BREEDING AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 19 



day. On no account should the cow be again served until she 

 is perfectly healthy and regular. We may add that carbolic 

 acid, either as McDougall's disinfectant or Dr. Calvert's prepara- 

 tion, will be found probably the most powerful agent known. 



The management of the calf is the next point for conside- 

 ration. In the case of the heifer it is well to let the calf 

 suck, and possibly run with its dam, during the summer. In 

 such cases we advise the farmer to procure a second calf, and 

 when the heifer has become accustomed to it, to turn her out 

 into good pasture with her two attendants, who will make good 

 use of their time and pay well for the heifer's milk. With 

 older cows there are two plans open to us — first, to remove the 

 calf at birth, before the cow has noticed or licked it ; this plan 

 is frequently pursued in the north of England with great 

 success. The calf is carried to a warm well-littered house, and 

 thoroughly rubbed with a wisp of straw until dry and warm. 

 The beastlings are then drawn from the cow, supplied to the 

 calf a small quantity at a time, and frequently. The fingers 

 should be introduced and the calf's mouth drawn down to the 

 milk. They will thus readily learn to drink, and the great 

 point is to prevent their drinking too fast. We must imitate 

 as much as possible the process of sucking, by which a 

 good deal of air enters the stomach and assists digestion. 

 Patent feeding-mouths are very useful for this purpose. The 

 calf should be fed three times a day ; many people prefer only 

 twice, but it is too long for the stomach to remain without food, 

 and is contrary to the natural habits of the calf. The second 

 plan is to leave the calf with the mother two or three weeks, or 

 at least allow it to suck night and morning ; but if we have a 

 good cowman who understands the other plan, it is preferable 

 for some reasons. The cow gives her milk down more freely, 

 does not fret at the separation, and is apt to take the bull sooner 

 than when the calf sucks. Adopting the first plan, we may use 

 new milk for a fortnight; then skimmed milk of the same 

 temperature as the new milk, and thickened with linseed jelly 

 or fine dust oil-cake, which supplies the fatty matters removed in 

 cream, besides enriching the food in other ways. Boiled flour 

 porridge is frequently used in conjunction with skimmed milk. 

 We prefer dust cake, provided it be from fresh genuine linseed ; 



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