184 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



linseed meal, they use a great quantity of oat meal,— an article of 

 food much less predisposing to fat, and keeping up a vigorous 

 growth. We have in New England the best quality of English 

 hay as a basis of feeding ; and after the calf is weaned, or after he 

 has had milk enough to give him a fair introduction into life, hay, 

 in the form of iiay-tea, and 'afterwards of rowen, is undoubtedly 

 the best food the animal can have, especially when aided by a few 

 roots, such as turnips or carrots. In some cases, milk is abandoned 

 at a very early age, and skimmed milk is advantageously used as 

 a substitute. We would not recommend the use of grain, especially 

 that containing a superabundance of oily matter, as Indian corn or 

 linseed for young dairy stock. Perhaps corn meal sparingly, or 

 barley or oatmeal may be used in winter, should the animal seem 

 not to thrive well. But a calf that is properly weaned, and fed 

 after weaning, and furnished with a good pasture, will be carried 

 through the first winter most satisfactorily on good sweet hay, 

 especially rowen, with roots. In this way can a uniform well- 

 balanced animal be produced, which when put to dairy service will 

 not become coarse, nor take on fat at the expense of the milk-pail. 

 I have endeavored in these remarks upon feeding with special 

 reference to what is to be required of the animal structure, when 

 brought to perfection, to impress upon your minds not only the 

 importance of scientific rules, but also the power which every 

 agriculturist may exercise over the animal kingdom, which he has 



devoted to his purposes. The laws of variation are well known 



those laws by which we have been able to produce so many varie- 

 ties from one origin— the setter, and pointer, and spaniel, and 

 sheplierd's dog, from a single family— the Ayrshire and Devon and 

 Shorthorn, from the same parentage in the beginning ; and have 

 secured from the original uniformity, every diversity that can 

 please the eye or supply the necessities of man. The most com- 

 mon observation and practice have taught us how to preserve and 

 transmit acquired faculties and qualities until they become the 

 fixed characteristics of a class. But there are certain tendencies 

 of the animal kingdom which the ambitious farmer is obliged to 

 resist with all his skill and watchfulness. Our domestic animals 

 are entirely subjugated to our will. We control their increase, 

 and their physical condition. They are shut out by us from those 

 conflicts which, in a wild state, enable the strongest of the herd to 

 impress themselves upon the coming generations. And it is for 

 us to say how largely their varieties may increase, and how 



