Evening star., 1914-05-09
Brown. Jane and Margery. and / turned
! TO receive il.

Brown. Jane and Margery. and turned
TO receive it,
Cow spoils Applause.
Just as / turned the COW let go witt
her near hind foot and went over back.
ward. taking the pail with me. / WASH
hurt at all but no man can pose as q
conquering hero when he is splashed and
spla;tered with milk from head to foot
wish ! knew whether it was lane o,
Mrs. Brown who giggled. l couldn't lay
ii onto the COW. She never bothered ever
to look around, but went on eating, as
unconcerned as if kicking over the green.
horn was the way she always finished
up an experimental milking.
Mr.. Brown said he was sorry. but that
he had forgotten for the moment that the
COW he assigned me TO milk was kicker
He seems such a serious minded. earnest
sort OF man that | don't like to think he
is given to practical Jokes.
Though ] didn't exactly emerge with
flying colors. there wasn't any doubt
about the completeness OF James victory.
She had made me demonstrate to myself
that learning to milk a COW didn't re-
quire course in an agricultural college
or a set of lessons from correspondence
school.
On the way home she never mentioned
my mishap. Her conversation was con-
fined solely and exclusively to the ques-
ton to how much We can afford to ,pay
for the COW going to buy
As | admitted to Jane when she lured
me 10 nay fan Tuesday evening, there
isn't any doubt about the deSirabilltH of
ha ing a COW. II viii be fine to have
plenty of milk and all the rich cream we
she is O
get d freezer and make ice cream two OF
three times a week We are all fond of il
and have had none since We left the city
Even in Town we never felt we could al
ford to buy il in sufficient quantities to
have all We wanted Mr. l.oVitt, who
keeps the general store at the station, has
ice sent out from the city several times a
week and retails it to his customers at
about 10" per cent profit, purely as a
matter of accommodation. He viii de-
liver ii to our house at any time We have
an order of other goods to be sent.
Recalls Margery's Garden.
Speaking Of ice cream reminds me of
Margery's garden, That remark may
lead you to believe that l am still suffer
COW debate. but the connection between
ice cream and Margerys garden is per-
fectly clear. once it is established.
Jim had a garden and Ned had a gar
den Margery insisted that she. too.
must have one. / asked whether she in
tended growing flowers or vegeta bles.- but
she declined to say. She just wanted a
garden, to grow whatever she pleased.
So l gave her a piece about five feet
square. raked the earth fine and told her
to go ahead. She declined my offer to
provide her with seeds. but asked for
tools. l bought for her in the city a toy
spade. rake and hoe and watering pot
and at Lovitt's store l got her a broad
brimmed straw hat-a sure enough farm
er's hat. She spent hours raking and
hoeing and watering her garden but the
crop she intended to grow was a secret
she didn't even tell her mother.
But womankind. they say. cannot keep
secrets. Margerys slipped out on the
way home from Browns. after ] had had
my milking lesson.
making ice cream. Margery exclaimed:
oh. mamma, then We'll have ice cream
cones
Where will we get the cones?" Jane
asked idly.
Why" Margery explained. that's
what m growing in my garden.
Promised to Keep Secret.
She was crestfailen when she realized
that she had told her secret but Jane
and ! comforted her by promising not to
tell the boys.
Jim and Ned are as enthusiastic as is
Jane on the subject of a cow Jim has
agreed to feed and water her and Ned
has promised to keep the stable clean
jim also wants TO learn to milk, but /
Ion - IL
one but myself. except in emergencies.
l am beginning to discover depths to
Jane which | never suspected during all
the years we lived in the city. 1t de-
NeiopS now that not only had she in
trigued To commit me to the purchase of
a COW. but that she had located the COW
winch she intended that l should pur-
chaSe. She 1.-THE cow is the property of
a farmer who lives about three miles UP
the road Jane informed me that she was
a grade Jersey. and was due to come
fresh within the next week or ten days.
| mad heard of Jerseys, but the method of
grading them was new to me- The ques-
tion | naturally asked was: What
grade"
Then it was James turn to assume the
patronizlng tone of patient explanation.
She informed me that grade" Jersey
was the daughter of a scrub or half
blood COW with a pure-blood Jersey sire
Jane had been getting pointers from Mr..
and Mrs. Brown, and she had all the airs
OF breeder discussing points at the in
ternatonal live stock show
But | had been pretty thoroughly hum
bied on the COW question, and was willing
to learn. The COW was a four-year-o,d.
l was informed. and the impending fresh
enlng would be her second calf That. |
proceeded TO learn, was the most desira-
ole age at which to buy a COW, and the
500 for which she could be purchased was
a Very reasonable price
Real Surprise in Store.
But the real surprise was still in store
Jane proceeded to inform me calmly and
much as matter of fact, that she had
driven over to inspect the animal and
had found that she met all the REQUIRE
nents of a first-class milk producer
Wedge-shaped body. breadth of breast
ample udder and large teats. | had road
something like that in an article instruct
ing hovices How to tell a good COW"
but when heard Jane recitine il so glib
~ II was difficult TO realize ! wasn't
dreaming.
And all this time / have been looking
upon myself as the brains of sunny
Knoll, and have been worrying for fear
Jane would make some dreadful blunder
in feeding the chickens
But can give up an entire article to
the discussion of COW. even if il has be-
come the paramount question out our
way. The rapidity. though with which
our program has progressed from plain
agriculture TO live stock is almost stag
gering. When We first adventured into
country iIfe we had no plans beyond a
garden and chickens. Already we own,