1869. 



^^:w England farmer. 



651 



planted new varieties and selected those that 

 suited the location. It will be said that this 

 has been done without success, which I admit ; 

 but, I also say, that in the same sense and to 

 as great an extent, they have generally suc- 

 ceeded, equally with the farmer who changes 

 his corn an I other seeds; in proof of which, 

 note the astounding increase of quantity sent 

 to all large cities, and the steady increase of 

 the same. 



I have increased, in ten years, my stock of 

 bearing vines from one vine to seven hundred, 

 anil stop only because I have no more suita- 

 ble land for them. I do not expect they will 

 make me rich in the generally accepted sense 

 of that word, but they pay me to grow them 

 on land that will sell for high prices, and 

 where hired labor costs from two dollars to 

 two and a quarter per day. In a future paper 

 I may say what varieties I have grown, how 

 I grow them, and what has been my measure 

 of success. John Fleming. 



Sh rborn, Mass., Oct. 4, 1869. 



For the Xew England Farmer, 

 HOW THE CALF IS BEING RAISED. 



I am raising a calf which is now about seven 

 weeks old. I'he calf was born July 16th. I 

 bought it when five days old. I learned it to 

 drink new milk in two da) s ; I then substitu- 

 ted skim milk so rapidly that in two days more 

 I gave it no new milk at all ; and in a week 

 from the time of purchase its drink was about 

 half skim milk and half hay tea. I was very 

 particular fi-o n the first to encourage it to eat 

 hay. Experience teaches me that calves pre- 

 fer early cut, last ycar'^s hay, to anything 

 newer. They will eat very little green grass 

 when they can get that, and it seems to be just 

 what they need to keep the bowels in a healthy 

 state. There is more danger of a calf coming 

 to harm from scouring than from any other 

 cause. At sixteen days old, it would eat hay 

 and chew the cud like an old cow. When I be- 

 gan cutting fodder corn, about the 8th of 

 August, the calf being three weeks old, 1 

 pulled off and gave it the green leaves, of 

 which it would eat sparingly At the age of 

 six weeks I took it out doors for the first 

 time, and since then have tied it out four 

 hours per day, in the thin shade of a d^ing 

 tree. 



Meanwhile plenty of loam, housed when 

 dry for the purpose, has been kept under the 

 calf; and I consider the manure thus made 

 has nearly or quite paid me for all time and 

 labor expended up to the present time. I 

 have given no meal or grain of any kind ; the 

 milk, hay tea, and hay and corn fodder, being 

 its only food. I occasionally give it fresh 

 loam from out doors to eat. I litrer it nights, 

 and calculate to keep it in a comfortable con- 

 dition. My neighbors say that the calf is a 

 large, fine animal, with every prospect of mak- 

 ing a good cow, especially for butter; and I 



several have said it was the fattest calf they 

 ever saw ! 



From what I have seen, I think Dr. Ilart- 

 well has not given full credit to hay tea as 

 food for young stock. I think, in raising a 

 calf, the first object, (after it has sucked three 

 or four times,) is to learn to drink well. For 

 this purpose new milk is most convenient. 

 Then, just as quickly as possible, substitute 

 skim milk ; then, if that is scarce, learn it as 

 rapidly as possible to drink hay tea, in greater 

 or less quantities. 



In Secretary Flint's Fourteenth (Massachu- 

 setts) Report, at pages 37 and 38, there 

 is a statement of Hon. Simon Brown, (Ed. 

 Farmer) that he has raised fine thrifcy calves 

 with hay tea alone, after they were four or 

 five weeks old, — the hay tea being largely 

 mixed with the skim milk at first. 



In raising young stock, especially if they 

 come late, great care should be used in feed- 

 ing, bedding and sheltering these babies of 

 the barn, especially in winter, to keep them 

 thrifty, and prevent their getfing stunted. 

 Meanwhile, there may (may there not?) be 

 such a thing as forcing a calf too much. A 

 neighbor of mine raised a cow several years 

 ago, I cannot give the exact details, but it 

 sucked a long time, grew fast, and had a calf 

 at fourteen months old ; but as a cow she 

 proved of value only for beef. 



There are many ways of raising stock, and 

 no one exact rule will always suffice in full. 

 "What is food for one man, is poison for 

 another," and it is in a measure so with calves. 

 Different breeds need different management, 

 and so do different individuals of the same 

 breed. The Jersey is tender. The Devon is 

 hardy. Consequently a greater degree of 

 care is necessary in raising Jersey, than in 

 raising Devon cattle. 



But one thing is plain, the too frequent habit 

 of tying out young stock in high grass, without 

 shade, and giving no dry hav, is next to ruin- 

 ous. Another important item is to feed warm 

 drink to the calf. It is a great preventive 

 of scouring. And more th m half the trouble 

 in learning a calf to drink, usually results 

 from giving the xlrinJc too cold. Please to 

 note that ! While I believe that skim milk 

 and hay tea make the best food for calves, it 

 is but fair to state the fact that very fine ani- 

 mals are raised by other methods. A neigh- 

 bor of mine, having no cow, purchased a two 

 days old calf, and brought it up on oat meal 

 gruel, and his success was such that it would 

 be hard to convince him that oat meal is not 

 the best food for growing calves. I think, 

 however, that when such food is given to 

 young stock, larger quantities are required to 

 keep the animal up to a given standard when 

 matured, than when the food has been of a 

 lighter nature. 



The time I commence feeding oal?es with 

 meal, is when cold weather begins in earnest. 

 Then they need it. Begin with very small 



