450 
Management of Cattle. 
and that close-breeding deteriorates the milking more than the 
feeding propensities of the stock, yet of one thing I am fully con- 
vinced — namely, that if the system be long persevered in, size 
cannot be maintained. This important quality being lost, all 
other excellencies are of little avail; for what can be worse than 
the small, stunted, and therefore useless and unprofitable progeny 
ol a naturally large race of animals? 
The treatment of milch cows will materially influence the 
quantity and quality of their milk; and the judicious use of roots 
and artificial food in moderate quantities during the winter 
months generally yields a liberal return. It is, however, ex- 
tremely important not to overload the stomach, or give anything 
which may cause indigestion; for so intimate is the connexion 
between the stomach and udder, that the slightest disorder in the 
former is immediately communicated to the latter, to the injury 
of the milk. Small quantities of food given frequently are, I 
believe, more conducive to health and the production of milk 
than an unlimited and constant supply of roots, hay, &c. &c. 
The quality of the water is also a matter of groat importance and 
one which is fi equently overlooked, if we may judge from the filthy 
compounds which some cattle are allowed to drink. Tliey are 
frequently watered at a dirty horsepond adjoining the farm-yard, 
contaminated by the excrement of cattle and the drainage of 
dung-heaps. Can it be doubted that so impure a liquid must 
produce disagreeable effects on the milk in the first place, and 
eventually on the health of the animalsj A liberal supply of 
pure water, especially during the hot summer months, is highly 
conducive to the well-doing of milch cows. During pregnancy I 
have no doubt great injury is often inflicted by the use of im- 
prnjier food, such as bad, mouldy, or mow- burnt hay, large quan- 
tities of straw, &c., unmixed Vr-ilh other substances of a more 
nutritious nature. 
Derangement of the stomach and digestive organs has a general 
influence on the constitution of the animal, and in a state of 
disease the foetus cannot be properly nourished, and a stunted 
puny progeny must be the result. From repeated trials I am 
quite convinced that nothing can supply to the young calf the 
loss of its mother's milk for the first tliree or four months, and I 
believe it will well pay in many instances to provide foster- 
mothers, making one cow bring up two calves at a time. A calf 
reared in this way will be stronger, larger, and healthier than 
another, two months older, deprived almost immediately of new 
milk, no matter what other substitutes are supplied. 
The various systems of feeding have been described, and the 
different descriptions of food upon which cattle are fattened. It 
is, however, more important by far than either food or mode of 
