THE FORTUNE IN KEEPING A COW
While Janet had been occupied at the chicken yard, Frances had brought
home the “Stock Farmer’s Catalogue” that Janet had written for. It had
come in the morning’s mail and now was on the porch table. Janet
caught it up eagerly and sat down to pore over the pages. Soon she was
deeply interested in reading about cows.
She read that the profit in keeping a cow was enormous. Saying that
one cow milked but the minimum quantity of twelve quarts of milk a
day—which was very little for a good cow (so the book said) one could
have all the pure milk needed in the home, your floods of rich cream
over berries and cereal, and have cream for coffee at breakfast time;
make butter, and drink refreshing butter milk on warm summer days, and
still have enough milk, cream, butter and buttermilk to sell to the
neighbors to pay for the keep of the cow.
“My, I never dreamed that money was so easy to make as all this!”
sighed Janet to herself, as she wondered why she had been led into
spending her capital for hens and pigs and had never thought seriously
of a cow!
She took a sheet of paper from the book and having a stump of a pencil
in her pocket, she began figuring.
“We are paying Ames sixteen cents a quart for milk. He sells us four
quarts a day for the house, and I have to buy two to four extra for
those pigs. I suppose Miss Mason gets about four quarts for her scouts
besides. That totals ten to twelve quarts.
“If I keep a cow, I can sell all that milk to the other girls and give
my pigs skim-milk, ’cause this book says skim-milk is as good for them
as pure milk. That’s sixteen times twelve every day.
“This book says I can get about ninety cents a quart for the heavy
cream and about sixty for light cream. I don’t know the difference,
but I will accept those figures. That’s ninety plus sixty cents more,
every day. That makes one ninety-two for milk and one fifty for
cream—two dollars and forty cents every day. Then there is my saving
of milk for the pigs, and the money made on the butter I might churn
once or twice a week. Oh, what a fortune!”
Janet rocked in the chair as she sighed and rolled her eyes skyward as
if for inspiration of ways or means to find a cow. Then she turned her
attention to the book, once more.
“It says here that a bag of feed will cost about three dollars and a
bag lasts about twelve days. That will make three bags a month—about
nine dollars for feed. Then the life insurance, accident and illness
costs about a dollar a month. But that is a good idea—to insure the
cow!” Janet sat approving the insurance plan and then and there
determined to heavily insure the life of her cow.
“Well, that’s all it will cost, and just balance that with the income!
Phew, it seems almost incredible!” murmured Janet as she studied the
figures.
“That money looks almost like profiteering, but it isn’t a bit!”
declared Janet to herself. “Even if I sell the milk for fifteen cents
a quart to Jimmy and the scouts, I will have a great big balance of
profit. I’ll sell it for fifteen because I’ll be using the farm
pastures and cow sheds on the place, and I will have to call on the
scouts, now and then, to show me how to milk and churn the butter, so
I will give them that cent a quart off the retail price.” Janet now
began to consider herself a philanthropist.
“Besides the cheap milk the scouts get, I will send them a pot cheese,
once in a while, and all the buttermilk they like.” But Janet suddenly
thought of the prices charged in the city for fresh buttermilk, so she
decided not to be too generous in giving away the buttermilk, but
reserve that privilege for a later day.
“Butter is worth sixty-five cents a pound at Four Corners, but I don’t
think Tompkins’s butter is as sweet as it might be,” was Janet’s
criticism when she pictured the rich golden butter she would turn out
of that churn!
“I don’t know how much butter a quart of milk makes, but say I can get
ten pounds of butter a week, that makes six dollars and fifty cents
for butter. Dear me! Just think of it! All that money and the cow only
costs on an average of fifteen dollars a month to keep her in fine
condition.”
When Janet got as far as this in her financial calculations, Mrs.
James came out on the porch to see what she was so exultant about.
“Can you sit down a moment, Jimmy, and listen to this?” asked Janet,
flushed with the thrill of soon being a millionaire.
“Two moments, if you need them,” smiled Mrs. James.
“Well, then, just listen to this. It’s true, too!” and Janet began
painting a word-picture in such alluring colors as to cause her hearer
to wonder what it all meant.
“No farm is really a farm, you know, Jimmy, until there is a cow on
the place. Think of the rural delight of driving a gentle-eyed bovine
creature to the pasture early in the morning while the dew is still
sparkling upon every blade of verdure. Now feel the warm glow about
the heart when you call for the cow at eventide and find her eagerly
lowing at the gate of the pasture—eager to follow you home. Then the
gratitude she pours out to you by means of pure, frothy milk—pouring
into and filling full twelve-quart pails every day as a token of her
thanks.”
Janet had to stop a moment for lack of breath, so Mrs. James took
advantage of the enforced pause to say: “Is this the preface to a book
you are writing, Janet, or are you planning to buy a cow on
instalments and need me to endorse the promissory note for you?”
“Oh, Jimmy, please don’t interrupt my thought until I am quite
through!” exclaimed Janet, reprovingly.
“I beg your pardon, Janet—I thought your train of thought was broken,”
was Mrs. James’s amused reply.
“No, the most important part of the idea is coming: rows of figures!
That’s what talks better than I can explain.” Then Janet spread out
the sheet of paper upon which she had figured and explained each
column of numerals—added, subtracted and multiplied; a few were
divided to reach the desired results.
“Now, this column is what it costs to keep a cow, Jimmy. And this next
column is what I can make by selling the milk. I based my computation
on the minimum of twelve quarts of milk per day, which is really too
little for a good cow, you know. Then the third column is what I can
get for butter, cream and buttermilk. The skim-milk I shall have to
give to the pigs, so I can’t sell that. But just look at the profit I
can get out of one cow!” Janet watched Mrs. James’s expression eagerly
to see the effect of that astounding fortune so plainly shown in the
figures—on paper.
Before committing herself, Mrs. James took the paper and studied it.
Then she remarked casually: “You forgot to jot down the initial cost
of buying a cow, Janet. How can you count on the cost of fifteen
dollars a month if you haven’t secured the cow?”
Janet’s face showed her chagrin. “That’s so! I forgot all about the
cost of the cow. But she doesn’t cost very much, does she?”
“I am not sure what they cost today, because everything has advanced
so outrageously. But I know that a good cow which is guaranteed to
give twelve quarts of milk per day used to sell for a hundred
dollars—before the war.”
“O-n-e H-U-N-D-R-E-D Dol-lars!” gasped Janet.
“That was back in 1913. I haven’t the least idea what one costs
today.”
“Oh!” was all Janet said as she collapsed in the middle and drooped
over in the chair.
“We might buy an old one that gives less milk, for less money,”
ventured Mrs. James.
“No,” sighed Janet, hopelessly. “It doesn’t pay to buy old stock! I’m
beginning to learn that much. I used old eggs to hatch out and I lost
more than a week’s valuable time by it. If I buy an old cow just
because she is cheap, I shall have funeral bills to pay, and the
insurance costs more on old lives.”
Mrs. James could not restrain a hearty laugh at Janet’s words,
although she knew the girl was very serious over the matter.
“I guess I’ll stick to the pigs and chickens this year, and save money
so I can buy a cow next year—because that’s where my fortune can be
made!” declared Janet, resignedly.
Mrs. James now began to think very seriously so Janet got up and
stretched herself before saying: “I think I’ll go to the barn yard and
watch my pigs improve.”
She spoke sarcastically, but Mrs. James said: “I just had an idea.
Will you leave that paper with me for a time? I want to look it over.”
“Certainly! Keep it forever. I will not need it again—My! one cow,
more than one hundred dollars!” With this muttered expression of
disgust, Janet walked away. She was passing the kitchen door when
Rachel came out.
“Janet, I’se got to have one ob dem aigs back agin. I has to use one
moh in my cake. Kin you git it foh me?”
“Yes, but you warned me about touching the eggs once they were under
the hen. And you said it was not good to annoy the hen once she sat
contentedly upon the eggs.”
“Yeh, I knows. Anyway, run to the hen house and see if mebbe dey ain’t
jus’ one egg in dem nestes,” urged Rachel, anxiously.
“Maybe one of those lazy, good-for-nothing hens changed her mind by
this time, Rachel, but I doubt it very much,” laughed Janet.
Rachel stood watching her go down the lane, and she smiled broadly as
she returned to the kitchen to bake the cake. Janet went over to one
of the newly filled straw nests without any hope of finding anything
there. But the moment she spied two smooth eggs beside the china egg
in the nest, she gave such a war whoop of joy that every chicken in
the runway started calling and the cock began crowing with fear.
She was about to race from the hen house when she remembered to look
in the remaining nests. To her added delight and astonishment she
found four more eggs.
“Well, well! This isn’t as bad as I thought it was. I suppose the hens
are becoming accustomed to the change from Ames’s farm to Green Hill,
and they like it better now,” soliloquized Janet as she skipped
joyously along the walk.
“Rachel! Oh, Rachel! I got six eggs—all fresh and clean!” cried Janet
when she came near enough to the house to be heard by the cook.
Rachel ran out upon the stoop to express her amazement, and Janet
said: “How much are six strictly fresh eggs, Rachel. I am not going to
charge Jimmy as much as Ames does.”
Rachel looked stunned. She had not thought of being charged for the
eggs when she took them out of the box and placed them in the nests,
yet she knew it would be dishonest to expect Mrs. James to pay for
them out of Natalie’s money.
“Mis’ James knows what dey is wuth,” was all she said, as she took the
eggs and put them back in the basket whence they had been so recently
taken.
Janet had hurried to the porch and now led Mrs. James out to the
kitchen to show her the wonderful eggs.
When they went back to the side porch, Mrs. James said: “Janet, this
is the idea I had when you spoke about the cow. If you cannot afford
to buy one for yourself, why not form a company and every one at Green
Hill own a share in the cow. It will be easier for you as a cow makes
lots of work that you do not dream of, and with seven of us to do the
work neither will be overtaxed. We would all take turns. One would
drive the cow to pasture in the morning, another bring her home at
night. One must keep the pails and pans clean, another look after the
feed. Still another will milk and another churn butter. Every week we
will change about so that each one gets an opportunity to learn how to
do all the work.”
“But who will get the profit? and who will buy the cow?” wondered
Janet, the idea not altogether displeasing as long as she felt she
could not own the cow herself.
“If seven of us pay, it is only seven times into one hundred. I think
we all can manage to pay that much for the returns we shall get. And I
thought of asking Mr. Marvin to advance us the cash now and let us pay
him back in weekly payments.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea! I think he will do it, too.”
“We can sell to the house and the Camp the products we need that we
now are buying from Ames and Four Corners’ store, and that money will
go into our fund. Then, when butter is made, you can buy the skim-milk
for your pigs at a small price. What do you say?”
“I say it is great! Let’s go and tell the other girls!” cried Janet,
eagerly.
As Mrs. James led the way over to Norma’s flower beds where that
worker was digging and planting without stopping to mop her perspiring
brow, Janet thought to herself “This old world isn’t such a bad place
to live in, after all!”
What a difference a few eggs and a plan for a cow made in her sense of
things. Yet everything was really unchanged, in fact. For the old hens
were no different than they were when Janet purchased them from Ames,
and the fun and fortune to be had from the cow was but the vision
created by a few cheerful words from a sympathetic friend. Still, if
we must dream at all, let us have happy dreams instead of nightmares.
The proposition of syndicating a cow was met with hilarity at first,
from every girl spoken to; but they found cause to consider the matter
as an interesting one.
“We’ve got a ready-made farm and acres of free grass, so why not keep
a cow?” said Natalie.
“If we expect to be real farmers, we have to have a cow,” was Norma’s
comment.
“And think of the money saved on milk and other things that a cow
makes,” was Frances’ reply.
“The butter is churned!” corrected Janet, with superior wisdom for had
she not read that book on stock-raising. “The cow merely gives the
milk, she doesn’t make anything else.”
“Well, then, who does make the milk if she merely gives it,” retorted
Frances, thereby creating a laugh at Janet’s expense.
“When you think of all the money we can make and still have cream and
butter for our own use, it seems too good to be true,” said Belle.
“Can’t we get one tomorrow, Jimmy?” asked Natalie.
“I suppose it is too late to look about for one to-day, eh?” asked
Janet.
“We’ll plan to drive through the country tomorrow morning and hunt
about for a likely beast,” replied Mrs. James.
“I don’t suppose Farmer Ames has a cow for sale, has he?” asked Janet.
“If we got it of him we’d be able to charge it.”
“Why, Jan! You surely wouldn’t buy anything else of him, would you?
Just look at those useless hens and rooster! They never laid an egg
since you’ve had ’em!” exclaimed Natalie.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, girls. The chickens laid six fine eggs
today, so Ames’s couldn’t help it if they took a week to finish the
eggs,” said Janet.
“That’s something like it, Jan! Now we can have fresh eggs for
breakfast every morning,” said Belle.
“Anyway, I’d rather pay cash for the cow than feel as if we had to buy
everything from Ames!” was Natalie’s comment.
They had been standing near the field fence of Natalie’s garden as
they planned. Now they saw the girl scouts from Solomon’s Seal Camp
coming up the hill toward the house. They watched them as Janet said:
“Let Jimmy tell them the surprise.”
As soon as Miss Mason and her scouts joined the other group,
therefore, Mrs. James told them about the Cow Company. At first they
laughed even as the girls before them had done, but the suggestion was
acceptable from many points of view, and Miss Mason said: “I wish we
could own shares in the cow.”
Mrs. James looked from one to the other of her girls and finding they
approved of the idea just expressed, she said: “We might sell each one
of you one share in our cow—when we get her!”
“Oh, I have it! Listen to this: Let’s form a real stock company
incorporated on the cow for the asset. We’ll divide it into shares of
so much a share. No stockholder can own more than one share, then we
won’t feel jealous of each other. We will pay all costs out of the
capital paid in for stock and we will pay all dividends twice a month,
from the money we take in from camp and from the house and from
Janet’s pigs. Now, how is that?” Natalie’s exultant face showed what
she thought of her plan.
The others laughed at the very idea of incorporating a cow, and Mrs.
James remarked humorously: “Natalie inherits the gift of high
finance.”
It was the first time any one had referred to her father in the girl’s
presence, and this mention of Mr. Averill’s business ability proved
that Natalie had quite overcome her morbid sorrow that she had
entertained in the city. Now she laughed gayly and said: “If I take
after Daddy I’ll be a great financial magnate soon!”
“Oh, please don’t get switched from our cow, girls!” said Janet,
anxiously.
“I’ve heard it said that cows have a dreadful habit of switching their
tails in your face while you milk them,” said Belle.
“Cows have lots of tricks that you never learn until they are
practiced upon you,” laughed Miss Mason.
“Some cows horn you,” ventured Norma, fearfully.
This caused a laugh, and again Janet begged: “Come, let’s get back to
the business. Do we syndicate this cow or only have partners?”
“We might take a ballot on the question before the Chair,” laughed
Mrs. James.
“No, it is either ‘aye’ or ‘nay’—from every one,” said Natalie, and
the “ayes” had it unanimously.
“All right, then. We’ll proceed to the house and I’ll draw up an
agreement such as I have often seen Daddy do. Then we’ll have one of
the scout artists make us each a share of stock with a cow’s head at
the top for our emblem. How much shall we charge for each share of
stock?” As Natalie finished speaking she glanced around at the circle
of smiling faces.
“Better find out first how much the cow will cost. We may not have
enough money in the treasury to pay for her, if we collect payments
now for the stock and do not collect enough,” was Janet’s sensible
suggestion.
“When Natalie finishes that arduous task of drawing up a corporation
agreement, I will read you something from the book ‘Scouting for
Girls’ which you may not have read very carefully,” remarked Miss
Mason.
Mrs. James went for the book and when it was handed the Captain of
Solomon’s Seal Camp, she opened the book at page 507, and read:
Dairy Maid. Symbol—Milking Stool.
1—Take entire care of a cow and the milk of one cow for one month,
keeping record of quantity of each milking.
2—Make butter at four different times, and submit statement of
amount made and of the process followed in making.
3—Make pot cheese; give method.
4—Name four different breeds of cows. How can they be distinguished?
Which breed gives the most milk? Which breed gives the richest milk?
5—What are the rules for feeding, watering and pasturing cows? What
feed is best for cows? What care should be given cows to keep them
in perfect condition? What diseases must be guarded against? Why is
it so imperative to have a cow barn, all implements, workers and
cows scrupulously clean?
6—Of what is milk composed? How is cream separated from milk? Name
two processes and explain each. How and why should milk be strained
and cooled before being bottled or canned?”
As Miss Mason concluded reading the article, the girls looked at each
other, and one of them said: “Who can answer those questions?”
Then it developed that three of the girl scouts of Solomon’s Seal
could not only reply correctly to the questions, but could give more
valuable information than was expected of them. Miss Mason knew they
had been born and reared on farms, but the girls under Mrs. James’s
care were not aware of it.
“That simplifies our troubles with the cow, right off,” declared
Janet. “We’ll ask the three wise ones to show us how to do things
right.”
“And Rachel and I will umpire the contests of milking and churning,”
added Mrs. James.
“Now that we have decided to form a corporation do you not think the
three village scouts should be invited to take a share in the cow, if
they so desire?” suggested Miss Mason.
“Oh, of course! We forgot all about them,” said Natalie.
“We’ll invite them to join us when Frances drives to Four Corners this
afternoon,” added Janet.
“Those girls can milk a cow like anything! And they all can churn
butter, too,” announced Norma.
“If we keep on adding members to our stock company the poor cow will
be divided into minutest pieces to enable each stock owner to hold a
share,” remarked Mrs. James laughingly.
“Well, the more shares we have to make of the cow the less each one
will cost us,” said Natalie.
“And the less our dividends will be, too,” added Janet
“Whether we get dividends or not, we will have our milk, butter and
cream, right at hand all the time. And if we want to sell the cow in
the Fall we can get our money back again,” said Miss Mason.
“If we haven’t killed her before then,” was Belle’s pessimistic reply.
“If we kill her we can collect insurance, you know,” and this remark
from Janet caused a general laugh.
After many other interesting details were discussed and decided upon,
it was planned that the hunt for the cow would begin the following
morning. Miss Mason was delegated to act for the Camp girls as the
automobile would not hold all of the scouts. Miss Mason accepted the
responsibility with a speech, and then the two groups parted. The
scouts went back to camp and the farm girls went to look after their
individual tasks.