270 



FARMERS' REGISTER— TREATMENT OF CALVES. 



with water. The reason he assigns, (with which 

 however, we can by no means coincide,) is, tliat, 

 when indulged with water, tliey dnni< too muclito 

 supply the v,^ant of milk; whereas, when deprived 

 of water, they are forced to eat grass, containing 

 some moisture, and soon learn to allay their thirst, 

 by eating before the dew is dissijated, and on that 

 account eat more than if they could go to water. 



in the county of Suflblk, calves are usually 

 weaned soon alier Christmas; when ihey are led 

 with lukewarm skimmed milk and water, having 

 bran or oats in it, and some very sweet hay by 

 them, till the grass is read}'; though if the larmer 

 have carrots, tliese form an excellent article of 

 food, and render the use of oats unnecessary. 

 About two gallons of milk daily are sufficient lor 

 the support of a call' until he begins to eat. It 

 siiould be given regularly at the same hours; and 

 he should be kept as quiet as possible, as rest is 

 tbund to materially ])romote his growth. 



hi Ayrshire, calves intended to be reared for 

 dairy cows are fed on milk for the first four, five, or 

 six weeks, and are then allowed four or five quarts 

 of new milk at each meal, twice in twenty-four 

 Jiours. Some never give them any other food 

 when young except milk, and lessen the/]uantify 

 v/hen they begin to eat grass, or other food, which 

 tliey generally do when about five weeks old, when 

 grass can be had; and the milk is wholly withdraw^n 

 iiboiit the seventh or eighth week. But if reared 

 in winter, or before the grass rises in spring, they 

 must be longer supi)iied with milk, as a calf will 

 not so soon learn to eat liay or straw, nor thrive so 

 well on them alone, as it will on pasture. Others 

 feed partly with meal mixed in the milk after the 

 third or fourth week; or gradually introduce some 

 new whey along with the meal, and afterwards 

 withdraw the milk altogether. Hay-tea, linseed 

 jelly, treacle, &c. are also sometimes used with 

 advantage; but milk, when it can be spared, is by 

 far the ])est as well as the most natural food.* 



Another mode of rearing calves has been suo-- 

 gested by his Grace the late Duke of NorUium- 

 berland, the design of which is to render the use 

 of new milk unnecessary-, while the expense is re- 

 duced in the proportion of two-thirds. It is effect- 

 ed in the following maaner: let half an ounce of 

 common treacle be well mixed with a pint of skim- 

 med milk, then gradually add one ounce of finely 

 powdered linseed oil-cake, stirring it till the mix- 

 ture be jn-operly incorporated, after which it is to 

 be added to the remainder of a gallon of milk; and 

 the v.'hole, being miade nearly of the temperature 

 of new milk, niay then be given to the animal: 

 after a short time, tiie quantity of pulverized oiJ- 

 cake may be increased. This method is said to 

 have been advantageously adopted; but Lord 

 Egremonthas used linseed jelly, in the proportion 

 of one pint to a gallon of skimmed milk, witiiout 

 treacle, and it did not answer.f 



An infusion of hay, or sometimes of pea-haidin, 

 called indiscriminately hay-tea or hay-water, has 

 been also applied to the purpose of rearing calves 

 with the smallest quantity of milk. In order to 

 make this infusion, such a pca'iion of fine, sweet 

 hay, cut once or twice, is put into a small earthen 

 vessel, as will fill it, on being lightly settled with 

 the hand. The vessel La then filled with boiling 



* Aiton's Dairy Husbandly, Chap. I. Sect. IV. 

 t See the Agricultural Survey of Sussex, p. 262. 



water, and carefully closed; at the end of two hours 

 a brown, rich, and sweet infiision will be produced, 

 not unlike alewort, or strong tea, which will re- 

 main good tor two days, even during summer, and 

 which is to be used in the following manner. 



At the end of three or four days after a calf has 

 been dropped, and the first passages have been 

 cleansed, as already noticed, let the quantity usual- 

 ly allotted lor a meal be mixed, consisting, for a 

 few days, of three parus of milk, and one part of 

 the hay-tea; afterwards the proportions of each 

 may be equed; then composed of two-thirds of 

 hay-water and one of milk; and, at length, one- 

 fourth part of milk will be sufficient. This prepa- 

 ration (the inventor of which was, many years 

 since, honored with a gold medal by the Dublin 

 Society of Arts) is usually given to the calf, in a 

 lukewarm state, in the morning and evening; each 

 meal consisting of about three quarts at first, but 

 gradually increasing to four qua.rts by the end of 

 the month. During the second month, beside the 

 usual quantity given at each meal, (composed of 

 three parts of the infusion, and one part of milk,) 

 a small wisp or bundle of liay is to be laid before 

 the calf, Avhich will gradually come to eat it; but, 

 if the weather be iiivorable, as in the month of 

 May, tlie beast may be turned out to graze in a 

 fine, sweet pasture, well sheltered Irom the Avinds 

 and sun. This diet may be continued till towards 

 the latter end of the third montli, when, if the 

 animal graze heartily, each meal may be reduced 

 to less than a quart of milk with hay-water; ■ or 

 skimmed milk, or fresh butter-milk, may be sub- 

 stituted for new milk. At the expiration of the 

 third month, the animal will scarcely require to be 

 fed by hand; though, if this should still be neces- 

 sary, one quart of the infusion (wliich during the 

 summer need not be warmed) will be sufficient 

 for a day. 



Tlie economical mode above detailed has been 

 axlopted in some counties of England, with the 

 addition of* linsced-cake finely pulverized and 

 boiled m the hay-tea only, to the consistence of a 

 jelly, without employing any milk in the mixture;* 

 and, as so many excellent artificial grasses are 

 now cultivated for the feeding and liittening of 

 cattle, we conceive that an infusion of any one or 

 more of them would be found more nutritious than 

 if it were prepared from the promiscuous mixtures 

 of grass usually occurring in common hay. 



In Devonshire, the rules commonly followed in 

 rearing calves are nearly as follows: — The great- 

 est number are usually dropped between Candle- 

 mas and May, and some much later; but the most 



* In the "Letters and Papers of the Bath and West 

 of England Society," Vol. V. we have a singular in- 

 stance of success in this mode of rearing-, by Mr. 

 Crook. In 1787, he bought three sacks of linseed, 

 value £2 5s., whicli lasted him three }'ears. One 

 quart of seed was boiled in six quarts of water, for 

 ten minutes, to a jelly, which Vv'as given to the calves 

 three times in the course of the day, mixed v/ith a 

 little hay-tea. Tluis he was enabled to rear in 1787, 

 seventeen calves; in 1788, twenty-three; and, in 1789, 

 fifteen, without any milk at all. And he states, that 

 his calves throve miich better than those belonging to 

 liis neighbors which were reared with milk. Pot-liquor 

 has also been found an excellent substitute for milk; 

 and it is remarkable, that the great ox bred by Mr. 

 Dunliiil (already mentioned in tlie Introductory View) 

 was chiefly reared on it. 



