252 AMERICAN CATTLE. 



drawn by the calf, and completed to perfect emptiness by the 

 hand of the attendant. 



It is of the first importance in the rearing of good stock, that 

 the cow be always kept in good condition — ^not pampered, and 

 fat, on stimulating food, but in fair "working" order, on the 

 simple and nutritious food natural to her. A poor, half-starved 

 cow must, of necessity, be scrimped in her proportions. Live 

 herself, she must, and as the growing foetus within her must 

 live also, and grow, its proportions will be more or less circum- 

 scribed, and perhaps in its most valuable points. So, also, over- 

 feeding, and excessive fatness may have the same effect on the 

 foetus. The filling of her viscera with masses of fat, wiU crowd 

 the foetus into too small compass for proper expansion, and be as 

 fatal to the development of its proportions, as the want of fiill 

 subsistence in that of the starved cow, besides subjecting her to 

 difficulty in parturition, puerperal fevers, inflammation, or other 

 risks not common to cows in simply good flesh. "We have 

 seldom* known young stock improved when the cows were in 

 very low, nor when in very high condition. Cows should he 

 well fed, and atteiided throughout the year, with all the nutri- 

 tious, palatable food they need, or will take, and under such 

 treatment oijly, will their produce be superior to themselves, or 

 evcii, perhaps, as good. Their food may be more abundant, and 

 stimulating, according to the quantities of milk they may yield 

 while pregnant ; and if good milkers, and their expected produce 

 are intended for milkers, such mjlk-producing food should be 

 given to perpetuate that faculty in the young. A watchful eye, 

 and a steady Ijaiid, are indispensable in breeding good stock of 

 any kind. 



DURATION OF PREGNANCY. 



The time of pregnancy in the cow is not always uniform. 

 Nine months is the comnionly estimated time. It almost always 

 runs so long, but usually longer — sometimes even to ten months. 



