BREEDING FOB THE DAIRY. 607 



or rich pasture in spring after starving all winter; but the most 

 danger is from sympathetic affection. The calf rarely lives and in 

 .a majority of cases is born dead or putrid. If there are any symp- 

 toms of aborting, the cow should be removed from the pasture to a 

 shed. If the discharge is glairy, but not offensive, there may be 

 hopes of avoiding the threatened abortion as the calf is probably 

 not dead, of which assurance can be had by the motion of the fetus 

 The cow should be bled copiously, and a dose of physic given im- 

 mediately after. Then give half a drachm of opium and half an 

 ounce of sweet spirits of nitre. The beast should be allowed noth- 

 ing but gruel and kept quiet. By these means the cow may fre- 

 quently be got to her full time. To prevent the disease from spread- 

 ing the fetus must be got rid of immediately by burying deeply 

 and far from the cow pasture. The parts should be washed with a 

 solution of chloride of lime and the cow-house disinfected by the 

 same solution. On recovery the cow should be fattened and sold. 



BREEDING FOR THE DAIRY. 



Selection of Cows to Breed for the Dairy Breeding 

 of cows is divided into two distinct branches; breeding for the 

 dairy, and breeding for beef. In breeding for the milk, dairy cows 

 should be selected because of their known ability to yield milk 

 largely. Milk dealers look more to quantity than to richness, and 

 to supply their demand, large milkers should be selected. For but- 

 ter and cheese dames, cows which are rich milkers in those elements 

 which butter and cheese require should be preferred, and in this the 

 element of feeding largely influences. The breeder also should look 

 for the particular breed for which his soil, climate and locality are 

 best adapted. When the selection is once made it should not be 

 changed, except for a definite purpose, and when it becomes neces- 

 sary to introduce new blood into a herd by the selection of a new 

 bull, the breeder should endeavor to combine the same qualities 

 which have been cultivated in his herd ; otherwise he will derange 

 the uniformity at which he is presumed to have aimeol. 



Prolific Cows are Good Milkers It is stated on the 

 distinguished authority of Prof. Tanner that those animals which 

 breed with the least difficulty yield the best supplies of milk, and 

 produce the most healthy and vigorous offspring. It must be ad- 

 mitted that however much we have improved the symmetry and 

 feeding power of stock, we have suffered them to deteriorate as 

 breeding animals, wherever flesh has been aimed at the expense of 

 the milking capacity. In proportion as we adopt the more natural 

 system of management, for the purpose of keeping cattle in a 

 healthy and vigorous breeding condition, so shall we reap the 

 indirect benefit of a better supply of milk. It is true that a 

 deficiency in the yield of milk may be met by other resources, but 



