CHAPTER V. 



THE RAISING OF CALVES. 



It has been found in practice that calves properly 

 bred and raised on the farm have a far greater intrinsic 

 value for that farm, other things being equal, than any 

 that can be procured elsewhere, while on the manner 

 in which they are raised will depend much of their 

 future usefulness and profit. These considerations 

 should have their proper weight in the decision as to 

 whether a promising calf from a good cow and bull 

 shall be kept or sold to the butcher. But, rather than 

 raise a calf at hap-hazard, and simply because its 

 dam was celebrated as a milker, the judicious farmer 

 will judge of the peculiar characteristics of the animal 

 itself. This will often save a great and useless outlay 

 which has sometimes been incurred in raising calves 

 for dairy purposes, that a more careful examination 

 would have rejected as unpromising. 



The method of judging stock developed in a former 

 chapter is of practical use here, and it is safer to rely 

 upon it, to some extent, particularly when other appear- 

 ances concur, than to go on blindly. The milk-mirror 

 on the calf is small, but no smaller in proportion to its 

 size than that of the cow ; while its shape and form can 

 generally be distinctly seen, particularly at the end of 

 ten or twelve weeks. The development of the udder, 

 and other peculiarities, will give some indication of the 



