SKIM-MILK CALVES 183 



and evening and one at noon should be fed; a small calf 

 should have only three pints in the morning and three 

 pints in the evening and a quart at noon. It is better to 

 feed milk immediately after being drawn from the cow. 

 At the end of the third or fourth week, the substitution 

 of skim-milk for whole milk may be begun, as also feed- 

 ing twice instead of three times a day. This should be 

 brought about very gradually. The first time any sub- 

 stitution of skim-milk for whole milk is made, let one 

 half pint of skim-milk replace an equal amount of whole 

 milk. The next time, feed a pint and so on, making a half 

 pint additional substitution with each feed. By follow- 

 ing this method from .ten days to two weeks will be 

 required to get the calf safely accustomed to skim-milk. 

 A teaspoonful of ground flax mixed in the skim-milk is 

 excellent. If any tendency to scours occurs, a small 

 amount of blood flour mixed in the milk will check it. 

 After the change has been effected, the skim-milk and the 

 ground flax may be very gradually increased, until at the 

 age of four months the calf should receive a heaping 

 tablespoonful of flax meal and five quarts of milk twice 

 each day. Do not forget that ten to twelve quarts of 

 skim-milk per day is a full feed for a calf five to six 

 months of age. When the calf is three to four weeks old, 

 it should have an opportunity to learn to eat oats, bran, 

 and corn. Professor Shaw of Michigan recommends the 

 following mixture for this purpose : Cornmeal 3 parts, oats 

 3 parts, and bran 1 part, by weight. One part oil meal 

 should be added to this if no ground flax is fed as sug- 

 gested above. The calves may be induced to eat this 

 mixture by dropping a tablespoonful of it into the pail 

 after the milk is gone. Do not sicken them by feeding 

 too liberally. They should also be encouraged to take 

 a little silage and nicely cured clover or alfalfa hay. 

 As to the amount of concentrates fed, Professor Shaw 

 says: "In general, about % pound concentrates per 

 100 pounds live weight, varying some, of course, with in- 

 dividuals." As a general practice, we strongly advise 



