Agricultural Society.— Mortimer’s Husbandry.— 
Sprowe’s Agriculture—Arthur Young's Works.— 
Stephens.—Lowe—Rham. 
COWA. See Mancostzxrn. 
COWANIA. A genus of very beautiful ever- 
green shrubs, of the rosaceous tribe. The plaited- 
leaved species, C. plicata, was introduced to Britain 
about ten years ago, from the uplands of Mexico; 
and is one of the most elegant accessions to our 
gardens and to the foregrounds of our shrubs 
made during the period of modern botanical re- 
search. Its stem is decumbent, much branched, 
about two feet high, and covered with a dark 
brown bark; its branches are profusely clothed 
with stalked glands, and are scaly below from the 
remains of fallen leaves; its leaves are cuneately 
oblong, pinnatifid, plaited, half an inch or up- 
wards in length, dark green, shining, and mi- 
nutely glandular above, and white and downy be- 
neath ; its leaflets vary from five to seven on each 
leaf, and are obtuse and short, and have revolute 
and occasionally toothed margins; and its flowers 
are terminal, solitary, and pedunculate,—the 
buds exactly like those of the rose,—the calyx 
turbinate, hollow, pubescent, and five-segmented, 
—the petals five, obovate, double the length of the 
calycine segments, and richly lilac in colour,— 
and the stamens seventy-two, yellow-anthered, 
and disposed in many series.—Another species, 
differing from C. plicata in having tripartite 
leaves with entire leaflets, has also been intro- 
duced. The genus is intermediate between Dryas 
and Purshia; and is easily distinguishable from 
them by well-marked botanical characters. 
COW BANH, or Water Hemtocx,—hbotanically 
Cicuta. A genus of hardy, herbaceous, perennial- 
rooted plants, of the umbelliferous order. The 
poisonous species, Crcuta virosa, grows wild in 
ditches, still margins of rivers, small ponds, and 
other standing waters in Britain. But it is not 
very common. Its root is tuberous and hollow; 
its stem is furrowed, leafy, hollow, branched, 
and usually between 3 and 4 feet high; its leaves 
are winged, bright-green, and tapering; its um- 
bels are large ; its flowers are whitish-yellow, and 
appear in July; and its seeds are channelled and 
resemble those of parsley. This plant is some- 
times in its young state eaten by cattle; and it 
acts upon them as a violent poison, and hence 
acquires its popular name of cowbane. Any of 
it which is known to exist or can be discovered 
within reach of the cattle of a farm ought to 
be extirpated. It has not unfrequently been used 
medicinally as a substitute for hemlock, but rather 
from ignorance, than from enlightened design.— 
The spotted species, Cicuta maculata, is a native 
of North America, and was introduced to Britain 
in 1759. It has a height of about 20 inches, car- 
ries whitish-coloured flowers in July and August, 
and is exceedingly poisonous. ‘Two other exotic 
species are known, and have been introduced. 
COWBERRY, — botanically Vaccinium Vitis 
Idea, A small, evergreen, fruiting undershrub, of 
i i Nai mal 
888 COWANIA. COW-HOUSE. us 
the whortleberry genus. It grows wild in moun- 
tainous woods, and in dry, stony, turfy heaths in 
many parts of Scotland, Wales, and the north of 
England, but is particularly abundant in the 
Scottish Highlands. Its roots are creeping; its 
stems are erect, and from 3 to 10 or 12 inches 
high; its branches are few, irregular, leafy, and 
downy, and occur only at the top of the stem; its 
leaves are obovate, revolute, dark green and shin- 
ing above, and pale and glandularly dotted be- 
low, and are frequently mistaken for those of 
Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi; its flowers are pyro- 
duced in drooping, terminal clusters, and have a 
pinkish flesh colour, and appear from April till 
June; and its berries are deep red, roundish, 
astringent, and bitterly acidulous,—but they 
oreatly improve in flavour and sapidity by steeping 
in water, and they are extensively used for tarts, 
for condiments, and for the healing of soreness 
in the throat. Two varieties of this plant, V. v. | 
major, and V.v. maxima, have been introduced | 
from North America; and both these and the in- 
digenous variety are propagable from suckers in 
a peaty soil, but evince great dislike to cultiva- 
tion. See the article WHOoRTLEBERRY. 
COW-CABBAGE. See CaBBage. 
COWDIE PINE. See Dammar Prinz. 
COW-DUNG. See Farm-Yarp Manurg, 
COW-GRASS. See Crover. 
COW-HERB. See Soarwort. | 
COW-HERD. See Herpsman and Farm-Ser- | 
VANTS. 
COW-HOCKED. See Matrunpers. 
COW-HOUSE. The building or apartment in 
which milch-cows are kept. This, in Scotland, 
is commonly called a byre. It ought to be well- 
ventilated, comfortably warm, thoroughly dry, 
and kept in a clean and tidy condition. Two 
windows, in even a large cow-house, are sufficient 
for light ; and, if properly constructed, they may, 
jointly with a door of upper and lower halves, be 
sufficient also for ordinary ventilation; yet the | 
ceiling ought to be open quite up to the slates, 
and an express ventilator is often of much ser- 
vice in regulating the temperature and pouring 
in desirable supplies of fresh air. The width of 
a cow-house with one row of stalls ought to be 18 
feet, or 2 feet for the manger, 8 for the cows, 1 
for the urine-sewer, and 7 for a passage, for the 
milking-pails, and for calf-pens. Each cow ought, 
for the sake of peace and quietness, to have a 
stall to herself; and each stall, in order to allow 
free room for lying down and rising, ought to be 
5 or 5} feet wide. The partitions between the 
stalls may be only 3 feet high, and need not ex- 
tend farther than to the flanks of the cows or 
about 6 feet from the wall. The mangers ought 
to stand on a basis of about 18 or 20 inches above 
the level of the floor; and when cows are fed on 
steamed food or mashes, the mangers ought to be 
moveable in order that they may be frequently 
scoured. A good mode of securing cows in the 
stalls, or of attaching them to the stakes, is no- 
