LESSON XXXII.
1. The ox is very strong, and can do work like a horse. When oxen are used, two are put together with a wooden yoke on their necks.
2. Oxen can draw large loads, and can work a long time without being tired; but they are so slow that they are not used much, except on farms.
3. In summer, cattle run in the pasture and live upon grass. They gnaw it off close to the ground, and they feed most of the day.
4. In the middle of the day, when the weatheris hot, they lie down in the shade, or stand up to their knees in the water, to keep cool.
5. At night the cows are driven to the farm-yard and milked, and in the morning they are milked again and driven back to the pasture.
6. In winter, cattle are kept in the stable, or in the farm-yard where there is a shed that they can go into when it storms or is very cold.
7. They are fed with hay; but cows that give milk, and working-oxen, are fed with grain also. Beets and turnips are sometimes fed to cattle.
8. When cattle stand in the shade chewing their cud, there is no other animal that looks so mild, and pleasant, and happy.
9. The cow is very fond of her calf, and licks it over several times a day. If anybody hurts the calf, he must look out for the old cow’s horns.
10. I have heard of a little lamb that had lost its mother, and was put into a lot with six cows. After a time he was taken out and put with the other sheep. But they all fought him, and he was sent back to his old pasture.
11. The cows all rushed up to meet him, and he ran to each in turn. Then one cow licked him all over, and he was passed to the next, and so on until all had done the same thing.