Various

“ A young cedar, for instance, she will never pass without trying to demolish it with her horns. By means of the rings in my chain, I could stake her so that she could eat up to the edge of an evergreen without being able to touch it with her horns, and I found the horns the only part that the shrubbery had to fear, for she never yet has tried to destroy anything with her heels.
My lawn, under the care of this new one-cow lawn-mower, became the admiration and envy of the whole neighborhood. The chickens followed her and scattered her droppings, so that the lawn was always clean. ”

“ The system of management which would be profitably adopted by one would be utterly impracticable for another. In my own case I have about one acre of land, one half of which I set apart for production of food for my cow, while the remainder is occupied by the buildings in part, and the rest is devoted to the culture of small fruits. Without this land I should be obliged to hire my cow pastured through the summer, at a cost of about fifty cents per week, which I am now able to save by practising a system of soiling. ”

“ It is important to know what kinds of grasses are best adapted to the production of milk and butter, for both summer and winter feeding; and upon this depends, in a great measure, the profits to be realized. The practice of seeding with a single kind of grass, or even with a mixture of clover and timothy, is not a good one. Four of the most nutritious and productive kinds of grass, including timothy, white clover, and such other varieties as are well adapted to the particular nature and condition of the soil, are none too many to be sown together, for pasture or meadow. ”

“ In the regimen that I have prescribed for the cow, I have given the Jerusalem Artichoke the preference over all other roots, because I deem it superior to them in all respects. It contains more nutriment than any of them, excepting the potato; it is less exhaustive of the soil, and more efficacious in improving it; it produces a larger crop; it is less liable to failure in adverse weather; it keeps better and with less care; it is eaten with a greater relish by stock; and it requires less labor in cultivating, harvesting, and feeding it. ”

“ I know that for me it is far better to purchase what hay will be needed to feed through the winter than to attempt to grow it. Besides, our village lots are much too small to be profitably converted into hay fields, and even if there should be more land than is necessary to furnish the soiling crops for summer feeding, it is usually much better economy to employ the same in the cultivation of small fruits, which, as I have before stated, more than pays for what hay is required, besides supplying us with many luxuries. ”

“ The ambition of the family is to own a horse and a cow. It has been talked about a good deal, but we are agreed that the horse would be a pure luxury, in our circumstances, and must wait. The cow I have felt would be a luxury too, that is, cost more than it would produce, but on this point the good wife has differed with me, claiming that it would be a real economy. It has been a part of our domestic policy to use milk and butter liberally, thereby keeping down the butcher’s bill and buying very little lard. ”

“ There are several ways of providing for the wants of a cow, but in all cases it is absolutely necessary, in order to obtain the best results, that certain rules be followed with regard to the treatment the cow receives. She must be fed and milked at regular times, be kept thoroughly clean, have plenty of fresh air and water, and her food composed of those substances that will keep her always in good condition, do away with the milk bill, reduce the grocer’s account, and contribute greatly to the health and comfort of the family. ”

“ It is to be assumed that the land will be made to produce all that it will profitably yield, which will bring up the question of manure and fertilizers, of course considering that produced by the cow herself. What proportion of the produce of the land is to be cured for winter? How much food must be bought, and what? How is the cow to be fed, and in every respect how treated so as to give the best returns to her owner? What should be done at calving time and afterwards? ”

“ It is a mistaken idea, or rather a grave blunder, to undertake to grow good crops of anything without the liberal use of manures. As soon as our land will do to work in the spring, we sow our oats, peas, and rye, giving a top dressing of guano, superphosphates, or bone meal, which we repeat with each successive sowing, also giving each hill of corn and rows of beets and turnips a small quantity. ”

“ Although in many respects desirable, a pasture lot is not absolutely essential, and in the case of the villager, whose land is measured by feet instead of acres, it must be dispensed with. Hence we have recourse to what is termed the soiling system, which is simply cultivating such crops as will produce a succession of green food throughout the season, and placing the same before the cow in such quantities and at such times as she may require, instead of allowing her to tramp around after her feed, and thereby waste more than she eats. ”

“ Now, as to the cow, I would place her in a corral or lot, we’ll say, of one-fourth to half an acre in size, giving her a comfortable house or shed for winter, in which I think she should be fastened by a closed door in cold rainy weather. At other times she should be allowed the run of the lot, having access to good fresh water at least twice a day. Shade trees for summer’s hot sun are indispensable. In this lot or corral you have all the manure where it can be gathered up daily or weekly, and composted or housed, ready to be spread on the ground for future crops. ”

“ Suppose that a man owns a cow of medium size, or a little larger, that he has three-quarters of an acre of land, that one-third of it, namely, one-quarter of an acre, is in clover, that the remainder is ready for the plow, and that it is early spring-time of the year, he should go to work at once and manure the land liberally, for he will be well repaid for the expense, in the superior productiveness of the soil. All the land, excepting the clover, should be plowed, and one-sixth of the land, that is one-eighth of an acre, should be sowed with oats, with about one-half bushel of seed. ”

“ We place as a frontispiece the portrait of a most famous and excellent cow—not so much for her beauty or on account of her breed, but as a model of a dairy cow, and one which may be carried in the mind when purchasing. ”

“ The prominent subjects, such as soiling, stabling, care of manure, the tillage of the soil, the cultivation of various crops, care of the cow and of the calf, are each treated in detail, and yet there is so great a variety and such genuine personal experience and sincere conviction on the part of each writer, that his or her way is the best way—as indeed it may be, under the circumstances—that there is little or nothing of sameness or repetition in the book, but the reader’s interest is sustained to the last. ”

“ As soon as one crop is off, the ground is prepared, and something else is almost always planted or sown; consequently, on the most of this acre, two crops are produced each season, except where sugar-beets are grown, or late cabbages, which require the whole season to mature. With the clover on the half acre, and the forage crop and roots on the acre, we have not only had sufficient food for the cow the entire season, but have also kept our family horse, with the exception of one load of oat-straw purchased for three dollars, to mix in with the fodder corn ”

“ There is an old saying that one quart of milk a day gives one pound of butter a week, and I think it’s a pretty fair rule, but don’t expect to buy a cow that will give you thirty quarts of milk a day. There are such cows I know, but they are not for sale. Be quite satisfied if your cow gives half that quantity. Place the cow’s food where she cannot step on it, but don’t put it high up; It is natural for them to eat with their heads down. I think it is better that the family cow should have a calf every year, provided you can have them come early in the spring or late in the autumn. ”

“ The only way to secure a good cow, is to keep trying until we get such a cow as we want and then hold on to her. We may have to change several times before we can bring this about, but there is no infallible rule for selecting a good cow. Were I to select one for myself, I should select one not over five years old, of gentle, quiet disposition, with a large barrel; one whose udder is large and well formed, with teats set well apart, of good size, and projecting slightly outward from each other, and with large milk veins. ”

“ It is the time when milk is plenty and cheap, if one wants to buy, and most difficult to manage or dispose of if one has much on hand. It is almost impossible to make good butter in dog-days, living as we do, with no special appliances, and it is not worth while for us to get a patent creamer and a supply of ice. In the spring, we don’t want a dry cow, but are willing to have one in August. July, with its increasing heat and decreasing pasturage, is a favorable time to dry off a cow. ”

“ Every farmer is ordinarily supposed to keep several cows, and there is no reason why most families in villages and very many in cities should not possess at least one. Good milk affords the best of nourishment for young children, and goes a long way in saving butchers’ bills, and in the preparation of palatable nourishing food of many varieties. Two to five families, according to age and number, can readily unite in having one cow kept, dividing the milk and expenses, and thus always have good, pure, rich milk at very moderate cost. ”

“ To carry out the plan of soiling successfully requires considerable time and labor. And on the whole, unless one has plenty of the former at his disposal, and a good wholesome inclination for the latter, he could do full as well to adopt the old time practice of having his cow pastured by the week, in which case no other labor than milking would be required, while, if she were allowed a feed of meal or bran at the time of milking, night and morning, very satisfactory results would be obtained. ”

“ The stable for the cow should be warm, dry, well ventilated, and large enough to contain two or three tons of hay and litter, together with other material to be described hereafter, besides a stall for the cow, and room for the calf. If the owner of the cow has a stable that fulfils these requirements, it will answer his purpose if he makes a proper stall in it. If he has no stable, and cannot [73] afford the expense of building a good one, he must at least have a proper stall to save the manure of the cow, and to shelter her from the inclemency of the weather. ”

“ An absolute profit of fifty-five dollars from the cow is shown, and a still larger saving in family expenses, besides nine hundred quarts of skim-milk and butter-milk used in the house and poultry-yard and given away. The yield of the cow shows “June” to be [46] a superior animal, and that is what the keeper of one cow should have, for it costs little more in food and care than an ordinary one. But if the cow had been only of medium quality and no new milk could be sold, it would have been a profitable operation. ”

“ I shall be glad to take advantage of the experience of others, at any and all times. No record is kept of the milk obtained, or of the butter made. We know we always have plenty for the family’s use, and considerable to spare. Bread and milk furnish the children half their food a portion of the time. Pure milk and plenty of fresh fruits, in abundance, we consider afford one of the principal reasons why our family is so healthy, and we have so few doctor’s bills to pay.
From our acre and a half, all the food has been grown for both cow and horse, except the three dollars expended for straw. ”

“ If the season is favorable, we manage to keep our one cow nicely on half an acre, or rather on the fodder grown on half an acre. But sometimes, on account of drouth or late frost, we are obliged to buy a little hay in the spring.
It is impossible for us to say how much feed must be bought. We generally have a bag of corn (two bushels) , and a bag of oats (two and a half bushels) , ground together, feeding from two to four quarts a day, according to the amount of roots used, and the season of the year, feeding meal very sparingly in summer. ”

“ When I was a boy it was the prevailing opinion in the section of country where I was raised, that it was better that a cow should be rather thin in flesh at the time of calving than otherwise. There was but very little grain fed in winter, to any stock in that section, except to working oxen. Cows in milk were fed hay, while dry cows, and young stock, were fed on straw or corn stalks. The result was that at the time of calving, cows were generally thin enough to conform to the popular idea of a proper condition. ”

“ But high manuring and deep cultivation are indispensable in view, viz.: the obtaining the greatest quantity of dairy food from the least land. And high cultivation, implying depth of soil, tilth, porosity and aeration is impossible without subsoil drainage; nor in its absence does manure produce its best effects. It is foreign to the purpose of this article to elucidate the action of tile draining upon crops and soil. The lasting and great benefit of the system is, to-day, a matter of such plain fact, that no intelligent agriculturist will question it. ”

“ In rural villages, summer pasturage can be obtained near at hand, which, with a daily feed of good meal will furnish a large supply of rich milk at a low cost. A boy can be secured at a small price to drive the cow to the pasture in the morning, and return her at night to the stable. A stable or stall can always be obtained at a trifling rent, and be kept clean. There are plenty of gardeners or farmers who will gladly take the manure away so frequently as to prevent it being a nuisance, or disagreeable. ”

“ As soon as the grass has fairly got into blossom, it should be immediately cut and well-cured for winter use, unless it may be necessary to save a small quantity to feed until that portion which was first cut for the cow shall be ready to cut again. Grass should never be allowed to stand until the seed has formed, as just previous to that time it is more nutritious than at any other period. Hay cut thus early will make much more and better milk, and keep a cow in better condition than that which is cut later. ”

“ If she was allowed to go dry early in the season with her first calf, she will always do it. A cow being a very conservative animal, she should be milked as long as her milk is good. When she is dry, stop feeding the provender, bran, and oil-cake, and give her plenty of good hay, with some roots, until after she calves. The provender and oil-cake being strong food, are apt to produce inflammation and other troubles at calving time. You can feed turnips when she is dry, at the rate of two pails a day, cut up fine, of course, but don’t feed turnips when she is milking. ”

“ The first year you will have all clover hay, and it must be cut before the second blossom comes; if not cut early enough, the stalks become tough and woody, and are wasted by the cow. The second year, if top-dressed in the fall with the manure collected during the summer, you will have a fine crop of timothy, and if the land was good for anything you can cut hay from it for three years by giving it a little manure every fall. As early as the ground will admit, sow some peas and oats; one bushel of each will plant one-third of an acre. ”

“ Another excellent fertilizer, which may be applied during the summer, is the waste water from the house, such as soap suds, dish water, and any other slops that are to be thrown away. These should all be saved and scattered upon the grass from pails, if no better method is ordinarily practicable, and it will pay a person many times over for the trouble. A light top-dressing of manure from the cow-yard or shed will be necessary every year, or every second year certainly, applied in the fall, or early in the spring. ”

“ Of the value of milk as an article of food, in its natural state, and in the many ways which it can be used in cooking, there can be no doubt, especially where there are young and growing members of the family. ”

“ Of all the elements of which grass is composed, by far the larger part is water, which must render it much more bulky than an equal amount of hay, and for this reason, more is required to supply the wants of the system. During the season, therefore, when the cow must live by her own exertions, she must labor most of the time to obtain the requisite amount of nourishment, which she is not required to do while in the barn. ”

“ In an experience of fifteen years, by following this plan of restricting the diet, I have not had a case of milk fever, apoplexy, or retention of placenta, and but one case which called for assistance, and this was due wholly to an accident. When a single cow is kept, she is, of course, exempt from the ill consequences which so often result from crowding and fighting with other cows, and, if kindly treated and provided with comfortable accommodations for feeding and shelter, she will seldom have any trouble. ”

“ To ascertain the exact amount needed for a feed of this kind, as well as of the other green crops, requires some judgment on the part of the feeder; but a very safe rule is to feed just such an amount as the cow will eat clean, and no more. We cannot specify exactly what would be a proper amount in every case, neither can we spend time to weigh each ration, but, by observing carefully, we are enabled to determine very closely. I find that my cow will eat, besides her other feed, a good armful of green fodder three times a day. ”

“ I have never experimented with roots, nor am I aware of any being cultivated in the South as a soiling crop. Cabbages set out in September and October will be ready for feeding in December, and will, next to corn, produce the largest weight of green food. One year I fed them to a considerable extent, and found my cows were very partial to them. By beginning with cabbages in December, to be succeeded by oats in March, then peas, corn, and millet, to wind up in November with cow-pea, a cow in our climate can be soiled every day in the year. ”

“ Like thousands all over the land, we kept her simply for the profit she yielded, in the way of milk and butter. It has often struck me, in reading the many suggestions and hints about how to keep a cow, to be found in some agricultural and live-stock journals, that were they all carried into practical operation, it would take the entire time of two able-bodied men to attend one animal—one to be always on hand during the day, the other to serve at night. ”