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they require the kindest treatment and the most nourishing 

 food. The calf itself under this treatment of the cow is small 

 and feeble. He finds comparatively insufficient support from his 

 exhausted dam ; and the return, which the cow makes in milk 

 during the summer, is much less than it would be, if she came 

 into the spring in good health and flesh. It requires the whole 

 summer to recover what she has lost. The animal constitution 

 cannot be trifled with in this way. 



It is so with all live stock, and especially with young ani- 

 mals at the period of their most rapid growth. They should 

 not be prematurely forced ; but, on the other hand, they should 

 not be stinted or checked. It is a very important question, 

 whether it is more profitable to fatten young animals than older 

 ones. I have given the different opinions of different farmers 

 on this subject. In England, it seems an almost universal 

 opinion, that the sooner an animal can be made fit for the mar- 

 ket the better, and their fatted animals, especially of the im- 

 proved breeds, are slaughtered at two and three years old. 

 They are often brought to market at even an earlier age than 

 this ; but it is considered, and with reason, that the meat of such 

 animals is not so good as when they have attained a full 

 growth. It is natural to suppose that the animal can only be 

 in perfection when he has ceased to grow, and if killed before 

 that period, there would seem to be a loss of that enlargement 

 of size and weight, separate from an increase of fatness, to 

 which he might attain. While an animal is growing and well 

 fed at the same time, there is evidently a double gain ; and 

 if he increases one pound a day by his extra feed, he may 

 be supposed to increase another pound by his ordinary growth. 

 After this period, however, it may be advisable to send him to 

 market as soon as he can be put into condition. Farmers often 

 make great mistakes in keeping their cattle too long. There 

 is a reasonable calculation to be made in respect to the markets, 

 which are generally higher in the spring than in the autumn; 

 but the advance in price does not always meet the increased 

 expense of keeping. It is important, as a general rule, that 

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