THE COEDS. 
549 
serve the utmost regularity in the hours of feeding, and not 
to give too much at a meal. It has been found better to 
eed thrice a day instead of twice. 
When calves are not intended for breeding from, it is the 
practice to castrate the males, and spay the females. These 
operations should be performed when the animal is fifteen 
or twenty days old. After the operation great care is ne¬ 
cessary to prevent the wounded parts from being exposed to 
the action of the air. They must be kept quiet and warm 
for the first three or four days afterwards, and not allowed 
much drink. 
The time when cows should be put to the bull is not 
until they are three years old, although it is not unusual for 
farmers to commence breeding from them at two years, 
But this latter has a tendency to weaken the system, as 
cows can hardly be expected to have attained their full 
strength at two years. 
There are many other methods adopted in feeding and 
fattening calves and cattle, but these come more within the 
scope of a work on agriculture than of one on farriery. 
THE CORDS. 
Symptoms. —This disease is so rapid in its effects, that 
the animal is frequently dead before it is discovered that it 
is labouring under the malady. It is seized with spasmodic 
contractions, and dies in convulsive fits. 
Calves that die of the cords are found, upon dissection, 
to be very red in the flesh, with all their small ligaments 
hard and stringy in their appearance ; and hence the name 
of the malady. All the symptoms strongly indicate a con¬ 
siderable degree of plethora. 
Cause. —It has been found that most calves wiiich are 
attacked by this complaint, are those which are closely con- 
