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. The suitable refuse from
the kitchens of three or four families would very much reduce the cost
of purchased food. 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.
We have no doubt that all residents of villages, manufacturing towns,
etc., can, by arrangements like the above, secure an abundant supply of
pure, rich, fresh, healthful milk at less than three cents per quart, and
at the same time add greatly to their home comforts, and preserve the
health if not the lives of their little ones.
In February, 1880, the publishers of this volume offered prizes for three
essays on keeping one cow, indicating at the same time their scope. Some
extracts from the explanatory remarks accompanying this offer may fitly
outline an introduction to the work.
The number of persons who possess but one cow is far larger than those
who have ten or more. No doubt many others, living outside of closely
built cities, would gladly lessen the cost of supporting their families,
and at the same time add to their comforts, and even luxuries, by keeping
a cow, did they know how to keep one. There is a general notion that
keeping a cow requires a pasture. If a pasture is not necessary, they
do not know how to get along without one. Dairymen and farmers learn
how to treat herds as a part of general farm management, or in books on
the subject. There are books on cows, but none on one cow. It is not a
question of dairy farming, but of dairy gardening. The offer was made
to elicit information to enable one to keep a single cow with the best
possible results. The main points to be considered are: the stabling
or housing of the cow; the yard room she requires, and the storage or
disposal of her manure; the least area of land that can be safely set
apart for the support of the cow, and how can that land be best managed.
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? milking, etc. In short,
the problem is—given a good cow, how to get the best possible returns
from the least possible portion of the land through the agency of the cow.
This, we think, is satisfactorily answered, if not by any one writer,
certainly by several combined.
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.
[Illustration]