Lir£ STOCK. 169 



^e First aiilfe. — The custom of \reaning the calf from the cow when 

 it is only three days old is a barbarous one. We are familiar with the fact 

 that cows are sometimes injured by such a course, also, especially if she is 

 naturally of a nervous, anxious dispositioD, she soon learning the habit of 

 holdiag "up her milk, and when a cow holds up her milk she has become 

 addicted to the most incurable vice known. There is another thing con- 

 nected with the weaning of the calf at so early an age, which is the plain 

 statement that we make in claiming that the milk is unfit for use, although 

 die calf is usually taken away in order that the milk may be sold. Those 

 who have had experience in the dairy know that milk from cows that have 

 recently come in is ropy, and possesses a distinct characteristic in appear- 

 ance from that of cows that have been in service for a longer time. Thus, it 

 is not only unnatural to deprive the cow of her calf so early, but to use the 

 mUk. It also pays to keep the calf on the milk until it is old enough to be 

 sold at a fair price. 



Obstjracted Teats— The more the udder is stimulated to extra secretion 

 ut milk, so much the more is it Uable to congestion and inflammation. The 

 pressure, too, of a great quantity of milk in the udder upon the circular 

 muscle (spliincter), which closes the end of the teat, tends to set up more or 

 less irritation there, and this wUl sometimes result in excessive thickening 

 of the walls and hard milking, or even complete closure of the orifice. The 

 simplest and best treatment is to sMghtly dilate the opening of the teat, once 

 or twice a day, with a perfectly smooth probe. A silver milking tube, about 

 a twelfth of an inch m diameter, will answer; or, when this is not available, 

 a probe of the same size made of gutta percha. A small size will be neces- 

 sary at first, and, after a day or two, when that passes easily, a larger one, 

 until finally the orifice is easily dilatable and the milking sufficiently free. In 

 every case the probe should be well oiled, and introduced with caution, so 

 as to avoid injury to the internal parts. A silver tube should be warmed 

 before it is introduced. 



To Test tlie Health of a Horse or Covr. — In horses the pulse at rest 

 beats forty times, in an ox from fifty to fifty-five, and in sheep and pigs about 

 seventy to eighty beats per minute. It may be felt wherever a big art*ry 

 crosses a bone. For instance, it is generally examined in the horse on the 

 cord which crosses over the bone of the lower jaw in front of its curved posi- 

 tion, or in the bony ridge above the eye, and in cattle over the middle of the 

 first rib, and in sheep by placing the hand on the left side, where the beating 

 of the heart may be felt. Any material variations of the pulse from the 

 figures given above may be considered as a sign of disease. If rapid, hard 

 and full, it is an indication of high fever or inflammation; if rapid, small and 

 weak, low fever, loss of blood or weakness. K slow, the possibilities point 

 to brain disease, and if irregular, to heart troubles. This is one of the prmci- 

 pal and sure tests of the health of an animal. 



Black Leg. — Black leg in young cattle generally attacks calves in the 

 fall when they get the rank growtii of feed and are subject to sudden 

 changes of weather from rains and frosts. It sometimes attacks thrifty 

 calves in the winter when they are in the house and eating dry feed. We 

 believe the herdsman can trace the disease back to the cause, and we believe 

 the cause is the same in winter as in fall and spring; that is, rapid growth 

 from generous feed and hability to sudden chills from being kept in too 

 warm houses and exposures to cold while out during the day. Stable« 



