DISEASES.] 



CATTLE, AND TllHlli V.\K1I:TIES. 



[CALVIXO. 



them with insufTiciont or unwholesome food. 

 Many discuses snriiii; from this. By dt'privini; 

 the milk of its croam, the greater portion of tlio 

 muscle and fat-formin!» principles is removed, 

 whilst the phosphates arc rather in excess; 

 and hence the oriu;i?i of sueli a number of 

 sharp-backed, ilat-ribbed, coarse beasts, which 

 devour more food than stock of a better de- 

 scription, and, when fattened, present nothing 

 but coarse beef, having scarcely a joint fit for 

 the shop of a respectable butcher. Breeders 

 of calves would fuid it advantageous to accustom 

 them to consume small quantities of linseed cake 

 when about six weeks old, and this increased 

 in proportion as the milk is witlidrawn. AVhen 

 the weaning takes place, the allowance of cake 

 should be still further increased, which will 

 prevent the check so commonly produced in 

 their growth at this period, as shown by their 

 large bellies, and dry and thrifty appearance. 

 Tlie cake should be continued until the calves 

 are so accustomed to the grass as to be able to 

 dispense with it. It may be imagined that this 

 system of feeding may increase the liability to 

 inflammatory fever, or felon, to which stock at 

 this age, as well as yearlings, are exceedingly 

 disposed ; but, to prevent this, farmers should 

 increase the strength and constitutions of 

 their young stock — a condition not obtained 

 by excess of food at any one time, but by 

 regular feeding and proper management. 



An imperfect system of drainage of soil is 

 another fruitful source of disease in calves and 

 yearlings. During periods of moist, warm 

 weather, on undrained soils, a disease called 

 "boose" frequently prevails. The windpipe 

 and bronchi become filled with masses of worms 

 {Strongyhis fiharia) and mucus, occasioning 

 violent inflammation of the membranes of the 

 air-passages. As these remarks apply only to 

 the more prominent of diseases in cattle, we 

 may observe that inattention to first symptoms 

 often terminates in fatal afiections. The ma- 

 jority of such cases which occur on a farm, pro- 

 ceed from not attending to the premonitory 

 signs of disease. These, in cattle, are usually re- 

 cognised by the animal showing a loathing for 

 food ; suspended rumination, or lazily per- 

 formed ; the muzzle dry, instead of being be- 

 dewed ; respiration increased ; hair pitched, and 

 not licked. AVhen these symptoms, or any of 

 them, make their appearance, it may be taken 



as n certain sign tliat dinea8o is approaching; 

 and it becomes a duty to act without delay, as, 

 by doing so, the disease nuiy bo mitigated or 

 arrested. Very little attention to the causes 

 of disease must show that tli(;y are commonly 

 the result of mismanagement, ratlier than of 

 accident or of circumstances which cannot bo 

 controlled ; even tho agencies inducing epi- 

 zootic and contagious diseases may bo guarded 

 against, or considerably modified, by proper 

 and regular feeding, good drainage, and suit- 

 able yards, sheds, and farm-buildings. Tho 

 great secret of keeping all animals, however, is 

 to tend them carefully and keep them well. 

 Let the land, which is thought to be subject 

 to disease, be thoroughly drained as well as 

 farmed ; let the bad herbage and cold beds of 

 the cattle be improved, and they will bo 

 healthier, and thrive better. It is safer alway.} 

 to pay the cake-crusher or the miller, than to 

 pay the veterinary surgeon, however skij'ol he 

 may be. 



Blown, Uoven, or Over-Full — Sometimes 

 a change of food, or a feed of wet clover, 

 or potatoes greedily eaten, will induce fer- 

 mentation in the stomach, instead of di- 

 gestion. The sides will be blown up, until 

 the stomach presses on tho skin with a force 

 which renders it hard to the finjrers. — In 

 treating for this disease, by far the best 

 method is to use the probang. It should be 

 introduced to the stomach by the throat, and 

 then the foul air will generally immediately 

 escape. AVhen this instrument is not at 

 hand, the beast may lie down, and the disease 

 may continue till the walls of the stomach 

 are ruptured. In these cases an ounce of 

 ammonia will often give relief. A pint of 

 vinegar has been known to effect it; but tho 

 safest remedy is a pint of linseed oil. Use 

 gentle exercise ; but all kinds of violence, aud> 

 above all, such doses as tar and salt, given 

 with the idea of making them eject their saliva, 

 can only do harm. — AVhen it is necessary to 

 cut into the stomach, employ a veterinary 

 surgeon. 



Calviiig. — Strictly speaking, this cannot bo 

 called a disease ; but it ought not to be entirely 

 overlooked in a work of this kind ; for, in some 

 cases, more especially in the" first or second 

 instances of parturition, there is great danger 

 of the birth not being effected without 



