

 hide the plover.' 



"Their stalls have been ready for them for some time, the chains have all 

 been fixed, the stalls bedded, the curtains have been taken off the windows, the 

 mats and carpets taken up, and the floor heavily sprinkled with sand instead. 

 Along the ceiling, the whole length of the stable, right over the gutter, a line 

 is stretched from which dangle a number of small lines, each ending in a small 

 leather strap by which the tails will be fastened and kept out of the filth. Hay 

 is temptingly displayed in the mangers, and across the gutter at the first stall 

 to be filled lies the bridge, well covered with straw. The gutter also is half 

 filled with straw. (Right here let me say that it is only for this important 

 occasion that the farmer appears to be so liberal with straw and sand, both of 

 which are usually sparingly used, as they are scarce articles, and have to be 

 shipped in from other parts of the country.) 



"In the yard where the cows are gathered together will be seen the farmer 

 with a couple of helpers, sizing up his cows with a critical eye. He is actually 

 measuring and comparing them, for he wants to have a good-looking herd of 

 cows this winter, and this cannot be accomplished if you put them in haphazard. 

 The tallest cow stands in the middle of the stable, the two next in size on either 

 side, and so down to the two smallest cows at the ends. But then the cows 

 stand two in a stall, and width and breadth, as well as matching in color and 

 individual cows' likes and dislikes, have to be considered. So you see it is 

 quite a complicated job, not to be done too hastily, for it may mean money a 

 few months afterwards, when the foreign dealer comes to buy cows, if they are 

 stabled effectively. But before putting in the cows, maybe it would be as well 

 to have a look at the stable first. The average farmer stables about forty head 

 of cattle, twenty head of milch cows, ten two-year-olds, that will drop their 

 first calves this winter, and ten yearlings that is, they will be a year old some 

 time between now and spring. There is always a yearling bull and sometimes 

 an ' old bull ' that is two or three years old. 



" The cow stable, though under the same roof as the barn, is wholly separ- 

 ated from the hay by a brick wall upon which rests the ceiling. The ceiling, 

 over the cows, is tight, but over the walk the boards are loose, so that they can 

 be raised for ventilating purposes. The stalls (for two cows) are about five feet 

 square, the gutter is about one foot deep and two feet wide; the walk five feet 

 wide. The cow stalls, however, are about two feet above the walk, so the cows 

 stand three feet higher than the bottom of the gutter, and the ceiling, which is 

 about seven feet above the walk, is but five feet above the floor of the cow 

 stalls. Each stall is lighted by a little window, about a foot square in the wall 

 the cows are facing. Besides from these, the stable receives light through two 

 long windows, one on each side of the outside stable door. The bottom stall, 

 as a rule, is a single one, and is reserved for the bull. The partitions between 

 each stall are three feet high, and reach back from the wall about three feet. 

 The stalls are level, except for about a foot from the wall, which is paved with 

 brick and slightly higher than the rest and does service as feeding floor. Some- 

 times in, but usually above this feeding floor mostly, is a watering trough, 

 running the whole length of the stable. The two feet behind this feeding floor 

 usually is clay, though sometimes flat tile, while the two-foot space next to the 

 gutter, though still called the footboard, is seldom wood, but hard brick, laid 

 in cement. The gutter, of course, is built of brick, also with glazed tiles in the 

 bottom: the wall is laid in brick and cement. The stalls for yearlings and two- 

 year-olds are on the same plan, but each a size smaller. I don't think that even 

 the most prejudiced of Dutch farmers claim that these high stalls are an ad van- 



