440 CATTLE AND DAIRY FAEMING. 



women take the place of men and cows the place of oxen. Compara- 

 tively few horses and oxen are seen, bat nearly every family, especially 

 in the country and small villages, owns at least one cow, and they use 

 them, either singly or in pairs, for all kinds of draft-work. Instead 

 of a yoke, a narrow piece of wood passes across the forehead, just beneath 

 the horns, to each end of which a chain or leather trace is attached, 

 passing thence through lug-holes in a surcingle around the waist to 

 whipple-trees that are fastened to the load. Thus the strain comes 

 upon the forehead and neck. The cows wear iron shoes like. oxen. 

 They are worked the year around, their owners claiming that it makes 

 but little difference in either the quantity or quality of their milk, , All 

 grades of cattle are used in this way, even the dainty AUgauer being 

 sought by many farmers primarily on account of their powers as draft- 

 animals. Such usage through many generations has, I think, produced 

 a kind of masculine grossness and stoutness in the cows which is not, 

 noticeable in their native homes and normal condition. 



HOTjaiNG CATTLE IN THUEINGIA. 



The ordinary cattle-barn is a long, low, stone building, with a stone 

 floor, a 6 to 8 foot post, a vaulted ceiling, and space in the roof for 

 storing fodder. But it is a very common thing to find only one build- 

 ing on the farm, the family occupying one end of the basement and 

 the cattle the other, with the fodder in the loft. Or the whole base- 

 ment may be given to the cattle, the family and the fodder sharing the 

 second floor between them ; or else the family takes the whole of the ■ 

 second story and sends the fodder into the attic. There is a movement 

 against this practice, especially in the larger towns and among the in- 

 surance companies, because it is believed to be responsible for very 

 many fires. The bedding most in use is, in the few large cities, straw ; 

 but in the country and most of the towns and villages it is the newly- 

 grown part of the spruce and the fir, chopped fine, the coarser part of 

 the branches being retained for fire-wood. It is claimed that this kind 

 of bedding is subsequently valuable as a dressing for the land. 



CATTLE-PBEDING IN THUEINGIA. 



The methods of feeding are quite similar in all parts of the district. 

 The cattle are usually fed three times a day, and the bill of fare embraces 

 hay, straw, " scalded food," and occasionally turnips. The allowance 

 for each cow is au equivalent of 25 pounds of hay daily. The hay em- 

 braces red clover, lilcern, and the native grass of the country, which is 

 of a fine, nutritious quality, and is usually cut two and three times be- 

 tween June and October. The straw (oat, rye, and barley) is generally 

 chopped, and about two-thirds more in weight is allowed than of bay. 

 The " scalded food," which is used much in dairies and in cold weather, 

 consists usually of rye-bran broth or of a thin mixture of oatmeal and 

 water, which is supposed to stimulate the milk-producing powers. 

 Owing to the use of the cows as draft-animals, pasturage, as it is 

 practiced in most countries, is almost unknown here. 



BREEDING CATTLE AND HANDLING THEIB PRODUCTS. 



There is no "gentle breeding" of stock in this region. No calf is 

 " born to the purple," unless it may sometimes happen to be the offspring 

 of a favorite animal on some one of the two or three " model farms" 

 which are under ducal patronage and direction; but each one, if he 



