358 Best Means oj Increasing ike Home-Production oj Beef. 
yield of milk is greater from winter- than from spring- and 
summer-calved cows. It is surprising how the flow of milk in- 
creases when the cows are placed on succulent food, or when 
turned out on the pastures, though no doubt this system is a 
heavy drain on the cow, whose condition must be sustained by 
the use of a liberal allowance of well-selected food. It is a 
mistaken notion to confine rearing-calves in dark, ill-ventilated 
buildings. A moderately high temperature, of 55° to 60°, econo- 
mises food to some extent ; nevertheless, young calves require 
plenty of pure air and a fair amount of exercise. The yard 
should be sheltered from currents of cold air ; every rearing-shed 
should have a roomy yard attached, in which the young animals 
can enjoy the sun and air ; and every well-constructed calf-shed 
should have a feeding-passage along one side, whence the stock 
can be fed and inspected without disturbance or excitement. 
Rearing-calves three or four months old are generally turned 
out into the pastures towards the end of July, and left to take 
care of themselves. This practice is open to grave censure, 
for they gradually lose their calf's flesh, and, as the nights 
lengthen and the temperature falls, they almost invariably con- 
tract hoose, which is difficult to combat and generally decimates 
the year's produce. Strong calves may have a run in the pas- 
tures during the day, but should return to the yards at night, and 
still receive a liberal allowance of artificial food and separated 
milk, if it can be obtained. 
The yearlings are wintered in composite yards — that is, 
partly covered and partly open. The basis of their food consists 
of a mixture of hay and straw chaff, to which are added carefully 
blended meals of the different cereals, with a little ground 
linseed and a few pulped roots. I find no variety of root equal 
to kohl-rabi for the purpose of rearing young stock. I 
advocate the steaming of the mixture, not because it increases 
the nutritive value of the food, but because it lessens the 
strain on the digestive organs, and hence economises food ; in 
these times of dear labour the increased expense entailed in 
steaming is a bar to its extension. Next to steaming, the best 
plan is to saturate the mixed food with water, and allow it to 
remain in the heap some twelve hours before being fed. 
Without wearying the reader with further details, the plan 
I have sketched would, with improved management, serve in a 
few years to keep a much larger head of stock than that I 
have named. The sale tegs would go to the butcher at from 
ten to twelve months old, and would easily weigh eighteen to 
twenty pounds per quarter; store sheep would be bought in 
accordance with the state of the keep. It is constantly being 
