304 
THE FEEDING OF STOCK. 
is true : there are substances already prepared which have special adaptations, and we may 
select from them what we deem suitable to meet the ends we have in view. There are, for 
example, bodies which promote the secretion, and increase the quantity of milk, and some 
which, if they do not increase the quantity, may improve its quality. Grass and hay contain 
all the constituents of flesh, milk and matters for respiration : we find albumen, wax, sugar, 
extract and gummy matters, in combination with the inorganic bodies, lime, magnesia, phos¬ 
phoric acid, potash and soda. By reference to the composition of milk, and the grasses, it 
will be seen that the latter are well adapted to the formation of the former, that is, they con¬ 
tain the elements necessary to that end. In feeding a cow for milk, we should proceed in the 
same way, and use the same material, that is suited to a growing animal; it should contain 
matter which would more than supply the wants of the system, and which may be spared from 
the system. Of these substances, bean meal, oat and corn meal, or a mixture of oats and corn, 
are found, experimentally, to serve the purpose designed. In these, the nutritive elements 
bear to calorifient the proportions of one to two and a half, and one to five. The albuminous 
or nutritive will supply not only the waste of the system, but also furnish enough for growth 
or milk. Some farmers allow their two year old heifers to come in at this early stage, and 
before they have attained their growth : it would seem to be a questionable policy, for, all 
things being equal, we can not but see that under those circumstances the animal will not at¬ 
tain her full size and proportions. The bony system is not consolidated, the body is small, 
and if, while growing, she also is required to furnish milk, the system will fail to receive the 
amount of aliment to meet all the demands upon it. There is probably an advantage to bring 
them in at this age, for the ostensible reason that the lacteal system will be more perfectly 
developed ; it will at least reach its maturity at an earlier day. But when we consider what 
is required by a growing animal, the objections to this course have considerable weight : the 
remark is made on the ground that the animal is immature. The same objection lies to the 
hard work which horses, I should say colts, are put at an early day, before they are mature, 
and before they have attained their growth. The waste of the system, when put to hard work, 
is equivalent to the production of milk, in the case of the heifer. The body fails to be nourished, 
and hence can not grow. Some breeds of horses and horned cattle attain an earlier maturity 
than others. If cattle mature early do they last as long as those which mature later 1 In re¬ 
gard to early use of animals, it is determined upon an extra allowance of food, sufficient to 
meet all the wants and requirements of the system. In the early period of life the more sub¬ 
stantial food is required, yet it has to be given with caution. There is nothing more reasonable, 
in this kind of husbandry, than that food should be given in kind, and in such quantity, as to 
supply the waste, and the waste is great in proportion to the exercise and labor put upon 
them, or to the amount of work they are required to perform. The expenditure of calorifient 
matter is also much greater under labor and exercise than at rest, and much greater in cold 
weather than in hot. A ration which would be amply sufficient, when at rest, would be a short 
allowance if expended in labor, or one which would surfeit in summer would be dissatisfying 
in winter. 
