146 Management of Breeding Cattle. 



they ate too many of the former and not sufficient of the latter ; 

 by thus mixing the two we induce them to eat the proper pro- 

 portions of each, and they do much better, with little more than 

 half the old quantity of roots. I have several dry cows now in 

 excellent condition, being fed on 45 lbs. of pulped swedes and a 

 bushel and a half of straw-chaff each daily, with no other food 

 whatever. My calves of last year, now eleven to thirteen months 

 old, are in a very thriving condition with 28 lbs, of pulped 

 swedes, one bushel of straw-chafF, with 2 lbs. of oil-cake each 

 daily. I have the chaff and roots mixed only a short time before 

 they are given to the animals ; if allowed to remain in a heap 

 two or three days the mass will heat, and some persons maintain 

 that it is best to give it to the cattle in this warm state. I have 

 found no advantage in it myself, and I consider it therefore best 

 avoided, as it may sometimes tend to acidity not favourable to 

 the health of the stock. 



I have never tried the system of steaming and giving the food 

 warm to the cattle ; but a friend of mine, Mr. Anthony Bubb, 

 of Witcombe Court, near Gloucester, has made several experi- 

 ments in feeding cattle and pigs with steamed and unsteamed 

 food, and has found no advantage from the former, except that, 

 when hay and straw-chafF is used alone it is rendered more 

 palatable, particularly if the hay is of inferior quality. 



I consider straw objectionable food, unless accompanied by 

 roots or a small quantity of oil-cake ; it often causes obstruc- 

 tion in the second stomach, which is one of the most dangerous 

 maladies we have to contend with in cows. 



It will be seen that, in making the above observations, I have 

 supposed the calves to be dropped indifferently at all times of 

 the year : when they are all kept for breeding purposes there is 

 no objection to this ; but where cows are kept principally with a 

 view to cheese-making, it is important that they should calve nearly 

 at the same time, that is, within a month or six weeks of each 

 other. Under such circumstances breeding is generally only 

 a secondary consideration ; in some cases none of the calves are 

 reared, and in most only a small proportion, and then only the 

 earlier ones. To such cases I consider my system with the early 

 calves well adapted, except that, instead of allowing the heifers' 

 first calves to run with them, they should be taken away and the 

 heifeis milked by hand ; not only because on a dairy-farm such 

 late calves would not usually be reared, but because the heifer 

 would probably take the bull earlier than if sucked by the calf. 

 Most good breeders produce a calf every eleven months, so that 

 these heifers would soon come in to calve sufficiently near the 

 time of the general herd. 



Should it at any time be an object to rear any of these later 



