From our acre and a half, all the food has been grown for both cow and horse, except the three dollars expended for straw. The “sugar meal” given the cow has not cost five dollars during the past year. It is safe to say, that one half, and probably more, of the clover, corn fodder, green rye, etc., has been fed to the horse. Consequently the keeping of the cow can all be credited to the small area of about three-fourths of an acre of land, in addition to an outlay of not exceeding seven dollars for meal, bran, and straw. This land, about one half of it, has also produced, in addition, full crops for the use of the family, or market, while the sour milk and buttermilk have largely assisted in making six hundred pounds of pork. The calf, at less than two months of age, was sold for eight dollars, which more than paid for the extra feed bought for the cow. The family which has never kept a cow can hardly realize the satisfaction and benefits derived from such a source. Children, whose appetites are often capricious, will almost always relish a cup of cool milk. Cream, for our coffee at breakfast, is much enjoyed by all, but realized by few, and what can be more delicious than a nice dish of strawberries smothered in rich yellow cream. When we consider the small expense, the little trouble and care, contrasted with the great benefits derived, it is, so to speak, surprising that any family should rest satisfied without possessing a cow. [Illustration: Fig. 2.—THE AYRSHIRE COW “OLD CREAMER.”] THE COW IN THE GULF STATES. BY GEORGE G. DUFFEE, MOBILE, ALA.