Again, there are cases where a single cow may be kept with profit and
advantage, and that, too, in perfect health, without the agency of
land, in the immediate suburbs of a town or city, or even within the
very precincts of a city. It is requisite, for these conditions, that
provision should be made to allow the animal to breathe fresh air, and to
enjoy a certain amount of sunlight daily. Without these none should be
kept. Exercise is not essential to the well-being of the milch cow; she
is an animal of repose, and if she is offered every effort to ruminate,
will be perfectly contented, and will do her duty. Attention to the best
possible condition of the skin, as regards cleanliness, is very important
when so closely housed.
The food which, under these circumstances, must be purchased, can be
obtained with much economy, on account of the propinquity to the places
of sale; and although we do not advocate the use of brewers’ grain, or of
any other cheap articles which are too often substituted for the natural
food of the cow, viz., grass, green or dry—a small quantity, especially
when supplemented by the vegetable refuse from the house table, may be
advantageously employed conjointly with good hay.
Finally, it may be said that no animal better repays care and attention,
and can with more truth be called the poor man’s friend, than the cow.
[Illustration]