The essential barn cat, from mouser to farmer’s overseer, pictured in all its charm, with comments that famous writers have made about cats over the centuries

Because she's looking for something special, the great barn cat notices but shows no interest in the activities of the animals which can be counted around her.

What picture of farm life is complete without the woman at its heart? Rising before dawn to start the fire, sitting up long after dark to do her mending, she ho