102 EVERY MAN HIS OWN FARRIER * 



mestic animal ; perhaps this may result, in a great 

 measure, from the want of exercise, the great size of 

 the rumen, or first stomach, and the hardness of the 

 third ; it is also sometimes caused by the stomach being 

 too much distended with improper food ; straw and bad 

 hay being very injurious, and, if not always the cause 

 of abortion, is generally productive of difficult labour. 

 Impure or unwholesome water, fog-grass, coarse tough 

 grass in wet situations, too much exposure to cold and 

 wet, fighting with each other, and leaping over emi- 

 nences or ditches, are all likely to produce abortion : 

 too much care cannot, therefore, be used in looking 

 after pregnant cows, in order to secure them against 

 either of these accidents. Above ail, give them suffi- 

 cient gentle exercise, treat them kindly and soothingly, 

 and feed them with food that is easy of digestion, and 

 which contains a good deal of nutriment in a small 

 bulk ; giving it them a little at a time, and that little, 

 often. Straw, chaff", and bad hay, afford but little 

 nourishment, load the stomach and bowels, impede the 

 gradual growth of the calf in the womb; and when 

 the calf has acquired a moderate size, the pressure of 

 a loaded stomach causes its death, and sometimes en- 

 dangers the life of the mother also. 



The approach of calving is known by the cow bel- 

 lowing, the enlargement of the udder, the restlessness 

 of the animal, and the falling of the flank and croup. 

 The cow should then be constantly watched, that she 

 may have assistance, if necessary, at tKe time of 

 calving. 



The most common manner in which the calf comes 

 forth from the womb, or the natural presentation, as 

 it is termed, is with the head and two fore-feet fore- 

 most. From the causes before noticed, however, this 

 natural presentation is often changed ; sometimes the 



