Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-09-11


pumpkins. Once a day up to about
New Years she got feed Of uncut
cornStalks,s dried in the stock. All
the time she. had the run of her open
field whenever she wanted 1t, and the
privilege Of gnawing away at the ap-
parently worthless dead heritage which
was frequently get-at-able in patches
where the snow had melted OF. An
the time she had the shed for shelter If
winds or storms led her to seek 1t. but
she used it only when she wanted to
was never confined to 1T. All the
time she got water Of normal winter
temperature just whenever she pleased
to hunt up the brook.
That cow, thus managed during a
long and hard winter. went through 1t
IN fne shape, gave more milk and
made more butter than the average
production of any mollycoddled herd in
the fancy barn, came out in the spring
in manifestly better condition than any
single one of the others, and produced
the best calf.
Per contra. since that New York mil
| tonaire farmers manager made his as
Sertion about the wisdom Of keeping
milch cows shut up in box stalls from
their first calf to their 18th year, his
herd has once had to be slaughtered
almost to the last critter because of
tuberculosis, and last season more than
| OF its infection with foot and mouth
disease.
That western professor didn't make
any big brag about his check test COW.
He let others report the result and
contented himself with the comment
| that, until we know more than we do
| about the mysterious processes by
which a COW turns fodder into blood
and bones and beef and suet and horns
and hair and milk and butterfat and
| some scores of other things-until we
| know more than we do now about all
| this we'd better be little modest in
our claims and go little slow in our
attempts to improve on God and ma
/ ture.
To paint the lily or perfume tho Vio-
| Ict was once remarked upon as waste
| full and ridiculous excess" No colorist
| has ever yet been able to improve on
the marvellous tints which the lily
/ takes out Of the black dirt in which it
| grows; no chemist is cunning enough
to distil from that same dirt the per-
| fume which the violet takes out as a
| simple matter of wild growth.
And cow is really a rather more
complex and mysterious organism than
either a. lily or a violet.
In a state of nature the cow runs
wild and eats what she can get. She
gives milk to nurture her calf, just
about enough for that and just about
long enough to supply the calf till it
can forage for itself.
We take her and tame her; confine
her within limits; find her feed for
her; take her milk away from the calf
and use it ourselves. breed her to give
more milk than any calf could use, and
| extend the lactation period beyond any
calfs claims.
| That lie 1aYooua he fro,,,
her natural life and compel her into a
more or less artificial one. We sur
round her with conditions under which
she can't be wholly natural. and make
demands on her which would never be
made in natural conditions. Therefore
we simply are compelled to substitute
artificial methods of care and feeding
to a considerable degree. We cant
avoid it.
The question is merely whether it is
better for the cow in the end, and
therefore better for her owner, to car
ry artificial methods of care to the ex-
treme, or to stick to nature just as
closely as we can under somewhat un.
natural circumstances.
1t is admitted that we can't let our
| old cow revert wholly to nature. For
| in that case. she would run wild and
/ bring up a wild calf and we should
have neither milk nor butter nor veal
Probably, also, she would starve OF
freeze to death if she had to wrastlt
like New England's, which she would
never choose for herself, II she wer'
given any choice.
| But shall we attempt to make he
completely over, turn her into q new
animal Of our own invention, treat he
guess all the year; or shall wo TAX
| her as she is, accept her judgmen
about what she wants till we actuan-
know better; in other words, let he
live just as naturally and normally q
she can in herded state?
As a gardener, I've learned that
can't make things grow" to use
rather common phrase. d
/ can kill them, mighty quick, b.
giving them food they don't want o
by trying to make them do what the
: weren't intended to do.
On the other hand, I can sometime
Il help them to do their natural work
little quicker and better by judiciousl
| extended first aid. By careful stud
| of their habits, by long observation {
their growth, by gingerly conducte
experiments I can sometimes find OF
one or two little things that the
would like but can't get an adequat
supply of under natural condition
Then I give them that adequate sur
ply, ana Cney gran nO1Q Oh IT, ana TUT
| 1T into corn or cabbages or tomatoes
But can't make the corn or the cat
bages or the tomatoes grow or frui
my way. I've got to find out the
ways, and then wait on them with whS
they, want-not with anything I ma
think they might want or ought {
want.
The natural function of tho torn az
in it's wild state. Is simply to protlus
:, seed for more tomatoes, later. don
care anything about the seed, but wal
II the pulpy fruit to eat or sell. To g
= it in first class quality and size how
y ever, have to hurnor and cajole Il
y plants-not bully them. am not the
- MASTER am just their valet, with
- - hoe instead of g. comb and fertilizer ii
+, !. IL you want clean hands,