166 FIRST CALVES. RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS. 



if the weather is favorable, as in the month of May, the 

 beast may be turned out to graze in a fine, sweet pas- 

 ture, well sheltered from the wind and sun. This diet 

 may be continued until towards the latter end of the 

 third month, when, if the calf grazes heartily, each meal 

 may be reduced to less than a quart of milk, with hay- 

 water ; or skimmed milk or fresh butter-milk may be 

 substituted for new milk. At the expiration of the 

 third month the animal will hardly require to be fed by 

 hand, though, if this should still be necessary, one quart 

 of the infusion given daily, and which during the sum- 

 mer need not be warmed, will be sufficient." The hay- 

 tea should be made fresh every two days, as it soon 

 loses its nutritious quality. 



This and other preparations are given not because 

 they are better than milk, than which nothing is better 

 adapted to fatten a calf, or promote its growth, but sim- 

 ply to economize by providing the most suitable and 

 cheaper substitutes. Experience shows that the first 

 two or three calves are smaller than those that follow ; 

 and hence, unless they are pure-bred, and to be kept for 

 the blood, they are not generally thought to be so desir- 

 able to raise for the dairy as the third or fourth, and 

 those that come after, up to the age of nine or ten 

 years. On this point opinions differ. 



According to the comparative experiments of a Ger- 

 man agriculturist, cows which as calves had been 

 allowed to suckle their dams from two to four weeks 

 brought calves which weighed only from thirty-five to 

 forty-eight pounds ; while others, which, as calves, had 

 been allowed to suckle from five to eight weeks, 

 brought calves weighing from sixty to eighty pounds. 

 It is difficult to see how there can be so great a differ- 

 ence, if, indeed, there is any ; but it may be worthy of 

 careful observation and experiment, and as such it is 



