CHAPTER IX. 

 THE NURSERY 



SIXTEEN good calves, on three cows' milk, and now 

 let me tell how it is done. To make a success of 

 calves, we must always begin with the cows. As 

 I have said, two are in the dairy herd book, the 

 third as good as either, and none can get in on less 

 than 600 gallons. All these are well over that, 

 and one of them* has milk so rich that about one- 

 third of water can be added without bringing the 

 percentage of butter fat below the average. 

 The total yield is approximately 2,600 gallons, 

 which gives each of 21 calves (7 per cow), an 

 average of 5 quarts a day for 100 days quite ample 

 for first class results, assuming efficient attention 

 and proper feeding in addition to the milk. Of 

 course, no calf gets 5 quarts uniformly from start 

 to finish, but we will come to that. Here I have 

 to show how the most can be made of the cows. 

 Get a cow calving late in winter or in early 

 spring, and the period of natural decline in the 

 milk will coincide exactly with the increasing 

 warmth and its new grass. Going to pasture 

 about the middle of May, she makes a new start 

 in milk, with the whole summer before her, and 



* Polly II, No. 739. Her last calf Patrician II, age one 

 year on March 9, 1915, now for sale as a registered sire. 



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