250 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



on the part of the caretaker to correct these faults at the begin 

 ning and thus maintain the health of the herd. 



If the owner is unable to attend the cows he should hire a 

 man that he knows he can trust. A man working around a 

 stable must be quiet, regular in his work and of an even tem- 

 per. All work that is done about the herd should be done at 

 a regular time, as stable cleaning, grooming, watering, feed- 

 ing, milking, etc. 



It is not unusual to find some cows that show no signs of 

 drying oft after dropping the second or third calf. It shows a 

 good dairy trait but it pays to have the cow dried off at least 

 three weeks before she drops her calf. When the time comes 

 to dry off the cow the grain should be gradually withdrawn. If 

 the milk does not cease to form, skip one milking and after this 

 milk but once in two days, thus extending the drying over a 

 period of two weeks. The cows wdien dry may be kept on pas- 

 ture alone or on a low stable diet until about two weeks before 

 freshening. The stable diet should include a share of succu- 

 lent food as roots or silage. Tw^o weeks before freshening, her 

 rations should be increased. Wheat bran is a good material to 

 be used at this time. 



The best practice among dairy cattle is to remove the calf 

 from its mother w'ithin twenty- four hours and teach it to drink. 

 From the time the milk ceases to be the main food of the calf 

 until it becomes a cow, its rations should be given wath a view 

 to nourishment and growth. W hen the pasture is good there 

 is no better food than grass, but if the grass becomes short and 

 dry, the young stock should be supplied w^ith clover hay, wheat 

 bran or oats. In the winter the young stock should receive in 

 their ration quite a large amount of silage and very little grain, 

 only enough to balance the ration. A fall calf well bred and 

 grown should calve when about two years old and ought to 

 make a good cow. 



In a few words, to make dairying a success, the dairyman 

 must consider the markets around him and then choose a breed 

 which is suited to the work required. When only a small 

 amount of capital is available, it is better to buy a pure bred 

 bull which possesses merit first, and then with the remaining 

 money get as many good grade cows as possible. Record-, 

 should be kept of each cow and from the best the heifer calves 



