[Ill.u.s.tration: A FARM YARD]
ROBERT ON A FARM.
When Robert was ten years old, he spent several weeks on a farm. He had always lived in the city, and he was eager to know something of country life.
The farmer, Mr. Spencer, promised to teach Robert all that he could about the animals on the farm. The boy had not been long in his new home before he ran to the barn. There were three cows in the barn and two horses. They looked very comfortable and happy.
"What wide stalls they have!" said Robert, "and I never saw a cow in a box stall before."
"Yes," said James, who was milking the cows, "all these stalls are wide enough for the cows and horses to lie down whenever they like. Do you see, too, that the animals face the barn, instead of staring at a blank wall all day?"
"It must be more fun to look into the barn than at a few boards," said Robert, "but I never thought of it before."
"They like to watch what is going on," said James, "and they have better air than they would in a close stall."
"What delicious milk we had last night!" said Robert, stooping to rub Clover"s head, to her great delight.
"Our cows give good milk," said James. "Mr. Spencer makes his cows happy, and he finds that it pays. Only last week he sent off a boy because he made the cows run on the way to the pasture. You know that injures the cows and spoils the milk."
"Do they go to pasture every day?" asked Robert.
"Yes," said Mr. Spencer, who came into the barn just then. "They go every day in summer, unless there is a heavy rain. Some cows take cold easily, and should never be out in a long storm. In winter, when it is not too cold, they have an hour or two in the cow-yard at noon. The barn is warm, and they have a good bedding of straw. In a cold barn, cows should be blanketed in freezing weather."
"Do cows eat anything but hay and gra.s.s?" asked Robert.
"Oh, yes!" said Mr. Spencer. "Cows need a variety in their food, and plenty of water to drink. My cows eat corn-stalks, carrots, mangel- wurzels, and sometimes bran and corn-meal mixed."
"How sleek they look!" said Robert.
"James cards and brushes them every day, to keep them in good condition."
"They seem very friendly," Robert went on. "Clover is not at all afraid of me."
"They have never been frightened or hurt," said Mr. Spencer, "and they are affectionate creatures. Cows are often homesick in a new home with a strange master, and they grow to love those who are kind to them. I knew a little boy who tried to comfort a cow for the loss of her calf. She was very unhappy and the boy did all that he could to show how much he pitied her. Soon the cow would follow him about the place. When he went away she was lonely, and when he came back she greeted him with evident delight."
"Is it easy to milk a cow?" asked Robert. "It looks easy."
Mr. Spencer laughed. "It is not so simple as it looks," he said, "but James will teach you, if you like. My cows never kick, but if you ever try to milk a cow that kicks, you must be very gentle with her. I have heard that a cloth wrung out in cold water and laid over her loins will keep her quiet when other methods fail."
"I will try to remember that," said Robert.
"Cows, like most animals, are kind to one another," said Mr. Spencer, seeing that Robert was interested in the pretty creatures. "I was at work in the barnyard one day when two cows came up the road to the gate.
They seemed to be looking for something.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A GROUP OF FRIENDS.]
"It was a hot, dusty day, and suddenly the thought came to me that they were looking for some water. I opened the gate, and they went at once to the trough by the pump. When I had filled the trough they drank as if they were nearly choked with thirst.
"As soon as they were satisfied they went away, but in less than an hour they came back again, bringing three other cows with them. During all the hot weather these cows came to me every day for water. When I found out who their owner was I told him the story.
""I am ashamed to think that my cows had to go away from home to find water to drink," he said. "In future I will see that they have fresh water in their own pasture.""
ROBERT FEEDS THE POULTRY
On his way back to the house Robert met Mrs. Spencer carrying a large tin dish full of something which looked like hasty pudding. She turned as she saw Robert, and said pleasantly, "Do you want to help me feed the chickens?"
"I should like it very much, thank you," said Robert, and he followed Mrs. Spencer down behind the barn, where he saw several little houses opening into small hen-yards enclosed with wire netting.
"Why do you have all these little houses besides your large hen-house?"
asked Robert.
"These little yards give the hens a chance to move about and scratch for their chickens. The old slat-coops were not half so comfortable as these. It is better, too, that the little chickens should be kept by themselves. They need to be fed often, and they cannot eat what the older ones like. In this way each brood is kept with its mother."
"Will you let me feed them?" asked Robert.
[Ill.u.s.tration: HEN AND CHICKENS.]
"Yes," said Mrs. Spencer. "You may put a large spoonful into every yard.
It is better to give them a little at a time; then the food does not stay on the ground and get dirty and sour."
"What is this I am giving them?" asked Robert as the chickens ran and cl.u.s.tered round the food. "They seem to like it."
"It is Indian meal, thoroughly scalded," said Mrs. Spencer. "Raw or slightly scalded meal is likely to do them harm."
"Isn"t it fun to watch them!" said Robert. "What else do chickens eat?"
"They eat a variety of things. The first food I gave these little chicks was stale bread-crumbs wet in warm water, and I mixed with that the yolk of one hard-boiled egg. Oatmeal would have been just as good as the bread-crumbs. I always keep a dish of fresh water, too, in their yard."
"What nice little houses you have for them!"
"They are good little houses, tight enough to keep out the rain and draughts, for hens and chickens must be kept warm and dry. It is important, too, that their houses and yards and nests should be very clean."
"My uncle said it was too much trouble to keep hens, and he sold his because they did not lay many eggs," said Robert.
"It is a great mistake to think that we can keep animals of any kind without some trouble. The horse, the cow, the dog, the cat, the pigs and hens, all need patient, thoughtful attention.
"If they are to be well and happy, and do the work for us that we demand of them, we must feed them well and wisely, keep them clean, give them fresh water every day, and a comfortable place to sleep in.
"Unless we are willing to do this, we have no right to keep for our pleasure any living creature. It is selfish to expect them to do all they can for us, when we give them as little as we can in return."
While Mrs. Spencer was saying this, Robert had finished feeding the chickens, and he was sitting on the gra.s.s in front of one yard admiring a white hen with ten lovely white chickens. "I think these are the prettiest little chickens I ever saw," he said, "and their mother seems very proud of them. Is the mother hen always fond of her chickens?"