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TO v R V K m 



































































































Glass . ._1 

Book_ 


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GopightN ? _ " ..' 


COPYRIGHT DEPOUIT. 


JEPOBUi 


&> 









SPOTTY 



She led Wabbly Tom from the barn into the far 
corner of the yard 
























SPOTTY 

The Story of a Holstein Cow 


By 

JOHN Y. BEATY / 

ft 

Drawings by 

DON NELSON 

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THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 

CHICAGO 

1931 

















T.%io 

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■TSasi 

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Copyright, 1931, by 

THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 

CHICAGO 


Printed in United States of America 


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-l 193'/ 


©cn 37ei4t> 


CONTENTS 


I A Cow's Tail Brings Trouble 7 

II Spotty Cow Under Suspicion 11 

III Farmer John Has a Pleasant Surprise 15 

IV Old Spotty Cow Saves Her Calf 21 

V Spotty Cow Defends Her Baby 25 

VI The Trials of Motherhood 27 

VII Spotty Cow Takes Food from Storage 34 

VIII A Trip Toward China 38 

IX Old Spotty Protects a Feathered Friend 43 

X A Fearful Tragedy 46 

XI Spotty Cow Has a Rival 50 

XII Her Appetite Gets Spotty into Trouble 55 

XIII How Can a Machine Be a Friend? 59 

XIV Spotty Nearly Loses Her Home 63 






Chapter I 


A COW’S TAIL BRINGS TROUBLE. 

O LD SPOTTY COW was munching her 
hay contentedly. It was a hot summer 
evening. In addition to the heat, Old Spotty 
Cow was bothered by the flies. Old Spotty’s 
only protection against these pests was her long 
tail. It was a good protection, too, because on 
the end of it was a large brush almost as big 
as a small feather duster. 

She could reach nearly her whole body with 
this long “fly-chaser.” Sometimes, however, 
half a dozen flies would gather in a group on 
her shoulder and she would have to chase them 
away by throwing her head around toward 
them. Her tail was not long enough to reach 
her shoulder. 

It was milking time. Farmer John had 
employed a new man to help him that day, 
and instead of milking Old Spotty Cow him- 

7 


8 


SPOTTY 


self, he sent his new man to milk her. The 
stranger sat down beside Old Spotty, placed 
the milk pail between his knees, and started 
to milk. 

Just then an unusually big fly bit the cow 
near the center of her back so vigorously that 
she of course threw her big tail out to chase 
the fly away. Just as she did so, the man lifted 
his head, and instead of hitting the fly, the tail 
hit the man in the face. 

Now a cow’s tail is not a pleasant thing to 
be hit with, especially when it is on its way 
toward a pesky fly. The stranger became 
excited. He shouted at Old Spotty and raised 
his hand to strike her. Naturally, the cow 
became excited, too. In an effort to avoid 
being hit, she lifted one of her hind feet, and 
as she did so, her foot hit the pail, knocking 
it from between the knees of the milker. This 
caused more excitement. In a moment, Spotty 
Cow’s foot had landed squarely in the middle 
of the milk pail, which was half filled with 
milk. Of course the pail tipped over, and the 
milk flowed all over the dirty floor. 



A COW’S TAIL BRINGS TROUBLE 


9 


Naturally, the hired man blamed the whole 
thing on Spotty Cow. He seized the stool on 
which he had been sitting and began using it 
as a club. Just then Farmer John came along 
and settled matters by sending the hired hand 
off to do some other work. 

After a time, Farmer John sat down to finish 
milking Old Spotty, but the milk would not 
come. Spotty had been so frightened by the 
whole performance that she would not give 
down any more milk. 

The next morning he milked her himself, 
and apparently she had forgotten all about the 
trouble of the night before. 

Farmer John, however, could not do all of 
the milking alone, and so he worked out a plan 
which would prevent the hired man from 
getting into trouble with Spotty Cow’s tail 
again. He tied a heavy cord to a brick. On 
the opposite end of the cord he made a loop 
and just before Spotty Cow was to be milked, 
he looped this string over the brush on the 
end of her tail. The weight of the brick 
hanging on the end of Spotty Cow’s tail was 


10 


SPOTTY 


so great that when she attempted to throw her 
tail over her back, she could not lift it. Con¬ 
sequently, the hired man was in no danger of 
being hit in the face again. 

Of course this was not at all pleasant for 
Spotty Cow, because she had no way of protect¬ 
ing herself against the pesky flies. But Farmer 
John knew that this would be the case, and 
he did not want Spotty Cow to suffer from 
the bites of the flies while she was being 
milked. So he made a brush of cornstalks, 
tying a number of the leaves to the end of a 
broomstick. This he gave to his daughter 
Roberta and asked her to stand back of Spotty 
Cow while she was being milked and brush 
the flies off of her. 

So, in a way, Roberta was to serve in the 
place of Spotty Cow’s tail. 




Chapter II 


SPOTTY COW UNDER SUSPICION 
SUALLY, Spotty Cow gave enough milk 



to nearly fill the pail. But one evening 
Farmer John milked her and did not secure 
nearly half as much as usual. Farmer John 
wondered what was the matter. 

When he milked her the next evening, he 
did not get any more. Surely something was 
wrong, for a cow that gives a pail of milk one 
evening should also give a pail of milk the 
next evening. 

Farmer John became suspicious that Spotty 
Cow was milking herself. 

Sometimes a cow gets into this bad habit. 
While she is away in the pasture where no 
one sees her, she will milk herself and then 
when she comes to the barn, there is little left 
in her to give to the farmer. When cows get 
into this habit, it is difficult for them to stop, 


n 


12 


SPOTTY 


because the fresh, warm milk tastes just as 
good to them as it does to a calf which so 
delights to get the milk as soon as it is drawn. 

Farmer John looked Old Spotty Cow over. 
She seemed to be in the best of health and in 
the best of spirits. He could not think of 
anything that might be wrong except that she 
might have developed this bad habit of doing 
her own milking before she came to the barn. 

There is one way to cure a cow of this and 
that is to put a muzzle on her nose so that 
when she reaches for her udder, the muzzle 
is in the way. 

This muzzle is made in such a way that she 
can eat grass, and so it does not do any harm. 
Sometimes these muzzles have nails or sharp 
wires on them, so that when the cow reaches 
around, she pricks herself with these sharp 
points. In this way she soon learns to leave 
the milking for the men at the barn. 

Farmer John was puzzled the next evening, 
because, in spite of the fact that he had put a 
muzzle on Spotty Cow, she still gave very little 
milk. It seemed very strange indeed. 


SPOTTY COW UNDER SUSPICION 


13 


Apparently he had not discovered the trouble. 

“Well,” said Farmer John, “the only way 
I can find out is to watch her!” 

It happened that the next day was Sunday, 
and so Farmer John spent the afternoon in the 
pasture with the cows, keeping his eye on 
Old Spotty. 

About five o’clock he saw a little pig run¬ 
ning along the fence. Spotty Cow was lying 
under a shady tree chewing her cud. Farmer 
John was in a good position to see all that 
happened. 

The pig ran up to Spotty Cow. After a few 
“Ugh, ugh’s,” Old Spotty stood up. You 
could never guess what happened next. Old 
Spotty Cow stood very still. The little pig 
ran around her two or three times and then 
started to milk her. The little pig was stealing 
Old Spotty Cow’s milk. 

“Well, well, well,” said Farmer John. “This 
is a situation.” 

He walked over to the contented pair under 
the tree and coming up quietly behind the pig 
seized him in his arms. 




14 


SPOTTY 


“You’re a little thief,” said Farmer John. 
“You should wait until you get your milk in 
the trough. You are stealing a march on your 
little brothers and sisters. Of course, the first 
thing we always look out for is to protect our¬ 
selves, and you have made up your mind that 
you will have the first chance at the evening’s 
milk. So I don’t know that I will punish you, 
but I will place you where you will not steal 
Old Spotty Cow’s milk. Skimmed milk is 
good enough for you. We need the cream that 
Old Spotty Cow gives to make butter.” 

All the while, the little pig squealed and 
kicked. But Farmer John carried him off to 
a pen from which he could make no escape. 

After that, Old Spotty Cow gave her usual 
pailful of milk every evening. So Farmer 
John took off the muzzle, and everyone was 
happy again except the little pig. But of 
course Farmer John gave him all he needed 
to eat, and he really should not have been 
unhappy. At any rate, his tendency to steal 
had been corrected. 















Chapter III 


FARMER JOHN HAS A PLEASANT 
SURPRISE 


O LD SPOTTY COW was not with the 
herd when it came to the barn one 
evening in June. The cows had the habit of 
coming to the barnyard just before milking 
time. Usually Old Spotty Cow was their 
leader. But on this night she was nowhere to 
be seen. 

Farmer John finished the milking before he 
started to look for her. He took Roberta with 
him and they walked down the lane to the 
woody pasture where the cows had been feeding 
that day. Roberta was rather worried and she 
asked her father many questions as to whether 
the cow might have been hurt or lost. 

However, Farmer John was not so worried, 
because he thought he knew the cause of Old 
Spotty Cow’s absence. They started to follow 
the fence along the east side of the pasture and 
is 


16 


SPOTTY 


proceeded over the hill to the opposite end. 
But nothing was seen of Old Spotty. They 
turned west then and walked along the south 
fence to the other corner. But still there was 
no sign of the cow. 

“Perhaps we had better walk through the 
center of the woods,” suggested Farmer John. 
“I think I know a place where we may find 
what we are looking for.” 

Again they climbed the hill. Not long after 
reaching the top, they passed a large clump 
of bushes. They were looking straight ahead 
and had gone about ten feet past the opposite 
side of the bushes, when Roberta heard a 
rustling of the leaves behind her. She turned 
around and quickly called to her father. 

“Daddy, there is old Spotty Cow. She is 
lying down. Perhaps she is hurt.” 

As Farmer John and his little daughter 
approached her, Old Spotty rose to her feet. 
Instead of going directly to her, Farmer John 
walked to the edge of the bushes and peered 
into the clump. 

“Look here, Roberta,” he said, and when 



They pushed the bushes aside and saw a little calf 


J7 








18 


SPOTTY 


he pushed the bushes aside, Roberta saw a 
beautiful little Holstein calf. Old Spotty Cow 
came over to them and put her nose down to 
her baby lying curled up in a pile of leaves 
and licked his forehead with her long rough 
tongue. 

This wakened the little fellow and he scram¬ 
bled to his feet. Farmer John walked into the 
clump of bushes and stepped behind the calf 
and steadied his wobbly legs as he walked out 
into the open. 

“Oh, Daddy, isn’t his face pretty,” said 
Roberta. “But how long his legs are and how 
big his knees seem to be. Hold him tight, 
Daddy, he is going to fall.” 

Old Spotty Cow was thoroughly happy. 
She was proud of her little son. Occasionally 
she gave a short, “moo-oo-oo,” as she massaged 
his body with her long, rough tongue. 

“Why does Old Spotty Cow lick her baby 
so much, Daddy?” asked Roberta. 

“I guess it must be her own way of getting 
his blood to circulating well,” answered her 
father. “You know sometimes doctors rub 


FARMER T>HN HAS A PLEASANT SURPRISE 19 


new-born babies and sick people in order to 
make their blood circulate more actively, and 
I have always noticed that cows massage their 
babies soon after they are born. I think it 
must be for the same reason.” 

“What are you going to do with the little 
calf?” asked Roberta. 

“We must get him to the barn,” replied her 
father. “We can put Old Spotty and the calf 
in the warm box stall until the calf is a little 
older. Then we can turn them into the orchard 
pasture with Sunshine Rose.” 

“Do you think the pony will hurt the calf, 
Daddy?” asked Roberta. 

“No, I don’t believe that Sunshine Rose 
would hurt the calf. You have never seen her 
hurt any other animal, have you?” 

“But, Daddy, how will you get the calf to 
the barn. He doesn’t seem to be able to walk 
very far. See how he wobbles from side to 
side when he walks.” 

“There is just one thing to do,” said Farmer 
John, “and that is for me to carry him.” With 
this he took the calf up into his arms. 



20 


spotty 


Old Spotty Cow followed close behind, giv¬ 
ing a short low “moo-oo-oo” every now and 
then. 

The two were made comfortable in the box 
stall in the horse barn, and Farmer John made 
a record of the birth of Wabbly Tom, for that 
is the name Roberta said they ought to call the 
new calf. 

Farmer John kept a record of the date of 
birth of every animal that came to live on 
Mosely Hill Farm and quite often he allowed 
his little daughter to select the names. 




Chapter IV 


OLD SPOTTY COW SAVES HER CALF 



HILE Old Spotty’s calf was not old 


VV enough to take care of himself, Farmer 
John always put the two in a box stall in the 
horse barn at night. One night Old Spotty 
was awakened. She hardly knew what had 
caused her to wake from her sleep. The only 
sound she heard was a crackling noise, but 
soon she began to realize that it was a little 
difficult to breathe. The air was filled with 
smoke. Old Spotty had never had any experi¬ 
ence with a fire, but still her instinct told her 
that her baby needed protection, and the pro¬ 
tection he needed, she soon discovered, was to 
get him out into the open air. 

The gate which closed the box stall was 
fastened with a light hook. Old Spotty looked 
at it. Then she pushed against it with her 
head. But she realized that the weight of her 


21 


22 


SPOTTY 


head was hardly sufficient to break it open. So 
she turned around and backed into it, throwing 
all of the weight of her body against the gate 
on the side where the hook held it fast. But 
the gate did not open. She walked ahead a 
bit, then backed swiftly into the gate again. 
This time it opened. The staple that held the 
hook had been pushed out. 

Old Spotty called to her calf, and he followed 
her on his wabbly legs. She went to the door 
that opened into the barn lot. It was closed 
and fastened with a hook on the inside. Spotty 
had never attempted to open a door before, 
but the smoke was getting thicker, and she saw 
a blaze in one corner near the opening which 
led into the haymow above. Somehow she 
knew that she must get her baby out of the 
barn as quickly as possible. 

This door was larger than the gate, and she 
hardly knew how to get it open. She rubbed 
her nose along the side of the door trying to 
find the hook with which it was fastened. She 
tossed her head up and down. Her nose 
touched the hook. The hook flew out of the 


OLD SPOTTY COW SAVES HER CALF 23 

staple that held it, but the door remained 
closed. 

Spotty turned around, then dashed back to 
the door with a determination to force it open 
with her head. She lowered her head and 
rushed toward the door. To her surprise, it 
opened easily, and she fell on her knees as 
she lunged into the darkness. She led Wabbly 
Tom to the far corner of the yard. 

It was then that she began to bawl. It was 
her bawling that wakened Farmer John and 
enabled him to discover that the horse barn 
was on fire. 

How excited everyone was at first! No one 
knew just what to do. However, Farmer John 
finally succeeded in getting the horses out of 
the building before they were burned. This 
was a difficult task, because the horses were so 
excited by the fire that they preferred to stay 
in their stalls rather than to leave them. 

Farmer John finally got them out after he 
had placed a gunny sack over the eyes of each 
one. When they could not see the fire, they 
could be led much easier. He took them into 






24 


SPOTTY 


the cow barn and fastened each one to a 
stanchion. The last one was taken out just in 
time. The barn burned to the ground, but all 
of the animals were saved. 

Farmer John did not know this, however, 
until the excitement was over. After the last 
horse had been taken out, he began to wonder 
about Old Spotty Cow and her baby. He did 
not dare enter the flaming barn. In fact, if 
he had, he perhaps would not have been able 
to rescue the animals. 

After a while Old Spotty Cow called again. 
Farmer John then realized that she somehow 
had escaped. He had not taken notice that the 
door was open when he came to rescue the 
horses. But when he found Spotty Cow and 
her calf in a corner of the barn lot, he knew 
that Spotty had saved herself and her baby. 





Chapter V 


SPOTTY COW DEFENDS HER BABY 



ABBLY TOM was not so wabbly now 


VV as he was when Roberta first saw him. 
But he was still rather small and needed the 
attention of his mother. They were grazing 
together in the slough pasture one day, the calf 
a little distance from his mother. 

Old Spotty had her back to Wabbly Tom 
and did not notice the approach of a strange 
dog. The dog crept along the fence, crouching 
close to the ground. The calf was facing the 
opposite direction and did not know of the 
danger. When the dog was opposite the calf, 
he ran away from the fence a little way and 
then with a running jump cleared the fence 
and landed on Wabbly Tom’s back. 

The noise startled Old Spotty Cow, and 
whirling around she saw at once what had 
happened. Both the calf and the dog were 


25 


26 


SPOTTY 


sprawling on the ground. The dog regained 
his feet quickly and turned to attack the calf 
again. But Old Spotty had rushed to the rescue 
of her baby. 

The dog was surprised. He had not antici¬ 
pated such resistance. Sharp horns tore his 
flesh, as Old Spotty caught him with lowered 
head. She tossed her head, sending the dog 
sailing over the fence. 

When the dog finally rose and limped away, 
the cow turned her attention to Wabbly Tom. 
He was near a tree, panting with excitement, 
but unhurt. Old Spotty stroked him with her 
long, rough tongue until her baby felt like 
himself again. She then led him toward the 
barnyard. 




Chapter VI 


THE TRIALS OF MOTHERHOOD 



'HERE comes a time in the life of every 


-L calf when he must learn to care for himself 
and to get along without his mother. Wabbly 
Tom had always depended upon his mother 
for protection, guidance, and food; he did not 
like the idea at all of transferring his source 
of food supply from his mother’s udder to a 
metal pail. 

Both Farmer John and Old Spotty Cow 
were determined, however, that he should 
learn to shift for himself. Farmer John started 
to wean the calf by milking Old Spotty Cow 
before he turned the calf with her, keeping 
Wabbly Tom in a separate pen and turning 
him into the box stall with his mother after 
most of her milk had been drawn. 

At the same time, Farmer John gave Wabbly 
Tom a pail of skimmed milk, so that he would 


27 


28 


SPOTTY 


be satisfied with the little milk he found in his 
mother’s udder. 

Wabbly Tom did not like skimmed milk at 
all. He wanted the milk he was accustomed 
to. So the first morning that Farmer John 
offered him the pail of milk, he did everything 
he could to keep from drinking it. Farmer 
John took hold of Wabbly Tom and dragged 
him to the pail of milk, holding the pail with 
one hand and holding one of Wabbly Tom’s 
legs with the other. But still Wabbly Tom 
could not be made to drink. 

Then Farmer John stood up and straddled 
the calf with one leg on each side just back 
of his shoulders. He held the pail in front of 
the calf with his left hand and with his right 
he took hold of Tom’s nose. He thrust the 
calf’s head down into the pail of milk. All 
Tom did was to blow through his nostrils and 
spatter the milk out of the pail. Then he 
tried to back away. But Farmer John held 
him by squeezing his knees against the calf’s 
sides. The calf began to realize that he could 
not get away and became a little calmer. 


THE TRIALS OF MOTHERHOOD 


29 


Farmer John forced the calf s nose into the 
milk again and this time he allowed two of 
his fingers to slip into the calf’s mouth. This 
deceived Wabbly Tom enough so that he started 
to suck Farmer John’s fingers, and as he did 
so, the milk flowed into his mouth. It was not 
long before Wabbly Tom had finished drinking 
all of the milk in the pail. 

Then Farmer John, after having milked Old 
Spotty Cow, turned the calf in with her. 

But Old Spotty Cow had her troubles, too. 
Wabbly Tom sucked very rapidly. The supply 
was soon exhausted, because Farmer John had 
drawn most of Old Spotty’s milk into a pail 
for his own use. 

Wabbly Tom tried one teat after the other, 
but all were empty. He took hold of one with 
his mouth, backed away and then dashed 
forward so quickly that he almost raised his 
mother off of her feet. This was not a pleasant 
sensation for Old Spotty Cow, and she jerked 
away. The calf followed her about the pen. 

Farmer John was watching, and after this 
occurred two or three times, he opened the gate 


30 


SPOTTY 


and allowed Old Spotty Cow to go out into 
the pasture. But he caught the calf as he was 
going through the gate and put him into his 
little pen. 

The same performance was repeated that 
evening. Wabbly Tom still did not like the 
idea of drinking out of a pail, and Farmer 
John had to handle him in the same way, 
finally putting his fingers into the calf s mouth 
until he was able to get him to drink the milk. 

Old Spotty Cow had her troubles again. 
Wabbly Tom was angry. He pushed his 
mother over against the side of the stall two 
or three times before Farmer John took him 
out. But little Tom was not master of the 
situation. Both his mother and Farmer John 
were able to handle him, and he gradually was 
forced to drink as he was bidden. Finally, 
Farmer John did not turn him in with his 
mother at all, but made him drink all of his 
milk out of a pail. 

One day the cows were in the barn lot, and 
Wabbly Tom was in a pen near-by. He saw 
his mother, some distance away, and deter- 



Farmer John made Wabbly Tom drin\ from a pail 


31 






















































32 


SPOTTY 


mined that he was going to have his own way 
this time and get a meal in the way he had 
when he was first born. 

But first, he must get to where his mother 
lay. The fence that surrounded the pen in 
which he was kept was not high, and so Wabbly 
Tom determined to jump over. But calves are 
not as good jumpers as dogs or sheep, and 
Wabbly Tom came down on top of the fence 
with his two front feet on one side and his two 
hind feet on the other. 

About this time, Lassie, Farmer John’s Collie 
dog, saw that the calf was doing something 
he should not do, and jumped into his pen 
and began to bark. Wabbly Tom wiggled and 
jerked and finally fell into the yard outside 
his pen. 

He lost no time in reaching his mother. 
When she saw him coming, she rose to her 
feet. He ran for her udder, but before his nose 
could touch it, she whirled about and caught 
his body back of his shoulders with her nose. 
She pushed him away. However, Wabbly 
Tom was not so easily discouraged. He tried 


THE TRIALS OF MOTHERHOOD 


33 


again, and once more his mother bunted him 
away from her. 

In the meantime, Lassie had jumped over 
the fence into the barnyard and come to the 
aid of Old Spotty Cow. She barked at the 
calf, and between the two of them, they pre¬ 
vented him from stealing his dinner. It was 
not long until Farmer John heard the barking 
and came to see what was the trouble. 

As punishment, Wabbly Tom was locked 
into the box stall and kept there all the next day. 



Chapter VII 


SPOTTY COW TAKES HER FOOD 
FROM STORAGE 

O NE Sunday afternoon Spotty Cow lay in 
the shade of a big apple tree in the pasture 
near the house. Roberta and her father and 
mother were sitting on the porch. 

Suddenly Roberta’s attention was attracted 
by Old Spotty Cow. Spotty’s eyes were closed, 
but her mouth was active. She was chewing 
something. 

As Roberta watched, Old Spotty Cow 
stopped chewing and Roberta could see her 
swallow. She was greatly astonished, however, 
when shortly after the swallow, Roberta could 
see a movement along the cow’s neck that 
appeared to be just the opposite of a swallow. 
Then Spotty began to chew again. 

Presently the same performance was re¬ 
peated. Spotty Cow swallowed. Roberta could 
see the cow’s flesh raise as the food passed down 

34 


SPOTTY COW TAKES FOOD FROM STORAGE 35 

her throat. Then she could see the flesh raise 
again as another object seemed to travel up 
the cow’s throat. Then Spotty Cow began to 
chew. 

“Daddy,” said Roberta, “does Spotty Cow 
swallow her food and does it then come back 
into her mouth again ? You watch her, Daddy, 
when she stops chewing, you can see the food 
go right down her throat and then you can 
see it come right back up again. Why does 
she do that, Daddy?” 

“Old Spotty is chewing her cud,” explained 
her father. 

“Chewing her cud?” inquired Roberta. 
“What does that mean and what is a cud, and 
why does she chew it?” 

“Well,” explained her father, “in the first 
place, a cow has four stomachs.” 

“Daddy, don’t joke with me. How could 
a cow have four stomachs?” 

“It is true,” said her father. “As a matter 
of fact, sheep and goats also have four stomachs. 

“When Old Spotty Cow is grazing, she passes 
the food into her first stomach. When this 


36 


SPOTTY 


stomach is filled, she usually lies down and 
chews her cud. When she takes the grass from 
the ground, she chews it very little. It passes 
into her first stomach almost as she tears it 
from the ground. In the first stomach it is 
mixed with digestive juices, and when she lies 
down and is ready to chew her cud, balls of 
this food come up into her mouth. Then she 
chews them. She grinds it into fine particles, 
so that it can be digested as it passes into her 
second, third, and fourth stomachs.” 

“How does she know whether to send it to 
the second stomach, or the first stomach, 
Daddy?” asked Roberta. 

“It goes through all of them, dear,” replied 
Farmer John. “After she chews her cud, it 
passes into stomach number two. Then into 
number three and then into number four. In 
each of these stomachs, it goes through some 
kind of a digestive process, and as it is com¬ 
bined with fluids that come out of the walls of 
each stomach, it becomes a liquid, and the 
nutriment out of the liquid is absorbed by the 
blood vessels that surround these stomachs. 


SPOTTY COW TAKES FOOD FROM STORAGE 37 

After that, the blood carries the food to different 
parts of the body.” 

“But we have only one stomach, haven’t we, 
Daddy?” 

“Yes,” replied her father, “all of the digesting 
of our food must be performed in our one 
stomach, and that is why we must chew our 
food, and chew it well, as we eat it.” 



Chapter VIII 


A TRIP TOWARD CHINA 

I T HAD rained continuously for nearly a 
week. The slough pasture was of little use, 
because water covered the grass almost every¬ 
where except on the two hills, one on either 
side of the pasture. 

However, Farmer John turned the cows 
into this pasture one day. 

That evening when he was putting the cows 
into the barn, he noticed that Old Spotty 
Cow’s stall was empty. He looked around the 
barnyard, but did not see her. 

“Now what could have happened to Old 
Spotty?” asked Farmer John aloud, although 
there was no one to talk to but himself. 
Sunshine Rose, Roberta’s pony, was in the barn; 
so Farmer John put on her bridle, jumped 
astride her back and rode out into the slough 
pasture to look for the missing cow. 

38 


A TRIP TOWARD CHINA 


39 


He first rode south along the brow of the 
hill, but could see nothing of the missing cow. 
Then he turned Sunshine Rose around and 
rode to the north end of the hill. From there 
he saw Old Spotty Cow in the slough. 

Down the hill they went. Before long, he 
knew what was the matter. Old Spotty was 
stuck in the mud. Her struggles to release 
herself had made her plight worse, and now 
she was not able to move her legs at all. 

“Well, old girl, you have gotten yourself into 
a nice mess, haven’t you? It is going to be a 
job to get you out of your trouble.” 

After thinking for a moment, Farmer John 
rode back to the barn, put the harness on his 
big team, threw the long hay rope, which he 
had wound into a big coil, on to the back of 
one of the horses and started for the slough. 

He soon realized that he would not be able 
to reach Old Spotty without getting himself 
wet. Then he thought of making a noose in 
the rope and throwing it over Old Spotty 
Cow’s head. 

Before he attempted it, he realized that this 


40 


SPOTTY 


would pull tighter and tighter and would 
probably choke Old Spotty before he could get 
her out. So he tied a big knot in the rope at 
a place where the loop he made to go over 
Old Spotty’s head would be stopped before it 
choked her. 

That is just what happened. When the top 
part of the loop settled on her neck, the bottom 
part dropped into the water. Carefully Farmer 
John pulled, while the loop became smaller 
and smaller. At last the end was stopped by 
the knot tied in the rope. Thus, he had a loop 
around Old Spotty Cow’s neck that would not 
choke her, nor would it slip over her head 
when the horses began pulling. 

Then he tied the other end of the rope to 
the double-trees to which the team of horses 
was hitched. 

“Old Spotty,” he said, “we’ll help you, but 
you will have to help yourself a little, or you 
will be here a long time.” 

He then spoke to the team, and the horses 
stepped forward until the rope was tight. Then 
he stopped them. Taking a tight hold on the 


A TRIP TOWARD CHINA 


41 


reins, he spoke to the team again, and the 
horses took two or three steps forward. This 
pulled on Old Spotty Cow’s head. Perhaps it 
might appear that this would injure an animal, 
but in this case it was the only way to help 
Old Spotty Cow out of the slough. 

In the first place, Farmer John could not 
get the rope around Old Spotty Cow’s body. 
If he had put it around her body, she would 
not have been able to help herself as she could 
when he put it around her neck. 

With the encouragement that this pull gave 
her, she began to struggle and was able to 
loosen her front feet. Farmer John stopped 
the team and allowed the cow to rest a minute. 
Then he started the horses again. This time 
Old Spotty struggled with her hind feet also, 
and was able to work herself free of the mud. 

Farmer John stopped the team. The process 
was again repeated. Finally Old Spotty reached 
the edge of the slough and found herself on 
solid ground again. 

As Farmer John removed the rope, he said, 

“Perhaps now you will be satisfied with the 




42 


SPOTTY 


grass on the hill when the slough is full of 
water.” 

Whether Old Spotty understood or not, I do 
not know, but she never again waded into the 
water in the slough. 




Chapter IX 


OLD SPOTTY PROTECTS A 
FEATHERED FRIEND 

O LD SPOTTY lay chewing her cud in the 
barn lot one Sunday evening. Farmer 
John had finished the milking rather early, 
because he had planned on taking his family 
to Lake Zurich to attend the evening church 
services. 

When Old Spotty was chewing her cud, she 
paid little more attention to what was going 
on about her than she did when she was asleep. 
As a matter of fact, her eyes were half closed. 
She was suddenly aroused by a loud barking. 
Then there was a long, loud squawk. Old 
Spotty jumped to her feet. 

Around the corner of the shed dashed 
Farmer John’s big red rooster, which he called 
High Flyer. The rooster was squawking as 
he ran and every few jumps would fly a short 
distance. Close behind him was a strange dog. 

43 


44 


SPOTTY 


High Flyer was almost exhausted. The dog 
had several feathers in his mouth as evidence 
that he had already caught up with the rooster 
and pulled out some of his tail feathers. 

High Flyer flew into the shed and Old 
Spotty Cow followed him. The dog, seeing 
the cow, hesitated for a moment, and this 
moment’s hesitation saved the rooster’s life. 
Old Spotty lowered her head and struck the 
strange dog with her sharp horns. She caught 
him with one horn on his breast and the other 
in his side. The sharp horns injured him 
painfully, and he limped away yelping. 

Spotty Cow then turned her attention to her 
feathered friend. High Flyer stood in the 
corner, his tail was drooping, that is, what was 
left of it. His head was bleeding. The dog 
had bitten his comb and had pulled off about 
half of his tail feathers. 

When you understand that High Flyer was 
especially proud of his beautiful tail, you will 
know that he was feeling very badly, for not 
only did the injury pain him, but his pride was 
hurt from the loss of the feathers. 


v 





SPOTTY PROTECTS A FEATHERED FRIEND 45 


Old Spotty Cow was sympathetic. She put 
her cold black nose near the big rooster, and 
the bird, realizing her sympathy, gave a little 
hop and landed on Spotty Cow’s head just 
between her horns. He felt that he would be 
safer there, for chickens always feel safer if 
they are seated on something above the ground, 
the higher the better. 

Old Spotty walked to the edge of the shed 
again and after looking about for a time and 
seeing that all danger was gone, she lay down 
to chew her cud. As she chewed with her eyes 
partly closed, High Flyer squatted on his perch 
on top of her head. That is where Farmer 
John found him the next morning when he 
went to drive the cows out of the yard into the 
barn at milking time. 


Chapter X 


A FEARFUL TRAGEDY 

I T HAD been a summer of severe storms. 

Frequently these rains were accompanied 
by thunder and lightning. 

One day one of these storms caused Farmer 
John a terrible loss. It was responsible for a 
fearful tragedy in the herd. 

The cows were in the meadow pasture when 
the storm began. They were about as far 
away from the barn as they could get. There 
were no trees in this pasture, and no shelter 
of any kind. So when the rain started, the 
cows stood still where they were, with their 
tails to the wind and their heads nearly reaching 
the ground. The rain came down in torrents. 

Most of the cows were standing rather close 
together. Some of them were near the fence 
that divided the meadow pasture from the 
cornfield. Others were a little farther away. 

46 


A FEARFUL TRAGEDY 


47 


Suddenly there was a great flash. The 
lightning covered the whole sky, and every 
cow in the herd was thoroughly frightened. 
The thunder followed this with a terrible 
crash, and then the sound rolled away in the 
distance. 

In half an hour the rain had stopped and 
all was quiet again. 

That evening when it was time for the cows 
to come to the barn, only about half the cows 
came. Farmer John was worried. What could 
have happened to the others? He asked 
Roberta if he might borrow her pony and he 
rode Sunshine Rose into the meadow pasture. 

When he reached the fence near the corn¬ 
field, he realized why most of his herd had not 
come to the barn. There the cows lay, stretched 
out on the ground along the fence. One, two, 
three, four of them, yes, there were more, five, 
six, seven, eight, nine. Farmer John could not 
believe his eyes. More than half of his herd 
was gone. The cows lay dead. The lightning 
had struck the fence. Some of the cows were 
standing close to it. The lightning jumped 




48 


SPOTTY 


from the fence to the cows and they were killed 
instantly. 

It so happened that Old Spotty Cow and 
some of the others were standing near another 
fence. They were not injured. The reason 
for the difference is interesting. 

The fence near which the cows that were 
killed were standing was built on wooden posts. 
The wooden posts were sunk into the ground 
and the wires stretched on them. The fence 
near which Old Spotty and the other cows 
which did not lose their lives were standing, 
was made on steel posts. Steel is a conductor 
of electricity, and when the lightning struck 
this fence, the steel posts conducted it into the 
ground. Thus no harm was done. 

Farmer John observed all of this as he looked 
over the sad scene and determined that he 
would not have such a thing happen again. 

“It is very simple,” he said to himself, “to 
prevent losing cattle by lightning. All I need 
to do is to replace these wooden posts with 
steel ones. Then if the lightning does strike 
the fence, it will run into the ground. 


A FEARFUL TRAGEDY 


49 


And he was right. Many farmers have had 
a similar experience. They have lost valuable 
cows or horses because they were standing near 
a fence that was built on wooden posts and 
the lightning could not easily get into the 
ground unless it went through the bodies of 
the animals. That is why it jumped off of the 
fence into the bodies of Farmer John’s cows in 
an effort to get to the ground. The electricity 
was so strong that as it passed through the cows’ 
bodies, it killed them. 


Chapter XI 


SPOTTY COW HAS A RIVAL 

S OMETIMES Farmer John called Old 
Spotty Cow the mistress of the herd. 
She was the oldest cow on his farm. She 
realized this herself, and thought that Mosely 
Hill Farm belonged to her. At any rate, she 
seemed to feel the responsibility for everything 
that happened to the herd or near the barn. 

It was quite natural, therefore, that when 
another cow was brought to the farm that 
Old Spotty should feel it her duty to teach this 
stranger how to act. 

One day Farmer John turned a new cow 
into the pasture. Old Spotty Cow was near 
the barnyard gate when Farmer John brought 
the new arrival. 

Old Spotty approached the new animal as 
she walked into the pasture. Apparently the 
new arrival’s idea was to tend her own business 

so 


SPOTTY COW HAS A RIVAL 


51 


and expect everyone else to do the same. She 
walked on toward the meadow without paying 
any attention to Old Spotty Cow. But this 
did not fit in with Old Spotty’s plan. She 
started to run and got just far enough ahead 
of the new cow to block her path. 

The new cow whirled around and started 
in another direction. Old Spotty again blocked 
her way. The new cow was determined not 
to become angry and she turned again and 
started in another direction. Old Spotty Cow 
would not be ignored. She intended to be the 
boss of the farm and she ran around in front 
of the new cow again. This time she lowered 
her head, meeting the new cow’s head. The 
horns of each cow locked with those of the 
other as their heads came together. 

Old Spotty began to push. The new cow 
backed away. But she did offer some resistance, 
and Old Spotty renewed her effort to demon¬ 
strate her superiority. 

Finally the new cow accepted the challenge, 
lowered her head a little farther and pushed 
a little harder until Old Spotty was stopped. 


52 


SPOTTY 


There they stood, their heads together and 
their horns interlocked, each pushing as hard 
as the other and neither one moving. 

Finally, Old Spotty moved her head a little 
to one side. This twisted the neck of the new 
cow and she jumped over regaining her com¬ 
posure again. 

Thus they moved back and forth, Old Spotty 
trying to push harder than the other cow, the 
other cow pushing just hard enough to hold 
her own. 

At last Old Spotty determined to exert her 
utmost effort and she backed just a little bit 
to make the new cow feel that she was going 
to give up the contest. But she immediately 
started forward again and with the added 
momentum was able to push the new cow 
steadily away from her. The new cow of 
course was not familiar with the pasture and 
could not very well see where she was backing. 

She finally came to the edge of the hill at 
a point where Farmer John had taken out 
several loads of gravel, leaving a big hole in 
the side of the hill. Old Spotty knew just 



Spotty pushed the other cow away from her 


53 












54 


SPOTTY 


what she was doing and she gave one final push 
and over the bank toppled the new cow. She 
dropped into the gravel hole and rolled over 
a few times, finally landing on her feet near 
the bottom of the hill. 

Old Spotty lifted her head, pushed her nose 
into the air, and snorted. She was victorious. 
She was still the mistress of Mosely Hill Farm. 



Chapter XII 


HER APPETITE GETS SPOTTY 
INTO TROUBLE 

O LD SPOTTY COW had been watching 
the development of the corn across the 
fence from the meadow pasture with interest. 
Cows are very fond of green corn, but too much 
of it is dangerous. That is why Farmer John 
had a strong fence between the meadow pasture 
and the cornfield. 

One day, however, Old Spotty’s appetite 
could not be satisfied with the grass in the 
meadow. She walked along the fence trying 
to find a place where she might get into the 
field of growing corn. 

Finally she came to a gate, but the gate was 
closed. Then she began to push at the gate 
with her horns. One of her horns caught in 
one of the boards of the gate and it moved. 
Spotty pushed again and she was able to open 
the gate sufficiently to walk through. 

55 



56 


SPOTTY 


Her ambition was to be realized. She walked 
through the gate and began to eat the green 
corn. She did not stop to eat a whole stalk, 
but took a bite here and another bite there. 
In her eagerness to eat, she wandered far into 
the cornfield. 

That night when the other cows came to 
the barn, Old Spotty was missing. Farmer 
John was always concerned when Old Spotty 
did not come up with the rest of the cows, and 
so as soon as he had the others safely in their 
stanchions, he started out to search for Old 
Spotty Cow. 

When he came to the gate between the 
meadow pasture and the cornfield, he saw that 
it was partly open. He walked through and 
was able to follow the trail Old Spotty Cow 
had left, because he found here a stalk cut in 
two and there a tassel picked off, so that there 
was an easy trail to follow. 

Farmer John was worried because he knew 
that a cow is likely to eat more corn than she 
should when she gets into a cornfield, and he 
knew that it would make Spotty very ill. 






HER APPETITE GETS SPOTTY IN TROUBLE 57 


He walked faster and faster and was sur¬ 
prised that he did not come to Spotty Cow. 
Certainly, he thought, she could not have gone 
entirely through the field. 

Finally, he came upon her. There she lay 
on the ground in a heap. Her sides were 
swollen almost like a balloon. That is what 
always happens to a cow when she eats too 
much green corn. Gas forms in her stomach 
and her sides fill out just like a balloon. 

Farmer John had been afraid that this was 
what had happened and had carried with him 
a little tool which has a sharp point on it and 
a movable cylinder over the shank. He quickly 
thrust this into Old Spotty Cow’s side and 
pierced a hole into her stomach. Then he 
withdrew the shank and left the tube through 
which the gas began to escape. 

It took quite a little time for all the gas to 
escape. In the meantime, Spotty lay there very 
still with her eyes closed. Farmer John was 
not sure whether she was dead or not. Cer¬ 
tainly she would have been dead if he had not 
arrived as soon as he did. 


58 


SPOTTY 


After the gas had all escaped, Old Spotty 
Cow began to stir a bit. She opened her eyes 
and finally lifted her head. She saw Farmer 
John and tried to struggle to her feet. She 
seemed too weak to get up. So Farmer John 
took hold of her shoulder and helped her get 
on to her knees and then up on to her feet. 

“Well, old lady,” said Farmer John, as he 
led her toward the barn, “I hope this will be 
a lesson that you will not forget. A cow as 
old as you ought to know better than to fill 
herself with green corn. I arrived just in time 
to save your life.” 



Chapter XIII 


HOW CAN A MACHINE BE A FRIEND? 

ALL day long, Old Spotty Cow eats grass 
■L J-in the meadow and manufactures milk 
either for her calf or for Farmer John. At 
night, when she comes to the barn, her udder 
is filled. 

Her calves never have to be taught how to 
get the milk. They seem to know where to 
go when they get hungry. 

Farmer John has to draw the milk out of 
Old Spotty Cow’s udder with his hands. 

Old Spotty likes to have the milk drawn 
from her udder, but she prefers to have it 
drawn in the regular way. If someone should 
attempt to draw it from the left side, for 
example, she would object very strenuously. 

One night when Farmer John attempted to 
draw it in still another way, she objected also. 

On this particular evening, Old Spotty was 

59 


60 


SPOTTY 


eating her food in the stall when she heard a 
whirring sound back of her. This was a strange 
sound and she did not like it. She turned her 
head about, twisting the stanchion as she did 
so. There was Farmer John. But he was not 
milking her. Instead of the milk pail, there 
was a large pail with a cover on top of it, and 
on top of this cover was an electric motor. 

Running from the pail to Spotty Cow’s udder 
was a long red rubber tube. On the end of 
this tube were other tubes and four cup-like 
affairs, each of which slipped over one of Old 
Spotty Cow’s teats. When Farmer John put 
one of these on to Old Spotty Cow, it began 
to draw the milk, but it did not feel natural, 
and Old Spotty did not like it. She lifted first 
one leg and then the other. She stepped this 
way and that way. Finally she kicked. But 
Farmer John had the pail where she could not 
hit it with her foot and was himself standing 
where he would not be kicked. 

He expected the cow to object to the new 
contrivance. It was a milking machine. 

The electric motor on the top of the machine 


HOW CAN A MACHINE BE A FRIEND? 61 


operates an air pump which sucks the milk 
out of the cow’s udder and deposits it in the 
pail. There is also a thin rubber arrangement 
inside of the cup which squeezes the teat as 
the suction is applied. 

As a matter of fact, the effect is very much 
the same as when Old Spotty Cow’s calf is 
getting its dinner. But still Old Spotty Cow 
did not like the situation. She was not accus¬ 
tomed to having a machine at her side. While 
the noise was not very loud, it irritated her 
and she shook her head, twisting the stanchion, 
stepping forward and then backward, but the 
milking went right on. 

A cow can do more than step around if she 
does not like the way she is being milked. She 
appears to have the ability of holding up her 
milk so that it cannot be drawn, and Farmer 
John did not receive as much as usual that night. 

Old Spotty did not like the idea of having 
a machine for a friend. She appreciated human 
beings for friends, but a machine was something 
she could not understand. However, as time 
went on, she became accustomed to the milking 







62 


SPOTTY 


machine and finally gave even more milk to 
it than when she was milked by hand. 

The milking machine milks two cows at 
a time and operates so much more rapidly than 
a man, that it paid Farmer John to milk in this 
way because he could have more cows and 
therefore have more milk to sell. 


Chapter XIV 


SPOTTY NEARLY LOSES HER HOME 

O NE day a strange man came into the barn 
with Farmer John just before the cows 
were milked. Together they looked over the 
herd and several cows were selected which the 
strange man took away with him in a truck. 
When they came to Old Spotty Cow, the 
stranger said to Farmer John. 

“There is a cow that you ought to let me 
have. She is just right for beef, and she doesn’t 
give you much milk.” 

Farmer John looked at Old Spotty and shook 
his head. Old Spotty had been too faithful 
to allow her to leave Mosely Hill Farm. 

“Well,” said he, “I think you will have to 
leave Old Spotty with me. Even though she 
does not give enough milk to quite pay her 
board, she gives me a good calf every year and 
that is enough to make a good profit. And 

63 


64 


SPOTTY 


besides, the whole family is very much attached 
to her.” 

This stranger had arranged with Farmer 
John to test the cows in his herd and a few 
days before, tests had been made to find out 
how much butter could be made from the milk 
given by each cow in the herd. The price 
of the butter was figured and the value of the 
skimmed milk. Then the cost of keeping each 
cow was determined. It was found that some 
of the cows did not give anywhere near enough 
milk to pay for their feed, and those were the 
ones that Farmer John sold to the stranger. 

“Even if Old Spotty did not give any milk 
at all,” Farmer John told his wife that evening, 
“I believe I would keep her as long as she lives.” 

So Old Spotty did not lose her home after all. 







* 


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JUN 1 5 WZ1