BKEEDma AKD REAUIKG DAIRY COWS. 55 



have cost liis owner 1500 he should never be permitted 

 the least freedom on that account. 



The cow once safely in calf should be fed ia accordance 

 with the new demands upon her system. The method 

 of feeding will be found particularly described in the 

 chapter devoted to the feeding of cows, and it would be 

 desirable to follow the directions there given as closely as 

 may be convenient. The calf partakes of the disposition 

 of the dam, and if the cow has any special failing or fault 

 this should be averted by the most careful treatment, 

 and every effort made to insure a docile and gentle dis- 

 position in the coming calf. 



Liberal feeding should be a paramount rule, for as it 

 has been the means of building up the breed it cannot 

 be dispensed with in the progeny. The food supplied 

 should be of a nutritious kind, and while it is given 

 without stint it should never be given in excess. Ex- 

 cess of food has a directly opposite result from that which 

 is intended, and is one of the frequent mistakes in rear- 

 ing calves which should be carefully avoided. By de- 

 veloping the character of the calf through liberal feed- 

 ing, and gentle and kind treatment, a capacity for 

 digesting large quantities of most nutritious food, and 

 such a disposition as renders the animal easily subject 

 to necessary discipline, are secured, and in time become 

 characteristics which will be inherited. 



The proper development of the milk organs is a point 

 which must not be neglected. The young animal should 

 be bred early, to give a precocious habit to the race. At 

 two years old the first calf may be dropped ; but an 

 interval of at least eight or nine months should elapse 

 before she is bred again. This tends to give persistence 

 in the secretion of milk, and lengthens the period of 

 profitable milk production, upon which the value of a 

 cow very much depends. The second calf then comes at 

 three and a half years of age, when the young cow is well 



