Farm and Garden.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 242, 8 July 1876, Page 22

Farm and Garden.

“ OUR COW.” Will you allow a lady subscriber to tell the story of her cow-keeping, which has proved a decided success: In purchasing our cow, we were advised that pedigree is not of primary importance in a dairy, and we were therefoi’e satisfied with the most promising cow we could obtain, a Shorthorn, reared on a neighboring estate of 8 acres of copyhold land, belonging to a poor widow. The old lady had recently died, and the lord of the manor had claimed and carried off our subsequent cow, which a dealer brought to us without a name. We called her Heriot. Her calf had been born late in February, the dealer said, and we might expect another calf early in December. In the interim there would be uninterrupted milk, we were informed, except during five or six weeks at the end of the term, when we were to feed Heriot on sweet hay, and allow her to “go dry:” that is we were to purchase our milk instead of availing ourselves of what she might still give, if we pei’sisted in requiring it, which we wei'e told we had better avoid. We noted down all these details, and began to feel quite farm-like, though at present our practical experience was simply nil. Now about food. As there was no grass at that early time of the year, we were recommended to buy mangel wurzel, hay, and plain linseed cake ; and with these pro - visions at hand, Heriot was established in the rear of our premises, and in a few days the excitement of rather suddenly acquiring a cow subsided, and we patiently began waiting for grass. At present we were feeling our way along cautiously, yielding to public opinion as expressed by its representative, the dealer, in regard to various mattei-s of detail ; but in respect to leading principles we intended to carry out certain theories. A cow is a cow everywhere. She may be pampered in a fine stall, or tied by the neck and hind leg, to be milked by a machine ; she may become the victim of a horrid covered homestead and a paid police, or she may be half starved in some poor man’s byi’e ; but there must be a way between these extremes. IVIy husband and I had seen cows in other countries standing quietly without a halter, and milked into bottles by children, and we were determined our cow should be treated

kindly, and should get sufficient air and exercise, without being “coddled.” Our excellent old maxi, Bevender, is a person who pi-efers his own way as a rule. He is not to be driven, and he can find stiles, when he likes, in unnecessary places; but we established a give-and-take system with Tom Bevender, which worked extremely well. He had his way when he could get it, and we had ours on much the same principle. It is a g >od point in Tom that his temper is good. He and Heriot never quarrel, and if a flitch of bacon were awarded for kindness to the cow, he might claim and obtain it. lie was fortunate in being connected with a creature that had been the cow and cruse of an inoffensive widow, and had never known what a stick upon the back might be till the day when driven to market and. plunged for the first time into ti’ouble. I think I can see her, as I have seen other cows in a cattle market, standing on the bare stones, with the tears running down her cheeks, a shouting crew of rough men around, her destination uncertain, her only friend dead, the home of her birth broken up, and herself seized as a heriot. T here is no doubt her confidence was shaken. She must have passed through pui’gatoi’y into our 1 possession, and she entered the future bliss of our back premises timid, excited, marked by stripes on her brindle coat, her fetlock torn, and her tail so twisted by brutal drovers that it did not hang straight for several days after her arrival. Poor Heriot ! previous to the arrival of the mangel I gave her a loaf of bread ; we sacrificed some young cabbages with Bevender’s consent, and if we had possessed an early cucumber or a bed of forced asparagus, we should have chopped them into a salad for her, feeling responsible in a measure, as marketing - creatures, for the cruel conduct of the dealers and their drovers. When she lifted her leg up as I passed behind her —poor persecuted thing I freely forgave and reassured her. Once only she kicked out and was patted in return, and in a few days she became as gentle as if I had been another widow, all through the magic of a little kindness. In the matter of milk Heriot was hardly equal to our expectations. In fact she gave but little, and it was poor, owing partly, as we concluded, to the immense amount of water in mangel wurzel, and partly to the fright she had sustained. In all else she was everything we could wish, her grievences were forgotten, and her new-born confidence complete. If she saw us bringing hay she would poke her nose anywhere to obtain it. Slxe alio ved the cat to sit on her her back, and permitted Bounce to wag his tail under her vex’y nose, as she stood quiet and untied while being milked. She became tame and familiar to a degree, and on one occasion gave my headdress a tug, and pulled off all one wears, including an artifical wreath of buds and leaves. I took the hint, and we drove seme miles round the country to try and find some early tares or young rye. We were still disappointed in the quality of milk. The summer came and we. turned Heriot into the little pasture behind the house ; but as to milk, instead of the quantity increasing with a grass diet, as we had anticipated, it settled down to about 3 quarts a-day, which was certainly a small result, and a mystery that puzzled us. But time revealed the truth as usual, and restored our cow’s character as a good milker. One evening in July Bevender came to me and announced his opinion about Heriot with startling abruptness. “It looks to me, he said, “ as if she might have a calf before long.” I was taken aback, and, remembering the dates given us by the dealer, I replied, No, not yet ; not till early in December.” “ Oh ! ” was Bevender’s reply ; “ that’s some time to come, ain’t it? Do you think she had better be milked any longer, Mum, or how ? ” “ August, September, October, November,” said I ; “ yes, go on at present.” The next morning a calf was announced. Bevender reserved the information till he saw us in the garden, and then came forward, and observed without preface,” Beg your pardon Mum, she’s calved. Got as fine a cow calf as ever you see ; and it runs in my head they are going to do well, too ; anyhow they are all right so far.” The dealer had deceived us, of course, in selling ns a cow just as she was “ going out of profit, ’ and represent ing her to be coming in. But it was no fault of Heriot’sand she made the most ample amends. We had the calf weaned immediately by a very simple pi’oeess, of which the leading features were linseed-tea and warm skimmed.milk ; and we were then at liberty to try experiments on dairying - , and to sell our butter for 18d, per lb. The milk pans, which we had provided in vain in the spring, were now filled daily with 23 or 24 quarts of milk, which would have given us, as we ascertained, about l.Slbs.of butter a week, if we had abstaiued from pilfering the cream. It was quite late in the following spring before the lacteal fountain ebbed so low as 6 quarts a day ; when we allowed it to cease by degrees. Then came a pause, which was thought better on the whole for Heriot, and then came a calf, at the end of May. There was the same rotation every year. I think it unnecessary to go into particulars on the subject of rearing calves and managing, cows. I can only say that nothing can be easier ; and I hope this simple narrative may induce others to follow our example in starting a dairy. Milk woxxld be much cheaper and more abundant if the business of the dairy were not left to large farmers, who, in fact, will not. be troubled with it. I speak with authority. Some persons suppose that a principle of political economy settles all these things, and that in this country of equal laws people would keep a cow if it paid. Fiddle-sticks. Let 16 people believe that who don’t care for cream and butter. Things are not what they seem or say always. It does pay, and cows would be kept, in many cases, if the land could be obtained to keep them on ; it requires about 4 acres, lo justify those assertions I will mention what we did a few weeks after the arrival of Heriot. We bought Tom Bevender a plot of four acres, which we sowed with grass seed, and Tom now keeps a beautiful cow on his own account ; and is making a little fortune, as we tell

him, by butter and porkers. The small sum he owes us on account of the cow will most likely be paid soon ; meanwhile we are satisfied with the security, and think it would readily be acepted in other cases where a loan might aid perhaps a faithful servant. But it is an investment which does not occur to people who do not know how very easy it is to sow a little grass and keep a cow. All that is required in a cowshed is a warm roof of straw, heath, furze, or chips,. to keep the cow dry. Bevender built his shed in a few days, and, as we happened to have some fir poles, it cost us nothing. The old man’s son has a large family, and as the eldest boy is our “ butter’s,” and the whole family eminent for good conduct, we obtained a pastured cottage and a cow for them too. They are" their own best customers for the milk at present, having eight children at home, and there is no doubt that a milk diet will be most useful for the children in these dear times. It has already plumped out and painted their cheeks ; and we have every reason to be satisfied with our outlay ; which included a little hutch of a dairy, on the north side of the house, as cool and clean as the Queen’s at Windsor. We feel sure of being paid so soon as the children have left off consuming ; that is, when they are in situations. All the Bevenders are sure to prosper as prosperity itself ; and the two families will thrive much better in everyway for keeping a couple of cows. We sincerely hope that these hints may induce others to aid and abet cow-keeping among labourers if they can. Martha Dash.