IN GAVENWOOD HERD. 387 



COWS get the full flow of the grass. I try, as far as I can, 

 never to allow the animals to lose the calf-flesh, and with 

 this view I give a little oilcake before and after weaning. 

 The calves here are all suckled ; and after they are ten 

 days old they are never tied up, but are allowed to run 

 about the byre as they choose, clean straw being spread 

 out behind the cows for them to lie upon. I have never 

 had a calf injured by this freedom being accorded to them. 

 Heifers here are never put to the bull till two years 

 old, I disapprove of the practice of having them served 

 when only yearlings, as this, as a rule, dwarfs their 

 growth and weakens the constitution, probably both of 

 themselves and their descendants. It is the practice 

 here to put, at even a very early stage, the bull calves and 

 their mothers in fields separate from the heifer calves and 

 their mothers. I am also opposed to the use of yearling 

 bulls beyond three or four times during the season, as 

 tending to lesson their size and destroy their symmetry, 

 with a risk also of unsatisfactory produce. The stock 

 bulls here are kept each in a loose-box, opening on an 

 open court, concreted, and boarded around to a height of 

 7 feet. In addition to their access all day to these open 

 courts facing the sun, they are from time to time walked 

 out for exercise. They are plentifully but plainly fed. 

 We store the turnips in December, and as they are always 

 at hand and in good condition, there is the less need for 

 supplementing the natural foods. Care should always be 

 taken to keep cattle free from draughts, and to maintain 

 their houses in a clean airy condition. I think a breeding- 

 stock should be kept habitually from getting into what 

 may be called poor condition, while over-feeding ought to 

 be eq[ually guarded against. Much caution is necessary 

 so as not to over-fatten two-year-old heifers for showing 

 purposes. Indeed, it is questionable whether they should 

 receive any extra feeding until they are safely settled in, 

 calf." 



