520 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



We should sow the last of July, with a good season, rather than run the risk 

 of another early in August, though we have known, under very favorable cir- 

 cumstances, even in our boyish days, a heavy crop to come in Calvert County, 

 from seed sown on the lOlh of September, on old cow-penned land. If men 

 won't try, and that in the right way, how do they know what can be done ?— 

 There's a way in doing everything, as there is a right and a wrong side m 

 mounting a horse. There is no crop so carefully prepared for in England, whose 

 very G.ovemment is said to rest on turnips, as the turnip crop. For them it is 

 meat and meal. 



REARING AND FEEDING CALVES. 



[Abridged from the German.] 



Having had 34 years' experience in rear- 

 ing calves, I hope you will excuse the lib- 

 erty I take iu sending you the following 

 account of my practice — especially as I have 

 found ray method so much better than allow- 

 ing the calves to suck their mothers. Whether 

 the animals were intended for keej>crs or 

 feeders, I have always found that my method 

 brings them soonest to perfection. It is 

 shortly this : 



1. For the first week the calf receives daily 

 six quarts of new milk, as wann as it comes 

 from the cow, in three portions — at morning, 

 noon, and night. I carefully adhere to these 

 three times of feeding for the first 12 weeks. 



2. In the second week the milk is increased 

 by half a pint at each feeding time ; so that 

 the calf i-eceives, according to its strength, not 

 less than 6| to 7 quarts per day. 



3. In the third week the calf no longer re- 

 ceives new milk, but the milk of the previ- 

 ous day skimmed ; always taking care to 

 warm the milk slightly, and at tlie same time 

 increasing the quantity, so that the daily ra- 

 tion is now 7.^ quarts. I also commence at 

 this time to introduce into the drink small 

 portions of boiled linseed, or linseed meal and 

 crushed peas.* 



4. I proceed in the same manner in the 

 fourth, fifth and sixth weeks, except that the 

 milk is increased each week by half a pint at 

 every feeding-time, so that in the fourth we^k 

 the calf receives 8^, in the fifth 9, and in the 

 6th 9^ quarts of milk daily ; the animals also 

 receiving more and more linseed meal, 

 crushed peas, or rye meal in their drinks, 

 which are always lukewarm. 



5. In the next six weeks I gave them their 

 food cold — with, however, more of these 

 mixtures ; the latter are always increased 

 with the quantity of the milk, because too 

 much liquid food is very apt to make the 

 calves poor and pot-bellied. During this pe- 



* Corn meal might be substituted for flax-seed, and 

 for beans or other meal. 

 (960) 



riod I also take from them a portion of their 

 milk, adding in its place such a portion of the 

 linseed or other substances mixed with warm 

 water as still to make the total quantity of 

 each day's drink (increased, as I have said 

 before, by half a pint at each meal) in tha 

 seventh week lOi quarts, and in the twelfth 

 week 14^ quarts per day. 



6. Whoever pays proper attention to the 

 feeding of his cattle will soon discover wheth- 

 er the proportion of food named be suffi- 

 ciently rich or not, and can easily add or di- 

 minish the proper quantity. 



7. There can be no animal so stupid about 

 its food as the calf; it must therefore be 

 taught from its earliest infancy. For this pur- 

 pose, in teaching them to take their food 

 when mixed with the linseed meal, &c., we 

 generally begin by giving a small handfid of 

 oatmeal, and placing within their reach some 

 good hay, or, if the season will afford it, some 

 green food. 



8. When the calves are twelve weeks old, 

 'he milk is entirely taken from them, and 

 they receive in its place rye meal or crushed 

 peas, made into pulp with water, and then 

 thinned ; the daily ration being increased un- 

 til the end of the second quarter from 14^ to 

 20 quarts. 



9. When the calves are half a year old, the 

 drinking food is gradually lessened and 

 thinned — the quantity being regulated by the 

 natural thirst of the animals, as it gradually 

 takes on to more substantial food. 



10. The following is the statement of the 

 expense of bringing up a calf until one year 

 old: 



1. The first 14 days 91 quarts of good milk. 



2. From the second to the sixth week, 242 quarts 



of skimmed milk (12 hours old). 



3. From the sovenih to the twelfth week, 252 qts. 



of very poor milk (24 hours old.) 



4. Half cwr. oflinseed meal. 



.'>. Three bushels of crushed peas. 



6. 1'wo bushels of rye meal. 



7. Hay, oats, green food, &c. 



Total expense of these in Germany, &Z sterling. 



