18 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS I 



ricds during the pregnancy ; sometimes it occurs from fright, teazing by other 

 cattle in the field, or over-high condition ; but also not unfrequently from some 

 bad habit acquired by the animal. It has been found that the habit is infectious ; 

 and when once it has got among- a parcel of Cows, it can be banished only with 

 the greatest difficulty. In all cases the aborted fetus should be buried deep and 

 far from the Cow pasture; the Cow physiced, and its parts washed with chlo 

 ride of lime ; the Cow-house thoroughly lime-washed and otherwise 7 untied; 

 and .lastly, the Cow fattened and sent to market. 



If in a state of health, no difficulty will occur at the partuution; but sbould 

 the case be otherwise, we prefer leaving the Cow-keeper to ask assistance from 

 a person of practical skill, or veterinary surgeon, than to offer any speculative ad 

 vices on the subject. With respect to the treatment after calving, we bee: to 

 quote the following directions from the volume on Cattle, &quot; Library of Useful 

 Knowledge:&quot; &quot;Parturition having been accomplished, the Cow should be left 

 quietly with the calf; the licking and cleaning of which, and the eating of the 

 placenta, if it is soon discharged, will employ and amuse her. It is a cruel thing 

 to separate the mother from the young so soon ; the Cow will pine, and will be 

 deprived of that medicine which Nature designed for her in the moisture which 

 hangs about the calf, and even in the placenta itself; and the calf will lose that 

 gentle friction and mot.ion which help to give it the immediate use of* all its 

 limbs, and which, in the language of Mr. Berry, increases the languid circula 

 tion of the blood, and produces a genial warmth in the half-exhausted and chil 

 led little animal. A warm mash should be put before her, and warm gruel, or 

 water from which some of the coldness has been taken off. Two or three hours 

 afterward, it will be prudent to give an aperient drink, consisting of a pound of 

 Epsom salts and two drachms of ginger. This may tend to prevent milk fever 

 and garget in the udder. Attention should likewise be paid to the state of the 

 udder. If the teats are sore, and the bag generally hard and tender, she should 

 be gently but carefully milked ihree or four times every day. The natural and 

 the effectual preventive of this, however, is to let the calf suck her at least three 

 times in the day, if it is tied up in the Cow-house, or to run with her in the pas 

 ture, and take the teat when it pleases. The tendency to inflammation of the ud 

 der is much diminished by the calf frequently sucking; or should the Cow be fe 

 verish, nothing soothes or quiets her so much as the presence of the little one.&quot; 



The Calf. 



The Calf, when first dropped, is generally cleansed by the tongue of its dam 

 from the slimy matter which always adheres to the skin of the animal. Some 

 times it happens that the Cow will not at first recognize her offspring ; but upon 

 a small quantity of salt being strown over it, to which all neat cattle are particu 

 larly partial, she commences the motherly duties by licking the skin. The first 

 milk appears to be calculated to nourish the Calf, which it should be allowed to 

 suck plentifully before the Cow is milked. It is the practice with some, as soon 

 as the Calf has sucked as much as it pleases, to milk the remainder so as to 

 cleanly drain the udder, and give it to the Cow as nourishment. 



The treatment of Calves in rearing varies materially in different counties, and 

 even in districts. In Sussex, England, the Calf is by many not allowed to take 

 all the milk of the Cow, but is shut up from her in the morning and evening, and 

 a small quantity of bran or ground oats given in a trough, and not suffered to suck 

 till the maid comes to milking, when she milks two speens, while the Calf sucks 

 the other two ; after which, when the girl has got all the milk she can, the Calf 

 is left Avith the Cow a short time, to draw the udder as clean as possible ; and if 

 there be any lumps occasioned by the pores being stopped, through which the 

 milk flows to the speens, the Calf, by sucking, will disperse them better than by 

 any other means. Cows are frequently injured in their milk by not having their 

 udders thoroughly cleansed for the first fortnight or three weeks after calving. \ 

 When the Calf is about a month old, it is suffered to run with the Cow in the 

 day, and kept from her in the night. A portion of the milk is taken from the 

 Cow, and the remainder is left for the Calf, which is again permitted to remain 

 with her during the day this practice is followed by some till the Calf is weaned. 

 ISome let the Calves gu with the Cows when three or four weeks old, at which 

 time the Cow has not a greater supply than sufficient for the Calf alone ; after 



