Book VII. FATTENING CALVES. 1023 



to their pasture, milk-pottage should be carried to them at each of their feeding hours. For the first 

 month or six weeks, the calves ought every night to be brought out of the meadow, and lodged in the pens ; 

 but after this time they may be left in the pasture as well in the night season as in the day ; and at this 

 time their food may be lowered by degrees, till it be at length reduced to simple water only ; for, when 

 the calves get to the age of twelve or fourteen weeks, they will no longer require the aid of this sustenance, 

 but will be able to satisfy their appetites with grass. Care, however, must be taken throughout the sum- 

 mer that they be frequently shifted from one pasture to another, in order that they may be kept up in good 

 flesh, and enabled to grow away with the utmost celerity. At Michaelmas, or soon after, the calves should 

 be taken into the yard ; and if they were allowed the indulgence of a small close to tljemselves it would be 

 still better. 



6841. The treatment of young cattle, from the time they are separated from their dams or are able to sub- 

 sist on the common food of the other stock, must entirely depend upon the circumstances of the farm on 

 which they are reared. In summer, their pasture is often coarse, but abundant ; and in winter all good 

 breeders give them an allowance of succulent food along with their dry fodder. The first winter they have 

 hay and turnips ; the following summer coarse pasture ; the second winter straw in the fold-yard, and a few 

 turnips once a day, in an adjoining field, just suflncient to prevent the straw from binding them too much ; 

 the next summer tolerably good pasture; and the third winter as many turnips as they can eat, and are 

 in every respect treated as fatting cattle. [Culley, p. 47.) 



6812. The 7nethod of tnanaging you7ig cattle Aur'mg the first winter is, according to Donaldson, pretty 

 generally the same in every part of the island. They are generally housed : sometimes bound up to the 

 stall ; but more frequently allowed to remain at freedom. The way of feeding them in England is chiefly 

 with hay or hay and straw mixed ; and in Scotland sometimes with hay, but more frequently straw and 

 turnips. They are mostly turned out on some of the inferior pastures on the farm in the following, 

 summer, and maintained the second winter on straw in the straw-yard, or in houses or sheds erected 

 for the purpose. Some farmers in the more northern parts of the kingdom, from being situated at 

 a distance from any market at which they can dispose of stall-fed beef, very frequently give a consider- 

 able part of their turnip-crop to their young cattle. This is, he thinks, an excellent practice; and 

 one that ought to be followed, even by those who, from being better situated with regard to markets, can 

 adopt other methods of using turnips to advantage. The benefit of green winter food for live-stock is so 

 great, that there is probably, he says, no way in which turnips can be used, by which the farm or the 

 farmer would reap greater benefit, than by giving the young cattle a daily allowance during the first two 

 or three winters. 



SuBSECT. 5. Fattening Calves by Suckling. 



6843. The most advantageous stock for suckling calves for the butcher is that sort of cow which gives the 

 greatest quantity of milk, richness of quality being not so great an object, or so well adapted to the desired 

 purpose. Tlie Holderness cows are to be preferred in this view; not, however, to suckle calves of the 

 same, but of a smaller breed : perhaps Devon calves surpass all others as sucklers, whether for quick- 

 ness of proof, or beauty of the veal ; they are not, however, to be procured but in or near their own 

 country. 



6844. The method most commonly employed in fattening calves is, to allow them to suck ; as by this^ 

 method the object is probably not only sooner, but more effectually attained than by any other means. 

 The period which is necessary for fattening calves in this way must be different, according to circum- 

 stances, but it is generally from seven to nine weeks ; however, in the dairy districts, where milk is con- 

 sidered a valuable article, scarcely half that time is allowed. These is another method, which is, to give 

 them the milk to drink ; and when that is done, it is given them morning and evening warm from the 

 cow, and the quantity increased according to their age and strength. In whatever way they may be 

 managed, they should be kept in pens in a close house, and well littered. The author of the Synopsis of 

 Husbandry observes, that as it is necessary that the calves should lie always quiet, in order that they may 

 indulge in sleep at those times when they are not employed in sucking, it seems proper that the cow- 

 house should be situated in the most retired part of the yard, and that the pens should be kept as dark as 

 possible. But notwithstanding this caution, the calves should by no means be suffered to lie too hot in 

 the summer time, which would be apt to produce a sickness amongst them. To admit, therefore, an> 

 occasional draught of fresh air, let a window be cut in each pen, with shutters adapted to the same, and 

 let these windows be opened whenever the closeness of the atmosphere indicates it to be necessary. In 

 the summer season, they should rarely, if ever, be closely shut ; and when it is required, the stream of 

 air may be increased by opening the cow-house door at the opposite end of the building. Each calf should 

 have a collar round his neck, with which the attendant may direct him in his sucking, but should never 

 be fastened up in the pen. It is necessary that the pens be kept constantly well littered with the cleanest 

 wheat straw, a proportion of which should be thrown in to them every day ; cleanliness being a most 

 essential article in the fattening of every animal, and not more necessary to any than to the calf, which, 

 but for this precaution, would in a short time demonstrate the ill effects of lying on his accumulated dung,, 

 which of all animals is the most offensive and of a quality highly septic. As the calves are yeaned, they 

 are to be taken into the pens, and suckled by their own dams, which at first will yield a far greater quan- 

 tity of milk than is necessary for their offspring, so that another calf may be suckled thereon ; or the cow 

 may lie milked, and the cream be reserved for butter, or applied to any other use that the owner may think 

 proper. As the calf increases in size, it will require a larger quantity of milk ; but whilst calves are 

 young, one good cow will yield a noble supply for two ; and when the whole produce is demanded for one 

 calf, another new milch cow should be provided, and these two cows will abundantly supply the three 

 calves with milk till the oldest is fit for the butcher; after which, if necessary, a fresh suckler may be 

 brought in, and the business be carried on progressively by keeping the house constantly supplied with 

 calves, so that the whole milk may be sucked, as the dairy and the fattening of calves by suckling cannot 

 be conveniently united. 



684;5. The only advantage which suckling can have, over giving calves milk to drink, is, that the action 

 of sucking induces " a greater secretion of saliva, which, by promoting digestion, accelerates the growth 

 and fattening of the young animal, cannot be doubted ; but the secretion of that fluid may be likewise 

 promoted, by placing an artificial teat in the mouth of the calf, and giving it the milk daily and at the 

 natural temperature. In the dairy districts of Scotland, tlie dairy-maid puts one of her fingers into the 

 mouth of the calf when it is fed, which serves the purpose of a teat, and will have nearly the same effect 

 as a natural teat, in inducing the secretion of saliva. If that, or an artificial teat of leather, be used, and 

 the milk given slowly before it is cold, the secretion of saliva may be promoted to all the extent that can 

 be necessary ; besides that secretion is not confined to the mere period of eating, but, as in the human 

 body, the saliva is formed, and part of it swallowed at all times. {Aiton's Dairy Husb. p. 87.) 



6846. Young calves, when permitted to suck their fill, are often seized with a lax or scouring : to prevent 

 which, the calves for the first fortnight or three weeks may be stinted in their allowance ; and at the 

 same time due care should be taken that they do not pine or decrease in flesh for want of milk. But after 

 this age they should be allowed to suck as long as they choose ; and every means ought to be made use of 

 to increase their appetite, and render them more eager after their food. Chalk may be given for this 

 purpose, as well as for giving to the flesh a delicate whiteness. An excellent astringent remedy has been 

 already given. (6553i) Salt sprinkled in the trough will likewise act as a stimulus to the appetite ; besides 

 which, it is a common practice with some people to cram their calves with balls compounded of flour,, 

 pounded chalk, and milk, with the addition of a small quantity of common gin. Of these balls they give 



