2I0 THE MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF CATTLE 



freshened are turned out to graze, the udders should 

 be examined after the calves have taken from them what 

 milk they want. The milk flow is frequently increased 

 under such conditions, so that it may be beyond the 

 needs of the calves, and, if so, it should be taken from 

 the udders. 



The drying of the cows that suckle their calves is a 

 simple process. Usually it consists in allowing the calves 

 to suck but once a day for a week or two before the 

 final weaning. When the calves are not allowed to 

 take milk longer from the dams, the food given to the 

 latter should not be such as to encourage milk produc- 

 tion. The udders should be examined each two or three 

 days as long as necessary, and any milk removed in 

 excess of what the absorbents can take care of. It is 

 greatly important that no udder shall be allowed to 

 take harm in any part thereof during the drj'ing-oiif 

 process. The cows should then be allowed a generous 

 food ration to make up for the reduction in flesh which 

 resulted from nursing the calves. 



Food and care in winter. — Cows that suckle their 

 calves in winter are usually purely bred. Grade cows 

 thus managed more commonly produce calves in the 

 spring. They are then dry in the winter, and may, 

 therefore, be cheaply carried through that season. With 

 the former, the aim is to produce calves in the autumn 

 and early winter that they may be well forward in 

 growth and thus ready for sale the next autumn. The 

 difference in wintering the two classes will, therefore, 

 be material. The feeding of cows that suckle their 

 calves in winter will be considered first. 



In the management of such cows the aim should be 

 to so feed them and care for them that the calves will 

 be well supplied with milk and the dams will not be- 

 come too much reduced in flesh. The aim should be to 

 so manage that nurse cows can be dispensed with save 



