COW STABLED IN THE TOWN.
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.
