Buffon's Natural History. Volume 05 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &cBuffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
History
Buffon's Natural History. Volume 05 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c
Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
Natural history
[F] This is not the case in England, as in many counties the farmer,
excepting in hard weather, finds it the best time to keep them in full
employ.
Great heat incommodes this animal more perhaps than great cold. During
summer they should be brought to work at day-break, taken to the
stable, or left to feed in the woods, during the heat of the day, and
not yoked again till three or four in the afternoon. In spring, winter,
and autumn, they may be worked from eight or nine in the morning, till
five or six in the evening. They do not require so much care as horses,
yet to keep them healthy and vigorous they should be curried every
day, and their hoofs carefully greased and washed; they should be taken
to drink at least twice a day; they are fond of water that is fresh and
cool, while the horse loves it muddy and luke-warm.
Nearly the same food and care are requisite for the cow as the _ox_;
but the cow that suckles requires more particular attention, as well in
the chusing as in the management. It is said, that black cows give the
best milk, and that white cows give the most: but of whatever colour,
she should be fleshy, have a brisk eye, and be light in her walk; she
should be young, her milk plentiful, and of a good kind; she should
be milked twice a day in summer, and once in winter; and, if we would
increase the quantity, she must be fed with more succulent food than
herbage.
Good milk is neither too thick, nor too thin; its consistence should
be such, that a drop should preserve its roundness without running. In
colour it should be of a beautiful white: that which is inclinable to
blue or yellow is worth nothing; its taste should be sweet, without
any bitterness or sourness. It is better in the month of May, and
during the summer, than in winter; and it is never perfectly good
but when the cow is of a proper age, and in good health. The milk of
young heifers is too thick, that of old cows is too dry, and during the
winter it is too thick. The milk of the cow is not good when she is in
season, near her time, or has lately calved. In the third and fourth
stomachs of the calves which suck, there are clots of curdled milk,
which, dried in the air, serve to make runnet, and the longer it is
kept the better it is, and it requires but a small quantity to make a
great deal of cheese.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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