120 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



early copulation. I have seen a horse thrown entirely into the 

 shade Ly the inferiority of his early get. Used at two years old 

 for purposes of breeding, he got one class of colts, and when 

 seven or eight years old an entirely different class. So that I 

 distinctly declare here, and I want it distinctly understood by 

 all horse-breeders, that no horse should be used for the purpose 

 of breeding until seven or eight years old, and then kept upon 

 his muscle by work and proper feed. 



So much for horses. One word in answer to Mr. Garfield's 

 question. Mr. Holt has undertaken to answer it, but I do not 

 think he has. There is no universal rule. A Shorthorn breeder 

 must give his calves all the milk that his cows will give — and 

 that is not saying over and above much ; because it is well 

 known that Shorthorn breeders in England don't pretend half the 

 time that the cows will bring up their own offspring. But when 

 you come to the other branch of the business, that is another 

 thing. Here, again, I go right back to the Scotch farmer. You 

 cannot make a dairy cow by keeping your calf until it is three 

 or four months old upon its dam. You will make the bone of 

 that calf's leg as big below the knee as it is above the knee ; 

 you will develop his head out of proportion ; you will make the 

 bony structure so large, that when you want to develop that 

 part of her structure connected with the lacteal system, you 

 cannot do it. The whole animal economy is diverted from the 

 object you have in view. You do not want to raise a big-boned 

 animal, or to develop that secretory system which produces fat. 

 You want to engage in a thing based upon wholly different 

 processes of nutrition, and that is, the power of that animal to 

 produce milk. Now what does the Scotch farmer do in that 

 case ? He takes his calves from his cows as soon as they, are 

 dropped, hardly allowing them to draw from the mother the 

 milk with which the bag is full at the time of calving, which is 

 generally considered so useful at that time. He begins at once, 

 and keeps that animal within such bounds in regard to growth 

 as to make a good cow of her. He feeds her with oatmeal 

 gruel and a little milk, slightly warmed — the best food in the 

 world to bring a young animal into fine, growing condition. So 

 that, if you desire to produce a good heifer, you have got to 

 follow the example which the Scotch farmer sets you ; and, my 

 word for it, if the breed is good, the blood good, and the ances- 



