LAWS OF NATURE. 113 



subject may be studied, I have called the attention of the Board 

 to this matter of color. 



With regard to bones and their relative hardness, I might say 

 a few words. We have in Switzerland two kinds of cattle, 

 widely different ; small, hard-boned cattle, and large and rather 

 loose-boned cattle ; and they grow in different parts of the 

 country. The heavy but loose-boned cattle grow in the lime- 

 stone regions, in the Alps of Frcibourg, and on the Jura. The 

 small cattle, which have compact bones, grow in the granitic 

 regions. You see at once why. The cattle find no limestone 

 to lick, and therefore do not have sufficient limestone in their 

 organization to make a large skeleton. The consequence is, the 

 formation of small and compact skeletons in the granitic regions, 

 while in the mountain regions, the water all contains limestone, 

 and the animal gets with his food limestone, the tongue brings 

 in a larger supply, and so it has limestone enough to dispose of, 

 and that is disposed of rapidly in the formation of bone, which 

 makes a loose structure and a large frame ; and so we have that 

 difference strikingly marked throughout the different regions of 

 Switzerland. 



Jonas Holt, of Andover. It is said that man cannot violate 

 the laws of nature with impunity. I would like to ask if it 

 would not be better to let all young cattle feed upon the 

 mother ? I have no doubt that is the true secret of raising 

 cattle. If the calf or colt is allowed to go with its parent until 

 it becomes nearly mature, I have no doubt it will have a great 

 influence upon the stock ; but whether it will pay here, where 

 milk and butter command a high price, is another question. 

 Some say it is just as well to take the calf right from the cow, 

 but I do not think so. You may raise a good cow, and perhaps 

 a good horse, by artificial feeding, but the natural food of the 

 calf or the colt is the best. But when you come to the question 

 of dollars and cents, perhaps it may be better to raise by arti- 

 ficial means. I recollect I had a litter of pigs, some years ago, 

 and my wife said : " What are you going to do with those pigs ? 

 I have not got any m?lk for them." I said : " We shall not 

 have any trouble. Just give the old sow enough to eat, and 

 there is no doubt she will have milk enough." And I had as 

 good a litter of pigs as I ever raised, without giving them any 



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