IQ BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



pregnant. That which has been said of the best age for beginning 

 to breed in the cow, will equally apply to the bull. It is absurd 

 and dangerous to begin to use him, as some have done, when a 

 yearling. He will come into season at two years old, he will be 

 better at three ; and although the farmer may not deem it prudent 

 to keep him more than two or three years, he may be sold 

 advantageously, in his full prime to another breeder." 



W. C. L. Martin, in his "Animal Economy," says: "The 

 heifer ought not to be allowed to breed until turned two years old. 

 The reason is obvious ; her own system, before this period, is not 

 sufficiently matured for the tax upon it — a tax which will be paid, 

 not only by the dam, but also by the progeny ; for both will suffer 

 from the deficiency of nutriment, the whole of which is necessary 

 for the growth of the former, which during the second year is 

 rapid. With respect to the bull, he does not attain to a due 

 degree of strength till* two years old, and is in higher vigor at 

 three, but how much longer the breeder may keep him after that 

 age must depend upon his own judgment and a variety of circum- 

 stances." 



George H. Dadd, in his "Diseases of Cattle," says: "Victor 

 Gilbert never allowed ewes to have lambs until they had passed 

 their third year ; and his bucks were never used until they had 

 arrived at full maturity. He, as well as most sagacious stock- 

 raisers, was probably conversant with the fact, that during the 

 period of growth and development, up to maturity, the repro- 

 ductive organs are dormant ; while at the same time the nutritive 

 was wholly engaged in elaborating chyle and blood for the 

 development of bone, muscle and nerve ; and that by calling into 

 requisition the reproductive or generative organs, before the 

 animal had attained full growth, must necessarily divert the 

 elements of matter intended for nutrition, from their legitimate 

 channel, and divert them to the reproductive organs. This is 

 precisely what takes place. A too early use of the purely animal 

 functions induces weakness and stunted growth. Heifers should 

 not be put to the bull until they have attained the age of three or 

 four years ; at this period they are in their prime. If they happen 

 to have acquired too much fat, their daily allowance must be 

 reduced. He says he remembers in his school-boy days, it was 

 customary, as soon as a boy had accumulated a few pence, to 

 invest it in a rabbit, (a favorite animal at that period); conse- 

 quently we had a community of juvenile rabbit raisers ; and from 



