GENERAL CARE OF CATTLE. 335 



plenty and scarcity on the farm do not rotate; 

 and if they do in the fields for ba"d seasons will 

 come that they do not in the feed-box. It is 

 one of the most frequently repeated charges of 

 the many made against cattle-breeders, that 

 they do not give this unvarying attention to 

 their stock; that they especially do not provide 

 for them properly in the late winter and early 

 spring. Now it is of the utmost importance 

 that all the stock should have this regular care 

 and attention, but it seems to me especially 

 necessary for the heifers. They are still as 

 much in a formative state as in calfhood. Their 

 possibilities are half developed and their prom- 

 ise may be checked and made to come to naught 

 by neglect or abuse at this time more than at 

 almost any other period of their lives. Their 

 growth must be kept up by abundant feeding, 

 and the time for breeding them must be deter- 

 mined by their development with a care which 

 shall studiously consider the danger on the one 

 hand of breeding so Dearly as to check and im- 

 pair the physical development, or so late as to 

 permit the possible supervening of some trouble 

 which shall make them shy in breeding. Very 

 thin and very fat heifers are alike undesirable 

 for breeding purposes. Very thin animals lack 

 vitality and demand too large a part of all the 

 food they get to insure a proper supply of it 

 going to develop a healthy calf. Very fleshy 



