1869. 



l^TEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



101 



four chambers, with closets, and a bathing- 

 room on the second floor, and three chambers, 

 and a clothing-room in the attics, making in 

 all seven chambers ; a large number for a 

 house of this size. 



The first story is ten feet high, and the sec- 

 ond nine and a half. -Built of wood, with 

 slate roof, Mr. Harney estimated that this 

 house would cost from $3800 to 4000, with 

 materials and labor at the usual prices pre- 

 vious to the late war. 



^SUBSTITUTES FOR MIIiK IIJ" EAISINQ 

 CALVES. 



A correspondent in Nebraska writes to in- 

 quire what will be the proper food for young 

 calves. He states that he can obtain several 

 from excellent milkers, but has no milk to feed 

 them. It is difficult to raise calves in winter 

 and have them do well even when they have 

 the advantage of the natural food drawn di- 

 rectly from the cow. It is more difficult to 

 have them thrive if brought up by hand and 

 fed on milk ; and the difficulty will be greater 

 still if no milk can be obtained. 



All attempts to make an artificial milk that 

 will be healthful have resulted in failures. 

 Leibeg made an artificial milk that contained 

 the identical ingredients of common milk, and 

 they were united in the same proportion. It 

 was thought that great good' would result from 

 the discovery ; but all the babies that were fed 

 on it for a considerable time, died. Fresh 

 milk seems to be absolutely essential to the calf 

 during the first few days of its existence. 

 After this, the supply of milk may be dimin- 

 ished, or the cream may be separated from it 

 before it is used. If we do this, however, we 

 must keep up this loss in the oleaginous prin- 

 ciple by means of some such substance as flax- 

 seed or oil cake. 



Probably the best food that could be ob- 

 tained for young calves in the winter time, if 

 no milk can be obtained, is a mixture of flax 

 seed jelly and meal gruel. Oat-meal is un- 

 questionably to be preferred to other kinds, 

 as it contains a large amount of gluten, which 

 very nearly resembles casein in its chemical 

 composition. Next to oat-meal, wheat screen- 

 ings, ground but not bolted, would furnish the 

 largest amount of nitrogenized food for the 

 least expense. Too much rye meal would 

 probably bring on scurvy. Indian meal, made 

 into a gruel, should be sparingly used at first, 

 but as the calf gains in strength, and its diges- 

 tive organs are better developed, it should be- 

 come the principal article of food. 



The calf shoud be early taught to eat hay, 

 by tying up before him a bundle of nicely cured, 

 tender grass — rowen is best for the purpose. 

 Great care should be given to keeping the 

 calves well supplied with water that is not 



too cold. Their beds must be warm and 

 clean. Our German women contrive to raise 

 many calves by hand, and their skill is princi- 

 pally to be attributed to their uniform atten- 

 tion to them, and their care in thoroughly 

 cooking their food. — Prairie Farmer. 



GREAT EATERS. 



The fact that animals or a race of animals 

 are small eaters, or, in common language, easi- 

 ly kept, is generally, we believe, regarded by 

 farmers as a high recommendation. Prof. J. 

 Harris favors the great eaters, in an article in 

 the American Agriculturist, in which he says : 



It seems clear to my mind that there is an 

 immense advantage in getting animals to eat, 

 digest, and assimilate a large amount of food, 

 for the simple reason that it takes a very large 

 proportion of the food to sustain the vital func- 

 tions, and all the growth of the animal is de- 

 rived from the food eaten in excess of this 

 amount. I believe this is now the most im- 

 portant point to which breeders can direct 

 their attention. The amount of offal in well- 

 bred animals has been reduced by skilful 

 breeding to a minimum. Now let them aim 

 to increase the digestive powers. Said an ex- 

 perienced dairyman, "I never knew a cow that 

 was a great milker that was not a great eater." 

 This is my idea exactly. And what we want 

 is a breed that will eat 25 or 5(3 per cent, more 

 in proportion to live weight than any animals 

 we now have. Ih&y viovXd, in proportion to 

 the food consumed, grow twice as fast as they 

 now do. I have very little doubt as to the 

 truth of this proposition ; and if it is true, the 

 sooner it is acknowledged and acted on by 

 our breeders the better. 



OvERCROWDijs'G THE CiTiES. — Under this 

 title an excellent city paper says : — "One of the 

 most painful phenomena of modern life is the 

 wide-spread tendency, on the part of young 

 men, to flock to the great cities. With the 

 best opportunities for success, quiet but steady 

 in the pursuits of rural life, they are allured 

 by dreams of quick fortunes and ease from 

 toil in the great centres of business, and 

 abandon with alacrity the certain for the vis- 

 ionary. The simple truth is — and every young 

 man who contemplates leaving bis country 

 home for town life ought to heed it — the cities 

 are, and have been for years, overcrowded. 

 So far from having room for more, they could 

 well spare a large surplus. The supply for 

 situations such as most country boys desire — 

 clerkships of the various kinds— is immensely 

 in excess of the demand. For every position 

 offered, hundreds of hungry applicants, skilled 

 in the duties required, lie in wait, and are 

 only too glad to get employment at any price." 



The above warning may be applied to young 

 women with a double emphasis. 



J 



