210 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
through a sort of fanning mill to winnow them, 
when they are ready to be put into bags for market. 
The Pel Talf. 
No animal in the whole range of live stock upon 
the farm makes a finer pet for children than a young 
calf. It is not to be expected that all my young 
readers want a pet calf, and there are many who 
are not so situated that they can have one, however 
much they may desire it. But most of the boys 
and girls living on farms, where calves come and 
go every year, can have and I may add, ought to 
have, such a pet. A calf is naturally a very gentle 
animal, and in the hands of equally gentle children, 
it makes a pet that is loved even after its “ calf- 
hood ” has been out-grown. There is a great deal 
of comfort to a child in the feeling that the pet 
is its own; and the older readers may find in this 
fact a plea for the giving of young animals to their 
children to care for and bring up. I remember 
very well the first “ little bossy ” I had as my own 
(in name). It was just as red as a red calf can be, 
with the single exception of a small, white spot 
on the forehead. On this account I named the 
little creature “Spot,” and that before she was a 
week old. “ Spot’s ” mother was very affectionate 
to her new daughter, and did all she could to make 
the early life of the little calf a happy one. My 
attentions were misunderstood by the old cow, and 
I am not sure that she ever had perfect confidence 
in what I did for her little one. It was the custom 
with “ our folks ” to remove the calf from the cow 
after the third day, and “ Spot ” was no exception 
to the rule. When her time was up she was taken 
to a stall in the barn, and left there all to herself, 
while the mother bellowed and lowed in the dis¬ 
tant yard for the little one that had been taken 
from her forever. No, not so long as that, but 
until “Spot” was no longer a calf, and all recol¬ 
lection of the real relationship between them had 
gone. “Spot” and I bad great times together. 
That she had a will of her own was clear when I 
came to teach her to drink. At first she would 
rather go without her food than wet her nose in 
the pail of freshly drawn milk, but she soon came 
j to love her “ mess ” as a hungry boy does a bowl of 
I bread and milk. “Spot” grew upas one of the 
finest heifers in the county, with a coat as smooth 
and glossy as a new silk hat—made so by the rub¬ 
bing and brushing that she received at my hands. 
The engraving shows a calf of another color, and 
is the property of a thoughtful girl. The kind 
treatment which the calf has received from the little 
ones of the family has made it even more fearless 
than the children, and the greatest sympathy exists 
between them. There is more in having a pet and 
caring for it tenderly than one may at first sight 
think. It develops a part of the child’s nature 
that is its best side. I wish every child could have 
some such living, loving thing to provide for, as it 
is one of the essentials, almost, to the proper 
growth of the child, making its after life easier, 
richer, and better. Uncle Hal. 
