AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 



61 



farmer will immediately discover the great advantage to be 

 derived in the produce oi the dairy from such an expedient.' 



Willich's Encyclopedia observes, ' In order to make calves 

 fine and fat, the best and most efficacious way is, to keep 

 them as cleai. as possible, by elevating their coops in such a 

 manner that the sun may not have too great power over 

 them, and to such a height above the level of the ground 

 that their urine may pe.ss off; by giving them fresh litter 

 every day, and suspending over the coop a large chalk-stone, 

 so that they can easily lick it. Besides this, it is usual to 

 bleed them when they are about a month old, and again just 

 before they are slaughtered ; which practice tends in a con- 

 siderable degree to the beauty and whiteness of the flesh, 

 and is therefore more frequently repeated by some farmers ; 

 [in England ;] but this is not altogether necessary ; twice 

 bleeding being fully sufficient for that purpose, in the opinion 

 of the most experienced breeders. It is, how^ever, to be ob- 

 serve 1, that those calves which are intended for bulls or for 

 oxen should be selected as soon as possible ; as the operation 

 necessary to make them oxen should not be deferred till the 

 calves are more than twenty days old. 



A writer for the N. E. Farmer, with the signature S. X., 

 vol. viii. p. 76, observes, that ' A very intelligent practical 

 farmer states that he considers nothing more conducive to 

 the thriving of sucking calves than to keep in their pen an 

 ample supply of dry yellow loam, of which they are at liberty 

 to eat freely as they choose. They will eat it eagerly, p.nd 

 he regards it of more value than Indian meal. There is no 

 better evidence of its utility than the fact that no man's calves 

 find a readier sale or bring a higher price in our market than 

 his. The philosophy of it we do not pretend to explain.' 



Moubray says, ' The calf may be sold (or taken from the 

 cow) as soon as it has drawn the biestings or first milk, un- 

 less any coring or defect in the cow's udder or teats may 

 render it desirable for the calf to suck a few days, in order 

 that the action may clear off" any obstructions, for which the 

 butting of the calf's head is generally the best remedy. If 

 intended to be fattened for the butcher, it must be kept in a 

 pen particularly dry and clean ; suckled twice a day at regu- 

 lar hours ; always have the first, which is the thinnest of 

 the milk, and not be permitted to overcharge its stomach. 

 Lumps of soft chalk are usually placed for the calf to lick, 

 as an absorbent to neutralize the acidities engendered in the 

 6 



