39^ BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXXVI. 



Besides these qualifications, a great point to be considered is the temper ; 

 for kindly cows will not only give far less trouble in their management than 

 those of an unruly disposition, but are commonly observed to have a more 

 copious supply of milk, as well as to part with it more readily. It may not, 

 indeed, be easy to ascertain the temper while making a purchase of the 

 animal in the market ; but even there an appearance of docility may be 

 remarked in the expression of the countenance, and ought never to be 

 neglected. 



STOCK. 



In stocking with cows, if a farmer has the means of breeding, he must 

 be both negligent and injudicious if he does not provide himself with the 

 best kind which can be properly maintained upon his land ; and even if 

 obliged to purchase, he ought still to select the best which it may be in his 

 power to procure, without regard to the price ; for if well chosen, they will 

 more than repay any difference of cost between them and an inferior sort. 

 Besides the nature of the land, he should also attend to the purposes for 

 which the stock is designed — whether it be for breeding or for milking ; as, 

 if intended for the former, a handsome shape, accompanied by the least 

 portion of offal and an apparent aptitude to fatten, are to be preferred ; but 

 if meant for the pail, an early disposition to gather flesh is one strong jiroof 

 of an indifferent milker. Many dairymen, indeed, keep their cows until ten 

 or twelve years old ; and although they will have then fallen off in value, 

 yet their produce, when. of a good kind, makes ample amends. In many 

 parts a breed of cattle maybe found, as it were, provincially hardy, thriving, 

 and well adapted to the soil : let him therefore furnish himself with the best 

 sort of these which he can procure ; but do it with wariness and discern- 

 ment ; and if his cows are well kept, and yield him a good quantity of 

 rich productive milk, it will be immaterial whether they have long horns, 

 short horns, or no horns at all. 



The heifers are generally put to the bull at about two years old, but 

 many of them are in calf long before that time. The most proper season 

 is from the commencement of May until the close of July ; and the usual 

 time of calving is in March or April, though some cows drop their calves 

 soon after Christmas. Those, however, who keep a number of cows, put 

 them at more distant periods in succession to the bull, in order to have as 

 nearly as possible a uniform supply of milk throughout the year. The 

 cows are in most cases allowed to run dry about ten weeks before their 

 again calving, as it is thought to render them less profitable the ensuing 

 spring, if kept to their milk too long ; repeated experiments have, how- 

 ever, proved that six weeks is quite sufficient. They are seldom kept in 

 the dairy after they have produced a third calf, as they are then in a better 

 condition for being fattened than when older ; but they will'yield a progeny 

 until they are full twelve years old, and cows after a second calf yield 

 better milk than with the first. 



It is not, however, always that a good stock can be obtained ; for unless 

 in the breeding districts, where their qualities are well known, cows are not 

 uncommonly brought from various counties, and served by bulls of every 

 breed, so that it is by no means unusual to see a dairy composed of tlie 

 most incongruous crosses, to which no distinctive character can be assigned. 

 This, indeed, often sets anything like judgment at defiance ; and a man who 

 even does not look — as many do — to the picking up of such stock as 

 he can find the cheapest, is sometimes obliged to put up with what he can 

 get, though contrary to his better opinion. He should, however, make 



