SPAVING. 



and a half long, that the fore-finger may be put in towards 

 the back, to feel for the ovaries, which are two kernels as 

 big as acorns, one on each fide of the uterus, one of which 

 being- drawn to the wound, the cord or ftring is cut, and 

 thus both taken out. 



It may be noticed, that in the Annals of Agriculture, 

 Mr. Frot has fuggefted the praftice of fpaying old cows and 

 heifers ; as it is a method, he apprehend?, that might be 

 performed with fafety, and prove of general ufe in grazing ; 

 as cows, when they grow old and fail in their milk, are 

 often attended with difficulty, where the bull goes at large, 

 to keep them from him, efpecially on commons, during the 

 fummer, which put him on trying the experiment on a cow 

 of fmall value, whofe profit for the pail was fo far over, that 

 (he would not milk for about three months before fhe be- 

 came dry. After flie had calved about a month, he had her 

 cut ; the operator was an ingenious perfon, and performed 

 the bufincfs well, that with a little care of keeping her from 

 the cold (being early in the fpring) for about a fortnight 

 he thought her out of danger ; and continued milking her as 

 ufual all the time. She foon began to thrive, gaining flelh, 

 and before the fummer was over, by the time the was quite 

 dry, was much improved, though kept no better than the 

 other part of the dairy on very middling pafturage. At 

 Michaelma", had (he been put to turnips, or good rouen, 

 (he would have been fat by Chridmas, or foon after. When 

 killed, file fold at 3^. 6d. a (lone, about half fat at that time, 

 which he laid at one (hilling a (lone more than (he would 

 have done had (he not been cut. And afterwards he had 

 two others cut, that continued to be milked, and grazed 

 well ; one he had killed, the other he fold alive, which 

 improved and paid beyond expeftation. And though little 

 has yet been done in this way, he is perfuaded it will be 

 found uf general utility, if attended to. But, however, 

 lately he accidentally met the perfon that performed the 

 operation, who informed him that he had been fent for 

 within twelve months, or thereabouts, to cut near forty in 

 like m.anner, which having all done well, none failed ; that 

 there appears little or no danger in the cafe ; and he believes 

 it may be found of great advantage to the grazier and farmer, 

 if they are inclined to praftife it, as well as to the public at 

 large. In confirmation of the above, the perfons who have 

 tried the experiment are, he is informed, William Colhoun, 

 efq. Norfolk, who has cut eight ; Mr. Martin, Exning, 

 Suffolk, who has cut fix ; Mr. Cayfon, Chippenham, who 

 has had the operation performed on twenty ; and Mr. Ro- 

 binfon, ErifA-ell, wiio has performed it on four or fix. 



And he may further add, that mod of thefe were young 

 h^fers between two and three years old (fome old cows), 

 that had not taken bull ; the young itock appears to thrive 

 apace, and grow in fize, as well as to be likely to anfwer 

 (or the butcher foon ; they may be fattened with turnips in 

 the winter, or kept on another fummer, as the grazier pleafes. 

 And in Yorkfliire it is very common to fatten their heifers 

 at three years old, which anfwer as great a purpofe for 

 grazing, and are more profitable than older iteers or heifers, 

 &c. but thofe are kept from the bull. 



Farther, although there is a method generally praftifed 

 in fpaying calves that are intended for heifers of that name, 

 which are ufually cut about fix weeks or two months old, 

 yet this other metliod of treatment, he thinks, is preferable 

 and not fo dangerous, for the two-years old bealts may be 

 fiippofed Itronger and more fit to undergo the opera- 

 tion ; and, in the next place, it is performed quite differently ; 

 what is cut away, is only the ends of what is termed the 

 lujs, or generative partF, which are not, when feparated from 

 the other parts, bigger than the end of a man's thumb to the 



firft Joint, that makes the operation lefs painful and dan. 

 gerous when rightly performed. But he would not advife 

 every butcher, or inexperienced artill, to undertake what 

 they do not underftand. He thinks this obfervation is due 

 to the operators, who have cut upwards of forty head of 

 cow- (lock in this manner, (as they informed him,) which 

 have all done, and are doing, well, and he recommends them 

 to public encouragement in an art that is likely to be at- 

 tended with general utility to the public. They are Wil- 

 liam Bailey and fon, Lakenheath, Suffolk. He may fur- 

 ther obferve, that a heifer at two or three years old may 

 be defeftive in the bag, in the lofs of teats, or thofe of 

 fmall fize, not larger than an ewe's, which feldom are pro- 

 fitable for the pail, which may be cut after this mode and 

 grazed. 



And Mr. Marlhall, in his Rural Economy of Yorkfhire, 

 remarks, that it is a faft well eftablifhed m the common 

 practice of that dillrid, that fpayed heifers work better, 

 and have, in general, more wind, than oxen ; and it is not 

 doubted that fpayed maros would have an equal preference 

 to geldings. The reafon held out againd this praftice, 

 though formidable at firft fight, proves a mere (hadow on 

 examination. The fpaying of fillies would undoubtedly 

 fpoil them for brood mares. But does not the gelding of 

 a colt fpoil him for a ftallion ? What breeder, when his 

 mares foal, wilhes for fillies ? and what dealer would not 

 give 2s. 6d. for each, to have his marcs changed into geld- 

 ings, or perhaps into animals fuperior to geldings I Belides, 

 in the fpring of the year, open mares are faint and trouble- 

 fome. The only requifites appear to be a fafe cutter, and 

 a man of fpirit to fet him to work, to bring the fpaying of 

 female foals into common praAice ; and it does not foUow 

 that, becaufe a part of the female foals (hould be cut, there 

 would not be open mares to breed from ; more than it does, 

 that becaufe fome heifers are fpayed for the yoke, or for 

 fattening, there are not cows fufficient for the purpofes of 

 breeding, and the dairy. He does not mean, however, to 

 recommend a praftice of which he has had no experience ; 

 but if the experiment has not been tried, it ftrikes him 

 forcibly, that it is worth the trial ; and that it is more 

 than time it were fet about. Since this, he however (tates,- 

 that it had been tried in the fouthern dillrifts, as he faw a 

 mare in 1 791, then rifing five or fix years old, which had 

 been fpayed at eight days old by a colt-cutter in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Petworth ; and that fhe was a well-bred mare, 

 and of a fize proper for hunting. The farmer to whom (he 

 belonged aiked feventy guineas for her, a proof that in his 

 eflimation, at leaft, fhe had not been injured by the operation. 

 And it is probable, that this praftice had been attempted long 

 before that period. See Cattle. 



There can be no doubt but that the notion of injury being 

 done by the fpaying of female animals is wholly erroneous, 

 and without any foundation in truth or correft obfervation, 

 as the experience of every day fiiews it to be fo in the moft 

 full and fatisfaftory manner. The chief reafon why a prac- 

 tice, which is beneficial in fo many points of view to the 

 interefts and advantages of the farmer, has been fo little 

 attended to, is the difficulty which is conftantly experienced 

 from the want of a fufficient number of expert and proper 

 perfons for performing the operation. Such perfons are far 

 from being common in any, much lefs in every dillrift, as 

 fome knowledge of a nature which is not readily acquired, 

 and much experience in the praftice of cutting, are indif- 

 penfably neceflary to the fuccefs of the undertaking. When- 

 ever, however, the utility and benefits of the praftice become 

 better underftood and more fully appreciated by the farmer, 

 and the operators more numerous, much greater attention 



and 



