164 agricuIvTure; of mains. 



spoiled in the bringing up. This in brief is the history of many 

 a well-bred cow. Another word picture I will draw. A calf 

 may be well born and well fed and not over-fed nor under-fed 

 from birth up into calfhood or into heiferhood and prove a dis- 

 appointment. Right here we find a great variance of opinion 

 existing among progressive dairymen. Some say the heifer 

 should not be bred to become a mother until she is three years 

 of age; others say three and one-half years, and others are firm 

 in their belief that thirty months is the proper age, and some 

 say two years ; all these men are honest in their belief, but all 

 of them sometimes fail to realize their hopes. The heifer some- 

 times, is like the girl who thought to get married, but changed 

 her mind and concluded she would not. Then it is the owner of 

 said heifer seeks veterinary advice. He feels worried over his 

 beautiful heifer not getting in line to produce him something 

 to repay him for the care he has bestowed upon her. Now I 

 am going to put a chip on my shoulder and throw down the 

 gauntlet ; take my chances and say I don't think any cow owner 

 is capable of dictating as to when the 20th century heifer should 

 become a mother ; I mean the exact age. Just in proportion to 

 the inherent tendencies she possesses and those of her ancestry, 

 togther with the food and care she has received will her age of 

 puberty come. When that becomes a fixed part of her physical 

 being, then is the proper time to start her on the road to mater- 

 nity. Strive to balk her in this and dictate as against the laws 

 which govern her individual nature, and we run a great risk 

 (providing she was bred to produce well at the pail) of so 

 changing her organs of reproduction that we soon have a barren 

 heifer on our hands instead of a producing cow. This, gentle- 

 men, is no fancied theory of my own based on a few experi- 

 ments. My assertions can be backed up, not by limited observa- 

 tion, but by a wide experience as a veterinarian among herds of 

 the best cows in the land, as well as among some of the poorest; 

 among good farmers and poor farmers, good dairymen and poor 

 dairymen. And I stand here ready to say : Bred as our dairy 

 cattle have been, they stand before us as very unbalanced and 

 abnormal beasts. Bred as they are to produce milk in a large 

 quantity, rich in solids, we must breed them at a younger age 

 than many are breeding them or barrenness is destined to 



