44 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



any. There is one advantage in moderate feeding in the 

 early life of a calf, — you do not make that strong, bony, and 

 coarse animal that you do when you allow it to have all the 

 milk that it will take. I would rather run my risk to raise 

 a calf with moderate feeding than to give more than a suf- 

 ficient amount of food to make a good and symmetrical 

 animal. 



The Chairmajst. I would like to ask Mr. Hadweu if he 

 ever finds any difficulty in allowing his Jersey calves to suck. 



Mr. Hadwen. As a rule, a Jersey calf does not thrive 

 on the milk of its' mother : it seems to be too rich for the 

 calf, and soon the digestive organs are out of condition. I 

 have found that it is a safer way to wean the calf when a 

 few days old. I never give my calves new milk more than 

 a, few weeks, and then perhaps it must be diluted with water. 

 It is an unsafe thing, as a rule, to allow a Jersey calf to suck 

 its dam. 



The Chairman. That is, I think, something that most, 

 people do not understand. I have lost some of my best 

 calves by letting them suck. 



Mr. E. F. BowDiTCH (of Framingham). If you will allow 

 me, I will add a little to what Mr. Hadwen has said about 

 raising a Jersey calf on its mother. If you want to do it, 

 it can be done safely by allowing the calf to have only a very 

 small allowance. I have had occasion to try that. Instead 

 of letting them have what they would naturally take (three 

 or four quarts), if you keep them down to one-half of that, 

 and then milk out the rest, which is supposed to be a little 

 richer, you will obviate that difficulty. I believe that the 

 natural way is always the best ; and the nearer we can come 

 to nature, the better. 



I always raise my thoroughbred calves on common cows ; 

 and, by having a common cow which is a large milker, I can 

 carry two calves on that cow for four months ; and then I 

 change off, and turn them out, and let them take care of 

 themselves. 



If you are obliged to feed by hand, the one great difficulty 

 is in getting the right temperature, which should be above 

 ninety degrees. Farmers, if they try the temperature, will 

 find that they are feeding their milk too cold. Milk at eighty 

 feels warm to cold fingers, and you think it is warm enough. 



