REARING CALVES REPLY TO REVIEWER, ETC. 
141 
the aid of the sling, which will generally he the 
case in two or three days. 
Should the cow remain costive, from the continu- 
ance of the fever, which is sometimes the case, for 
several days, doses of one half of the preceding 
purgative may be repeated at proper intervals, un- 
til a passage is procured. Moderate bleeding and 
purging, before calving, with suitable food, will 
generally prevent this disease. But when this has 
been done, and the complaint comes on, the subse- 
quent quantity of blood to be drawn, and the doses 
of medicine given, must be correspondingly di- 
minished. 
During the continuance of the fever, the cow re- 
quires little or no food ; but if any is given her, it 
should consist of warm water or water gruel, a 
hornful of which may be occasionally adminis- 
tered, if she will not drink it of her own accord ; 
and whenever she seems inclined to eat, bran, In- 
dian meal and malt mashes are most proper, with 
now and then a little sweet clover or other hay, 
laid before her in small quantities at a time, which 
should be gradually increased till she can eat her 
usual allowance, and her stomach is capable of 
bearing it. But over-loading the stomach should 
at all times be avoided, as disagreeable consequen- 
ces are liable to ensue therefrom. 
REARING- CALVES— REPLY TO REVIEWER. 
In noticing the remarks of Reviewer, at p. 246, 
in your seventh volume, on an article previously 
written by me, on the "Management of Calves," I 
have been led to address you again on the subject. 
Notwithstanding his general display of good sense, 
I am still of the opinion that the smallest calves 
invariably grow up to the finest animals ; and 
1 venture to say, that, what he would call " a runt 
of a calf," when fully grown, would far exceed 
one of the same breed, that was the largest and the 
finest looking when first dropped from the cow. 
I am also convinced that raising calves on the 
richest food, neither improves their symmetry 
nor their quality, only to the eye of an inexpe- 
rienced person. No reasonable man expects to see 
a lot of store cattle fit for the butcher. Still, I am 
willing to admit that an animal forced from its birth 
until five years old, will add much to its size, and 
excite the wonder and admiration of judges and 
spectators on show grounds ; but I cannot admit 
that such an animal is a profitable one. I am cer- 
tain that many a breeder, by adopting this forcing 
ti/stem, has not only ruined his reputation, as a 
breeder, but has actually lost money, even when 
his animals have been sold at high prices. The 
kind of food consumed, and the time and care re- 
quired for such an animal to develop itself, costs 
far more than such a breeder is willing to place to 
its debit. Nor can I reconcile myself to a large 
beast of any kind for profit. I will appeal to any 
practical breeder, who has tried the experiment of 
raising fat heifer calves, whether they have prov- 
ed the best milkers. 
Again, flesh will very much diminish, the milk 
vessels in the early stage of their growth, from 
which, I feel assured they will never recover ; 
but when a cow has been economically brought 
up, and the milk vessels have once been fully de- 
veloped, they will never deteriorate. Such a cow 
will hold out much longer than the forced animal, 
and will give an increased quantity of milk. I hope 
Reviewer will try this, and then state the result of 
his experiment. On the other hand, a forced bull, 
after three or four years old, generally becomes 
useless for service. ' 
The fashion, of late, for overgrown animals, has 
been so ragingly prevalent, that symmetry and 
quality have been very much overlooked, and such 
breeders now find themselves in a labyrinth, sur- 
rounded by a coarseness, raggedness, hardness, 
and shapelessness, in their animals, from which 
they cannot extricate themselves. I would advise 
such breeders to dispose of their stock, and com- 
mence a new career, hy selecting a herd possessing 
symmetry and quality, and let size evaporate in the 
atmosphere with the rest of the grasses. 
I was very much amused at a large calf shown 
last fall, at the State Fair at Buffalo, called by the 
owner a shorthorn. When he walked, you might 
have seen his shoulder blades work as loosely as 
possible above his crop, which was as hollow as 
you can imagine. He had an exorbitant paunch, 
was coarse in the bone, narrow at the hips, and his 
carcass was covered with flabby flesh of the very 
worst quality. Had I been a shorthorn man, I 
would have preferred a Buffalo amongst my herd. 
For then, I would have had something extraordi- 
nary. This calf was sold for $100, and the owner 
was very much offended because he did not gain 
the first premium. But the judges had too much 
sense to notice him. He had been forced the 
whole of the summer entirely for the show, and to 
sell. It must have been an inexperienced farmer 
that purchased this animal, and not a shorthorn 
breeder. I think he will have some difficulty in 
disposing his offspring ; and I should like to see 
this farmer and the calf together, after he has 
wintered him on hay, so that he might point out 
to me his beautiful symmetry. As I have said be- 
fore, it takes all kinds of animals to make a world. 
Therefore, there must be large calves as well as 
great men. W. H. Sotham. 
Black Rock, N. Y. Feb. 18th, 1849. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES. 
For several seasons in succession, a few years 
ago, we tried various experiments on our farm, in 
the cultivation of potatoes ; one of which was for 
the purpose of ascertaining which was best and 
most economical, to plant cut tubers, small pota- 
toes, or those of large or medium size. It would 
take a longer article than we now have time to 
write, to give all the particulars of these experi- 
ments ; but the result was, either cut potatoes or 
small ones, produced as great a yield, and as large 
tubers, as medium-sized or large seed, except when 
the season was rather a wet and very growing one ; 
and then, the latter produced the largest crop. 
The only additional value which we found in large- 
sized tubers over small ones, was, that the decom 
position of the former produced food for the grow 
ing crop. But if the season proved rather dry, thar 
otherwise, the seed would not rot ; consequent!} 
it afforded no advantage to the growing crop ovei 
small seed. Judging from these experiments, all 
that is necessary to grow a good crop of potatoes, 
is, an eye, with sufficiency of the tuber attached to 
