ON THE REARING OF CATTLE. "9 



tiition to supply it ; tliis must be effected by the quantity of 

 phosphates, giuten, fi1)i'in, or casein, which are given in the 

 food with wliich the mother is fed. 



An animal thus kept, VN-ill be in the most profitable con- 

 dition to rear its young- ; and bear in mind, that as the calf 

 grows rapidly, the food it requires increases daily with its 

 bulk, and the demands upon the mother every day become 

 g-reater. At this period, therefore, the cow must obtain 

 larger supplies of food to sustain herself, and to produce a 

 sufficient quantity of milk for her calf If, then, adequate 

 supplies are not given, a portion is daily taken from her own 

 substance, which causes her to be lean and feeble, and her 

 young stinted and puny in its growth. 



What has been said reo-ardin"- the food given to the cow, 

 will be more or less effective in promoting the growth oi 

 the young animal fed solely on milk ; when richer in curd, 

 it will promote more muscle; wlien richer in phosphates, 

 more bone ; and in butter, more fat. Milk is a perfect food 

 for a growing animal ; nothing is wanted in it ; the mother 

 selects all the ingredients of this perfect food from the sub- 

 stances which are mingled in her stomach from the food she 

 eats ; she changes them chemically in such a degree as to 

 present them to the young animal in a state in which it can 

 most easily, and with least labour, employ them for sustain- 

 ing its body, and all this at a given and appointed moment 

 of time. In due time, the young animal begins to feed for 

 itself; and then the mother improves in condition. Warmth, 

 exercise, and good food are all that is then required, always 

 bearing in mind that, as nature prepares the food for young- 

 animals in a state in which they can most easily digest it, so 

 we should prepare by boiling or steaming all dry food and 

 roots for the same purpose. In the growing animal the food 

 has a double function to perform — it must sustain and it 

 must increase the body ; hence, Avhatever tends to decrease 

 the sustaining quantity (and cold, exercise, and uneasiness 

 do so) will tend in an equal degree to lessen the value of a 

 given weight of food in adding to the weight of the animal's 

 body. To the pregnant and to the milking cow the same 

 remarks apply. The custona of allowing- young cattle to 

 remain during the whole Avinter in straw-yards, exposed to 

 all the variations of weather, cannot be too loudly con- 

 demned ; oil-cake, it is true, which is sometimes given in 

 large quantities, makes some small amends by the supply of 

 carbon to the system ; but if a warm, dry, and clean shed was 



