THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



329 



three days, increasing the intervals of feeding as the calf 

 gained strength. The cowman or his mate sat up 

 several nights to feed the calf, and in three weeks we 

 were able to dispense with the bottle, and had the satis- 

 fiiction of seeing the calf drink from the pail- At 

 fourteen months old this calf was sold by auction for 

 more than 90 guineas. The bottle used was a 

 glass one, and care should be taken to keep it 

 sweet. Another case was similarly treated, and 

 with equal success, so far as rearing the calf until 

 it was a month old. Being winter, for the sake of 

 warmth I let the calf lie with its dam, which had 

 uncut hay in her manger. Finding the calf dead one 

 morning, when it had been seen alive and sucking late 

 at night, we carefully examined it, and detected a ball 

 of hay lodged in the throat. I have no doubt the calf 

 had eaten the h;iy, and having fallen asleep before it had 

 passed the food into its paunch, the hay had suffocated 

 it. When calves are born before their time, they 

 sleep a great deal, and are only roused by cold 

 or want of food. Calves cannot be too well lit- 

 tered, and their pens should be sheltered and warm, 

 with good ventilation above. The floor of the calf's 

 pen should be on an incline, to allow the urine to 

 drain away, and the hot dung should be thrown 

 out of the pen at least three times a week, and 

 in confined places daily. At four months old the 

 calf is gradually weaned from new milk by adding 

 scalded linseed, which has been previously ground, 

 beginning with a pint at each meal, and in- 

 creasing the linseed until the milk is entirely 

 withdrawn. The calf will drink linseed freely ; and if 

 the season is winter, it will be desirable to continue 

 feeding with it until the calf is turned- out to grass in 

 May or June, I give a simple mode of preparing lin- 

 seed tea for calves. One-and-a-half lb. of linseed will 

 make five gallons of tea. To one-and-a-half lb. of 

 ground linsoed add a gallon of hot water — not boiling. 

 In cold weather let it stand twenty-four hours, in warm 

 weather twelve hours. Then add four gallons of water, 

 and give it to the calves at the temperature and about 

 the consistency of new niilk. A six months' calf will 

 drink six gallons per day, given at twice. When four 

 months old the calf should have a little sweet hay cut 

 into chaff, and a handful of ground oats mixed with it ; 

 also a few slices of swede turnips, or, if after February, 

 a few slices of wurtzel daily. The proportions of food 

 may, of course, be increased with the growth and con- 

 dition of the calf ; but the increase of turnips or wurtzel 

 should be very gradual, and not exceed one gallon per 

 day up to eight months old, nor one peck per day up 

 to twelve months. When calves are first turned-out to 

 grass I think it desirable to house them at night, give 

 them hay, and two lbs. of linseed-cake per day. Nor 

 would I withdraw the cake after the calves remain out 

 at night, as I find it keeps young stock in health, and 

 their skins and coats in a fresh and blooming condition. 

 Many writers advocate the use of pea-meal made into 

 porridge for calves, and pea and bean-meal, mixed with 

 chaff, for yearlings. I have no wish to detract from the 

 value of peas and beans as fattening food, but my ex- 



perience proves that they are not proper food for young 

 stock, more particularly for young breeding stock. I 

 have little doubt that many cases of sudden indigestion 

 and consequent inflammation, of " hoven," of diseased 

 knees and joints, and stiff fore-legs, are the fruits of 

 indulging young stock with peas or beans in some form 

 or other. Oatmeal may be largely given without fear of 

 the consequences, and if the animal does not progress so 

 rapidly as you wish, you will have the satisfaction of 

 retiring to rest at night under no apprehension of finding 

 your favourite shorthorn " blown-np" and " a body" in 

 the morning. 



I have a decided objection to young stock being tied 

 up during the winter. If possible, five or six yearling 

 heifers should lie loose, in a warm and well-drained yard, 

 with a roomy shed to feed in, and to shelter them from 

 heavy rains and storms. Half-a-bushel of cut swedes, 

 with sweet oat straw and hay mixed and cut into chaff, 

 and from two to three lbs. of linseed-cake per day, will 

 keep the heifers in a fresh and thriving state. If hay is 

 plentiful, the straw should not exceed one-third in pro- 

 portion. If hay is scarce, and straw abundant, a little 

 ground oats might be mixed with the chaff, and the hay 

 and straw cut up in equal portions. Food should never 

 be given in excess, and stock should clear out their 

 mangers before they have a fresh supply. Should o.ae 

 of the heifers drive the others from the manger, and 

 monopolize the oil-cake, the lot may be tied up, for half- 

 an-hour, to ensure each animal having its share. The 

 heifers should have the dirt cleaned off them daily ; for 

 if allowed to accumulate, the dirt adheres to the hair, 

 which is eventually scraped off the animal, rendering 

 her hind-quarters as bare of hair as a clipped horse. 

 The growth of long and silky hair, and the preservation 

 of it, is a peculiar art in the " getting up" of short- 

 horns for our national shows, and taxes the skill of first- 

 class exhibitors to the utmost. Lice are frequently to be 

 found on heifers at this age, and the stock should now 

 and then be carefully examined, and the vermin de- 

 stroyed. It is an error to suppose that lice are only 

 found on animals which are poor and dirty. That cattle 

 are more liable to vermin, and to diseases of the skin, 

 when in a dirty and starved condition, I allow ; but I 

 have frequently found lice on heifers which have never 

 known the cravings of hunger, and which have been 

 kept as clean and sweet as carriage horses. The best 

 application to destroy lice is a strong decoction of 

 tobacco-water, boiling the rankest tobacco you can pro- 

 cure. To one lb. of tobacco add eight gallons of water ; 

 boil and stir it ; when a little cool pour in one pint of 

 brown spirits of tar and one lb. of soft-soap ; stir all 

 well up, and apply it when cool. Let a man effectually 

 rub this mixture into the heifer's skin, more particularly 

 on the neck, shoulders, and rump ends, which are the 

 parts usually infected by lice. The heifer should be 

 kept in a shed until she is dry, and the mixture must 

 not be washed off. A rub with a soft brush, or wisp of 

 straw, the following day, will restore the natural appear- 

 ance of the coat, and the disagreeable smell soon passes 

 away. Mild mercurial ointment can be applied in bad 

 cases to destroy lice, but the ointment irritates the skin, 



