COMMON METHODS OF REARING 233 



calves are often fed at the same time by one cow when she 

 yields a sufficient supply of milk. After the first two are 

 weaned, at eleven or twelve weeks old, another pair may be 

 put to the cow, and finally a single one as the flow of milk 

 lessens at the end of the season. An additional calf can be 

 easily given to a cow by chaining it to her own calf so that 

 she cannot prevent it sucking, although the practice is 

 attended with danger to the calves if a cow should rise while 

 the calves stand one on each side. They have been found 

 hanged and suspended by the chain passing over her back. 

 The drawbacks to this system are the difficulty of getting a 

 supply of good calves ; the great mortality among very young 

 calves that are moved about and deprived of their natural 

 food and green milk ; and the fact that calves reared in this 

 way are far from being a level lot. They should be trained 

 to eat linseed cake before weaning, so that they may be tided 

 over that critical period without loss of flesh. The attendance 

 necessary can be got among the cottagers on an ordinary 

 farm for about /s.-6d. each calf. 



Sometimes the last of the milk is drawn by hand, and is 

 much richer in cream than the first part. A cow which 

 suckles a calf is none the worse for milking purposes in the 

 following year, although some dairymen are prejudiced 

 against cows which have been so treated. Should a cow be 

 sucked for a number of years, the milking qualities are liable 

 to be impaired, and breeds which rear their young by suckling 

 are never heavy milking dairy cows. 



2nd. Giving full milk alone, newly drawn from the cow, 

 when the milk is about 9OF. A calf is taught to drink from 

 a pail by giving it a finger and keeping its lips down in the 

 milk, so that while sucking the finger it draws in the milk. 

 In a few days it will drink without the finger. An ordinary 

 Shorthorn calf should receive for a day or two a daily 

 allowance of f gallon of milk divided into three meals. 

 The calves of smaller breeds require smaller quantities. 

 Milk should be given in moderate amounts at first, to 

 encourage the development of the calf's instinctive desire to 

 satisfy the cravings of hunger, and train it to drink freely. 

 Increase should consequently be gradual. Some calf-rearers 

 only feed twice a day, although it is better to do so three 

 times. The amount should be increased to 2 gallons by the 



