July, 1909 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS v 
oil. In the garden there should be a bed ot 
beats or rutabagas—nothing is better both for 
flesh and milk. In Florida beggar weed is 
splendid cow rations. 
The cow yard need not be very large, but 
it should be a model of comfort and neatness. 
It should be well drained, so that an inch of 
mud need never be seen. “There should be a 
well, with a tub always full, unless you can 
bring water through a pipe into her stall. This 
water should be fresh every day, and plenty of 
it. She should be allowed to go to it whenever 
she pleases, instead of being hitched up most of 
the time, and sent to water at your option. 
This yard should be thoroughly well shaded, 
for a cow likes shade as well as water. Let 
it be every way made pleasant; for you will 
discover, if you observe, that a cow has her 
tastes. She will invariably lie down of a 
moonlight night with her face to the moon. 
Both cows and horses observe a good deal 
about them, as we do. My neighbor, who has 
fourteen horses in charge, built a large house 
over his barn well—giving as a reason that 
his horses “looked over the valley so much, if 
they had the chance, that it took three or four 
times as long to water them.” ‘The cow is by 
no means the board-faced animal that some 
people suppose. Homer could give no better 
description of Juno than to call her cow-eyed. 
If the manure is kept, of necessity, in the cow 
yard, let it be removed to compost piles very 
frequently. If left in the yard it is not only 
a nuisance to yourself but to the cow. Com- 
posted with vegetable waste, autumn leaves, 
coal ashes, etc., you get all the fertilizer your 
land will need. 
When you have finished with your yard, 
turn attention to the stable and stalls. Stan- 
chions may be necessary where many cows are 
kept, but for a single cow there should be pre- 
pared as good a box stall as you give your pet 
horse. It should be warm and lighted with a 
large window. ‘The feed should come down 
into a capacious manger, and her pail of extra 
food from the house should be placed in a box 
by itself, so as not to foul the hay. I do not 
know of any animal that is more particular 
about clean feed than the cow. A little care 
in this line will make her more particular and 
more valuable. Indulge all these whims in an 
animal, and encourage them in manifesting 
likes and dislikes. The stall should be ar- 
ranged so that it can be barred or locked dur- 
ing feeding time to prevent one animal from 
trespassing on another. 
I prefer a cow of good size, one that will 
make beef as well as milk. For this reason 
I do not select a Jersey, as a rule, although 
I have had Jersey grades that were very satis- 
factory. In the ordinary country home, milk 
is more important than blood, and behavior 
is better than pedigree. Of the imported 
stocks I prefer a Holstein-Fresian, as a rule. 
They are large, generally kindly, and give a 
large flow of medium quality milk. If the 
milking must be done by a hired man, I ob- 
ject to the Jersey entirely, as an old dairyman 
said in a Farmers’ Institute, “If you keep 
Jerseys you must do your own milking.” That 
is, they need special care and will not thrive 
without it. The milking must be done with 
gentleness and thoroughness. We have, how- 
ever, lost some of our very best breeds of 
cows, through a fancy for something from 
foreign countries. New York State fifty 
years ago had a cow of large build, gentle 
disposition, grand milk-giver, easy keeper, and 
in other ways just exactly what ought to have 
been retained. It was worth more to the 
country home than any imported breed ever 
seen. I am happy to say that Cornell Uni- 
versity, in its Agricultural Department, is 
now trying to restore this admirable cow. It 
was one of the most domestic creatures I have 
ever seen. In my boyhood I used to sit down 
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