58 GUIDE TO DAIRYING IN SOUTH AFRICA 



her blood and milk are liable to be affected, and so 

 do more harm than good to the young animal. 



If it be very cold weather she should be 

 sheltered, not necessarily in an expensive or 

 elaborate building, but free from draught and well 

 bedded. When the calf is born she should have 

 light loosening feed and water from which the chill 

 has been removed, for very cold water is likely to 

 cause a shrinkage or contraction of the womb, 

 which leads to trouble in getting rid of the " after- 

 birth." Keep the bowels loose, and if any sign of 

 constipation appears give her one pound of Epsom 

 salts dissolved in hot water. 



Since the supplying of butter fat to the 

 creameries has become such an important part of 

 dairy farming and the utmost profit has to be made 

 from the cow, it becomes a very important point 

 with cream suppliers to know how to raise a first- 

 class calf by hand and by the use of skim milk. 

 Any cow which is worth being called a dairy cow 

 produces more milk than it is possible for the calf 

 to drink, and the sooner the cow and calf are 

 separated the better for both. When the milking 

 is done by hand the cow soon forgets her offspring 

 and regards the milking as the natural means of 

 relief to her udder. She will " let down " her milk 

 just as easily to the milker as to the calf, and the 

 farmer can be sure the udder is drained with each 

 milking. 



