246 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



capacity for future development. Feed the animal ever so 

 well subsequently, and it will never Vv'holly regain what has 

 been lost. In other words, the same profit can never again be 

 made from growing the animal that would otherwise have been 

 possible. If the arrested development has been exceedingly 

 severe, then the loss of capacity to develop may be so great as 

 to preclude the possibility of making any profit from rearing 

 the animal under any conditions howsoever favorable. It 

 should also be remembered that the loss of capacity for future 

 development is greatest when arrested development occurs 

 near the birth period, and gradually grows less as it is receded 

 from. The importance, therefore, of keeping animals pushing 

 on with prudential haste from the day of birth until develop- 

 ment is complete, or until they are ready for the block, cannot 

 be easily over-estimated. 



Arrested development may arise, of course, from various 

 sources. It may come from insufficient or unsuitable food, or 

 food both insufficient and unsuitable, also from food excessive 

 in supply and nutrition, or from undue exposure, or from sev- 

 eral of these, and it may be other causes combined. It would 

 be too much to claim that the source of arrested development 

 did not influence the loss of capacity referred to, but it would 

 not be claiming too much to say, that whatsoever the source, 

 the loss in capacity to develop will be serious whenever pro- 

 longed periods of stagnation occur in the early growth of the 

 animal. The unsatisfactory development subsequently of the 

 ill-cared-for whey-fed calves furnishes an illustration. 



When food is exactly adapted to the needs of a young and 

 growing animal, it would not be easily possible to injure the 

 animal by over-feeding, but it would, of course, be easily pos- 

 sible to waste food through careless feeding. Exact adaptation 

 has reference to foods in due balance both with regard to 

 chemical constituents and proper adjustment between the con- 

 centrated food fed and the roughage. With some foods adap- 

 tation is so perfect that animals feeding upon them will not 

 injure themselves and will at the same time make satisfactory 

 development in the line sought. This is true of rich pastures 

 grazed in summer, and of clover and alfalfa hay fed in winter. 

 Other foods fed at will may be seriously harmful, in fact, posi- 

 tively dangerous, while at the same time they are helpful when 

 fed with due regulation. For instance, one feed of rye meal 



