DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 157 



secure the most robust health, but such a measure of vigor and stamina 

 as is compatible with the most profitable utilization of the animal. 

 The breeding cow must carry a calf every year, and this notwith- 

 standing that she is at the same time suckling another large growing 

 calf. The dairy cow must breed every year, and at the same time 

 must furnish a generous flow of milk from nine to eleven months 

 yearly. If her health is lowered thereby or her life shortened, the 

 question of profit must still hold sway, and she must yield her place 

 to another when disqualified. There are exceptions, of course, but 

 this rule generally holds. 



There are certain points, however, in which the interests of hygiene 

 may be considered. The pregnant cow should have exercise, and as 

 regards both exercise and food, nothing is better than a run on a 

 smooth pasture. She should be withheld from all violent excitement, 

 hunting with dogs, riding or being ridden by cows in heat, driving in 

 herd rapidly through narrow gateways, causing to jump ditches or 

 fences, subjecting to blows with the horns of pugnacious cattle, driv- 

 ing on icy or otherwise slippery ground, carrying in railroad cars, 

 kicking by vicious attendants, and fastening or throwing down for 

 operations. The diet should be good, not of a kind to fatten, but 

 with a generous amount of nitrogenous constituents which will favor 

 at once the yield of milk and the nourishment of the fetus. Aliments 

 rich in lime and phosphates, like wheat bran, middlings, etc., can be 

 used to advantage, as there is a constant drain of earthy salts for the 

 building of the body of the calf, and thereby the danger of undue 

 concentration of the urine is lessened. 



Hard, innutritious, and indigestible aliments, musty grain or hay, 

 partially ripened rye grass, millet, Hungarian grass, vetches, peas, or 

 maize are objectionable, as they are liable to cause indigestion or 

 even paralysis; and corn or hay affected by smut or ergot, or that has 

 been spoiled by wet, overripened, and rendered fibrous and innutri- 

 tious, are equally objectionable. The food should be in the main 

 laxative, as costiveness and straining are liable to cause abortion. 

 Roots and green food that have been frosted are objectionable, as 

 being liable to cause indigestion, though in their fresh condition most 

 wholesome and desirable. Ice-cold water should be avoided, as cal- 

 culated to check the flow of milk, to derange digestion, and to cause 

 abortion. A good temperature for the drink of the dairy cow is 55° F. 



In the case of plethoric and heavy milking cows of mature age and 

 in the prime of life, the hitherto liberal diet must be changed at the 

 last week for the scantiest possible fare, and the bowels must be kept 

 open- by laxatives, if need be, if the owner would avoid milk fever. 

 The pregnant cow should be kept away from the sight and odor of 

 dead carcasses, from the smell of decomposing animal matter, and 

 from stagnant and corrupting water. Her stall should not incline 

 downward from shoulder to croup, lest the pressure of the abdominal 



