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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



tween her bulling seasons, and I have known ber to go 

 nine weeks. Of these cows, one cast calf in the middle 

 of January ; two in February, within nine days of each 

 other; and being tied up together, and fellow-cows, I 

 had reason to believe one affected the other ; a fourth 

 slinked in April, a fifth in June, and the sixth in Decem- 

 ber. I could ascribe these mishaps to no particular 

 cause beyond the one I have spoken of. If a cow which 

 has calved prematurely does not come in season regu- 

 larly — that is, every three weeks — I should have little 

 hope of her breeding again; and should no special value 

 be set upon her, it will be better to fat her at once. I 

 should by no means discard a cow immediately, which 

 has cast her calf, as I have known many which have 

 subsequently bred with great regularity. The means 

 employed by some persons to get cows to breed, almost 

 exceed belief; the folly of the expedients being only 

 equalled by the cruelty and torture to which the cow is 

 subjected. Amongst other expedients to overcome na- 

 ture's difficulty, which I have known to be tried, are — 

 forcing the cow into a deep pond, after she had had the 

 bull, and keeping her up to the neck in water for 

 half-an-hour; swathing her rump and shape up 

 tightly with cloths, and stopping her evacuations for 

 six hours, a man standing guard over her; placing four 

 56 lb. weights across the cow's back, two either side, 

 again swathing her, and not allowing her to lie down for 

 several hours ; and literally putting hot irons to her 

 shape, immediately after she has been bulled. For the 

 sake of humanity, I hope these cases are few and rare. 

 I should indeed be astonished if cows treated thus 

 ever bred. 



We must now consider the causes of cows casting 

 their calves, and the possibility of preventing this mis- 

 fortune. A cow seldom gives much warning that she 

 is going to cast calf, sometimes only two or three hours, 

 and rarely more than twelve hours ; so that if any cer- 

 tain means of preventing her slinking were known, it is 

 too late to apply them with much hope of success. 

 Indeed, the cow is generally so quick in this oi)eration, 

 that our first warning is finding the calf. This circum- 

 stance leads me to believe that the cause is usually 

 sudden, and the effect immediate. Cows in-calf are 

 particularly susceptible of fright, and some cases of 

 slinking have so quickly followed storms of thunder 

 and lightning, that I have been confident fright occa- 

 sioned by the storm has caused the cow to cast her calf. 

 A fright by strange dogs I believe to be a frequent 

 cause of this mischief. Fortunate is the Shorthorn 

 breeder whose farm is not contiguous to a town, and 

 whose fields are not intersected by public footpaths. 

 These " charming walks" for people with troublesome 

 little dogs are I fear productive of much mischief to our 

 breeding flocks and herds. The involuntary start which 

 a cow gives when a gun is fired near to her, is another 

 proof of fright, and this should bo carefully avoided or 

 guarded against. Some cows are vindictive and savage 

 towards their fellows : such should not be turned out 

 with in-calf cows, as the fright occasioned by a sudden 

 attack of a savage cow may produce abortion. The 

 sense of smell is particularly acute in the cow, and no 



carrion, butcher's offal, or dead game, should be 

 thrown into yards cows are turned into, or remain in or 

 near to pastures the cows frequent. Wounded game, 

 dying and putrefying in the hedges or fields, may fre- 

 quently be the unknown and unexplained cause of cows 

 casting calf, as it is well-known the smell of putrid flesh 

 will produce abortion. Pigs should not be killed in the 

 cows' yards, nor blood of any kind thrown where a cow 

 can get at or smell it. The slaughter-house of a home- 

 stead should be as far removed as possible from the 

 cows' yards and sheds. Rats should not be poisoned 

 about premises, as they stench horribly when dead, and 

 they may lie under the cow's nose, for aught we know. 

 Cowsadvanced in calf should not remain in wetundrained 

 pastures, or lie in wet yards. I do not think with 

 Skellett* "that the smell is of a vegetable nature'' 

 which offends the cow, but when cows are constantly 

 out at grass, a variety of circumstances may at one time 

 or other produce the "fright," to which I am far more 

 inclined to attribute slinking. A further cause for cows 

 slinking, not thought of in the time of Skellett, may 

 be found in the journeys by railway which of late years 

 have been so frequent. Thure can be no doubt that 

 railways greatly facilitate the removal of cows from dis- 

 tant parts of the country, and gentlemen frequenting 

 public sales, prefer buying cows in-calf, because they 

 hope soon to ha?e live produce. How often are they 

 disappointed ! The cow when purchased is probably 

 six months gone with calf : she is shaken and frightened 

 by her railway travelling ; is perhaps turned into a field 

 with a dozen cows, strangers to her, by which she is 

 well hunted ; is differently fed if kept in the homestead, 

 and destroys the hopes of her new owner by calving 

 prematurely. Extreme modes of feeding also tend to 

 produce abortion. We as frequently hear of the cows 

 of cottagers or small farmers casting calf, as those of 

 their more wealthy neighbours. This is probably owing 

 to their cows being turned on a naked common or bar- 

 ren pasture, where they pick up a scanty living, and not 

 getting sufficient food for nature's requirements, they 

 rapidly waste, the foetus loses its vitality, and abortion 

 ensues. On the other hand, excessive feeding must 

 be avoided, as the cow's blood will become in a 

 feverish and heated state, her body fat, heavy, 

 and plethoric, engendering disease, which frequently 

 results in her casting calf. Some of my suggestions 

 for preventing cows slipping calf, or guarding against it, 

 may strike the reader as being simple and unnecessary; 

 but all who have had the care and anxiety of a herd of 

 valuable cows will bear me out when I say, that nothing 

 should be left undone, however simple, which may 

 render your cows safe ; for when one " slips," you 

 know not how many may follow, owing to the sympathy 

 in the animal organization ; and no treatment, that I am 

 aware of, will prevent the cow casting her calf, however 

 soon her intention is apparent to the owner or his cow- 

 man. The slinking of a great number, or an entire 

 herd, of cows, within a few weeks, is not so frequent in 



* Skellett on the Breeding Cow, and Extraction of the 

 Calf. London : Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, 1833, 



