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COWS

The cow occupies the first place among domestic animals, in value to the American people, not excepting even the horse. From the original stock, still kept as a curiosity on the grounds of some English noblemen, cattle have been greatly improved by care in breeding and feeding. Those wild animals are still beautiful, but only about one third of the weight of the ordinary improved cattle, and not more than one fourth that of the most improved. Improving the breed of cattle is a subject by itself, demanding a separate treatise. It is not to be expected that we should go into it at length in a work like this. But so much depends upon the cow, that we can hardly write an article on her without giving those general principles that lie at the foundation of all improvement in cattle. The few suggestions that follow, if heeded, would be worth many times the value of this book to any farmer not already familiar with the facts. The cow affects all other stock in two ways; first, the form of calves, and consequently of grown cattle, is affected as much by the cow as by the bull. The quality and quantity of her milk, also, has a great influence upon the early growth of all neat stock. Cattle are usually named from their horns, as "short horns," &c. It is a means of distinction, like a name, but not expressive of quality. The leading marks of a good cow are, medium height for her weight, small neck, straight and wide back, wide breast—giving room for healthy action of the lungs—heavy hind-quarters, and soft skin with fine hair, skin yellowish, with much dandruff above the bag behind. A smart countenance is also expressive of good qualities; there is as much difference in the eyes and expression of cattle as of men. Select only such cows to raise stock from, and allow them to go to no bull that has not good marks, and is not of a superior form. Another important matter is to avoid breeding in and in. This is injurious in all domestic animals and fowls. Always have the cow and the bull from different regions: attention to this would constantly improve any breed we have, and by improving the size of cattle, and milking qualities of cows, would add vast amounts to the wealth of farmers, without the necessity of purchasing, at a great price, any of the high-bred cattle. We have observed, in our article on calves, that abundant feeding during the first year has much to do with the excellence of stock. Unite with these regularity in feeding, watering, and salting, keeping dry and warm in stormy, cold weather, and well curried and clean, and a farmer's stock will be much more profitable to him. But this brief mention of the general principles must suffice, while we give all the further space we can occupy with this article to—

The Infallible Marks of the Milking Qualities of Cows.—M. Francis Guenon, of France, has published a treatise, in which he shows, by external marks alone, the quality and quantity of milk of any cow, and the length of time she will continue to give milk. These marks are so plain, that they are applicable to calves but a few weeks old, as well as to cows. Whoever will take a little pains to understand this, can know, when he proposes to buy a cow, how much milk she will give, with proper feed and treatment, the quality of her milk, and the length of time she will give milk after having been gotten with calf. If the farmer has heifer-calves, some of which he proposes to send to the butcher and others to raise, he may know which will make poor milkers, and which good ones, and raise the good and kill the poor. Thus, he may see a calf that his neighbor is going to slaughter, and, from these external marks, he may discover that it would make one of the best milking cows of the neighborhood; it would then pay to buy and raise it, though he might have to kill and throw away his own, which he could see would make a poor cow if raised. Thus, all extraordinary milkers would be raised, and all poor ones be slaughtered: this alone would improve the whole stock of the country twenty-five per cent. in as many years. Attention has been called to this, in the most emphatic manner, by The New York Tribune—a paper that always takes a deep interest in whatever will advance the great industrial interests of the whole people—and yet, this announcement will be new to a vast number of farmers into whose hands this volume will fall. To many it will be utterly incredible, especially when we inform them that the indications are, mainly, the growth of the hair, on the cow behind, from the roots of the teats upward. "Impossible!" many a practical, common-sense man will say. But that same man will acknowledge that a bull has a different color, different neck, and different horns, left in his natural state, from those he would exhibit if altered to an ox. Why is it not equally credible that the growth of the hair, &c., should be affected by the secretion and flow of the milk on that part of the system where those operations are principally carried on? But, aside from all reasonings on the subject, the fact is certain, and whoever may read this article may test its correctness, as applied to his own cows or those of his neighbor. The great agriculturists of France (and it is no mean agricultural country) have tested it, under the direction of the agricultural societies, and pronounced it entirely certain. This was followed by an award, by the French government, of a pension of three thousand francs per annum to Guenon, as a benefactor of the people by the discovery he had made. The same has been amply tested in this country, with the same certain results. It now only remains for every farmer to test it for himself, and avail himself of the profits that will arise from it. Guenon divides cows into eight classes, and has eight orders under each class, making sixty-four cows, of which he has cuts in his work. He also adds what he calls a bastard-cow in each class, making seventy-two in all. Now, to master all these nice distinctions in his classes and orders would be tedious, and nearly useless. Efforts at this would tend to confusion. We desire to give the indications in a brief manner, with a very few cuts; and yet, we would hope to be much better understood by the masses than we believe Guenon to be. We claim no credit; Guenon is the discoverer, and we only promulgate his discovery in the plainest language we can command; and if we can reach the ear of the American farmers, and call their attention to this, we shall not have labored in vain.

The appearance of the hind-part of the cow, from a point near the gambrel-joint up to the tail, Guenon calls the escutcheon. The following cuts show the marks of all of Guenon's eight classes, the first and the last in each class. The intermediate ones are in regular gradation from the first to the eighth order. Each class is divided into high, medium, and low, yielding milk somewhat in proportion to their size. We give the quantity of milk which the large cows will yield. This also supposes cows to be well fed on suitable food. Smaller cows of the same class and order, or those that are poorly cared for and fed, will, of course, give less.

The names of all these eight classes are entirely arbitrary—they mean nothing. M. Guenon adopted them on account of the shape of the escutcheon, or from the name of the place from which the cows came. But cows with these peculiar marks are found among all breeds, in all countries, and of all colors, sizes, and ages. These marks are certain, except the variations that are caused by extra care or neglect.

This class of cows has a delicate bag, covered with fine downy hair, growing upward from between the teats, and, above the bag behind, it blends itself with a growth of hair pointing upward, and covering the region marked in figure 1. This upward growth of hair begins on the legs just above the gambrel-joint, covers the inside of the thighs, and extends up to the tail, as in figure first. Above the hind teats they generally have two oval spots, two inches wide by three long, formed by hair growing downward, and of paler color than the hair that surrounds them (E, E, in fig. 1). The skin covered by the whole of this escutcheon is yellowish, with a few black spots, and a kind of bran, or dandruff, detaches from it. Cows of this class and order, when well kept, give about twenty-two quarts of milk per day, when in full flow, and before getting with calf again; after this a little less, but still a large quantity. They will continue to give milk till eight months gone with calf, or till they calve again, if you continue to milk them. This, however, should never be done; it exposes the health of cows at the time of calving, and injures the young. From this there is a gradual diminution in the quantity of milk through the orders, down to the eighth.

Cows of this order (fig. 2), or with the marks you see in the drawing, will never yield more than about five quarts per day in their best state, and they will only continue to give milk until two months with calf: hence, these are only fit for the butcher. The intervening six in Gruenon's classification are gradually poorer than the first, and better than the last, in our cuts. The marks are but very slightly different from the above, except in size; the difference is so trifling, that any one can at once see that they belong to this class;—and the comparative size of this mark will show, infallibly, their value compared with the above. In the intermediate grades, the spots (E, E, fig. 1) are smaller, and as the orders descend, these spots are wanting, and some slight changes in the form of the whole mark are observed, yet the general outline remains the same. Now, as the decrease in the eight orders in each class is about from two and a half to three or three and a half quarts, no man with eyes need be deceived in buying a cow, or raising a calf, in the quantity of milk she may be made to give. Any man can tell, within one or two quarts, the yield of any cow or heifer. The only chance for mistake is in the case of bastard-cows, which rapidly dry up on getting with calf.

In this class, the shape of the escutcheon is entirely distinct, so that no one will confound it with the first. The gradations are the same as in the preceding, only this class, all through, is inferior to the other. The first (fig. 3) will give only twenty or twenty-one quarts, and the poorest only four quarts. This escutcheon is formed by ascending hair, but with a very different outline from the first class; it has the same spots above the hind teats as the first, formed by descending hair. In the lower orders these disappear—first one, then one small one, and then none at all—and as they descend, similar spots appear, formed in the same way, on one or both sides of the vulva (F, fig. 3). The skin of the inside surface of the thigh is yellowish. The time of giving milk—viz., eight months gone with calf, or as long as you continue to milk them—is the same as in the first class. The last order (fig. 4) of this class give very little milk after getting with calf.

This escutcheon is easily distinguished from the others, by its outline figure. The spots on the bag above the hind teats are formed as in the preceding, and as gradually disappear in the lower orders. In those orders there is a slight difference in the outline, but its general form is the same. The first of this class (fig. 5) yields twenty or twenty-one quarts a day, and gives milk till within a month of calving. The last order of the class (fig. 6) gives only three and a half quarts, and goes dry on getting with calf. The intermediate gradations between the first and eighth orders are the same as in the preceding classes.

These escutcheons are unmistakably diverse from either of the others; gradations, from first to eighth orders, the same. The first order in this class (fig. 7) will give eighteen quarts a day, and give milk until eight months with calf. The dandruff which detaches from the skin within the escutcheon of the first order is yellowish or copperish color. The two marks on the sides of the vulva are narrow streaks of ascending hair, not in the general mark. The last order of the class (fig. 8) gives three and a half quarts only a day, and goes dry when with calf.

Here is another general mark, easily distinguishable from all the others by its outline. The first order (fig. 9) will give eighteen quarts a day, and give milk eight months, or within a month of calving. Yellowish skin; delicate bag, covered with fine downy hair, as in the higher orders of all the preceding classes. The eighth order of this class (fig. 10) will give only two and a half quarts per day, and none after conceiving anew. The gradation from first to eighth order is regular, as in the others.

SIXTH CLASS

Yield of first order (fig. 11) eighteen quarts per day; time, eight months. Skin within the escutcheon same color, bag equally delicate, and hair fine, as in all the first orders. Eighth order (fig. 12) yields about two quarts per day, and dries up on getting with calf.

First order in this class (fig. 13) gives fifteen quarts; time, eight months. The skin, bag, and hair, same as in the higher orders in all the classes. The eighth order (fig. 14) will yield two and a half quarts per day, and dry up when with calf.

EIGHTH CLASS

First order (fig. 15) will give fifteen quarts per day; time, eight months. Skin in escutcheon reddish-yellow and silky, hair fine, teats far apart. The eighth order (fig. 16) yields two and a half quarts a day, and dries up on getting with calf.

Each class of cows has a kind called bastards, among those whose escutcheons would otherwise indicate the first order of their class: these often deceive the most practised eye. The only remedy is to become familiar with the infallible marks given by Guenon by which bastards may be known. This defect will account for the irregularity of many cows, and their suddenly going dry on becoming with calf, and often for the bad quality of their milk. They are distinguished by the lines of ascending and descending hair in their escutcheon.

In the Flanders cow (fig. 17) there are two bastards; one distinguished by the fact that the hair forming the line of the escutcheon bristles up, like beards on a head of grain, instead of lying smooth, as in the genuine cow; they project over the intersection of the ascending and descending hair in a very bristling manner. The other bastard of the Flanders cow is known by having an oval patch of downward growing hair, about eight inches below the vulva, and in a line with it; in the large cows it is four inches long, and two and a half wide, and the hair within it always of a lighter color than that surrounding it. Cows of this mark are always imperfect. In the bastards, the skin on the escutcheon is usually reddish; it is smooth to the touch, and yields no dandruff.

Bastards of the SELVAGE COW are known by two oval patches of ascending hair, one on each side of the vulva, four or five inches long, by an inch and a half wide (fig. 18). The larger the spot, and the coarser the hair, the more defective they prove, and vice versa.

Bastards of the CURVELINE COW are known by the size of spots of hair on each side of the vulva (fig. 18). When they are of four or five inches by one and a half, and pointed or rounded at the ends, they indicate bastards. If they be small, the cow will not lose her milk very rapidly on getting with calf.

Bastards of the BICORN COW are indicated precisely as in the preceding—by the size of the spots of ascending hair, above the escutcheon and by the sides of the vulva (F, F, fig. 18).

Bastards of the DEMIJOHN COW are distinguished precisely as the two preceding—size of the streaks (fig. 18).

The SQUARE ESCUTCHEON COW indicates bastards, by a streak of hair at the right of the vulva (fig. 19). When that ascending hair is coarse and bristly, it is a sure evidence that the animal is a bastard.

Limousine cows show their bastards precisely as do the CURVELINE and BICORN, by the size of the ascending streaks of hair, on the right and left of the vulva. (Fig. 19.)

Bastards of the HORIZONTAL CUT COWS have no escutcheon whatever. By this they are always known.

Some bastards are good milkers until they get with calf, and then very soon dry up. Others are poor milkers. Those with coarse hair and but little of it, in the escutcheon, give poor, watery milk. Those of fine, thick hair will give good milk.

Bulls have escutcheons of the same shape as the cows, but on a smaller scale. Whenever there are streaks of descending hair bristling up among the ascending hair of the escutcheon, rendering it quite irregular and rough in its appearance, the animal is regarded as a bastard. Never put a cow to any bull that has not a regular, well-defined, and smooth escutcheon. This is as fully as we have room to go into M. Guenon's details. We fear this will fall into the hands of many who will not take the pains to master even these distinctions. To those who will, we trust they will be found plain, and certain in their results. From all this, one thing is certain, and that is of immense value to the farmer: it is, that on general principles, without remembering the exact figure of one of the indications above given, or one of the arbitrary terms it has been necessary to use, any man can tell the quality and quantity of milk a cow will give, and the time she will give milk, with sufficient accuracy to buy no cow and raise no heifer that will not be a profitable dairy cow, if that is what he desires. The rules by which these things may be known are the following:

No cow, of any class, is ever a good milker, that has not a large surface of hair growing upward from the teats and covering the inner surface of the thighs, and extending up toward or to the tail.

No cow that is destitute of this mark, or only has a very small one, is ever a good milker. Every cow having a scanty growth of coarse hair in the above mark will only give poor, watery milk; and every cow having a thick growth of fine hair on the escutcheon, or surface where it ascends, and considerable dandruff, will always give good rich milk, and be good for butter and cheese.

Every cow on which this mark is small will give but little milk, and dry up soon after getting with calf, and is not fit to be kept.

Observe these brief rules, and milk your cows at certain hours every day—milk very quickly, without stopping, and very clean, not leaving a drop—and you never will have a poor cow on your farm, and at least twenty-five per cent. will be added to the value of the ordinary dairy, that is made up of cows purchased or raised in the usual, hap-hazard way.

If your cows' udders swell after calving, wash them in aconite made weak with water; it is very good for taking out inflammation. Other common remedies are known. If your cow or other creature gets choked, pour into the throat half a pint, at least, of oil; and by rubbing the neck, the obstruction will probably move up or down. Curry your cows as thoroughly as you do your horses; and if they ever chance to get lousy, wash them in a decoction of tobacco.

CRANBERRY

This is native in the northern parts of both hemispheres. In England and on the continents of Europe and Asia, native cranberries are inferior, in size and quality, to the American. Our own have also been greatly improved by cultivation. They have become an important article of commerce, and find a ready sale, at high prices, in all the leading markets of the country. Their successful cultivation, therefore, deserves attention, as really as that of other fruits. Mr. B. Eastwood has written a volume on the subject, which probably contains all the facts already established, together with many opinions of scientific and practical cultivators. The work is valuable, but much less so than it would have been, had the author put into a few pages the important facts, and left out all speculations and diversities of opinion. The objection to most of this kind of literature is the intermixture of facts and valuable suggestions with so much that is not only useless, but absolutely pernicious, by the confusion it creates. We think the following directions for the cultivation of the cranberry are complete, according to our present knowledge:—

Soil.—It is universally agreed that beach sand is the best. Not from the beach of the ocean barely, but of lakes, ponds, or rivers. There is no evidence that any saline quality that may be in sand from the beach of the sea, is particularly useful. It is the cleanness of the sand, on which account it is less calculated to promote a growth of weeds, and allows a free passage of moisture toward the surface. Hence white sand is preferable, and the cleaner the better. Whoever has a moist meadow in the soil of which there is considerable sand has a good place for a cranberry bed. If you have not a sand meadow, select a plat of ground as moist as any you have, upon which water will not stand unless you confine it there, and draw on sand to the depth of four or six inches, having first removed any grass or break-turf, that may be in danger of coming up as weeds to choke the vines. If you make the ground mellow below and then put on the sand, you will have a bed that will give you but little further trouble. Peat soils will do, if you take off the top and expose to the weather, frosts and rains, one year before planting. The first year, peat will dry and crack, so as to destroy young cranberry vines. But after one winter's frost, it becomes pulverized and will not again bake. Hence it is next to sand for a cranberry bed.

Situation.—The shore of a body of water, or of a small pond is best, if it be not too much exposed to violent action of wind and waves. Land that retains much moisture within a foot of the surface, but which does not become stagnant, is very valuable. The bottoms of small ponds that can be drained off are very good. Any land that can be flowed with water at pleasure is good. By flooding, the blossoms are kept back till late spring frosts are gone. Any upland can be prepared as above. But if it be a very dry soil it must have a liberal supply of water during dry weather, or success may not be expected.

Planting.—There are several methods. Sod planting consists in preparing the land and then cutting out square sods containing vines, and setting them at the distances apart, you desire. This was the general method; but it is objectionable, on account of the weeds that will grow out of the sod and choke the vines. This method is improved by tearing away the sod, leaving the roots naked, and then planting. Another method is to cut off a vigorous shoot, and plant the middle of it, with each end protruding from the soil two or three inches apart. Roots will come out by all the leaves that are buried, and promote the springing of many new vines, and thus the early matting of the bed which is very desirable.

Others take short slips and thrust four or five of them together down into the soil as they do slips of currant bushes, thus making a hill of as many plants. And yet another method is, to cut up the vines into pieces of two or three inches in length, and broad cast them on mellow soil, and harrow them in as wheat—Others bury the short pieces in drills. In either case they will soon mat the whole ground, if the land be not weedy. The best plan for small beds is probably the middle planting.

Distances apart depend upon your design in cultivating. If your soil is such that so many weeds will grow as to require cultivating with a horse, or much hoeing, four feet one way and two the other is the best. Better have land so well covered with clean sand, that very few weeds will grow and no cultivation be needed. Then set vines one foot apart and very soon the whole ground will be perfectly matted and will need very little care for years. For two or three years pull out the weeds by hand, and the ground will be covered and need nothing more.

Varieties.—There are three principal ones of the lowland species. The bell, the bugle, and the cherry cranberries. These are named from their shape. Probably the cherry is the best, being the size, shape, and color of the cultivated red cherries. There has recently been discovered an upland variety, on the shores of Lake Superior, that bids fair to be as hardy and productive as the common currant. On all poor, hard, and even very dry uplands, it does remarkably well. It grows extensively in the northern part of the British provinces. The fruit is smaller than the other varieties but is delicious, beautiful in color, and very abundant. It will probably be one of our great and universal luxuries.

Healthy and Unhealthy Plants.—By this cultivators denote those that bear well and those that do not. And yet the unhealthy, or those that bear the least, are the larger, greener-leaved, and rapid-growing varieties. It is difficult to describe them so that an unpractised eye would know them from each other. The best way to be sure of getting the right kind is to purchase of a man you can trust, or visit the beds when the fruit is in perfection and witness where the crop is abundant, mark it, and let it remain until you are ready to plant. This is always best done in the spring, or from May 15th to June 15th.

Gathering—is performed by hand, or with a cranberry-rake. Hand-picking is best for the vines, but is more expensive. If a rake be used, it will draw out some small runners and retard the growth of young vines. But it is such a saving of expense, it had better be used, and always drawn the same way. The fruit should be cleared of leaves and decayed berries; and if intended for a near market, be packed dry in barrels. If to be transported far, put them in small casks, say half-barrels, with good water. They may thus be carried around the globe in good condition. To keep well they should not be exposed to fall frosts, and should not be picked before ripe. A little practice, and at first on a small scale, may enable American cultivators of the soil, generally, to have good cranberry beds. Much of the practical part of this can only be learned by experience. The above suggestions will save much loss and discouragement.

Enemies—are worms that attack the leaves, and another species that attack the berries. There are only two remedies proposed, viz., fire and water. If you can flood your beds you will destroy them. If not, take a time not very dry so as to endanger burning the roots, and burn over your cranberry-beds, so as to consume all the vines. Next season new vines will grow up free from worms.