338 ARID AGRICULTURE. 



up by the advice of a doctor, or the diseased ani- 

 mals disposed of. 



PUBERTY, The age of puberty, or the time a young ani- 



GES^TATION ma ^ w ^ breed, varies greatly in different ani- 

 mals of the same kind. The periods of breeding 

 are also variable, but the gestation is more uni- 

 . form. It seems that highly bred animals that 

 mature at younger ages, have shorter gestation 

 periods than the less refined breeds. This infor- 

 mation is scattered and usually hard to find, but 

 it is so useful to every farmer who deals with any 

 kind of live stock that such of it as is available 

 and reliable is here brought together in con- 

 densed form. 



THE HORSE Puberty in the mare occurs at from eighteen 



months to two years of age, but the mare should 

 not be allowed to have her first colt younger than 

 three years. Animals indicate when they arc 

 ready to breed by periods of heat or rutting 

 (oestrum). The mare comes into heat every 

 twenty-one or twenty-two days, though it varies 

 from one to three weeks, and some mares are ap- 

 parently in heat at all times, while others never 

 come into heat at all. Heat does not usually oc- 

 cur while animals are pregnant, though this is 

 not always true. The mare usually stays in 

 heat about three days. The gestation period of 

 the mare (the time she carries the foal) varies 

 from ten months to twelve months, the average 



