THE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 159 



if the calf is doomed for the butcher. Half the summer 

 is spent in recovering the flesh she has lost during winter. 

 A few years of such treatment weakens her vital force so 

 that she is liable to die a hardening, long before she be 

 comes an old cow. Is it any wonder that cattle become 

 diseased under such treatment, that the ribs stick out, and 

 the hair sticks up, and the crows scent their prey ? We 

 have got laws that fine men heavily for abusing dumb 

 animals with the whip. We ought to have others that 

 will prevent them from torturing their animals with irost 

 and hunger. 



My remedy for cattle disease is, first, good warm stables. 

 They can be made tight, and at the same time be \vell 

 ventilated, so that the thermometer will not sink much 

 below the freezing point. Without good stables, no 

 amount of feeding can keep the animal comfortable, or 

 make it profitable to the owner. 



And secondly, good feed, and plenty of it, good timothy 

 or clover hay well cured corn meal, oat meal, linseed oil 

 cake meal, or cotton seed meal, with the roots carrots, 

 beets and turnips are articles that should enter into the 

 bill of fare. As a rule, the more a cow eats, the more 

 profitable she is to her owner. You might as well think 

 of having meal when you don t put corn into the hopper, 

 as milk and butter without plenty of fodder. There is 

 nothing like having a good lot of flesh and fat to start up 

 on in the spring, if you want to make a good dairy, and 

 keep your cattle clear of disease. 



Yours to command, 



TIMOTHY BUNKER, ESQ. 



Hookertown, Dec., 1860. 



