YOUNG ANIMALS. DAIRY COWS. 235 



832. For these reasons, young animals should have 

 greater care, better shelter, and more generous feed than 

 they commonly do. Yet they should not be overfed ; they 

 should receive enough to keep them growing thriftily up 

 to the time of their maturity, and the necessary quantity 

 must be determined, to some extent, by observation in 

 each case, though general rules are sometimes laid down, 

 fixing the proportion of food required at certain ages. 



833. Farmers are too apt to consider how they can get 

 their cows through the winter with the least possible food, 

 taking no care to prepare them for the giving of milk 

 abundantly in the spring. 



834. In consequence, cows often come out in spring 

 reduced in flesh and in blood, and have hard work to 

 make up their loss by means of the food which would 

 otherwise have gone to the production of milk. 



835. The less cows in milk are exposed to the colds of 

 winter, the better. They eat less, thrive better, and give 

 more milk, when housed all the time during extreme cold 

 weather. In stormy weather it is good economy to water 

 them in the stall, rather than turn them out to seek 

 water in the yard, 



836. In the care of cattle, regularity is of the highest 

 importance, especially in feeding. A regular system of 

 feeding, milking and cleansing the stables, should be 

 strictly adhered to. 



837. Cows give a greater quantity of milk in winter, if 

 fed on moist and succulent food. If hay, cornstalks, straw 

 and other similar substances fed out to them, are moistened 

 with warm water and then allowed to stand a few hours 

 in this condition, they are rendered more nutritive. 



838. When the object is to obtain the greatest quantity 

 of milk, cows should have rich, juicy grass or clover, 



21 



