CHAP. v. MATING OF COWS. 117 



this to a very large dealer in cow cattle, and, he said, ' you kill them 

 by kindness ; do as I do, 1 calve some hundreds of cows yearly, and 

 never by any chance lose one from that cause.' He said, ' we let them 

 calve in the grounds, or straw yards, where they chance to be, take no 

 heed of them, only collect the cows and their calves once a week for 

 market, and there the matter ends.' I have since adopted the same 

 plan, not even milking them before or after calving, but simply leaving 

 them for three or four days with the calf, letting nature take its own 

 course before bringing them into the dairy. I have lost but one cow 

 under this treatment, and I afterwards found my orders had not been 

 carried out in her case. I merely state this as a fact in our own herd, 

 to be taken by others for what it is worth. 



" On looking through many large herds of cattle, and hearing the 

 owners complain of bad results from them, one cannot help seeing that 

 much improvement may even yet be made by a little more care and 

 thought in selection. The large sales of young pedigree stock, now 

 constantly held in all parts of the country, by giving farmers an 

 opportunity of obtaining a suitable bull for their respective herds, 

 instead of using an animal of chance breeding, are doing much to 

 rectify this evil." 



Although the cow may be supposed to arrive at puberty at the end 

 of eighteen months or even earlier, it is, in many circumstances, not/ 

 considered advisable to put her to the bull before the age of twenty-two 

 months, or even two years. Much, however, depends upon the breed, 

 the treatment, and constitution of the heifer. It is said by some 

 breeders in the northern part of the island, that young cows may be 

 sent to the bull as early as even one year old ; but there would then 

 be much danger in calving ; and, although the practice might certainly 

 be an essential improvement where the dairy constitutes a primary 

 object, provided their growth did not become stinted, it is generally 

 and properly considered injudicious. Either the mother or the off- 

 spring, or both, must materially suffer. 



As a matter of fact, however, with cross-bred stock it is a general 

 practice to allow the heifers to take the bull by the time they are 

 6-quarter old, i.e., 18 months. Thus the early calves of the one year 

 are allowed to take the bull by midsummer of the following year, and 

 so come to the calving at 2^ years old. The same plan is largely 

 followed with many pure-bred herds. Thus the champion of the 

 Galloway breed at the Koyal Agricultural Society's Show at Windsor 

 in 1889 Mr. Cunningham's Maggie of Tarbreoch was five 3 r ears old 

 at the date of the show, and she had had four calves before then, and 

 her calves, without exception, obtained a show-yard record second only 

 to her own. 



A notion formerly prevailed, and is not even yet entirely exploded, 

 that the best mode of improving stock, of every description, was to 

 choose males of the largest size. The result, however, is generally a 

 great increase of bone without any corresponding improvement in other 

 qualities, and such an incongruity of shape as evidently denotes a 

 mongrel breed. The most judicious method is, to employ males of 



