BEEFLINGS 47 



of their digestions being upset and the danger of their becoming 

 infected by disease is reduced to a minimum. The domesticated 

 calf is very liable to infection, of very serious import to digestion, 

 when gulping down milk from a pail, and the baneful microbes 

 seem to be very much better kept in check when the process 

 of suckling allows only small mouthfuls to be swallowed at a 

 time. On the other hand, the number of calves reared from the 

 cow is not altogether satisfactory. Even supposing that such a 

 cow was grazed through the summer five months and that she 

 reared five out of eight calves, while at grass, as has often been 

 my experience, an animal giving 800 gallons requires a large 

 quantity of nourishment. Supposing the cow to be housed 

 the whole year the produce off 2-5 acres of plough-land at least 

 would be used in growing the eight calves from 4 to about 

 100 days old. It may safely be estimated that for the 13 weeks' 

 milk the calf would give an increase of 125 Ib. When thriving, 

 the little beast would increase more than this he ought to do 

 about 200 Ib. in the time but I have reckoned that the other 

 foods he ought to have would be used to create the 75 Ib. that 

 differentiates the two weights. Eight calves increasing in weight 

 125 Ib. on 2-5 acres give a production of 400 Ib. per acre; a 

 return very different from the paltry one obtained from land 

 that is merely being used as a breeding-run as shown on page 18. 

 This method requires ample labour and almost the same 

 accommodation as where the cows are milked by hand. It is 

 well if each cow has a box to enter at "milking- time" in 

 which the calves live while their parent is out in summer or 

 while she is " yarded " in winter. The calves can be kept tied to 

 the wall all the time, and should be tied up for some little time 

 after feeding on the cow ; otherwise they soon learn to suck each 

 other. The man in charge must use some skill in making the 

 cows take to the foster-calves, in seeing that each calf gets 

 enough, but not more than enough, milk, and in supplementing 

 the milk by suitable food and water when the calf has passed 

 the age of about four weeks. The growth of calves, in my experi- 

 ence, is often retarded through their having too little to drink. 

 When their milk has been curtailed, the little animals do not 

 eat enough dry food to promote proper growth and their fluid 



