1869. 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



283 



reluctance to receive the milk, remove and 

 re-insert the spout at short intervals, giving 

 the calf time to breath and rest. If the 

 weather be cold, or the process of feeding be 

 long continued, care mu.-t be taken to keep 

 the milk at blood heat, by warming the pot in 

 hot water, or by other means; for cold milk 

 is extremely olFensive to a young calf, and 

 will induce scouring. Persevere in this meth- 

 od, da}' afcer day, if necessary, or until the 

 calf sucks the spout; and here ends all 

 trouble, for thereafter the calf will be after 

 you, and ready to take his food in any way 

 proffered. ]f, in the trial, you find your 

 patience waning, give you wife one dollar or 

 five dollars, according as you value said wile 

 and calf, to complete the task. 



While in the above process, keep the calf 

 hungry, feeding only twice a day, with not 

 more than a quart or three pints at a time ac- 

 tually swallowed. Af.er the calf has learned 

 to drink, gradually increase the quantity to 

 three quarts, twice a day. 



When the calf is ten days or two weeks old, 

 accordingly as it may be a good or poor feeder, 

 begin to substitute small quantities of heated 

 skim-milk, mixed with the new milk, gradually 

 increasing the former and diminishing the lat- 

 ter, till at the end of three or four weeks, the 

 new milk be wholly wit drawn. 



At six or eight weeks old, the maximum 

 quantity of milk is required ; when it should 

 be, to each calf, seven or eight quarts per day. 

 After this, the milk may be gradually dimin- 

 ished, as the appropriation cf other food is in- 

 creased. The calf must have some milk until 

 it is Jivs or six months old. ]fit be desired 

 to withhold milk entirely at the end of this 

 period, begin to add warm water in t|>e second 

 month, gradually substituting it for milk ; and 

 in the fourth month begin to add minute quan- 

 tities of some kind of meal, so slowly increas- 

 ing the same, that at the end of the year, it 

 shall not exceed one pint of corn meal, or its 

 equivalent, daily. Let the calf have no cold 

 water till it is five or six months old. The 

 mean average daily feed of milk for the six 

 months nee J not exceed five quarts to each 

 calf. As to other feed besides milk, during 

 the fii'st five or six mcn'hs, with the small ex- 

 ceptions herein named, only one thing is neces- 

 sary, viz : old hay — not mown grass, not new 

 hay, not rowen. 



I have at this writing two thriving calves, 

 about three weeks old, that eat hay and chew 

 the cud, with all the dignity, composure and 

 apparent satisfaction of oxen. The hay 

 should be put before them, not first, when they 

 are two months old, as some writers recom- 

 mend, but as soon as they are taken from the 

 cow, and kept before them continually, fresh 

 and clean. 1 have tried nearly all kinds of 

 feed that have been recommended, and with 

 the exception of milk, hay and hay tea, have 

 found them all positively injurious to young 

 calves. They should have aiiings and exer- 



cise in a yard where there is the least possible 

 amount of grass, plenty of loam, and cool 

 shady places. The old system of weaning 

 calves hy turning them out in the hot sun, and 

 into a full feed of grass, is wtll calculated to 

 make sciubs, and it seldom fails to do so. 



A six or sev( n months old, having been 

 } ermiited slowly to -increase its /'eed oi grass, 

 the calf miy be turned on a stinted aftermath ; 

 an orchard is an excellent jdace, and the wind 

 fall apples win not hurt tiiem. There need be 

 no water in the 1 jt, as it is better to give them 

 drink in the form of warm water and very 

 little meal. 



If, during the fall and winter, there may be 

 on hand skim milk, sweet or sour, that is not 

 demanded by filihy and abominable twine, so 

 that two or three quarts freely diluted with 

 hot water, may be furnished to each calf daily 

 no meal or oafs, or other concentrated feed is 

 required — milk is better than anything else. 

 When winter comes tie up your big calves as 

 you do other cattle, and f;ive them all the va- 

 rieti s of fodder that they will readily eat. 



Sometimes from an inflamed udder and con- 

 sequent unhealthy milk, the young calf will 

 be feverish and constipated. As a remedy, 

 dissolved Epsom salts or castor oil may be ad- 

 ministered ill tlie feed. But oftener from too 

 much co'd milk or access to grass, scouring is 

 induced. For this, chestnut bark tea is a sure 

 remedy. 



The above method is intended for spring 

 calves, but with such modification as the sea- 

 son may require it will be found to be equally 

 successful with fall and winter calves. 



To milk me 1 the above method may seem 

 too costly ; but while b ttcr is fifty cents a 

 pound, and the calves are worth thirty dollars 

 each, at eight months old; and w.iile 1 would 

 sooner pour the skim milk on the manure h ap 

 tha 1 have eny detestable swine on the larm, I 

 am satisfied with the result. 



Li closing, let me *iy to the reader, commit 

 the I are of your calves to a common hired 

 man or careless boy, and although they will 

 assure you that your directions have been 

 faithfully obeyed, yet you will be ashamed of 

 your yearlings. Take cars of them yourself 

 and you will be proud of them. Eternal vig- 

 dance is not only the price of liberty, but the 

 price of several good things on a farm. 



1. B. Hartwell. 



Wilkinsonville, Mass., April 13, 1869. 



Protection to Game. — A petition nu- 

 merously signed is before the Legislature 

 asking that a law may be passed prohibiting 

 the killing of quail or partridges in this Com- 

 monwealth for three years. There is no 

 doubt that these birds will become entirely 

 extinct if their wholesale slaughter is not pre- 

 vented, and now that we are paying attention 

 to stocking our rivers with fish, we should 

 certainly do what we can to prevent the ex- 

 tinction of these birds. 



