Volume 7 Issue 2 The International Society for Cow Protection Summer/Fall 1997

his issue is the first issue togive a serious format to theknowledge and experienceshared by ISCOWP and its

members through e-mail as well as thewritten form. A cow protection manualconcerned with lifetime protection is beingcompiled mostly from ISCOWP’s cowconference on the ISKCON COM bulletinboard. Within this conference informationis networked amongst 80 members fromapproximately 20 countries. Since the cowand bull are the basis of the Vedic culture,often discussions of related topics such asagriculture ensue. A small part of thatpractical information, along with writtenand other e-mail correspondence, isprinted in this issue’s letter section. Theinformation is organized in deference topractical topic headings. Future issues willcontain more information from thesesources adding to topics already under dis-cussion and additional topics.

Your participation is welcomed andneeded to encourage and inform thoseseeking knowledge of an alternativelifestyle

Inside This Issue

Letters From Around theWorld

page 2-5, 14-16

Energy Autonomous andEnvironmentally CleanFarm (EAECF)

page 6-7, 17,19

ISCOWP’s BasementHome “Dried In”

page 8-9,

ISCOWP Outreach page10-11

Minimum Cow ProtectionStandards

page12-13

ISCOWP Update page18-19

Sharing Knowledge and Experience of Cow Protection

Bulls are the Basis

This issue has been sponsored by:

ONE WORLD FAMILY (TULASI DAS)

Rd 1 Box 310, Moundsville, West Virginia, 26041

Page 2 THE ISCOWP NEWS

Flies on CowsFrom: Subala (das) HKS (S)Date: 10-Aug-97 12:18 SSTTo: Cow (Protection and related is-sues) [848]Subject: oils against flies.----------------------------------------Dear Balabadra Prabhu!

I just wonder what is actually PENNY-ROYAL oil? What is it made of?

I have been searching for it but not beenable to find it so now I’m surrenderingunto you again.

The other oils you recommended I havegot some idea where to find but generallyI only find them in the essence form whichI understand to be the pure stuff withoutany mixture. Now my question is, is thisthe ingredient you referred to when yougave this recipe for oil mixture to get redof flies from cows AND oxen.

1/3 OUNCE PENNYROYAL1 OUNCE EUCALYPTUS2 OUNCE CITRONELLA OIL

ISCOWP REPLIESDear Subal Prabhu

I have your e-mail of Aug. 10, 1997 Re-garding the herb called PENNYROYAL.Even in America it is a little hard to find.The following is from a book by the nameof PETERSON'S FIELD GUIDES EAST-ERN/CENTRAL MEDICINAL PLANTSby Steven Foster & James A. Duke.

"American Pennyroyal Hedeoma pule-gioides (L.) Pers. Mint family Aro-matic, soft-hairy annual; 6-18 in. Leavessmall, lance-shaped; toothed or entire.

Bluish flowers in leaf axils; July-Oct.Calyx 2-lipped, with 3 short and 2longer teeth. WHERE FOUND: Drywoods.USES: Leaf tea traditionally used forcolds, fevers, coughs, indigestion, kid-ney and liver ailments, headaches; topromote sweating, induce menstruation,expectorant; insect repellent.WARNING: Ingesting essential oil canbe LETHAL; contact with essential oil(a popular insect repellent) can causedermatitis.[skin irritation]."

I had a little trouble finding it butthe devotees have a little store here andthey have catalogs from several herbcompanies. Its not a cheap oil and Ithink I paid $50 U.S. for 16 ounces. Ican buy Mineral oil at the local drugstore in 64 ounce bottles. I pour offseveral ounces of mineral oil and addthe essential oils to the mineral oil bottleand SHAKE. The mineral oil becomesthe vehicle for the application of the es-sential oils. I wipe it on the whole bodyof the cows. Be careful around the eyesand nose as it will irritate them. It isalso useful for the devotees to use. I rubit on my arms and neck and it greatly re-duces the problems with the flies andmosquitoes but it is not 100% foolproofas in material nature there is always go-ing to be miseries caused by other livingentities. but it does help a lot.

The proportions that I use youshould also try to use especially thePENNYROYAL and EUCALYPTUSas they are quite strong. 1 ounce ofPENNYROYAL to 100 ounces of oil ;2 ounces of Eucalyptus oil to 100ounces of mineral oil; the citronella isnot so strong so use 2 or 3 ounces per100 ounces of mineral oil.

If the devotees are purchasing es-sential oils locally try and find out ifPennyroyal is available through theirsources. Good luck and let me knowhow you make out with finding whatyou need.

Balabhadra das.

From: WWW: Tulasi-priya (DeviDate: 18-Aug-97 15:04 ASTTo: Cow (Protection and related is-sues) [855]Subject: oils against flies: A warning————————————————

LettersDear Reader,

This issue contains correspondence,

mostly from the cow and related issues

conference on the COM bulletin board.

The format is mostly that of questions and

answers pertaining to the practical care

of the cow and bull separated into practi-

cal topic headings. In several cases the

discussion is not concluded allowing for

further discussion on the cow conference,

cow@com.bbt.se, to be printed in the next

issue. Also you can send in your com-

ments by letter.

Pregnant women (and pregnant cows,perhaps?) should stay far away from Pen-nyroyal oil as it has long been used to in-duce abortion.

Ys, Tulasi-priya dasi

From: WWW: Tulasi-priya (DeviDate: 18-Aug-97 21:12 ASTTo: Cow (Protection and related is-sues)Subject: Re: oils against flies: A warning-------------------------------------------------On 18 Aug 1997, Noma T. Petroff (HareKrsna Dasi) wrote: > > Is this only when it is taken inter-nally, or when it is used externally, >also?

Either internally or externally, I'veread. Mostly it's recommended to maketea from the dried or fresh herbs. Butsince the essential oil is much more con-centrated than the herb, even just inhalingit can be dangerous. No herb is consid-ered foolproof as an abortifacient (unlessit's very poisonous to the mother as well),but pennyroyal oil is considered poten-tially fatal to the mother as well as the fe-tus. I don't know if this applies to cowsalso.

Ys,Tulasi-priya dasi

ISCOWP REPLIESDear Prabhus,

In regards to the use of Pennyroyal-Ihave used it on oxen (as one of the ingre-dients in an oil to rid the cows of flies)with no problems developing. I have notused it on pregnant cows. So for now itwould be safest to not use it on thesecows. I will ask some herbalists if theyknow anything about the herb Pennyroyalhaving any negative affect on a pregnantcow if used as an oil, smell also.

Balabhadra das

ISCOWP REPLIES21-Sep-97 12:31 AST

We have done some research and canfind no conclusive information that pen-nyroyal (topically applied) can causeabortion on a big animal like a cow espe-cially applied in the proportions that wehave described. However, there is muchevidence that the oil is very potent takenINTERNALLY in humans and also insome animals. We think it was Tulasi-priya who mentioned that the oil could

THE ISCOWP NEWS Page 3

cause abortion. If she or any other membersof this conference can find evidence that isdifferent please submit it to this conference.Please state references and resources.

We would definitely advise that preg-nant women should stay away from it.

Here is some facts we received by sub-mitting a question to the FolkloreHerbs conference on the Internet.

ISCOWP wrote:

>I have been using pennyroyal in aherbal mixture to rid my oxen (steers) offlies. Recently it was mentioned to me thatpennyroyal will cause abortion in humans.So, it was questioned whether it was dan-gerous to use this oil, which is rubbed onthe oxen, on pregnant cows. I was told thateven the smell of the pennyroyal oil cancause abortion in humans. Can pennyroyalcause abortion in cows, especially if rubbedon their bodies in a mixture of other herbaloils?>

"The short answer is No.

The detailed answer is:

When used topically the essential oil ofpennyroyal is not likely to cause an abor-tion.... especially not in a steer :) It is alsosafe FOR EXTERNAL use by humans butit has limited effect as an insect repellant inmy personal experience. I tried it with saltmarsh mosquitoes one night and had to fallback to the Deep Woods Off and flame-thrower.

Here is something that will be of use.

PENNYROYAL: Family Labiatae: Menthapulegium (European Pennyroyal),Hedeoma pulegioides (American Penny-royal)PARTS USED: Leaves and flowersProperties and uses: The herb is carmina-tive, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, sedative,abortifacient, expectorant and an insect re-pellent. The essential oil is an abortifacientand insect repellent. Pulegone is consideredto be the major active principal in this herb.Recommended for colds, flu, digestive dis-turbances, suppressed menstruation, men-strual cramps and PMS (herb ONLY!!) Theessential oil is recommended as an insectrepellent and EXTERNALLY ONLY as a

rub to relieve cramping.HISTORY: Pennyroyal has been recom-mended since the first century Romannaturalist Pliny advocated its use as a flearepellent cough medication and digestiveaid. Dioscorides added the recommenda-tion that this plant be used to stimulatemenstruation and help expel the after-birth. Gerard and Culpepper also advo-cated the use of this herb and it was in-cluded in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia from1831 to 1931.

In the early 1900's chemists begandistilling the oil from these plants and itis this essential oil that has given this oth-erwise innocuous plant a bad reputation.In 1897 the British medical journalLancet reported a case of death due to theattempted use of pennyroyal oil as anabortifacient, and since then at least adozen similar cases have appeared in themedical literature.WARNING: Pennyroyal OIL shouldnever be taken internally. The dose nec-essary to induce abortion is quite close tothe lethal dose. As little as 1/2 teaspoonof pennyroyal oil may induce convul-sions, and, according to the Journal of theAmerican Medical Association an 18year old pregnant woman died, despiteemergency medical treatment, two hoursafter taking two tablespoons of the essen-tial oil in an apparent attempt to inducean abortion.

When using pennyroyal oil exter-nally it is important to avoid contact withthe mucous membranes as the oil mayprove irritating.

University of Illinois pharmacogno-sist Norman Farnsworth, PHD, has esti-mated that it would take 75 GALLONSof pennyroyal herb infusion to approach apotentially toxic dose of pennyroyal oil,so standard infusions can be consideredreasonably non-toxic, assuming that nospecial sensitivity to the herb exists. Aseven pennyroyal tea may stimulate uter-ine contractions ALL pennyroyal shouldprobably be avoided by pregnant women.

In non-pregnant, non-nursing, other-wise healthy adults, a standard infusionof two teaspoons of the herb steeped in acup of boiling water and drunk in quanti-ties of up to two cups per day, or 1/4 to1/2 teaspoon of tincture of pennyroyal(NOT THE OIL) up to twice a day, isgenerally considered to be a safe and ef-

fective remedy. This herb should proba-bly not be used continuously in thesedosages for more than two weeks.

AGAIN: THE ESSENTIAL OIL OFPENNYROYAL SHOULD NEVER BETAKEN INTERNALLY!!!

Cultivation:European pennyroyal is a perennial

herb that is probably best propagatedfrom cuttings. It needs room to spreadout and likes moist semi-shady condi-tions. This plant can become quite inva-sive in the garden! American pennyroyalis an annual and should be grown fromspring or fall sown seed. This plant alsoprefers moist semi-shady conditions.

References:Allen, W. T. 1987. Lancet II:1022.Buechel, D. W. et al. 1983. Journal of theAmerican Osteopathic Association82:793.Early, E. F. 1961. Lancet II:580 Sullivan,B. et al. 1979. Journal of the AmericanMedical Association 242:2873

This text is copyright (C) 1994 by GailFarquhar. It may be distributed freely aslong as no fees are solicited or requiredother than the cost of the disk or hardcopy reproduction and no modificationsare made to the text."

Balabhadra das &Chayadevi dasi

ISCOWP REPLIESOctober 1, 1997

Someone by the name of Rose gave meinformation about how to rid the cows offlies after viewing my question aboutpennyroyal oil in the Folklore Herb con-ference.

"I have heard of farmers feeding di-atomaceous earth (DE) to their cattle &horses, in their regular food, for fleas andticks, and ended up realizing that the flyproblem had disappeared." RosePS I don't know the amount you shoulduse but you could e-mail the followingfor the answer. hgarrett@wbap.com

I e-mailed the above address and gotthe following answer:

NATURAL DE (DIATOMACEOUSEARTH) WOULD BE BETTER ANY-

Page 4 THE ISCOWP NEWS

WAY. FEED IT FREE-CHOICE OR UPTO 2% OF THE FEED RATIONS.GREAT FOR DIGESTION, INTERNALPARASITES, AND ACIDOSIS.

On his WEB page, Mr. Garrett recom-mends the same proportions for pets alsoto rid them of fleas. Apparently Mr.Howard Garrett is on radio and has writ-ten several books, all pertaining to or-ganic gardening. He also recommendsthat this DE is not the same found inswimming pools and should be boughtfrom your local organic retailer. It is alsorecommended by our local SouthernStates (where we get our feed).

What is diatomaceous earth?

The Webster Dictionary definition is,"containing or consisting of diatoms ortheir fossils." What are diatoms? Againthe dictionary definition is, "Any plant ofthe diatomaceae." And the definition ofdiatomaceae is: "in botany a family of al-gae, consisting of microscopic plantsfound in fresh and salt water."

Balabhadra feels we should definitelytry this and see how and if it works. Rightnow we are entering the cold seasonwhere there are no flies. So, the best timefor the experimentation would be duringthe hot weather.

In my research I found that the dairyfarms, which have a real problem withflies, have several different methods, in-volving chemicals and traps. One methodwhich comes under "biological control"is to release wasps that kill the flies. Ittakes 200 wasps per dairy cow to solvethe problem. Further complications ofthis approach seem to be logical.

Anyone familiar with this diatoma-ceous earth?

Yrs, Chayadevi dasi

Subj: Re: Mosquito and black fly remedy Date: Saturday, October 18, 1997

In the "Letters" section of OrganicGardening magazine (December, 1996)I found this remedy, used on horses. Willit work for cows? One-quarter to one-halfcup of apple cider vinegar to five gallonswater per day.OR

One tablespoon apple cider vinegar per

one hundred pounds body weight. Will itchange the flavor of the milk? Curdle it? :Itdoesn't seem like enough vinegar to do so,and who knows, it might even improve theflavor. Has anyone tried this on cows. Thewriter says it will not deter face flies.

Seems cheaper than pennyroyal. (Tulasi-priya)

On a small scale, you can grow the pen-nyroyal yourself and just rub the plant itselfdirectly on the animal - not cats though, asit makes them sick. Are we talking aboutin drinking water or spraying externally?(Madhava Gosh)

I'm just a city girl, but I would be hard-pressed to believe that such a small quan-tity of vinegar sprayed on the outside of acow would affect the flavor of the milk onthe inside. It's for drinking. (Tulasi-priya)

Castrating Bulls> Why are bulls castrated? I have been toldthat it is to keep them peaceful, but I amnot satisfied with this answer since I haveheard that even oxen fight among them-selves sometimes, and quite violently atthat. I do not recall reading in any sastraabout oxen, only bullocks, as in "bullock-carts", etc.

If the bull is to be considered our fatherand the symbol of religion, isn't it an of-fense to castrate them? Certainly we do notadvocate such a practice for human males,and they have been known to cause muchmore serious problems thanrandy bulls.>

Yrs, Tulasi-priya dd

From: WWW: Krsna Kirtana (Dasa)Date: 03-Aug-97 21:12 ASTTo: Cow (Protection and related issues)Subject: Is Castrating Bulls Vedic?---------------------------------------------------Dear Mata,

That is a great point. I grew up in Gu-rukula in a farm and I always wonderedwhy they were castrating the oxen since wewere being told that they were our father.Since we learn to see cows and oxen in arespectful way, we, as children, many timesfelt "humanly" very sorry for bad incidentsthat would occur to a cow or ox. Like youwere putting yourself in their shoes.

I would really like to have an answer tothe castration issue. It's a good point. Iwonder if in India this is also done.

Krsna Kirtan

Comments: WWW: Mangal Artika(Dasa) HDG (New Talavana MS - USA)Date: 05-Aug-97 09:20 ASTTo: Cow (Protection and related is-sues) [846]Subject: Is Castrating Bulls Vedic?-------------------------------------------------

I can't tell you the vedic reason but Ilived at New Talavan for many years andworked with the cows for some of thattime. We had to castrate the bull becausethe fences were in need of repair and thebull were able to mix with the cows. Sofor years we had breeding problems andthe heard got so large that they were hardto manage and feed. So if we didn't do itwe would lose them to starvation in thewinters and we would have too manycalves and too much milk.

Your servantMangal Artika Dasa

ISCOWP REPLIESDear Mother Tulasi priya , Mangal Ar-tika , Krsna Kirtan Prabhus,

Regarding the question of castration ofthe Bulls . Unfortunately we are living inKali Yuga with all of its sinful activitiesin full bloom. The only saving grace forliving in this age is Lord Caitanyas Hari-nama Sankirtan Movement which His Di-vine Grace Srila Prabhupada has sokindly involved us in as menial servants.By no stretch of the imagination are weliving in Vedic Times, Vedic Culture.We are living in Kali Yuga which wasushered in by a sudra dressed and posingas king but he was beating the legs of acow and bull.For the most part the bulls upon reach-ing maturity become unmangeable be-cause of the sex drive and are next to impossible to control if they catch the scentof a cow "in-heat". Many years ago, Isaw the bull at Gita Nagari go through afence and engage in a huge fight withseveral oxen who were in the same pas-ture with a cow who was "in-heat.”Need-less to say the fence line was destroyedas the fight went on . The oxen wereweighing 1800 to 2000 pounds each andstill they were not able to keep this onebull from performing his prescribed durtywith Go-mata after a huge fight andmuch property damage.

The saying goes among the farming

THE ISCOWP NEWS Page 5

community that one should never trustbull NO MATTER WHAT. When Ilived in North Carolina there was an arti-cle in the newspaper one day how thisold man had been killed by a Bull. Itturned out that this man had raised thisbull from birth and had been kind andthoughtful to him his entire life. The bullwas quite old and had been put out topasture to live out his life in retirementinstead of being sent to the slaughter-house. The old man, as was his habit,visited the bull in the pasture on a regularbasis. However, on this one day after hisvisit he turned to walk out of the pastureand the bull attacked him from behindand killed him right there in the pasture[karma?]

Sex drive, being the main drive andbinding force of the material world, isvery difficult to manage in BIG ANI-MALS who are acting instinctively onthe biological pushings of the body. So,what to do?

I agree with you all that if it were notneeded then why castrate. But in my ex-perience working with animals for a longtime now I have come across only 1 or 2bulls who could work and be trusted[relatively], and they were in Vrindavan[not an ordinary place]. All the bullcalves that I have trained and workedwith became unmanageable between 6months and 1 year of age. Usually at 1year they are weighing 1000 pounds.This is a signal for me to call the vet .

The method of castration which weused at Gita Nagari and which I still useExclusively is called "BLOODLESSCASTRATION". There is no cuttingand removing of the testicle. There is noplacing of a rubber band around the testi-cle until it withers and falls off after sev-eral days or a week. I prefer to use asedative called Rompam which acts veryquickly, usually within 2 or 3 minutes theanimal is ready. At this point the vet usesa instrument called a BURDEZIO whichis a clamp to pinch the spermatic cordwhich carries the semen and blood to thetesticles-. The clamp is left on each sper-matic cord for about 2 minutes whichmeans that the whole operation takesabout 6 minutes for each animal. Afterthe sedative wears off they are sore butusually within 2 hours they are back ontheir feet grazing in the pasture. The

Christians will argue that castrationhas taken away part of the animal andin essence he is no longer whole. Butin the BLOODLESS CASTRATIONmethod there is no removal of the testi-cle and at a glance it appears as thoughthe animal is still a bull because the tes-ticle sack is still very much obviousbetween the rear legs of the animal. Iam coming across more and more vetswho are using this form of castrationexclusively .

A devotee by the name of Pitavasover in France once told me of an areain the south of France where the peopleare working their Bulls and have beendoing so for many generations. At theend of their working lives they are re-tired to the pasture until they die ac-cording to the laws of nature. I amthinking because they have done thisfor generations that this Love and Trusthas become a built in part of that herdsmentality and that the bulls are manage-able. It is definitely worth someonegetting in touch with Pitavas and get-ting some more information on thesepeople and their operation.

Maybe in several generations we canbecome capable of working bulls butSrila Prabhupada has told us that PU-RITY IS THE FORCE and to be HON-EST [the last leg of the Bull standing inKali Yuga] with you, WE HAVE ALONG WAY TO GO!!!!!

Begging to remain your servant,Balabhadra das

From: Vyapaka (das) ACBSP(Canada)Date: 18-Aug-97 19:08 ASTTo: Cow (Protection and relatedissues) [856]Subject: castration-----------------------------------------------

In the Dominican Republic and alsoin Cuba I have seen bulls being work-ed. I don't think it is a question of tradi-tion but rather of technique which ofcourse also is part of tradition .

I agree though that one should nevertrust a bull. I have heard this also manytimes.

Cow Manure and UrineFrom: WWW: Tulasi-priya (DeviDasi) SDG (?) Date: 17-Aug-97 11:18 ASTTo: Cow (Protection and related is-sues) [851]Subject: Manure for purification, etc.-----------------------------------------------

I would like to use cow manure topurify my home and, as I've heard it isused, to repel insects (I have an ant prob-lem). Can someone tell me (perhaps HareKrsna Mataji?) exactly how to do this?Does the manure have to be fresh fromthe cow, i.e., you collect it directly fromthe cow before it hits the ground? Do youapply it and let it remain, or rinse it off?Also, if it's supposed to repel insects,why does it attract flies? Thanking you inadvance,

Ys, Tulasi-priya dasi

From: Hare Krsna (dd) PDA(Brunswick, Maine - USA)Date: 17-Aug-97 12:01 ASTTo: Cow (Protection and relatedissues) [852]Subject: Re: Manure for purification,...............................................................

I hope someone else will respond onthis. I have never been to India and don'tknow how it's done. My impression isthat it is a very simple process. I don'tthink it would be practical if you had tocatch all the manure before it hit theground. They pack it right on to a dirtfloor. Dried manure is probably differentfrom wet manure as far as attracting flies.Probably more like adobe or somethinglike that

I once heard a story from an Indian-born woman from Canada whose hus-band was a dentist. She told about a pe-riod in their lives when they lived in theCaribbean. In their early and less pros-perous days, they made a cow-manurefloor just as they had known in India.

When they became more prosperousthey moved into a fancy home with awooden floor. In their new home, theyhad a problem with snakes coming infrom time to time. But snakes had nevercome in across the cow-manure floor,even though it would have been easier forthem to enter, since it was closer to theground.

continued on page 14

Page 6 THE ISCOWP NEWS

motes wholesale animal slaughter, aftera lifetime of exploitation of the innocentanimals, only for a monetary profitWhen there is a big scheme for profitbased on exploitation and violence theend result will ultimately end in disasterof one kind or another.

We are bound by the LAWS OF NA-TURE of which there is a reaction forevery action (KARMA). We must bevery careful to set up our communitiesso that we are protecting the innocentcitizens as well as the land who in

essence is ourMother. She willprovide all of thenecessities oflife if we honorHer with Loveand Respect.

There is abook written byE.F. Schumakerby the title of"Small is Beauti-ful." The firstseveral chaptersare pertaining tofossil fuelswhich he de-scribes as UN-RENEWABLERESOURCESand then he goes

into Nuclear Fuel and its HIGHLYTOXIC WASTE MANAGEMENTPROBLEM. As we know these are notthe solutions for environmentallyfriendly living.

He also cites a Buddhist axiom whichin gist is that a village is considered tobe successful on the lack of consumptionof outside materials for its survival. Inthe cycle of the farm the term is "ONFARM INPUTS" verses "OFF FARMINPUTS". Why is it necessary to buynitrogen fertilizer when God has sup-plied nitrogen in the atmosphere whichcan be retrieved by planting certaincrops which take the nitrogen from theatmosphere and fix it in the soil throughtheir root system?

You speak of working the milking

Dear Balabhadra and Chayadevi,On July 28, we have sent you one letter

about one project of the Faculty of Agricul-ture, Novi Sad. Recently I have spokenwith Dr Petar Kavgic, the main person incharge for this project. He has said that in1998 there will be the world congress ofAgricultural Engineering in Morocco,Africa and that he will take part in it withthis EAECF(see subject of message) pro-ject. He is preparing his scientific work forthat congress, in which he would like tomention the farms of ISKCON and theircontribution tothe solution ofecological crisisin the world.Maha-ratha hasmentioned someISKCON-farmson the presenta-tion ofGOPALA in theAssociationVRELO, wherealso Dr Kavgicwas present.Prof. Dr. Kavgicwas very inter-ested and bor-rowed the bookDivine Naturefrom Maha-ratha.

On the occasion Dr Kavgic explained toMaha-ratha how he sees in his project thecows as producers of energy. With regardthat here in Yugoslavia the soil is almostcompletely fertilized by artificial fertiliz-ers, because of little livestock per cul-tivable soil, they will have to increase thenumber of cows on their experimentalfarm. In this way they will obtain naturalfertilizers which is the irreplaceable factorof one ecological farm. In that case thesecows will be used for the moving of onecircular system through which the electricalenergy will be produced. The cows willthen give less milk, but Dr Kavgic consid-ers that they will be healthier since theywill be naturally engaged and moveenough.We would like to ask you herewith to be so

kind and contact Dr. Kavgic directly bye-mail referring to this subject. He iswaiting for you to contact him. We praythat you are well.

Maha-ratha &Magdalena

ISCOWP REPLIESDear Professor Kavgic

Aug.,10,1997I have received recently a letter from

Milan Ristic (Maha ratha) of Gopal, who

made a presentation at VRELO whereyou also made a presentation.

In regards to the subject matter of EN-ERGY AUTONOMOUS AND ENVI-RONMENTALLY CLEAN FARMS Ihave a few questions. .Are you thinkingin terms of small family farms making upa village, or larger land holdings withmany hired hands being run strictly as anagri-business? We first and foremostconsider that all living entities bornwithin the state are citizens of the stateand must be given protection. We are notinterested in large agri-business as it pro-

Energy Autonomous and Enviromnetally Clean Farm (EAECF)

A Novi Sad (Former Yugoslavia) Project Considered and Approved by the United Nations

Balabhadra das and ISCOWP team Vraja

and Gita harrowing a field in hilly West

Virginia in preparation to plant rye.

THE ISCOWP NEWS Page 7

cows to turn a gear head which in turnpowers a generator which produces elec-tricity. You say that the milk cows willgive less milk because of their work loadbuts that's all right because they will be ingood physical condition because of theexercise.

When a cow has a calf about 50% of thetime the calf is a bull calf and when hegrows up and is trained he is very capableof doing the work which you are suggest-ing the milk cows should do. Just what isyour plan for the bulls calves? As we allknow the mothers are the bearers of thechildren and the men (fathers) are the sup-pliers of the family needs. He goes outand works to provide for the family. Sothe cow provides the family with milk, but-ter, cheese, yogurt and other substancessuch as manure and urine which can beused for fertilizer, cleaning, and medicine.Yes, cow urine is considered as a

medicine for kidney and liver ailments.Cow manure is considered one of the bestfertilizers in the world. In America, theold farmers called it "Farmers Gold". Inthe Hindu tradition of India there are manydemigods residing in the different parts ofthe cow’s body. In the manure of the cowlives the demigod by the name of Lakshmidevi (the Goddess of Fortune).

Also, it has been found that instead ofincorporating the raw cow manure into thesoil it is actually more beneficial to run themanure through a methane digester. If thissystem is employed then one is given thegift of methane gas for cooking and lightsand the slurry (sludge), which is then left,has become fully surcharged with en-zymes, microbes, and bacteria. The slurryis actually more nutritious for the soil andis absorbed much easily into the soil thanthe raw manure.

So please give careful thought to the em-ployment of the bulls on the farm. Not onlywill they work but they will supply moremanure and urine. Not only is manure andurine needed for fertilizer but so is a goodfarm plan of crop rotation. This includes aperiod of fallow for a portion of the landevery year, as well as some green manuresystem, also commonly called "plowdowns" which helps to supply organic mat-ter (Humus) to the soil.

Mono cropping is also being looked atas not so good . Instead, several crops aregrown at the same time in the same beds

(companion planting). This is done forseveral reasons. One reason is that cer-tain plants give off certain smells thatcertain bugs don't like . When they areplanted in a bed with other plants toward off bugs, in effect they are acting asan insecticide. They also act as an addi-tional crop and even a source of fertilizersuch as a nitrogen fixing crop.

The duty of the bull is to plow theagricultural fields and provide the foodgrains for its family as well as the humanfamily. A byproduct of growing grainsis straw. In many countries now, straw isbeing used as a building material. It isbaled, either by machine or by handpress, into a rectangular shape andstacked like huge bricks. Because of thedensity of these bales the insulation ofthe house, store, church, school is greatlyincreased. By increasing the insulationfactor it is easier to heat and keep warmin the winter, and in the summer thebuildings stay cooler without need of airconditioning units, Hence, straw is help-ing to conserve energy by its insulationfactor requiring less gas, wood , coal,electric or whatever energy is beingused.

Just imagine if 50% of the energy youconsider necessary to live today, is notreally needed because of our impracticalways of building. By employing naturalresources such as straw, which in manyplaces is just burnt in the field and con-sidered a waste product not worth thetime to pick up, energy can be saved.Here in America , a ban on burningstraw has actually been posted becauseof the tremendous air pollution that iscreated by the burning of thousands oftons of straw. Now the farmers are see-ing that the straw can be used in thebuilding trades, and the people in chargeof issuing permits for the building ofhouses are being forced to research thisproduct as an alternative to traditionalmeans of building houses and as muchmore energy efficient. A win-win situa-tion all the way around.

How much energy does it take to pro-duce cement, cut lumber or any otherbuilding materials used in your area? Isstraw a more economical building mate-rial in this sense also? Yes!! And it isproduced locally and is relatively inex-pensive to purchase and acquire by even

the poorest people for shelter after har-vesting their food grains.

Just a few thoughts to think about tohopefully begin some meaningful dia-logue and implementation of these envi-ronmentally friendly ideals of living re-spectfully on the Earth, our Mother andProvider. I hope to hear from you in thenear future with some of your plans,thoughts, ideas, etc.

I had the good fortune to travel to Rus-sia in the summer of 94 and maybe, if allgoes well, I will be able to come to yourcountry in March or April of 98 to visitwith the Ristic family and to help themwith their project. When is the WorldCongress of Agricultural Engineering inMorocco? Thank you so much for yourtime.

Balabhadra das(William E. Dove)Managing DirectorInternational SocietyFor Cow Protection

PROFESSOR KAVGIC REPLIES

I express great respect to Mr. Dovewho expressed significant interest for theProject "Energy Autonomous and Envi-ronmentally Clean Farm" (EAECF). Onthat project I have been working alreadyseveral years, and the news is that on aSpecial Session of the United NationsGeneral Assembly to Review and Ap-praise the Implementation of Agenda 21,considered and approved the World SolarProgram 1996 - 2005, including the listof High - Priority National Projects(among them is also the Project EAECF).

I am specially glad that the modern sci-entific settings I have built in the Projectagree in one part with the ancient bookVeda, respectively subsequent Hindu reli-gion. As the word Veda itself means inSanskrit "knowledge", it is obvious thatin them it is gathered the great experienceof numerous human generations whichprobably reach into the very beginning ofthe organized human societies, that is theorigin of culture and civilization.

Since Mr. Dove sent me a longer letter,it is my duty but also my satisfaction toanswer it.

Continued on page 17

Page 8 THE ISCOWP NEWS

In the last issue of the ISCOWP Newswe described building the basement’s ce-ment walls for ISCOWP’s straw-balehome. The next step was to prepare thebasement floor. To do that we needed toadd 8 inches of sand to the basement floorbecause we were going to pour only 4inches of cement. We were starting with a1 foot deficit. So, by the time we got to 8inches of sand covering the floor it addedup to 33 tons spread out over 1200 squarefeet. Needless to say this was labor inten-sive taking several days with sometimes 4of us working on it.

The pile of of sand was dropped at theend of the driveway and we had a good 30yards to move it with a wheelbarrow onto aramp which was sitting on the lip of thebasement wall. Then we dumped it overthe ledge and shoveled it into different ar-eas of the house. It took 3 loads of sand,each load being approximately 11 tons.

After this, all the plumbing and elec-tricity was laid and we bought the win-dows, doors, and lumber for the roof. Theroof will be movable since we will moveinto the basement and build upon it twomore floors as soon as we have enoughmoney.

After we moved all the sand onto thebasement floor, we needed to put in thebeam that would support the next floor sys-tem (joists). We started with 12 inch steel

I-beams which we procured from HeavyEquipment (Varsana Maharaja's depart-ment) in 3 pieces. We needed a total of40 feet and we needed to raise it 10 feetin the air. We took lumber and made a

ISCOWP’s Basement Home has been “Dried In”Baladeva stayed home for one month to accomplish getting the house secured for winter.

Left- Moving 33 tons of sand onto the

basement floor with wheelbarrow and

shovel.

Top - Smoothing the basement’s cement

floor to a glassy finish.

Bottom - Raising the steel I -beams that

will help to support the next two floors.

When the floor was done we had towait one day for it to be dried and aired.so it could be walked on.

The next project was to put the floor

log cabin configuration. Using the lum-ber as support, we raised the I-beam tothe proper height

Baladeva then welded everythingtogether. After the beams were in place,because they were old and rusty, we tooka grinder to them and ground off most ofthe rust. After that was finished we ap-plied a product to the metal which con-verted the rust through a chemical reac-tion and sealed the beam from furtheroxidation.

Then Baladeva put 3 supportcolumns out of 4 inch square tubing tosupport the beam. These were also sal-vaged, not pretty to look at, but they willbe enclosed in the wall structure so theywill not be seen.

After the beam was in place wehired a local mason contractor to comein and do the cement floor slab whichtook them one day to pour and finishwith a real smooth texture.

THE ISCOWP NEWS Page 9

Right - Baladeva welding two steel beams together to form the supportbeam for the next two floors.

1st bottom - Putting the floor joists in place.

2nd bottom - When the trusses were in place, OSB sheathing was screweddown to the trusses.

3rd bottom - After the sheathing was in place we used asphalt roll roofingand nailed that down to the OSB sheathing. And now the basement house is

secured for winter.

joists into place.

After the joists were in we locked theminto place with 2 by 12 blocks and then puton the sub-flooring, tongue and groove 3/4inch plywood. Instead of using nails, theplywood was screwed into the floor joiststo minimize squeaks in the floor (rememberthere is to be 2 stories above the basement).

After the floor joists and the sub-flooring was in place we ordered rooftrusses which took a day to put up. This is atemporary roof system, which when wecomplete the house, will be taken off andused on two cottages.

After we put the trusses up we usedhalf inch OSB sheathing which we screweddown to the tresses. Then we used 5 yearasphalt roll roofing and nailed that down tothe OSB sheathing. That took 4 of us 2days.

After that was finished we proceededto frame in the interior walls for the bed-rooms, bathroom, kitchen, utility room,living room area, and install the 2 exteriordoors and the basement windows. Thebasement is now officially "dried in." Afew more things will be done to make itpossible for Balabhadra to use the facilitythis winter. But we do not have enoughmoney to finish the basement right now forall of ISCOWP to move in. After stayinghome for one month to get the house “driedin”, Baladeva is now driving truck again topay for what was spent and to finish theconstruction. We figure by next spring wewill have enough money to finish the base-ment project and move into our new homeby early or mid summer.

Page 10 THE ISCOWP NEWS

Jitendra Saved From the Slaugh-

terhouse

Kamalesh and Arti Shah decided theywanted to save another bull calf from theslaughterhouse and finance his lifetimeprotection with ISCOWP. Last year Viren-dra was also saved from the slaughterhouse by them and cared for by ISCOWP.Since then Virendra has been trained to afew voice commands and is quite happygrazing the pastures of Vrajapura Farm.

Kamalesh and Balabhadra went to theauction to select a bull calf that Balabhadracould train to a productive life. When theysaw Jitendra it appeared that he was morecalm than the others as if he knew this wasnot the end of the line for him. It was ahard choice because there were so manyhelpless and deserving calves. They bothwished they could save all of them.

Jitendra was bought for only $40, thecost of his flesh to the butcher. We discov-ered later that Jitendra must have neversucked milk from his mother. Since his lifewas planned to be very short, becominghealthy from his mother’s milk was not aconsideration. He didn't know how to suckfrom the milk bottle until almost forced.

But when he did learn how there was nostopping him.

Because he had not been nourished byhis mother’s milk, our vet felt he mustnot have gotten colostrum which is veryimportant to the proper development of acalf's digestive tract. He was having ahard time stabilizing. Sporadically he haddiarrhea and often appeared listless.Chaya fed him a combination of rice wa-ter and milk (half and half) 4 times a day,but it wasn't until she cooked feed grainswith the milk and combined it with therice water that his health started to pickup.

Now he is healthy and has the associa-tion of two other bull calves who wereborn at New Vrndavana; Gopal andPartha. They are presently housed in theshed we built across the road from thehouse we are living at. This shed wasused for last year’s calves from the NewVindavana herd and Virendra. When wemove to Vrajapura Farm next spring/early summer Jitendra, Partha, and Gopalwill come also.

At first Gopal the older and biggest ofthe lot (he is about 6 months old) bulliedJitendra. Now, Gopal has been gettingalong nicely with Jitendra. Partha had notrouble taking a liking to Jitendra fromthe start. Since there is a fenced areaaround the shed they have shelter and aregrazing together happily.

ISCOWP Outreach

Top - Jitendra, who was saved from theslaughterhouse, is enjoying his pasturing

grounds.

Bottom - Balabhadra and Virendra aregetting to know each other. Virendra

was saved last year from the slaughter-

house by Kamalesh and Arti Shah.

Right - At Vrajapura Farm, Balabhadrainstructed Madhusudana on ISCOWP’s

team Agni & Shyam

THE ISCOWP NEWS Page 11

ISCOWP Training at Gita-nagari

Balabhadra has been visiting Gita-nagarifarm to help get their ox program startedonce again. Years ago, when we livedthere, all the buildings on the property wereheated with wood hauled from the forest bythe oxen. There were 16 fires in all whichwere provided with wood by ox-power.

Gita-nagari has recently received 3 bullcalves donated to them. These calves wereon their way to the slaughterhouse and nowthey are being trained to voice commandsso they will be able to provide ox-power atGita-nagari. They are now working on thecommands of "Gee" and "Haw. Kripa,Madhu, and Burfy are very intelligent andare learning very easily and quickly. Mad-husudana das has been training under Bal-abhadra to be their teamster.

At this point in time there are no trainedolder oxen at Gita-nagari and no one withthe experience and knowledge to trainthem. Buck is trained but he is too old nowto work. Bhima, who is one of the team of

with ISCOWP’s team Agni & Shyam.

Bhima stayed in the woods about 3hours, gradually increasing the size of hisload until we got an understanding ofwhat his capacity was without workinghim too hard on his first work day. If anox is loaded too heavy and he can notpull the load, he can become discouraged,especially if he is not experienced.Therefore, in the beginning it is best toload them light and work up to heavierloads.

Balabhadra is constantly in touch withMadhusudana and we have all hopes ofhis success training the oxen there. Bal-abhadra is planning another trip to Gita-

Bhima was nervous at first, but he didvery well once he got use to the noise ofsomething being pulled behind him andthe new situation. Madhusudana had pre-viously learned the basics of being ateamster by staying 2 weeks at VrajapuraFarm. At Vrajapura he practiced logging

nagari before the winter becomes verycold. Presently Madhusudana is takingBhima into the woods to get firewoodand is continuing to train the 3 bullcalves.

the experience and knowledge to trainthem. Buck is trained but he is too oldnow to work. One ox, Bhima, is 3 yearsold and knows all the commands. He isone of the team of Bhima and Manu whoBalabhadra trained in Sandy Ridge, NorthCarolina about 3 years ago. Under

Middle - Bhima outfitted with a singleharness and traces so he can efficiently

log in the woods.

Left - Madhusudana and Bhima loggingin the woods of Gita-nagari

Right- Madhusudana and Burfy.

Balabhadra's direction he was outfittedwith a single yoke, traces, chains, andsingle tree so that he would be equippedto log in the woods. Balabhadra tookBhima and Madhusudana das, ( Mad-husudana has been inspired by Balab-hadra's lectures of self-sufficiency to be-come the teamster at Gita-nagari), intothe woods to train both how to log.

Page 12 THE ISCOWP NEWS

he following is a proposal of cowprotection guidelines for the SocialDevelopment Committee for adop-

tion by the GBC. It is the hope of its au-thors that these guidelines will be adoptedso that at least a minimum standard of pro-tection for ISKCON’s cows will be en-sured. Most of the points in this proposalhave been discussed and formulated on theCOM cow conference by ISCOWP(Balabhadra das & Chayadevi dasi), Mad-hava Gosh das, Hare Krsna Dasi, and someof its other members.

THE COWS ARE AS IMPORTANT AS

THE CITIZENS

Krsna Book, Volume 1, Chapter 5

“It is also significant that Vasudeva in-quired about the welfare of Nanda Mahara-ja's animals. The animals, and especiallythe cows, were protected exactly in themanner of one's children. Vasudeva was aksatriya, and Nanda Maharaja was avaisya. It is the duty of the ksatriya to giveprotection to the citizens of mankind, andit is the duty of the vaisya to give protec-tion to the cows. The cows are as importantas the citizens. Just as the human citizensshould be given all kinds of protection, sothe cows also should be given full protec-tion.”

BRAHMINICAL CULTURE CANNOT

BE MAINTAINED WITHOUT COW

PROTECTION

Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 8: Chapter 24,Text 5 Purport

“Without protection of cows, brahmini-cal culture cannot be maintained; and with-out brahminical culture, the aim of life can-not be fulfilled.”

MINIMUM COW PROTECTION

STANDARDS

The term cows is used herein to meancows, calves, oxen, and bulls.

Cows are domestic animals, not wild

animals. They are dependent on the careof humans.

1) No Cow Should be Killed:Either directly or indirectly. Indirectly

includes the following: a) Transferring ownership to non devo-tees who will inevitably send the animalto a slaughterhouse. b) Death through failure to provide min-imal feed, shelter, and health care. c) Loss of animals to rustlers by failureto perform regular observations. Rustlerssteal animals they know aren't watched. d) Loss of animals by failure to provideadequate fencing.

2) 5% calf mortality rate is the achievablestandard. If you have 10% mortality rateor more, something is wrong.

3) No Cow Should Be Bred Unless:No Cow should be bred unless there is

a clear and concrete plan for the care ofthe calf for it's entire life. This needs to betwofold. One side in the form of land;owned outright, retained or acquiredgrazing rights, or leased; the other in airrevocable trust fund, the proceeds ofwhich are adequate to care for the calfthrough it's entire life.

4) Breed Selection:Breed selection should not be solely on

the basis of milk production, i.e. modernHolsteins. Ability to produce milk forlonger than a year on low quality feed,characteristics of the oxen, survivabilityin tough times, all need to be considered.

5) In General All Bull Calves Should BeCastrated at the Appropriate Time:

The presence of a bull can lead to in-evitable unplanned breeding. Breedingcan be performed by artificial insemina-tion or use of neighbor's bulls. Ultimatelyonce varnasrama colleges are establishedin ISKCON we will be qualified to main-tain our own bulls and breed with them asPrabhupada desired. At present it is senti-mental and physically dangerous to at-

tempt to maintain our own bulls forbreeding.

6) The Entire Herd Should Be Countedand Consciously Observed:

This should be done at least once aday. In most cases, the people with thedirect responsibility for feeding, cleaningareas, etc, are too pressed to do this, un-less the herd is very small. Even un-trained people can perform this job.

7) Large Communal Herds Phased Out:Large herds generally haven't worked

in ISKCON communities and should bephased out where they exist and avoidedwhere they don't by reducing breedingand being extremely conservative aboutaccepting donated cows.

8) If You Drink Milk, You Have a Re-sponsibility:

This responsibility cannot be assumedby someone else. Positive ideas on howto maintain cows Krsna consciously areavailable, but there is no escaping the factthat everyone has to be involved, either indirect care, or in paying more for milkthan minimal retail price.

9) All Cows Should Have Adequate Shel-ter:and Access to Sunlight.

10) No Oxen Should Be Overworked orWorked By Force Only:

Overworking and working by forcedevelops when there is no obvious per-sonal relationship between the ox and theteamster. Excessive use of whips, beat-ing, rough treatment, and violence to theoxen are not acceptable.

11) Working Oxen and Milking CowsShould Be Fed Grain.

12) Traveling Oxen Programs shouldprovide:

Safe and comfortable traveling facili-ties. Sufficient feed and water during day-time traveling and untrailered during thenight for natural rest and exercise.

Minimum Cow Protection Standards

Proposed by members of ISCOWP’s Cow conference

THE ISCOWP NEWS Page 13

HOW TO DETERMINE IF A HERD IS

NEGLECTED

Neglect takes two forms. Current ne-glect and inevitable future neglect. Everyproject has followed a fairly similar patternof over breeding in the early stages, thenabandonment later when the burden of re-sponsibility is not offset by the sweetnessof milk consumption.

SIGNS OF CURRENT NEGLECT

A panel of neutral devotees, even thoughuntrained specifically in cow care, can de-termine present neglect by visiting a pro-ject and observing the following:

1) The corporate officers of the entity own-ing the cows don't knowhow many they have; theyrefer you to the cowherds-men.

2) Calf mortality rate is10% or more. This can bedetermined retroactivelyby seeing how many cowsare milking, or have beenmilking in the last 2-3years and determininghow many of their calvesare still alive.

3) Perform a demographicanalysis. Split by sex,animals under3 years old, 3 to 8, 8 to12, over 12. An inabil-ity to provide this information is a clearsign of neglect.

4) Cows aren't counted daily.

5) Talk to the neighboring farmers. Theyaren't as dumb as your Western slaughter-house education may have lead you to be-lieve. They see what is going on and havethe background to put it into perspective.Talk to several, as inevitably one may havean axe to grind or vice versa; Srila Prabhu-pada said to always ask 3 times.

6) Ribs showing is not as conclusive a signas you might think, but it is an indicator.Cows can be thin and still be healthy. Fatcows have energy stored up for lean times

and this is generally considered a bettercondition. Also, it is a normal conditionfor old cows to have their ribs showing.

7) Open sores, runny noses and eyes,untrimmed hooves are all things that in-evitably occur from time to time. How-ever, look for evidence no one is dealingwith them.

8) Cows aren't brushed. Gopastami isn'tcelebrated.

9) Cows are considered a burden by man-agers. Cow care is departmentalized andconsidered the work of a specialized thecarrying capacity of the land in the localarea can be determined. This can varywidely from area to area. If the carrying

capacity of the land is 5 acres per cow x3 bred per year x 10 =150 acres. If theland available doesn't match the projec-tion, future neglect is highly likely.

2) The oxen aren't being worked. If theoxen aren't worked, it is a clear sign cowsare being bred solely for the purpose ofmilk consumption. After the milk is driedup, the drink-ers generally disappearfrom the arena of responsibility.

3) Ox working programs carried outwithout personal relationship with theoxen as the foundation will lead to forcedworking conditions and trouble from Ani-mal Right's groups and animal protectionagencies.

4) Be cautious if theproject is dependenton cash flow fromdonations to fund it.One scandal in theleadership can dry upcash flow in a heart-beat.

5) The herd is caredfor by brahmacaris(unmarried celibatestudents) and not es-tablished household-ers. This tends tomean trouble becausebrahmacaries usu-ally come and go.

6) Cow herding isconsidered a "lower" service. Generally,people obsessed with being "higher" willnot step up and do the needful when it isunromantic to do so. People who aretreated as inferiors will inevitably leave.

So these are the basic principles forcow protection. Beyond this the impor-tant and desirable goal in ISKCON is toinstitute regular varnasrama training forcowherds and rural community managersto ensure an exemplary standard of cowprotection throughout ISKCON's ruralcommunities.

Loving relationships are the basis of cow protection. Here, Radhika and Nandi

are developing a loving relationship in Novi Sad (Yugoslavia).

few.

SIGNS OF INEVITABLE NEGLECT

Even though a herd is apparently wellcared for at present, the future is justaround the corner.

1) The potential herd size exceeds thecarrying capacity of the land. Cows canlive to be 15 years or older. To say anaverage herd will have a life span of tenyears is minimal. That means that forevery cow that you breed, there willeventually be 10 in the herd. If 3 are be-ing bred each year, the stabilized herdnumber will be thirty animals. By talkingto local farmers or government agencies,

Page 14 THE ISCOWP NEWS

LETTERScontinued from page 5

Anyway, there must be plenty of devo-tees who can provide the details aboutcow-manure floors. I hope they will sendtheir reply to your questions.

Your servant,Hare Krsna dasi

ISCOWP REPLIESDear Mother Tulasi-priya Prabhu,

Regarding the use of cow manure forcleaning (purifying) your home. Where doyou live? What type of house do you have?

When we lived in Hawaii and Iworked at a dairy milking cows, I used tobring home cow urine and Mother Chayawould dilute it and use it for cleaning. Sheused a 50/50 mix and wiped in on and leftit on. One big room in our house had terri-ble mildew which was the case with a lot ofthe neighbors' houses. We lived on a sideof the active volcano and the clouds wouldcome about 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoonand cover everything. None of the neigh-bors had a solution and would use the mod-ern recommendations.The mildew wouldgo away and then return. However, afterChaya scrubbed the room, not only did themildew go away but it did not return thenext year.For a short time there was a fra-grance in the room but it was short livedand really not unpleasant. Cow urine is ba-sically ammonia.

When I lived in Sri Lanka the villageladies would come every other day withtheir buckets of cow manure paste. Theywould take several good size double hand-fuls of cow manure and add about 2 to 3gallons of water to it and mix it up withtheir hands. They would then take a ragand apply a thin film of this cow manurepaste to the floor and so clean.In Sri Lanka, we made our altar out ofsticks as a frame and cow manure as thesurface of the sides and top. It was such awonderful altar.

For bathing of the Deities the urineand manure of the cow should not touchthe ground but should be collected as thecow is passing. Laxmi Narain Modi, whois in charge of the Bharatiya Cattle Re-source Development Foundation and theAhimsa Research Foundation in Delhi hasdone some research on the merits of cowmanure. I will try to find it and enter it in

the conference very soon.Maybe for the ants you could use a

stronger mix than 50/50. Can you getfresh cow urine and manure? For the antsthe fresher the better. Also, if you putsome sugar outside the house, close totheir path of travel this sometimes keepsthem outside as they are satisfied withthe offering of sugar.

Balabhadra das

From: WWW: Svayambhuva Manu(Dasa) SDG (Vancouver BC - CAN)Date: 22-Aug-97 23:54 ASTTo: Cow (Protection and relatedsues) [860],Subject: Manure for purification, etc.-------------------------------------------------

Haribol prabhu, It is normally used onthe floors which are made of dirt mostoften in hut-like homes. The mud floorsare permanent therefore the cow dung isapplied directly with bare hands. It isspread all over the floor about half inchthick and left to dry and stays permanent.The manure is wet, therefore easy to ap-ply, and can be gotten from the ground.also as the young girls and women gocollecting. This is what I had noticedwhen I had lived in India for two year.

ys Gandhari dasi.

ISCOWP REPLIESAugust 30, 1997

On August 23, Tulasi-priya dd wrotethe following in response to the informa-tion submitted in this conference in re-gards to her question about cow manure.>PAMHO AGTSP

Thank you for all that interesting info.Was the manure paste left on or rinsedoff? Also, is it difficult to remove driedmanure, or does it become "waterproof"once it has "cured"? I prefer to haveshiny floors in my house (it's a concreteblock structure in southern Florida withterrazzo floors-marble chips embeddedin concrete). The floors in my house aremeant to be highly polished, and since I'drather show them off, I don't think I'll beusing manure inside the house unless Ican take it off after applying it, or elseapply it where it's not visible. But if I canget enough manure, I may coat the porchand the outside windowsills with it.

Ys, Tulasi-priya dasi>

ISCOWP REPLIESThe following will answer these ques-

tions and more. It appears from the gath-ered information that the cow manure,when dried, will not be easy to remove.

In his presentation for the LivestockPolicy Perspective 2020, July 5-7, 1995,to be held in India, Dr. Laxmi NarainModi states:1) Dung and urine from cows and bulls(cattle) are essential for organic manure(OM) which is used in the constructionof new houses, frequent coating of floorsand walls of mud houses to protect frominsects and as a base for biogas pro-grams. There are innumerable other usesfor traditional medicines.2) Bio-gas slurry is also good OM.3) Dung (OM) has micro-nutrients,micro-organisms.4) OM improves soil structure, soilhealth and moisture retention capacity5) Dung ash contains minerals like cal-cium, magnesium, phosphorous andother micro-elements, which is againused in fields to a great extent.

Narain Modi quotes from the book"Problem & Prospects of Cattle and Buf-falo Husbandry in India" by Dr, JurgenLensch.

6) The National Council of Applied Eco-nomic Research has calculated thatcattle dung in India is equivalent to 35million tons of coal or 68 million tons ofwood. Besides, it was estimated that wellover one third of its weight in wet condi-tion is used as domestic fuel.7) Dung as direct fuel saves 68 milliontons of wood (which means saving about140 to 150 million fully grown treesfrom being cut for fuel). As India cannotboast of oil and coal reserves of any sig-nificant magnitude and has already defor-ested large areas, it is left with no otheroption but to use cattle dung as domesticfuel. Thus the dung remains for the timebeing the chief fuel in the Indian house-holds.8) Approximately 340 million tons ofdung are returned to the land as manure,300 million tons are burned as domesticfuel. Besides, 160 million tons are loston roads and roadside and are recycledinto the ecological system.

THE ISCOWP NEWS Page 15

9) Moreover, the cattle dung, when mixedwith water into paste, fulfills the functionof a floor plaster, which on drying forms asmooth surface which is easy to clean.

Chayadevi dasi

ISCOWP REPLIESDear Prabhus,

Parampadam das wrote in regards toour discussion on the use of cow manure:“We should also consider what may be car-ried in manure; E-coli, for one. Anyone toexpand on this?

Then Tulasi-priya asked: I thought e-coli was only found in the (dead?) flesh ofan animal. Isn't cow dung "anti-" septic?

On 01 Sep 1997, Parampadam Dasawrote: “It lives, or rather can live in thedigestive tract of the living animal. Whereit comes from or how the infection firstoccurs, I don't know. So ifa particular animal is carry-ing, he/she can infect who-ever comes in contact withthis organism.

It is the unclean prac-tices at the slaughterhousethat are contributing to thesituations we've recentlyread about in the papers. E.coli is a very common or-ganism and easily transmit-ted, and detected by cul-ture. How to treat? Talkto your vet?

In response to this wedid some research and found that e-coli istransmitted through undercooked meat andunpasteurized milk, and sometimes un-pastuerized apple cider. Here is some in-formation from the WEB site “E-coliPrimer:”"What Is E.coli 0157:H7?Escherichia coli 0157:H7 is a dangerousbacteria that is found naturally to occuronly in cattle. This bacteria is most fre-quently acquired through consumption ofundercooked ground beef and unpasteur-ized milk. Another example of contamina-tion is apples that have fallen off trees intocow manure and then processed into unpas-teurized cider. Person to person transmis-sion occurs via the fecal-oral route. Failureto wash hands or kitchen utensils after han-dling the contaminated meat can alsospread the bacteria.

How Serious A Concern Is ThisPathogen?

Since 1982 Escherichia coli0157:H7 has been recognized as an im-portant cause of hemolytic uremic syn-drome (HUS) and colitis. HUS is themost frequent cause of acute renal failure(diarrhea) in children and infants. Ac-cording to the Center for Disease Controlapproximately 20,000 people are infectedby E.coli 0157:H7 each year. Approxi-mately 200 deaths annually are reported.

E.coli 0157:H7 is a relatively unrec-ognized pathogen for which routinescreening historically has not been per-formed at most clinical laboratories inthe United States. Because of the natureof the food production and distribution inthe United States, outbreaks of FOODBORNE DISEASES such as E.coli often

are widely disbursed throughout a com-munity. This is particularly so with con-taminated ground beef, where the grind-ing process can spread the virulent bacte-ria to many hamburger patties processedat the same time. Until recently, theUnited States public health system hasnot been well prepared to handle thistype of challenge. There is a need to im-prove surveillance of E.coli 0157:H7 andother food borne pathogens in general.Also, there is a need to better monitorfood products to assure the safety of thefood supply.

During this research we found morethan one WEB page extolling the gloriesof cow manure as a fertilizer for cropproduction which we will submit at alater date. Can anyone offer more infor-mation on E-coli, how the animals con-

tact it, etc? Please give references, ashearsay and memories are not reliable.

Balabhadra &Chayadevi

Do Animals Have Feelings?From: Gauranga priya (dd) RSD(Berlin Date: 01-Jul-97 12:31 SSTTo: Free Forum [1998]Cc: Cow (Protection and related is-sues) [795]Subject: Newspaper article--------------------------------------------------The following Newspaper article ap-peared in a Chinese and later MacedonienNewspaper:

"For one slaughter-house in HongKong the day was quite ordinary, till onebison who was about to be slaughtered

fell on his knees andstarted to cry! "Peoplethink that animals don`tcry, but this animal wascrying like a baby" -said Billy Fong to re-porters in Hong Kong.

"There were standingaround ten men whoearn their livelihood byslaughtering the ani-mals. And from theireyes, tears started to

flow. People weretouched so much, thatthey bought the bi-

son. Then they gave the bison to one Bud-dhist temple, that he can live the rest ofhis life in peace."

This tragedy-story about crying bison,began when workers were bringing thisbig animal towards the slaughter-house.When they were approaching the slaugh-ter house, suddenly the animal fell downon the ground on his front legs. Then, histears started to flow.

“When I saw the animal, how it is cry-ing with sadness and fear in his eyes, Istarted to shake," - told the Butcher. "Icalled others to come and they also be-came astonished like me. We started topull and push the animal, but he didn't`want to move at all. He was sitting on theground and was crying.The hair on myskin stood on end, because the animalreacted like a human being. We looked ateach other, and we knew that none of us

Vraja and Gita saved from the slaughterhouse at age 3 months.

Page 16 THE ISCOWP NEWS

would be able to kill him and we shoulddecide what to do with him."

Finally after much discussion, they de-cided to collect money and send the animalon a lifelong rest, with Buddhist priests,who don`t have anything against bisons.

"We couldn't`t move the animal, till wepromised him that he will not die. Then hestood up and he came with us. You can be-lieve it or not, but this is the truth, althoughit sounds strange. It seamed that this biganimal understood every word that wespoke," - said Mr. Tat Nin. For some work-ers in the slaughter-house, this incident wastoo much. Mr. Fong says "Three workersimmediately after this scene, gave denial.They said they will never kill animals any-more, because they will al-ways remember this bison,and how his tears floweddown his face from his bigsad eyes."

Planning a Self-

sufficient FarmDear Magdalena & Maha-

ratha Prabhus,Thank you for your e-mail

of June 4, 1997 and all thegood news of your GOPALproject.

The radio show soundsgreat. How long was theshow and approximatelyhow many people listenedto that particular program?Have you received any feed back(response) from the program?

Regarding the training of Nandi andMadhu-Yes, it is possible for them to betrained. Even more important than trainingNandi and Madhu is who will be the personwho will be trained to be teamster. Wherewill Nandi and Madhu be located in rela-tion to where you are? Training is an everyday (twice a day) program for quickest andbest results, and especially when the timewill be short-3 weeks to 4 weeks at most.

You are asking about land for a perma-nent farm and training center for GOPAL.Is land expensive where you are? Is landavailable or is it hard to obtain? What isthe political situation regarding land useand purchase? Any chance of getting landdonated by the government into the nameof GOPAL? Here we talk in terms of acres.Do you go by acres or hectares? A hectare

is 2 1/2 acres.Self-sufficiency is a long term plan.

Try and think of it in terms of a 5 year orten year plan. There are different cate-gories which Srila Prabhupada spokeabout:1) Food 2) Shelter 3) Clothing 4)Medical.

Food is self explanatory-more so foryourselves. However, what do the localfarmers grow for their cows to eat duringthe winter? Talk to your local farmersand ask them how much land does it taketo feed 1 cow per year and what is it thatthey feed them? Ask several farmers andand see how the answers vary accordingto the fertility and lay of the land (flat,hilly).

Rainfall is also an important factor.What is the average rainfall in your area?Do you have years with sporadic rainfallor is everything stable in the weather?What do people do for their water sup-ply? Are there springs, streams, wells?You most definitely want your ownsource of water. Does a lot of the watercome from rain collected from therooftops in cisterns (tanks)?

In Russia the oil for cooking is sun-flower oil. In your country what oil isused? Can that crop be grown in yourarea?

How will you heat your building in thewinter? Wood, coal, methane? If bywood you should have some wooded areaon your land. How are the farmers work-ing the land, specifically how are thesmall farmers working the land? Do they

farm with small tractors, horses? What isthe average size of land owned by thelocal farmers-1 hectare, 2 hectares, 5hectares?

Not only will you need to grow yourown food but you will need a properplace to store your food, herbs, seeds,and the food for the cows. What veg-etable seeds are available to you? Is itopen-pollinated or hybrid? If it is open-pollinated then you will be able to saveseeds from your crops for the next year'splanting. If they are hybrid seeds you willnot be able to use the seeds produced byyour crops.

What grains and root crops are grownin your area? Are you able to mill your

own grains? If so, how?Hand mill, water power, ox-power?

So many questions!If you find land that you

like but there are nodwellings or cow sheds, etc.,how will you build yourbuildings? What are the lo-cal building materials?Wood, brick, cement? Whatareas are you looking forland in relation to where youare presently living?

You ask how many menare needed. Why just men?

Try and think in terms offamily and village. Itshard for one family to do

everything to be self-sufficient. By work-ing together as a village so much can bedone. How many devotees are in yourarea?

Our main business is Krsna Concious-ness. Cow Protection is a major part ofour lifestyle and essential to our worship-ping the Deity. Do you have Canto 8 ofSrimad Bhagavatam. Please read 8:24:5Matsya the Fish Incarnation. Srila Prab-hupada says in the purport that withoutcow protection brahminical culture cannot be maintained.

How close to town do you want to belocated? What type of agricultural equip-ment is available to you for field worklike plowing and field preparation; hayequipment, carts, grain planting, harvest-ing, threshing, etc?

Balabhadra das

Vraja and Gita are now 6 years old.

THE ISCOWP NEWS Page 17

Energy Autonomous and Environ-mentally Clean Farm (EAECF)continued from page 7

We in the Project EAECF wish that thelittle four- member family with 4 hectaresof cultivable soil will be the basic cell ofthe future rural, ecological society. Thisfamily will on it's own land, only with it'swork and usage of various renewable ener-gies attain relatively great, but naturallypossible outputs (highly valuable, healthyvegetable and cattle products + energies)with maximally possible protection of nat-ural environment. All inputs will be takenfrom the available resources which give usthe earth, water, air and renewable ener-gies, which directly or indirectly comefrom the Sun (atomic space fires - the basisof life on our mother earth).

The final goal is that we will use on afarm nothing unrenewable - everythingmust be the part of the closed circles ofinputs and outputs. We will have the mate-rial and energetical autonomy of the farm(i.e. the united farmers and the whole vil-lage). Our EAECF is as one space shipwhich supplies to it's passengers whateveris needed and brings them to one distantspiritualized and happy future.

Self - sufficiency and autonomy are inharmony with Vedic and Buddhist teach-ing. But also the original Christian religionteaches a man to modesty. Selfishness,greed and wealth cannot bring neither, toindividuals nor the entire privileged na-tions, happiness and a safe future. I alsofollow through my life the teaching of myfather Mirko: "It is not the one who iswealthy who has much, but the one whoneeds little". The concentration of materialand cultural properties and the great quan-tities of energy in one place and by onegroup of people was taken on the accountof limited resources of the whole livingand nonliving world. According to yet un-written laws of universe it cannot belongonly to them.

On the EAECF is foreseen the usage ofthe most up-to-date machines and techno-logical processes. Some equipment is atpresent so expensive, that for it's purchaseand usage a greater number of farmers willhave to be united (first estimations point to20 farmers). The use of the clean ecologi-cal High Technologies (HT) will demandalso the considerably greater knowledge of

both the adults and young people whowill take part in this project. They willhave to be educated, i.e. jump on ahigher cultural and civilized level to beable to realize the needed income, i.e. toensure to man one worthy quality of life.They will clear the real way of progressalso to future generations.

Now we have to put the questionwhether we can coordinate the relativelysimple, self-sufficient natural life withthe rushed, dynamic, man alienated, in-dustrialized and urbanized life? It willgo, but difficulty and slowly. The indus-trialization and urbanization will have toobtain a new human and ecological di-mension. The farmer on the EAECF willalso need an up-to-date machine pro-duced in some factory. He will alsotravel by car, train, and airplane. But alsothese technique will have to experiencetheir ecological transformation (there isvery little petroleum left, and it is themain pollutant of the atmosphere, and theatomic energy in its present rudimentaryand nonecological form is unacceptablefor a man and the entire living nature).

I agree absolutely with you that we canproduce food without artificial fertilizers.If we determine all important influentialfactors for every microlocation we canestablish, with support of computerbased expert systems, the real ecologicalscenario of the plant and cattle produc-tion. The principle of connecting theplant and cattle production is obligatedon EAECF. Animal excrement (manure),home and vegetable trash are processedby aerobic and anaerobic fermentationand the result is natural manure. It canalmost completely eliminate the need forartificial fertilizers. If we studiouslycombine the plant cultures, we will catchhold of nitrogen also from the air, andalso through synergetic and antagonisticeffects fight against weeds, plant diseasesand pests. There will be no need eitherfor pesticides nor herbicides!

If we use in the processing of manure,home and vegetable trash in the first partof the anaerobic fermentation, we willobtain besides natural manure also bio-gas as an important natural renewableenergy. From 8 - 12 kg manure processedthrough a biogas fermenter andcogenerator-biogas-machine, 1 kWh

electrical energy and 1,23 kWh thermalenergy can be obtained.The four-memberfamily with 4 cows, 10 pigs, 100 chick-ens + home and vegetable trash can givethrough biogas yearly 8000 kWh thermaland 6000 kWh electrical energy. Theprice of electric energy obtained in thatway is only 0,054 DEM/kWh and in ad-dition, after fermentation we obtain thesolid remnants of hygienized natural ma-nure. We shall certainly test these tech-niques on EAECF.

Let us discuss now at the end the prob-lem of "usage" the cattle on the farm. On4 hectares cultivable soil we have fore-seen 4 milk cows. I agree with you thatthey are one of the most valuable links onthe farm. They will give the whole gamutof milk products - the most importantcomponent of the human nutrition. Aftera dog, the buffalo and the cattle are thefirst domestic animals which were tamedby a man (it is supposed that it was 9000years before Christ). Maybe it is the realreason that the Vedas and later the Hindureligion saw in a cow a sacred animal(although it is not clear why was the cowmilk not used).

I agree with you that the bull shouldalso have a certain importance, since thecow and a bull are a natural pair, whichwere separated by man because of hisneeds (he gave to a cow a nicer life, butthe bull is today a victim which feeds aman with meat). Also the Egypt mythol-ogy (probably older than a Vedic) wassymbolized by a holy black bull Apiswith a white mark on a forehead (deity ofagriculture - the basis of the whole Egyptcivilization). The bird Ibis symbolizedthe wisdom and science.

On the EAECF we have foreseen thepossibility of usage of domestic animalsalso for production of energy. So, the oxcan produce the tractive force of about700 N, and by the speed of moving of 0,7m/s he gives the power of about. 500 W.In 8 h of work he would produce energyof 500 x 8 = 4000 Wh or 4 kWh. Thecow is considered to be 1/3 weaker thanthe ox, and she would in 8 hours of workproduce about. 2,6 kWh of mechanicalenergy. If we would produce daily about15 kWh energy, that is much! A man pro-duces for 5 hours of physical work only 1kWh of energy!

continued on page 19

Page 18 THE ISCOWP NEWS

ISCOWP

UPDATE

now that winter is upon us. Old manurehas been removed from the barn floorrevealing a cement floor. In digging atrench for the water line for the new tank,we discovered under the cement floor adrain field which had been placed beforethe cement floor had been poured. This,of course, was good news.

The old fencing on the farm is barbedwire and dilapidated. It is functional butwe do not like barbed wire since it can domuch harm to an animal. Any section ofbarbed wire fencing that needs to be re-stored will be replaced with high tensilefencing. New fencing has been installedand more will be installed in the spring,(when the ground is not frozen) for the 2acre garden area.

Top - Ganda (the one with the whitestar on his forehead) is taking prasad

outside the barn with his new friends.

Middle - Padma (Ganda’s partner) isdrinking from the new cement water

tank which is located inside the barn.

Right The barn has all new siding onthe northeast side to protect the cows

against the cold winds this winter.

New siding on the west side will be

completed this winter.

There is a new 500 gallon watertank under the roof of the barn.The purpose of this tank is to

ensure the cows have water in the winter.Since it is under the roof it is lessaffected by frost. Often the water freezesin the tanks in the winter and there isonly ice. An aeration device has beeninstalled which keeps the water moving.When the temperatures get severe thewater will not freeze and the cows willalways have water.

We have brought the cows into thebarn and adjacent 2 acre pasture sincethere is nothing to eat in the pastures

THE ISCOWP NEWS Page 19

Energy Autonomous and Envi-ronmentally Clean Farm (EAECF)continued from page 17

If we know that on earth 1 billion peo-ple do not have any energy except oftheir muscles and the power of domesticanimals, then the draft of domestic ani-mals which is transformed into mechani-cal work or electrical energy would bethe real salvation (the energy could beaccumulated into electric batteries forlifting of water to a higher level). Be-cause of that we are prepared for widerinternational cooperation and help in re-alizating experimental equipment for pro-duction of energy by means of cattle. Wewould be very glad if you were includedin that.

So much for now. I hope that we shallcontinue with correspondence. It is im-portant how we take over the ethics,knowledge and philosophy of old andnew religions. The modern man shouldhave to define in the end the categoriesof good and bad, and to build, by usageof up-to-date science and technology aswell as ancient wisdom, one nicer civi-lization in the third millennium.Novi Sad, 10.10.1997.

Prof. dr Petar Kavgic21000 Novi SadTrg D. Obradovi}a 8YUGOSLAVIA

Top - New fencing dividing pasture for first area that will be plowed for grain.

Middle - Govardhana and Balabhadra installing the fence posts with a tractor whichoperates the hydraulic ram for pounding the posts into the ground.

Bottom - One new gate (several new gates have been purchased) at entry to barn andhouse area.

Happy Holydays!Happy Holydays!Happy Holydays!Happy Holydays!

At this auspiscious time we

want to thank you for your sup-

port through the years and in the

future. We are most grateful! It

is only because of your help that

we are able to bring some peace

to this world through the mes-

sage of cow protection.

Thank you again and may

“God Bless You.”

Balabhadra & Chayadevi

Page 20 THE ISCOWP NEWSThe International Society for Cow ProtectionThe International Society for Cow Protection (ISCOWP) is primarily concerned with presenting alternatives to present agricul-

tural practices that support and depend upon the meat industry and industrialized, petroleum powered machinery.

Our Goals:1. To provide natural alternative energy by training bull calves as working teams of oxen.2. To utilize ISCOWP’s alternative agricultural practices as hands-on experience in living classroom settings.3. To demonstrate the usefulness of the natural by-products of the cow by encouraging the production of methane biogas fromcow manure as a valuable alternative energy source.4. To present the benefits of a lacto-vegetarian diet through educational literature, nutritional cooking classes, organic gardeninginstruction, and the production of cruelty-free dairy products from lifetime protected cows.5. To exhibit a sound ecological relationship between man, cow, and the land by establishing small family farms modeled afterthe historic Vedic example of agrarian harmony based on lifetime cow protection.6. To educate society about the practical benefits of lifetime cow protection by distribution of the quarterly ISCOWP NEWS, re-lated books, literature, and educational videos.7. To convince society of the living entity within the cow by direct contact with the oxen through our Cow Protection OutreachProgram.

ISCOWP was incorporated in March, 1990 as a non profit organization. William and Irene Dove (Balabhadra das & Chayadevi dasi)are its managing directors. They are disciples of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder Acharya ofthe International Society for Krsna Consciousness. It is through their spiritual master’s teachings they have imbibed the practices andbenefits, both spiritual and material, of lifetime cow protection.

The tenets of cow protection and ox power are universal and nonsectarian, available to all regardless of race, creed, or nationality.All donations are tax deductible. ISCOWP’s tax# is 23-2604082. For more information: ISCOWP, RD 1, NBU #28, Moundsville,WV, 26041, USA, TEL: 304-843-1270, FAX: (call first) 304-845-5742, e-mail: iscowp@ovnet.com, iscowp@com.bbt.se

THE ISCOWP NEWS

The International Society for Cow Protection

Rd 1 NBU #28

Moundsville, W.V. 26041, U.S.A.

Tel # 304-843-1270

Non-ProfitU.S. PostagePAIDMoundsville, W.V.Permit No.15

FORWARD AND ADDRESS CORRECTION

Saved From the Slaughterhouse