114 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



Should the question be raised as to whether animals 

 should be allowed to mature fully before being bred, theo- 

 retically the answer given must be yes, but practically it 

 is no. It has been noticed that there is some danger that 

 the organs of reproduction may become less active if 

 breeding is long deferred, hence the number of non-breed- 

 ers is increased by such breeding. Food overabundant and 

 lacking in succulence intensifies such a condition. It is 

 also thought, that a habit of the system to nourish the 

 frame, at the expense of lessened capacity for milk pro- 

 duction, is thus unduly intensified. It would seem probable, 

 however, that many dairymen have overestimated this dan- 

 ger, and have in consequence been led to breed the young 

 females of the herd at too early an age. Where influences 

 thus antagonistic meet the breeder in his operations, the 

 onlv wise course is compromise, that is to have animals 

 bred while maturity is yet uncompleted but at a more 

 advanced age than that at which they are now generally 

 bred. 



The third objection to immature production applies to 

 labor, such as is now generally performed by the horse 

 and mule. If labor, and especially labor unduly severe, is 

 required of these animals while short of maturity, capacity 

 for labor will undoubtedly be lessened and also the period 

 of effective labor. Notice, it is not labor that is thus crit- 

 icised, but labor that is unduly severe, which means driving 

 the standard-bred horse too rapidly at too young an age 

 and setting the draft horse and the mule drawing burdens 

 beyond their strength. In both instances, such labor con- 

 tinued until the energies are fagged intensifies the resultant 

 injury. But light labor, even at an early age, should not be 

 in any sense harmful, since it is in line with the natural 

 tendency in the young horse to take abundant exercise. 

 Without doubt the muscular capacity of the draft horse 

 could thus be increased by judicious labor while young, and 

 also the staying capacity of the standard-bred by judicious 

 driving at an early age. It is more important with the 



