350 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



W^e do not like to buy a cow that has been in milk more 

 than six weeks, as such a cow will not resipond readily to our 

 feeding, and we do not expect a cow to do her best work the 

 first year we own her, in any case. Often cows that do only 

 ordinary work the first year, will reach 7,000, 8,000 or 9,000 

 pounds of milk after two or three years of our feeding. 



It makes quite a difference what time of year your cows 

 calve. Our business demands that we have cows freshening all 

 the year 'round, ibut we do not expect big work from cows 

 calving in July, August and September. It is very difficult to 

 get a good start when the weather is hot, the feed short in the 

 pastures, and the flies troublesome, and if you do not get a 

 good flow at the start, you will get a poor year's work. Even 

 May and June are rather unfavorable months, for in spite of a 

 big flow at the start, summer conditions give an early dropping 

 off that can never be regained. November to February is the 

 most favorable time for freshening, as the cows then do their 

 heaviest work while conditions are most under the control of the 

 herdsman, and as the flow slackens with advanced lactation, 

 it is stimulated by the flush pastures of May and June, and the 

 summer drop occurs so late in the lactation period, that the 

 effect on the year's work is not very serious. 



If you are raising calves, feeding should be considered sev- 

 eral months before calving that the cow may be in condition to 

 drop a vigorous, well-developed calf, and then the calf should 

 be kept growing, but there is perhaps as much danger in over- 

 feeding the calf as in underfeeding. In the matter of summer 

 treatment, we Rave tried several methods, but are now keeping 

 the calves in the barn, up to three months of age, at least, as 

 they require less attention then, and the flies bother them less. 

 After that age, we often keep them in grass paddocks near the 

 buildings, give skim milk and a little hay twice a day, water 

 once a day, and spray them to keep off the flies. We have 

 sometimes tethered calves on grass, near the buildings, and 

 they have made remarkably rapid growth, but it is an expensive 

 way to care for them : they must be watered, keipt out of the 

 sun on hot days, and moved frequently upon fresh feed. It 

 might pay to handle a few first-class ones in this way. Calves 

 five or six months old may safely be turned out to pasture, but 

 must 'be watched lest they run down from the pasture's get- 



