A CRUEL PRACTICE. 161 



changes ; and even after being turned to pasture they 

 ought to be taken in if the weather is not dry and 

 warm. The want of care and attention to these little 

 details will be apparent sooner or later ; while, if the 

 farmer give his own time to these matters, he will be 

 fully paid in the rapid growth of his calves. It is espe- 

 cially necessary to see that the troughs from which 

 they are fed, if troughs are used, are kept clean and 

 sweet. 



But there are some even among intelligent farmers 

 who make a practice of turning their calves out to 

 pasture at the tender age of two and three weeks, 

 and that, too, when they have sucked the cow up to 

 that time, and allow them nothing in the shape of 

 milk or tender care. I cannot but think that this is the 

 poorest possible economy, to say nothing of the cruelty 

 of such treatment. The growth of the calf is checked, 

 and the system receives a shock from so sudden a 

 change, from which it cannot soon recover. The care- 

 ful Dutch breeders bring the calves either skimmed milk 

 or butter-milk to drink several times a day after they 

 are turned to grass, which is not till the age of ten or 

 twelve weeks ; and, if the weather is chilly, the milk is 

 warmed for them. They put a trough generally under 

 a covering, where the calves may come and drink at 

 regular times. Thus they are kept tame and docile. 



In the raising of calves, through all stages of their 

 growth, great care should be taken neither to starve 

 nor to over-feed. A calf should never be surfeited, and 

 never be fed so highly that it cannot be fed more highly 

 as it advances. The most important point is to keep it 

 growing thriftily without getting too fat, if it is to be 

 raised for the dairy. 



Mr. Aiton, in describing the mode of rearing calves 

 in the dairy districts of Scotland, says : " They are fed on 

 14* 11 



