The Democratic advocate., 1909-12-24
BE KIND TO 10Th THE BULL.
reat Him Like a Gentleman.


Eds. Country Gentleman wish to
to make a plea for more kindly
treatment of the bull on all farms. He
is universally regarded as vicious
depraved, evil-minded creature, who
does not deserve or appreciate cour-
teous treatment. / have Kept jerseys
for years; have one now in the yard
whose sire (imported) was sold be-
cause. he was considered dangerous,
and afterward shot. We lead him
around with light dog chain. Iihave
just sold one who would come when
called as far as he heard my voice
All the help on the place still cele-
brate his virtues and gentlemanly
character. / have never seen an ugly
look in the eye of one of our bulls.
We treat them as gentlemen should be
treated, and they appreciate it by ap-
pearing amiable and intelligent
I have the calves tied in the yard
where I can see them, and until they
are a year old feed and care for
them myself, petting them just as
would heiferS of the same age. The
llitte fellow gets as gentle as kitten
and as quiet as possible No one is al
lowed to tease, strike or boss him
about If at any time he needs cor
recting, I give him a slap with my
hand on the side of the face or across
his ears, not on his ears. When he is
year old he is too big to decorate the
lawn, for people are afraid of him,
and, am sorry to say, do not appre-
ciate his friendly advances, and he has
to retire to private life in box,
whence he can see the stable and the
yard. He gets exercise and water.
believe half the bulls are kept thirsty.
Mine will call to me if hungry or
thirsty as soon as Set foot in the back
yard. I do not feed always myself
but they seem to understand that I
will see that they get what they need.
Bulls are much misunderstood. Val
had a way of roaring gently as a
sucking dove" rounding his mouth
absurdly and standing up in the feed
rack to induce us to give him an extra
feed of grain or apples. have had
many an old farmer say, What an
ugly bull /! Mad, amt he! You'd
better kill him. Hear him roar ~ or
even decline to &c near his pen, and
all the his eyes were as mild as possi-
BILE. The fact was, they did not know
probably never heard the roar of an
angry bull.
Bulls, no doubt, are often bad tenn
pered. How would one be expected
to feel if hungry and thirsty, kept in
an uncomfortable position, snarled at,
jerked about by the nose, jabbed with
pitchforks, and the world in general
hostile and painful?
I have known personally of three
bulls that we're killed as ugly and
dangerous. The. first one killed his
owner, who was leading him to the
fair He had lived, to the age of four
years way back on the side of the
mountain. Suddenly he is, led by his
nose down a noisy, busy main street,
frightened, beaten, jerked, goaded,
panic-stricken. What would you do ??
1 have a COW, the quietest, most
phlegmatic in the herd. We tried to
take her half a mile down the main
street, and she turned on the men
blind crazy They let her go; she
found her way home and stood bawl-
ing at the gate as quiet as ever, but
nothing can drive her beyond the first
hill toward the main road. If she had
been a bull, the papers would have
had scare lines about hefD]',I
The second bull had his ring splin-
tered in his nose. AS wast to be ex-
pecCeu, lie udu0 llVely OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
of disgust, and they shot him. The
third goared his owner, to the joy of
all the said owners acquaintances. I
said he was killed. / am mistaken;
he died, the neighbors declared, from
blood poisoning, as a result of the un-
duly close contact with his owners
meanness. I have no doubt he had
been ill-treated until actually insane.
l have a little doctrine try to inn
press upon my help. We are absolute
lords to our stock. If we are not long
suffering, gentle and pitiful to them,
how dare we ask the Lord to be pitiful
and merciful in dealing with us?
Pittsfeld, Mass. Plain Old Farmer.