250 AMERICAN CATTLE. 



explanation, and I was confident that some author must have 

 discussed the point, but I could find no direct allusion to it. 

 Still, there are abundant facts from which to draw a conclusion. 

 All the animal tissues contain, as an essential element, nitrogen. 

 Sugar, fat, starch and water, are non-nitrogenized components of 

 the animal body, but are not organized or living substances. 



"It is only the muscular and nervous systems that have sen- 

 sation. The semen of male, and the ova of female animals, are 

 albuminous or nitrogenous fluids, containing, besides soda and 

 phosphate of lime, all the essential elements of the young ani- 

 mal. It is held, by some of the greatest animal chemists, that 

 'nitrogenized foods alone nourish the tissues.' It is not difficult, 

 then, from these premises, to infer the reason that too carbona- 

 do us food, such as sugar, should, when fed in large quantities, 

 render the female animal barren, and the male impotent. And 

 yet chemists have not applied these facts. It will readily be 

 seen, to what an important account this may be turned by the 

 breeder of animals. In raising heifers and bulls, for instance, 

 how important it is to give them a thorough muscular develop- 

 ment; and to this end, glutinous or albuminous food should be 

 given. There has, in fact, been very little intelligent feeding 

 with cattle breeders. They have fed what was most convenient, 

 without tasking their brains with the question of food elements, 

 and how best to combine them." 



FEEDING IN ADVANCED STAGES OF PREGNANCY. 



As the cow approaches maternity, she should be well kept. If 

 the climate demands it, she should have good shelter, and warm 

 beds. If she has become reduced by scant feed, or profuse milk- 

 ing, she should have additional feed while running dry, in order 

 to promote the growth of the foetus within hor, and prepare her 

 better for the labor of parturition, as well as the sustenance 

 of the coming calf, and a good flow of milk afterwards. No 



