Vol. LXXI. No. 4166. 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 31, 1912. 
WEEKLY. $1.00 PER YEAR 
A PLAIN TALE FROM THE HILLS. 
A Ruined Farmer and His Cows. 
A PLAIN FARMER.—Henry Hoskins is a middle- 
aged farmer, a hard-working, close-figuring farmer, 
as farmers have to be nowadays if they would rear 
a- family and- lay by something for a rainy, da)’, on a 
rented farm. For the past few years Hoskins has 
worked a New Jersey dairy farm on shares. With 
his faithful wife, three growing boys, and their sis¬ 
ter, he has cared for a dairy of one hundred head. 
farm and paying money rent. On such a farm, too. 
the dairy would be all their own, to develop as they 
would. 
A HOPEFUL MOVE.—Looking about, Hoskins 
found a good 200-acre farm in Orange Co., X. Y., 
that was for rent at a reasonable figure, and. as all 
who have ever driven over the winding roads of 
those broken Orange County hills, and noted the 
deep, well-watered meadows with the steep wooded 
knolls that rise abruptly from them, know, here, if 
anywhere, nature intended that good cows should 
was confirmed, later, by Hosea Hardin. Hosea told 
me part of this story as we drove together over the 
Sussex hills, and I soon learned that his knowledge 
f the cattle in that vicinity was as profound as his 
appreciation of human nature. For a good judge of 
live stock, and shrewd observer of the humans with 
whom he comes in contact, cojmmend me to the local 
cattle buyer. 
THE HOPE DIES.—But to return to those cattle. 
Stretched across their way was an intangible, invisible 
line. Hoskins didn’t see it, and not a cow stumbled 
THE FARM HAND THAT GIVES US OUR WINTER OVERCOAT. Fig. 385. 
Knowing the value of good blood, a registered, pure¬ 
bred Holstein bull has been kept, that the herd might 
increase in individual value as well as in numbers. 
Henry had, so his neighbors told me, an eye for 
Holsteins, and the young stock made a fine showing, 
particularly as he was a good feeder, and the wife 
and boys, also, took an interest in those calves. 
With the opening of the year this farm had 104 head, 
from yearlings up, to show for the care and labor, 
and, as Henry owned one half of these, he now 
began to feel that he was getting ahead. Right here, 
however, the evil genius of the Hoskins family seems 
to have been in evidence, for they decided that they 
could improve their condition by moving to a smaller 
find a home. So, dividing the milch cows into two 
herds, Hoskins invited the owner of the farm to 
take first choice; the dry cows and young stock 
were then likewise divided by the landlord, and 
Hoskins took his choice. After this Solomon-like 
division of the herd and its increase, the 52 head 
belonging to Hoskins were placed together and 
started on the long day’s journey to their new home. 
The way was long and the April mud deep, but Hos¬ 
kins’ heart was light, for, besides his teams and 
tools, there were these sleek well-fed Holsteins. rep¬ 
resenting the savings of a lifetime, with which to 
make a new start. Those Holsteins would average 
in value $70 each, so Hoskins said, and his estimate 
as she crossed it. The line was there, however, 
drawn by two sovereign States. Who crossed it with 
his cattle did so at his peril. Hoskins knew nothing 
of danger, he had been advised that such transfers 
of residence were frequently made without trouble, 
and he certainly had no reason to suspect that his 
herd was not worthy of a home in any State. 
Others knew it, however; there were veterinary 
practitioners on both sides of the line to whom the 
coming of a new herd meant employment. Hardly 
had Hoskins got settled before two men drove up 
and asked if he were the man who had recently 
moved from New Jersey. A few days later another 
man appeared and announced that he had been or- 
