THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 27 



regard the ox as remarkable for stupidity. The working ox 

 knows its driver, and readily obeys his word of command, 

 displaying, at the same time, considerable docility and willing- 

 ness. The cow not only knows, but often evinces decided 

 affection towards the person by whom she is regularly milked 

 and fed, and not unfrequently refuses the attentions of another. 

 Cows, pastured in the fields, draw towards the accustomed 

 spot, at the usual milking time, and, by their lowing, seem to 

 give notice of their readiness. 



Reproduction. The heifer ought not to be allowed to breed 

 until turned two years old ; the reason is obvious : her own 

 system, before this period, is not sufficiently matured for the 

 tax upon it a tax which will be paid, not only by the dam, 

 but also by her progeny, for both will suffer from a deficiency 

 in nutriment, the whole of which is necessary for the growth 

 of the former, which, during the second year, is rapid. It 

 the bull be kept separate from the herd of cows, the farmer 

 may regulate the succession of calves almost at pleasure, so as 

 to suit his pasture, or his arrangements. The best time, as 

 it respects the mother, the calf, and the free supply of milk, 

 is when the spring grass is beginning to shoot luxuriantly, 

 affording a good and sufficient store of nutriment. It is true 

 that veal and butter yield a better profit at an earlier period, 

 but the breeder must judge in points of this nature from cir- 

 cumstances. 



The period of gestation in the cow is generally stated as 

 nine calendar months, or two hundred and seventy days ; but 

 there is often considerable variation of time. M. Tessier 

 observes (in a memoir read to the Royal Academy of Sciences 

 in Paris), that the shortest period, as far as his opportunities 

 of observation enabled him to ascertain, was two hundred and 

 forty days, the longest three hundred and twenty-one; the 

 difference being eighty-one days.* This range of time is very 

 extraordinary, and appears to depend on the care paid to the 

 animal, and on its state of health ; by which the development 

 of the calf is influenced through the sanguiferous system of 

 the mother. 



With respect to the bull, he does not attain to a due degree 

 of strength till two years old, and is in higher vigour at three ; 



* In the Bulletin des Sciences by the Soc. Philoraatique, Paris, 1797, 

 M. Tessier says, that out of 160 cows, some calved in 241 days, and five in 

 308 ; giving a latitude of 67 days. See Sir E. 'Home's Paper on Phil. Trans. 

 Part i. for 1822. 



