DAiET TEEDiKG.] CATTLE, AND THEIE VAEIETIES. [calf-eeaeixg. 



of butter ; and, with one exception, the greatest 

 produce also of cheese; and that exception 

 was when the cow was but one day after 

 calving, which accounted for the abundance of 

 cheesy matter iu the milk. The table is full 

 of instruction, and justifies the quotation of 

 some of its items. 



_ , Davs after 



Foo'l- culvinj. 



Potatoes and hay . . 176 



Hay and green clover 182 



Green clover . . . 193 



Clover in flower . . 204 



Potatoes .... 229 



Turnips .... 207 



lied beet .... 215 



It is found that mangel-wurzel, bean-meal, 

 and grains, largely contribute to the increase 

 of milk ; that good hay and oat mash augment 

 tlie quantity of butter; and that turnips, 

 tl'ough they sometimes impart a disagreeable 

 llavour, materially add to the increase of both. 



The result of Mr. Pulleiue's system of 

 management, in the production of milk, is as 

 follows; the cows being five in number, viz. — 



1. Yorkshire, 9 years old; had her last calf 



March, 1850. 



2. Alderney, 2ji years old; calved July, 1850. 



3. Yorkshire, 2| years old; calved Nov., 1850. 



4. Yorkshire, 5 years old ; calved Jan., 1851. 



5. Ayrshire, 6 years old; calved March, 1851. 



He says — " It will be observed that Nos. 1 

 and 2 can hardly be called in full milk, and 

 No. 3 is only a quey. They produced, in the 

 seven weeks, from the 25th of March to the 

 10th of May, 191 rolls of butter, 24 oz. to the 

 roll, equal to about 251 lbs., IGoz. to the 

 pouTid. To this must be added 154 quarts of 

 new milk, and 42 quarts of cream, consumed 

 in the house. The milk was not regularly 

 measured, but averaged about sixty quarts 

 per day." 



It is sonaetimes an object to keep the cow 

 as long as possible in milk. Some cows get 

 dry early; whilst others may be milked through, 

 though always with disadvantage to both her 

 and her calf — both being feeble and impaired, 

 if it be persisted in. In summer weather, 

 however, when cows are in high condition, and 

 good milkers, it is not only sometimes ad- 

 visable, but absolutely necessary. A cow not 

 put to the bull will hold her milk much longer 

 than one which is regularly breeding. 

 672 



The spaying of milk cows is adopted by the 

 veterinary schools of France ; and much has 

 been said in its favour by various continental 

 authorities. A report on this subject was 

 furnished to the Academy of Erheims, by M. P. 

 Charlier, which spoke almost exclusively in 

 its favour. The practice is an old one in both 

 Germany and England. The object is sup- 

 posed to be to increase the i'eeding propensities 

 of the animals, but by no means for the pur- 

 pose to which we refer, and which mainly 

 occupies the attention of the Erench veteri- 

 nary school — viz., the prolonging of the period 

 of lactation. The report, which is very volu- 

 minous, furnishes a variety of experiments made 

 on cows, old and young — some as far advanced 

 in age as eighteen years ; but, in order to 

 realise all the promised advantages, the cow 

 is said to be best when from four to eight 

 years old. The operation is performed on the 

 right side, and does not, altogether, occupy 

 more than from four to ten minutes. It is 

 seldom fatal, unless the cow is in calf. In 

 some instances, the cows are said to go and 

 feed as usual, even after the operation. 



"The conclusions from the above report, 

 endorsed by the reward of the society's medal, 

 were — that spaying increases the supply of 

 milk from the animal after a ^ev^ days ; that 

 there is a steady return of milk of the best 

 quality, less liability to fiill off milk, and no 

 troublesome tendency to desire the bull ; that 

 in eighteen months the milk does not diminish ; 

 that the feeding tendencies of the cow are 

 much increased, and the quality of the beef 

 improved. Nay, it is further said, that in one 

 diiiry (the number of the cows not being'given), 

 a difference between spayed and unspayed 

 cows, in milk, was 850 pints per annum ; no 

 great quantity, however, if it were a con- 

 siderable dairy, and where, possibly, the best 

 cows were spayed. There is, we must confess, 

 a barbarity about this practice — needless, we 

 believe — which makes our kinder feelings revolt 

 at an operation performed for so little ad- 

 vantage, over the gentle, patient, harmless 



milk cow." 



REARING CALVES. 



The rearing of calves is more or less pursued 

 on every dairy farm ; and, although every cow 

 does not annually produce young, still heifers 

 are usually put to the bull at two years old, 



