In the beautiful Swiss Alps, in the early springtime, one hears the
ringing of a large bell. This is rung in the villages and is the signal
for the departure of the herds to the alps above. The cows, lowing and
jumping with delight, collect eager for departure. The finest cow of all
has the largest bell hung from her neck with a bright ribbon, and
between her horns is placed a large nosegay of flowers.
She is the leader and has the place of honor, and to deprive her of this
pleasure would be cruelty indeed. The herdsmen begin their songs, the
yodling sounds through the valley, the milk stools are set between the
horns of the cattle, the cheese kettles and provisions are packed upon
the beasts of burden, and the procession gaily wends its way up the
mountainside.
Even if poorly protected from storms which may be encountered above, we
cannot wonder that the cattle thoroughly enjoy this calm, beautiful life
in the alps, and we are told that cows left in the valley below will
often escape and follow their companions to the distant mountains.
In the United States there are also cattle that live an outdoor life,
which have the freedom of the range, and are shelterless the year
around. These are the half-wild herds which roam over Texas, Colorado
and other western states. Although the great cattle owners often inclose
immense pastures, thousands of acres in extent, so that the herds are in
a measure restricted, the smaller owners turn their cattle out and allow
them to wander at will.
This occasions the necessity for the yearly “round-up.” At a given time
the cattle of each county are driven to a common center, confined within
an inclosure or “corral,” and the calves running with the cow mother are
branded with the mark of the owners. The “round-up” is the great event
of the cowboy’s life, and an interesting occasion it certainly is. The
time of the “round-up” may consume a number of days. The cowboys take
their places on the outer limit of the tract belonging to their
division, and with a skill acquired by long experience they are able to
find every cow and calf and slowly to draw the circle smaller and
smaller, until all the cattle are congregated in one herd. Then follows
a time of work by day and merrymaking by night. The camp is maintained
until all the cattle are branded with the brands which are registered
with the county clerk, thus making the ownership plain to all. The
cowboys, with their broad hats frequently ornamented with the various
brands of the cattle owners, with their picturesque attire, mounted on
their bronchos, or scraggy, wiry mountain ponies, are interesting
individually and collectively. Among them at the time of the “round-up”
are often men of education and refinement, as well as others who know no
life besides that of the plains and the open. They ride like the wind,
and when one rode to his ranch neighbor’s thirteen miles away to execute
a little commission before breakfast and returned before the coffee was
spoiled, my eastern ideas received a shock which made it necessary for
me to readjust my conception of western life and living.
Mr. Brehm tells us that the manner of life of the domestic cattle of
various countries is instructive as well as fascinating. He tells us
that there are “herds which lead the same manner of existence as did
those belonging to the patriarchs. The wandering tribes of Eastern
Soudan are herdsmen, who attend to their duties in exactly the same way
as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. Herds of cattle
constitute their only riches. Their wealth is estimated by the number of
their sheep and cattle, as that of the Laplander is estimated by the
number of his reindeer.
The greatest of European landowners and cattle breeders, including those
of Holland and Switzerland, can hardly realize the vast numbers
contained in the herds of those nomads. Near the village of Melbess the
plain shows a deep depression, at the bottom of which a number of wells
have been dug, one beside the other, for the sole purpose of watering
the herds congregating there during the noon hours. Beginning in the
afternoon and during the whole night, far on toward noon next day,
nearly a hundred people are busy hauling water from the wells and
pouring it into pools, to which a little salty earth is added. From all
sides innumerable herds of sheep, goats and cattle draw near, first the
sheep and goats, then the cows. In a few minutes the valley is filled
with them. One sees nothing but an unbroken herd of animals passing back
and forth, a dark human form looming up between them at intervals.
Thousands of sheep and goats keep arriving, while as many are departing
satisfied. I believe it impossible to count the number of cattle, yet I
do not exaggerate if I put down the number of the animals daily
congregating at the spot as sixty thousand.
In the south of Africa the oxen are of great importance, as without them
the extended trip necessary for purposes of trading and hunting through
the vast wastes in parts entirely devoid of water and grass would be
impossible.
In Southern Russia, Tartary and probably also a great portion of Central
Asia considerable herds of cattle are kept.” In fact, at the present
time there seems to be no country in the world where domestic cattle are
not found. They are common from Norway and Lapland in the north to
Southern Africa and South America in the south. Columbus first brought
them to the New World, and the Spaniards transported them to South
America, where they multiplied with great rapidity.
In a general way domestic cattle may be divided into two classes—the
straight backed cattle of Europe and the New World and the humped cattle
of India. Humped cattle may also be found in China, Africa and
Madagascar. They not only vary from other cattle by having the hump on
the withers, but they have a different coloration, voice and habits.
They have a convex forehead, long, drooping ears and a dew-lap, which
hangs in folds the entire length of the neck. They vary much in size, as
the largest “may stand as high as a buffalo, while the smallest may be
little larger than a calf a month old.” They are gentle in disposition
and the larger ones are used for drawing native carriages. Unlike the
European cattle, they seldom seek the shade, and never stand knee-deep
in water. These cattle are often called zebus, and in the northern
provinces of India, where they are used for riding, they will carry “a
man at the rate of six miles an hour for fifteen hours.”
“White bulls are held peculiarly sacred by the Hindus, and when they
have been dedicated to Siva by the branding of his image upon them, they
are thenceforth relieved from all labor. They go without molestation
wherever they choose, and may be seen about eastern bazars helping
themselves to whatever dainties they prefer from the stalls of the
faithful.”
In Central Africa the humped cattle are represented by the Galla, or
Sanga. This is regarded by some as the finest breed of the humped
variety. It is large, slender and vigorous, long legged and rather long
tailed. The general color is a chestnut-brown. The horns are very strong
and are fully forty inches in length.
The straight backed cattle are those of Europe, America, Australia and
the smaller islands, and of some parts of Africa. They may be
long-horned, short-horned or hornless. Among them are very many breeds,
many well known being common almost everywhere.
One is the ox of Freiburg, or the Swiss ox. This variety yields both
excellent beef and extremely rich milk.
The Dutch ox is marked by stately proportions, uniform coloring, a long,
tapering head and a long and thin neck. The color is pied, a white or
grayish ground showing red, brown or black spots of varying size and
shape. “It has been bred in Holland for centuries. It is easily fattened
and has an abundant yield of milk.”
The Durham or short-horned breed of England is an animal with little
symmetry of proportion, with a small head, a straight back and short
legs. It is not a good milker, but surpasses all in the production of
beef.
The beautiful Jersey cow is a great favorite in America and Great
Britain on account of the rich cream and butter obtained from the milk.
The Alderneys and Guernseys are classed with the Jerseys and are also of
“elegant appearance.” Other breeds are the hornless Galloways, the
Devons, the Herefords, the Holsteins and many others.
Like the sheep, the cat and other domestic animals, the origin of
domestic cattle seems surrounded with mystery and uncertainty. We know
that in earliest times domestic cattle were common, as the earliest
writings mention them and the ancient monuments picture them. It is,
however, probable that all the straight backed varieties, directly or
indirectly, may be traced back to the aurochs, or urus, a most
interesting wild ox of Europe. This is extinct now, as well as some
other species which may form the connecting link.
The aurochs was an animal of great size, nearly as large as an elephant,
but with the form and color of a bull. Skulls and bones, both in England
and on the Continent, show their characteristics, and skulls pierced by
flint hatchets show that they were hunted by prehistoric hunters. We do
not know when they finally disappeared, but in Julius Cæsar’s time they
seem to have been common in the Black Forest of Germany. Old chronicles
prove that they were found in the middle of the sixth century, and in
the ninth century Charlemagne hunted the aurochs in the forests near
Aix-la-Chapelle. The Nibelungen-Lied mentions the slaughter of four in
the twelfth century. In classic literature there are accounts of
contests with gigantic wild oxen, indicating that the animal’s range
extended as far south as Greece. Bones have been found in a number of
European countries, and it is certain that it roamed over Russia, but
how far to the eastward and northward it wandered we cannot tell.
There still exist in England wild cattle known as the “park oxen.”
Though much smaller in size, they seem to be more like a direct
descendant of the aurochs than any other species, although probably they
descended from domesticated early breeds. These herds are confined in
private parks, and the best known at the present time is the Chillingham
herd. This park was probably inclosed about the thirteenth century. The
cattle are small, with moderately rough, curly hair. The insides of the
ears and muzzles are red, while the animals are white. They have the
characteristics of animals in a wild state. “They hide their young, feed
in the night, basking or sleeping during the day. They are fierce when
pressed, but generally speaking are very timorous, moving off on the
appearance of anyone, even at a great distance.”
John Ainslie.
Mightiest of all the beasts of chase
That roam in woody Caledon,
Crashing the forest in his race,
The mountain bull comes thundering on.
—Sir Walter Scott.
THE ARROW HEAD.
(_Sagittaria latifolia._)
In all places then, and in all seasons,
Flowers expand their light and soul-like wings,
Teaching us, by most persuasive reasons,
How akin they are to human things.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
The Arrow Head is one of our most familiar plants, quite as well known
because of its beautiful arrow-shaped leaves as for its showy white
flowers. It is interesting and conspicuous among the rushes and sedges
that abound in the sluggish waters that border lakes and streams. It
must have sunshine and well illustrates the words of Thoreau: “Rivers
and lakes are the great protectors of plants against the aggressions of
the forest, by their annual rise and fall, keeping open a narrow strip
where these more delicate plants have light and space in which to grow.”
There are about twenty-five species of the genus Sagittaria, to which
the plant of our illustration belongs. These inhabit both temperate and
tropical regions. The generic name is from the Latin word sagitta,
meaning an arrow, and referring, as does the common name, to the shape
of the leaf. When the Arrow Head grows in water leaves are produced
under water that do not have the arrow shape. These are not produced on
those plants that grow on wet, muddy banks.
Two kinds of flowers are produced by this plant—the male and the female.
The male flowers are the large white ones with a golden center formed by
the group of yellow stamens. The female flowers are lower on the flower
stalk and are dull green and unattractive. This arrangement of the
flowers is nature’s provision for preventing self-fertilization. The
insects that visit these flowers naturally first alight on the more
brilliant staminate flowers, and the pollen, adhering to their bodies,
is later transferred to the seed producing flowers when the insects
visit them. Though the two flowers are usually upon the same plant, they
are sometimes developed on distinct plants. The Arrow Head beautifies
the swampy regions of North America from Mexico northward.
THE BLACK COHOSH.
(_Cimicifuga racemosa._)
The Black Cohosh, or Black Snakeroot, grows in rich woods from Canada
nearly to the Gulf of Mexico. It is a conspicuous plant, with its long
stem, which sometimes grows to a height of eight feet, and its large
compound leaves, as well as with its long raceme of numerous small white
flowers. This raceme during the ripening of the fruit often acquires a
length of two to three feet.
This plant is sometimes called Bugbane. The name Cimicifuga is from the
Latin words cimex, a bug, and fugo, to drive away. Both the technical
name and the name Bugbane allude to the offensive odor of the flowers,
which was supposed to drive away insects. In fact, the Black Cohosh is
held in high repute by some Indians as a cure for the bite of poisonous
snakes, as well as a powerful aid in driving away insects. Were it not
for the strong, disagreeable odor of the flowers, which are only
frequented by those flies which enjoy the odor of carrion, with its
“tall white rockets shooting upward from a mass of large, handsome
leaves,” it would be a striking ornament for the flower garden.
[Illustration: BLACK COHOSH.
(Cimicifuga racemosa.)
ARROW HEAD.
(Sagittaria latifolia.)
FROM “NATURE’S GARDEN”
COPYRIGHT 1900, BY
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY.]
Someone has said that the Black Cohosh “may truly be classed among those
objects which, from the standpoint of frail humanity, distance lends
enchantment.” Though this be true, may we not say with Wordsworth,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.