FOR THE 
AMERICAN 
Farm, Grarden, and Household. 
“AOIilOULTUItK IS Til K MOST II K ALT1C FUL, MOST USEFUL, AN II MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF M AN.”— Washington. 
OEANGE JT7DD COMPANY, 
Publishers and Proprietors, !445 Broadway. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1842, ( terms: si.so per Annum in Advance, post-free; 
Gorman Edition issued at the same rates as in English. 1 Four Copies $5.— Single Number, 15 Cents. 
VOLUME XXXIX.—No. 7. NEW YORK, JULY, 1880. NEW SERIES—No. 402. 
A COOL, SHADY COW PASTURE. — Drawn and Engraved Expressly for the American Agriculturist. 
There is rm impression possessing the minds of 
many farmers that there is only one profitable place 
for a forest tree, and that is the “ wood lot.” To 
them a tree in a pasture is “ a plant out of place,” 
and therefore a weed, to be rooted out and destroyed. 
But there are good reasons why the cleared fields 
should not be entirely destitute of trees. Id the 
first place, they add greatly to the appearance of 
the whole farm, making it more attractive, and 
therefore of greater value. A shady pasture is a com¬ 
fort to the farm stock that is kept within its boun¬ 
daries. The domestic animals—the horses, the 
cows, the sheep, and pigs, which we as farmers care 
for and feed, because they provide for our wants, 
are more than mere machines for our thought¬ 
less running—they are living creatures possessing 
capacities for pleasure and pain, and therefore de¬ 
mand at our hands the kindest treatment. But 
there is another side to this question. The well 
cared-for animal is the one that pays the best re¬ 
turns. Looked at with the practical dollars and 
cents view, that care which best provides for the 
wants of the animal is the most remunerative. Ev¬ 
ery blow received by a cow at the hands of thought¬ 
less help, costs the owner of the cow something 
either in milk, op flesh, or both. All pain does 
not result from violence, and discomfort is as un¬ 
profitable in its results as actual pain. If one 
doubts the discomfort of exposure to the sun of a 
mid-summer day in an open, unshaded field, it will 
not require a long experience to convince him of it. 
Man is not the only creature capable of being sun- 
struck. A few years ago one of the writer’s cows, 
in the full flow of milk, fell off at once to almost 
nothing. Investigation showed that she had been 
thoughtlessly exposed all day in a pasture where 
there was no tree or other shade. In our plea for 
shade in pastures we are well assured that abun¬ 
dant returns will be found in the shade alone. But 
beyond this there is the tree ' itself. In planting a 
grove it should be remembered that a White Ash will 
make as good shade and more valuable timber than 
Soft Maple. There are often low places in a pasture- 
field in which a spring may be located, or through 
which a small stream flows—places where trees will 
grow vigorously, and still be out of the way should 
the pasture be turned into a grain field, because the 
land is not tillable. It is in just such secluded and 
shady places as these that the farm stock love to 
escape from the intolerable heat of the sun’s rays 
on many a mid-summer mid-day. The accompany¬ 
ing engraving: “ A Cool, Shady Cow Pasture ” is a 
pleasing one, because it is the outgrowth of a true 
conception of what a pasture should be : namely, 
comfort and satisfaction to the dumb but apprecia¬ 
tive animals, and pleasure and profit to the thought¬ 
ful, kind-hearted owner of the farm and the stock. 
Copyright, 1890, by Orange Judd Company. 
Entered at the Post Office at 
as Second Class Matter, 
