Sea cow

“ An enormous mammal, more than three tons in weight, with hind quarters like a whale, snout and fore fins resembling a cow, grazed in herds on the fields of sea-kelp and gazed languidly without fear on the newcomer—Man. This was the famous sea-cow described by the enthusiastic Steller, but long since extinct. ”

“ They could then see the faint summer fogs in layers, woolly, level, and apparently no thicker than counterpanes, spread about the meadows in detached remnants of small extent. On the gray moisture of the grass were marks where the cows had lain through the night—dark-green islands of dry herbage the size of their carcasses, in the general sea of dew. From each island proceeded a serpentine trail, by which the cow had rambled away to feed after getting up, at the end of which trail they found her; ”

“ The charm of it is that it leaves both the physical and intellectual in one to develop freely. When a cow, grazing in a woodland pasture, comes at noonday to the brook to drink and then calmly and not without a certain ungainly majesty of movement, crosses the deep pool and climbs the steep hank on the other side, by no apparent motive urged save of her own sweet will, she always looks refreshed and filled in some sort with the stolid bovine expression of great contentment. ”

“ The red farmer’s cow is often called the dual-purpose animal. She is about half way between the beef and the dairy. She protects herself well but not to the limit as does the Hereford. She produces milk well but not nearly so well as do the highly-bred and highly-developed strictly dairy types. Not one of these three types of cows will do to substitute for any other. Each has a place to fill and each is the best animal in her place. ”

“ A cow these days is a different sort of a being, her coat like satin, and her udder generous, compared with the wild-eyed things with burrs in their tails, and their flanks crusted with filth, their udders the size of a kid glove, and yielding such a little dab of milk and for such a short period. ”

“ But cows do not balk, or run, or go lame, or need shoeing; and although they occasionally kick over the milk-pail, it is probably with good reason or with the best of intentions. They have nice long coats that keep them from catching cold in winter, and have an odd way of perspiring through their noses that is as curious as it is interesting. A cow is a model—without referring to this last peculiarity—for a wife; she is gentle, good, and beautiful, and never makes a fuss. The first point, therefore, was to buy a cow. ”

“ The Cow goes with Young for Nine Months, and the affection and solicitude she evinces for her offspring is more human in its tenderness and intensity than is displayed by any other animal; and her distress when she hears it lowing, and is not allowed to reach it with her distended udders, is often painful to witness; and when the calf has died, or been accidentally killed, her grief frequently makes her refuse to give down her milk. In a state of nature the cow, like the deer, hides her young in the tall ferns and brakes, and the most secret places ”

“ The wandering cow feeds herself, in fact, from what might be the choicest product of her own milk, tramps the life out of much more, and tosses her head in disdain at much that if cut and properly fed in the stall, she would eat with a relish; so that it may be safely said that two, and some practical men say three, cows might be well-fed through soiling, on the same land that one is by the system of exclusive pasturing. ”

“ Then, we feel sure that a loose, open made cow, rather pointed, or sharp and well-defined, and the contrary of what we would look for in a flesh or beef producing animal; with a skin mellow and yellow, covered with soft, fine hair, and the nearer it comes to the quality and color of a first class Guernsey or Jersey cow, breeds which have for hundreds of years been bred for butter making, then we repeat we know she must be a good, rich milker and butter maker ”

“ I have tried various things, and have found fresh grass or fodder, provender, bran, oil-cake, mangels, and hay, the best bill of fare for “Daisy” or “Buttercup.” Avoid brewer’s slops or grains as you would poison, for although they increase the flow of milk, it is thin and blue, the butter white and tasteless, and after a time the cow’s teeth will blacken and decay. I was told the other day by a very intelligent dairyman that after feeding his cows one season on brewer’s grains he was obliged to sell his whole herd. ”

“ The cow is the poor man's dependence in every clime and, as the basis of the meat and dairy industries, is a large factor in the commerce of the world. Modern husbandry has been wonderfully successful in improving the breeds of cattle along two distinct lines, developing certain breeds for the production of beef and other breeds for dairy purposes. ”

“ A petted and well-fed cow has a benevolent and gracious look; an ill-used and poorly-fed one a pitiful and forlorn look. Some cows have a masculine or ox expression; others are extremely feminine. The latter are the ones for milk. Some cows will kick like a horse; some jump fences like deer. Every herd has its ringleader, its unruly spirit—one that plans all the mischief and leads the rest through the fences into the grain or into the orchard. ”

“ Have her dinner from June to November consist of grass or fodder cut and brought in twice a week by some farmer or market gardener in exchange for her manure and sour milk. In Montreal, grass and fodder are brought to market by the “Habatants,” and sold in bundles. As to quantity, a good big armful will be sufficient, and it is more healthful for the cow if it is a little wilted. In the winter hay and mangels are to be fed in place of the grass and fodder. She should also have salt where she can take a lick when so minded, and fresh water three times a day. ”

“ And in similar circumstances we may be able to keep sheep solely for their wool, but on high-priced land we can not afford to keep sheep merely for their wool. We must adopt a higher system of farming and feeding, and keep sheep that will give us wool, lambs, and mutton. In parts of South America, where land costs nothing, cattle can be kept for their bones, tallow, and hides, but where food is costly we must make better use of it. A cow is a machine for converting vegetable food into veal, butter, cheese, and beef. ”

“ Another interesting fact is, that we can discover all the signs on a calf, and are thereby enabled to select with much certainty those that are fit for the dairy, and to reject those that would be only a disappointment, if raised for that purpose. Of course, a very small cow, with ever so good an escutcheon, cannot be expected to give a very large quantity of milk, and might be inferior in that respect to one having a less perfect one, where the animal is of greater size. ”

“ There are ten cows but Jehosophat, Marmaduke, and Hepzebiah love four of them better than the rest. Their names are "Primrose," "Daisy," "Buttercup," and "Black-eyed Susan."
Now just as there are different kinds of chickens so there are several kinds of cows—Guernseys, Jerseys, Alderneys, and Holsteins.
"Primrose," "Daisy," and "Buttercup" are Jerseys and are a pretty brown. "Black-eyed Susan" belongs to the Holsteins and is black and white. "Black-eyed Susan" gives more milk than her companions but their milk has richer cream.
Each cow has a stall to sleep in. ”

“ The udder should be attached high behind and the thighs should be narrow. In fact, we want a cow that is not an “easy keeper” but that will milk out clean. The cow should be soft skinned and fine haired. Beware of the wild-eyed, nervous, quick-moving cow for she wastes her energy. Beware of the sluggish cow for she will be sluggish in appetite and will convert her feed into fat instead of milk. Perhaps the best way to describe the disposition of a good dairy cow would be to say that she is alert and intelligent but calm and sensible. ”

“ These different objects should, therefore, be kept in view, in the selection of cows; for animals which would be most profitable for the milk-dairy might be very unprofitable in the butter-dairy—a fact of almost daily experience. The productiveness of the cow does not depend on her breed so much as upon her food and management, her temperament and health, and the activity and energy of the organs of digestion and secretion. ”

“ A cow is a very good guide to a lost man, for, if he has patience to wait till evening, [130] she is sure to feed her way to the sœter to be milked; but woe to the man who puts his trust in bullocks or in sheep; they feed at ease, and roam at pleasure, till the frosts and snows of approaching winter bring them home to the fold, the stall, and the salting-tub. ”

“ Taking Central New England, as before remarked, as the latitude of experimentation, it will be found that one square rod of oats, Hungarian grass, barley, rye, and similar grasses, in proper condition, growing on land in a high state of cultivation, is amply sufficient for a cow for one day. Or in other words, to be within perfectly safe bounds, and considering the chances of partial failure, we may say, that under the conditions above mentioned, forty square rods, or one quarter of an acre, will produce ample food for one cow for thirty-five days. ”

“ All of us must have seen the beautiful cows from the Channel Islands, near the coast of France, known as Jerseys and Guernseys, often called Alderneys, now so common in our fields and which give such rich milk, from which splendid butter is made. We may also speak of the Ayrshire cow of Scotland, which is of high value to the cheese-maker. All these and other cows have been brought in numbers to this country, which has no good breeds of its own. ”

“ A healthy cow has a good appetite, the muzzle is moist, the eye bright, coat is smooth, the horns are warm, breathing is regular, the milk is given in good quantities and the process of rumination is constant soon after eating. ”

“ A perfect cow ought to have a broad forehead, black eyes, large clean horns, a long thin skin, a large deep belly; strong muscular thighs, round legs, broad feet, short joints, and a white large udder with four teats. The use of this animal is equally important for the dairy, and the propagation of its species. For the former purpose, the Alderney breed of red cows is generally preferred, as they are supposed to yield the best milk; though the quantity they produce greatly depends upon the nature and quality of their food. ”

“ The meat of the cows is considered more delicate than that of the bulls, especially in the rutting season. The parts most appreciated are the heart, the tongue, the liver, the short rib, and the part called the hunter's joint, that is to say, the chine near the shoulder blade. Eight bones are considered marrowbones, they are those of the legs and thighs. A cow supplies about three hundred pounds of excellent meat, exclusive of the head, and several other parts of the animal; the marrow of a single bone is sufficient for a meal. ”

“ Its first branches are so high in the air that it has never been profaned by the most venturesome climbers, and its great roots start out from the trunk in a way that seems to thrust back all attempts at familiarity. The second growth maples by which it is surrounded appear to be domesticated by comparison with this wildling, and when they are tapped at sugar-making time they yield sap as lavishly as a dairy cow gives milk. ”

“ And the cow is a beauty of the kind that makes one wish she could be driven home into his own pasture, to be “a possession forever.” She stands sleek and serene in her niche in the outer wall, and seems to follow you with a watchful gaze as you pluck buttercups and clover-blooms, lineal descendants, beyond a doubt, of those on which her prototype fed in the spacious close beneath her. ”

“ The tail is tufted, something like that of the domestic cow, but it is not so long in proportion, reaching only to the hocks. The color is a dark bluish grey, deepening to nearly black in very old individuals, while the legs are jet-black, curiously marked with white patches about the fetlocks. The throat is white, and from the lower part of it depends a long tuft of blackish hair, while the hair on the withers is developed into a thin upright mane.
“The cow is of a light brown colour, and is destitute of horns. The young males are like the females, but become gradually darker with age. ”

“ The cow belongs more especially to the northern peoples, to the region of the good, green grass. She is the true grazing animal. That broad, smooth, always dewy nose of hers is just the suggestion of green sward. She caresses the grass; she sweeps off the ends of the leaves; she reaps it with the soft sickle of her tongue. She crops close, but she does not bruise or devour the turf like the horse. She is the sward's best friend, and will make it thick and smooth as a carpet.
The turfy mountains where live the nibbling sheep
are not for her. ”

“ The same rules are applicable to the soiling of the cow during the summer months, the only difference being that green food is given in the place of dry. This may consist of rye, oats, barley, millet, or Hungarian grass, corn, English grass, etc., cut while in the milk. It will frequently be found that a proportion of dried hay will also at times be highly relished, and may be essential to allay any excessive looseness of the bowels, which may be produced by the succulent food. ”

“ For this, she is pre-eminently fitted, and the modern improvement of this invaluable animal has carried her product of milk almost as far as can be reasonably looked for from a given amount of food; and although this is of about the average richness of the goat and ewe, and before that of the ass, the quantity she yields is frequently as 60 to 1, in favor of the cow, over the first two competitors. As a milk-giving animal, the cow is the best fitted for the purposes of civilized man ”