New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-09-12
THE INTELLECTUAL COW.
From, The Spectator.

From The Spectator.
We believe that each cow has her own separate
characteristics and peculiaritcs, Just a. surely rs
each human being has. and that the popular idea
OF her being merely fOod-lnaChlhe Is .Doth ms
taken nnd unfair. From what the present writer
has noticed about the cOw-yery limited rs that
knowledge is-thc conclusion IS warranted that
She has never yet had full iusict done To her: that
her mental and moral good qualities have not been
developed. rs they might have been. by cutiya-
ton; and thnt-thonah less highly gifted win
brains than the dog-she yet possesses enough III
tellipcnce to enttlc her To more respectful con-
sdrTation than she usually receives That cows
ackuowlcdce individuality among themselves Is
e,Gcnt from the fact that in every herd there Is
sure 10 be found one master COW. VINO domihrrlS
over al the rest Is not this clear proof That that
particular cow i endowed with an unusual amount
of TALENT strength of charao ter gifts o leadcrsp
0rciSinn or some such distinguishing quailIyi
which her companions are capanie ot rtc'EI'4He
The top boss in the present writer's nerd Il "a
co,y named DulaS. She Is neither the biggest nor
the strongest, the lonIcs;-bonod OF the party,
and how she has acquired her Supr macy we know
not but we ina zine that ii must 5e through sheer
force of character and WILL We one day had an
opport nifty OF watching her lead her folnpahoigo
knew to be against the laws OF their human
sIpcriors and therefore To be done on the sly. II
| poS,be. The cows were III "A Held ADJOINING rick
ward and in the rick-yard WAS ~ ont house, where
in some man GELS were STORED. The field was @rd-
rated from the rick-yar by hedge H. winch was
a zap stopped hy a hurdle; ana twice iii one day
had the cows broke, through the zap, Got AT tneT
! beloved mangclS and been driven out again I2n0-
| niujou,ly. Undaunt,d lay this, they made third
! attack and we happened 20 arrive lust IN time To
| see it done. Whist the men who had driven them
back the field were Stiil near the c"NS All pre-
| tended to be grazing as tranquility a. though no
higher ain itlOn tlan grass HAD ever entered tAril
| innocent minds. But no sopncr did the coast ap
! pear TO be clear than on set Iuas toward the
hurdle, with quick and rc~oiutt STEP shaking her
! head with a most defiant and iaunty air as she
walked Instantly every other coN lett oil ealing,
and followed her all evidently perfectly aware OF
! what she meant TO do. sticking her horns ski
| fully under a bar of the hurdle. and hca|lng up
her head 10 extract the hurdle from the ground, She
m Hl
proceeded trump hantly to The Manbcs, with al
| her coupanio1s at her heels now, in TN, case
! Dulas seems to have used some kind OF reasoning
| power; toI there was no attempt made 10 batter
down the gate by brute force, ANA she had dis oy
| cred the necessity OF lifting II upward. She has
| talent for opening gates Win easy fa,tthlns'
| which is rather troublesome, putting her horns III
and wSiiing her head about until sic hcts tAe t2S-
! ;ening undOne. And in this, also. she seems II
show reason observation, for else how would she
know which part of the gate 10 attack
We have another COW named tiIhIn' whose STU
alton when tied up in the oW-house. enabled her
TO eat out of the division OF the manager appointed
| 70 her right hand ncghbOr. though her own dIyi-
| sion was ont of reach OF any cow except herself.
| Again and again have we seen EIthih' Whch eHch
COW received her allowance of decortcatcd cotton
cake turn at once to her neighboTs helping OF the
dainty Eithin being the more mastcrlul OF lhe TWO
| animals, eat that up first. ana Then ponhh OIL hef
| own share altcrward her understanding being
| unite capable of showing her that II must be now
or never - if she meant to get double portion of
| the much-TclIshcd cake. We need scarcely OBJ
serve that this piratica proceeding oil tIthrs was
| COW rs her ncighbOr who would allow no liberties
to he taken. Another proof Of the intelligence OF
| COWS. of which many people are mol aware Is that
they soon learn to know their own names ana can
be made to answer TO them readily. / ms We nave
often seen eXempliiled when our animals are
| brought into their house for the night Ench
| COW well knows which stall belongs 10 her, aud
| will generally 20 straight TO 1t by herself; but
sometimes 1t happens TINT one of them has fancy
| to try change. and Will endeaVor 10 lake posses
sion of some other stall-Which attempt Is sure to
result In or less scrnmagng, h9rnins and
connOton. On these occasions II Is generally
| Sufficient for the cowman, VINO Is; perhaps wing
another COW at the far end OF ihe cow-h0uso. To
shout authontail'ey " ia C9ch lor wna'eVI
| the name of the offender may bel "what are you
about there ~ and the offender Is AT once reduced
to order, and obedently seeks her proper place
proving that she perfectly well knows she is doing
wrong. and that she understands that the IcprOOi
| l. addressed only u her.
| That the COW is much influenced by affection for
| human beings is certain. Every one who has ever
! had much do with her knows that she Wlll give
her milk most freely when MIXED by II person
whom she likes, whereas she Will not give II as
well or even will withhold il altogether, if the
| mixer is a stranger on any ono TO whom she has
all aversion; consequently; 1t Is most important
that al her attendants should be invariably KIND,
! gentle and patient with her ia our childhood
there was in the herd - beautiful little Aldcrney,
| with whom we were on intimate and aicctiOnate
| terms and who, after calying, firmly declined To
be MIXED. The dairymaid being III dlincuite7, the
present writer went to Der assistance and FOUND
| That the COW would remain as quiet as possible so
| long as we stood by her head ana caresscG hcr ana
after we had thus assisted for the first once or
twice when she was lhllkcl, Sho pcchhc VtIle rec
onciled 20 the operation, and never nller"aId gave
any more trouble about IT. At that time we were
ON am excellent footing with all the cows. through
| constantly taking them bits Of bread, apple-par-
iuus and similar Injuries and also through hav-
ing discovered whereabvuts they most enloycd hay
ina their faces nccks heads otc. rubbed OF patted
OF scratched. The consequence OF ms was that
they used 10 greet the arrival 0i thelr Trend
amongst them cordially, and we well remember the
horror and disDay which this once caused TO II Ger
man goyorncss We were crossing field on one
side Of a LiI Wien the herd caught sight of us. and
came charging toward us, tossing their lheads with
los and excitement, and slipping and sliding
down The steep slope Ia their hurry. The poor gov
crnes, imagined that she was surrounded by mad
bulls and gave herself up for lost ana never again
could she be induced 10 trust herself In the same
field with what she persisted III regarding dan
gcrous creatures. from whom sho had had most
lnckv escape.