Prevention of Abortion. 241 



must result from continuing full feed, and the engorged 

 condition of the uterine blood-vessels. 



Moderate feeding only, should be allowed until after the 

 expiration of full term, and always after an abortment; and 

 the cow or heifer, in any case, should be dried up as soon 

 as praeticable after an abortment, to allow of the thicken- 

 ing of the artery walls, so to promote the recovery of con- 

 tractility, if possible, by resting the udder-supply arteries. 



As already stated, we doubt the propriety of feeding any 

 aborting cow as fully as other cows that have never abort- 

 ed, are fed. In other words, it appears to us that the ar- 

 teries which have been once over-strained and relaxed by 

 engorgement, should not again be so fully distended with 

 blood, as a degree of blood pressure equal to that which 

 previously relaxed, might cause a similar degree of over- 

 strain, relaxation, and abortion a second time. 



This is the reason why moderate feeding, and less blood 

 and blood pressure seem desirable in cows that have once 

 aborted. 



It is safer on the whole to employ aborting cows for 

 breeding only, afterward, if they are good milkers, and 

 well-formed cows, likely to breed good calves, as they can 

 be kept separate from the milk herd, fed moderately, and 

 their calves allowed to run with them, and take all their 

 milk ; as when the udder is kept nearly empty by the fre- 

 quent sucking of the calf, there is no back-setting of the 

 blood in the udder-supply arteries ; while moderate feed- 

 ing prevents these arteries being excessively distended 

 with blood. By such management, cows that have once 

 aborted may be used for breeding heifers with advantage, 

 as thousands of cows that have never aborted, and are 

 rarely or never hand-milked, do in the large herds and 

 open ranges of the West, where it is much more profitable 

 to use cows for breeding than for milk only. And, cer- 

 tainly, if it be profitable to breed calves at all, it is roost: 



