BOOK VI. XXIV. 3-5 



they may put more energy into the sexual act. One 

 bull is quite enough for fifteen cows ; and, when it 

 has covered a heifer there are definite signs by 

 which you can tell what is the sex of the offspring 

 which it has begotten ; since, if he uncouples towards 

 the right side, it is clear that he has begotten a male, 

 if towards the left, a female. But whether this is 

 really true is only apparent when after one copula- 

 tion the pregnant cow refuses to admit the bull again, 

 and this actually happens only rarely ; for although 4 

 the cow may have conceived, she is not satisfied in 

 her desires ; so true is it that the seductive allure- 

 ments of pleasure exercise the greatest power even 

 over cattle beyond the bounds prescribed by nature. 

 There is no doubt that where there is a great luxuri- 

 ance of fodder, a calf can be reared from the same 

 cow every year, but, where food is scarce, the cow 

 must be used for breeding only every other year. 

 This rule is particularly observed where cows are 

 employed for work, in order that, firstly, the calves 

 may have abundance of milk for the space of a year, 

 and, secondly, that a breeding cow may not have 

 to bear the burden of work and pregnancy at the 

 same time. When she has given birth to a calf, ' 

 however good a mother she may be, if she is worn 

 out by work, she denies the calf its due nourishment 

 if her diet does not give her enough support. That 5 

 is why green shrub-trefoil and toasted barley and 

 sodden bitter-vetch are given to a cow which has 

 borne a calf, and her tender young is given a drench 

 of grilled millet ground up and mixed with milk. 

 For these purposes " too it is better to procure cows 

 from Altina,* which the inhabitants of that region 

 call cevae.'^ They are of low stature and produce an 



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