JULY 46 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
467 
worth this long letter to contribute something 
to the refutation of the pernicious notion. 
Mobile Co., A’a., June 10, ’81. 
which it may be under complete control. If 
the cow has herself been trained in the same 
manner there will be no necessity to remove 
the calf out of sight or hearing, but generally 
it will be found most convenient to provide a 
special pen with a small yard attached for the 
accommodation of the calves. This may con¬ 
sist of a series of stalls six feet square, each pro¬ 
vided with a small feed trough and a ring to 
which the calf may be tied. A roomy passage 
in front of the pens gives admission to each 
through a small door (see Fig. 339). A leather 
strap with a ring attached should be fastened 
around the neck, and as soon as the calf will 
Yet, so full of lime is it, that, if plowed very 
wet in the proper season, it will crumble or 
slake like lime. Here is another great element 
in the mechanical character and constituents of 
the Boil. Probably no country contains so much 
lime in the proper condition for plant-food 
as Eastern Mississippi and Western Alabama. 
The limestone rock is itself a fertilizer, and 
Professor Kedzie, of the Agricultural and 
Mechanical College of Mississippi, is applying 
it to the very poor lands of the college to en¬ 
rich them. This rock goes to pieces very soon 
and becomes incorporated with the soil. Fine 
crops of one grass and another will grow on 
almost the bare rock, and good crops of oats 
are raised under the same conditions. More¬ 
over, this black prairie 60 il is very fertile 
and deep and wonderfully retentive of mois¬ 
ture. 
Consider, now, the subject of climate. The 
mildness of the climate makes almost always 
a growing season for Blue Grass from eight 
to nine months in the year, and, in some years, 
the whole year. Properly speaking, July, 
August and September should not be accounted 
the season for Blue Grass ; although in July I 
have seen, in Eastern Mississippi, the rankest 
kind cf Blue Grass, when at the same time in 
Kentucky, in the Blue Grass region, and else¬ 
where in the We6t, it was burned up by 
drought. In the above mentioned months 
(and for a much earlier and later season), 
Japan Clover—Lespedeza striata—and Ber¬ 
muda Graes—Cynodon dactylon—may be the 
reliance for pasture. 
Bermuda and Blue Grass admirably supple¬ 
ment each other, making, with White Clover, 
the ideal pasture, the former furnishing un¬ 
failing and most nutritious pasture from May 
until late October, and the latter from late 
October until July. They may be said to over¬ 
lap each other, thus furnishing a variety of 
food and giving (by means of Bermuda) a 
“ foot ” for stock in Winter. They both grow 
well together and will flourish indefinitely 
upon the same sod, not impairing each other’s 
merits, each having the ascendency xn its sea¬ 
son, the Bermuda Grass in its season seeming, 
to the uninformed, to have extirpated the Blue 
Grass, and generally Blue Grass in a few years 
exterminating clover on a Bermuda sod. while 
clover and Bermuda will continue indefinitely. 
Blue Grass makes a surprising growth In East¬ 
ern Mississippi, on the prairie soil, in Winter. 
I measured 60 me that was 22 inches long sev¬ 
eral weeks ago, that could not have been 
sowed earlier than about the middle of last 
December and probably not until February. 
This was in a mellow piece of ground pre¬ 
pared for testing seed. 
Last Winter was an uncommonly rigorous 
one, yet Blue Grass was seeding in early April 
on the prairies of East Mississippi. It has 
been said by pretty eminent authority in Mis¬ 
sissippi, that Blue Graes sown at any time of 
the year will succeed. This I know from my 
own experience as well as from that of others 
is not the fact, I have known it to be Bown 
in Spring and to be overtaken by dry weather 
and die. Last Winter I sowed 40 acres in late 
February and early March and have hardly a 
sprig. I sowed it on Bermuda without any 
preparation or after work. The same seed, 
sowu on a heavier Bermuda sod earlier in De¬ 
cember and January, gave a very good stand. 
I have never known Blue Grass sown in early 
October to fail. 
Preparation of soil and proper seeding are 
best; but upon a Bermuda sod these are 
next to impossible ; so the seed may be sown 
upon the Bermuda sod and left to be washed 
in and to take care of itself. The black prai¬ 
rie soil suits it best. Upon what is know as 
*• post-oak ” land Blue Grass does not do so 
well. The best sod of Blue GrasB I have ever 
seen was on the prairies of Eastern Missis¬ 
sippi. Beyond all doubt that area is destined 
to become one of the most eligible stock-rais¬ 
ing districts on this continent. Green fields 
are to be found the year round. Cattle can be 
led on cheap lands with next to no feed, and 
fattened before the fields are greeu at the 
West and North. The markets of Chicago, St. 
Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati and (better still) 
New Orleans, are near. The country is 
pierced by a great trunk line between the 
South aud West—the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. 
The sea is at Its very doors (at Mobile) for 
shipment to Europe. I have sown one bushel 
of Blue Grass for over 150 miles ou the line of 
the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, spinning the seed 
through my fingers out of the car windows, 
as we sped along. Notwithstanding the de¬ 
struction of track, repairs, the rooting of 
hog6, grazing of cattle and other mischances, 
plenty of pretty “ catches " are to be seen, 
tioores of people are sowing Blue Grass. One 
gentleman has over 200 acres and the area is 
constantly increasing. You cannot get off at 
any station on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad 
where you do not find spots of it. in a few 
years thousands of acres of it will be seen, as 
the people gradually work into stock-raising, 
as they are doing. There is such persistent ln- 
eistance upon the part of some of the agricul¬ 
tural press that we can’t raise Blue Grass in 
the Southwest, that I have thought it well 
THE DAIRY COW, 
BBOMUS 8ECALINUS 
HENRY STEWART 
This is a weed in wheat fields -known as 
cheat or chess. The name is derived from the 
Greek bromos meaning food. It is an annual 
or biennial weed, Introduced with several 
The Care and Training of a Calf 
The rearing and training of the calf deserve 
the serious consideration of the dairyman and 
the owner of a choice cow, the calf of which is 
thought to be worth special care. It is to be 
regretted that so many promising calves are 
sacrificed to the butcher, and were it not that 
some wide-awake farmers are on the watch to 
rescue the be6t of them from the slaughter, the 
loss would be still greater than it is. The man¬ 
ner of rearing the calf affects not only the fu¬ 
ture cow, but also the value of the dam as a 
producer of milk. If a calf is permitted to suck 
the cow, the almost certain result is a loss of 
milk, unless care is taken to drain the cow dry 
as soon as the ca'f is satisfied. But there is a 
certain loss of cream, because the calf is in no 
way benefited by the feeding with the whole 
milk and is probably injured by it if its future 
purpose is the dairy. After the milk of the 
neWly-calved cow has become of the usual qual¬ 
ity, which is the fifth day, the calf may be fed 
upon warmed skimmed milk, perfectly sweet, 
however, mixed with about one-half new milk 
fresh from the cow. The proportion of new 
milk may be reduced gradually, until all 
skimmed milk is given. As previously stated, 
it is better to prevent the calf from sucking 
and to teach it to drink from the first. This 
pig. 337. 
other species of the genus from Europe, and 
it was actually, at one time, commended for 
cultivation. It is. however, worthless or near¬ 
ly so. All the bromes are of graceful habit 
and may be employed as ornaments in vases. 
It is sometimes called Willard’s Bromns from 
the individual who introduced it into this 
country. The stems, as the grass grows at the 
Rural Farm, are often three feet in hight bear¬ 
ing four or five leaves with Btriated sheaths. 
It bloomed this year July 1st. Chess is objec¬ 
tionable in wheat fields chiefly because of the 
difficulty in separating the seed from wheat, 
as also because cattle prefer almost any other 
grass. Many farmers, we find, still believe 
PEN POR CALVES.—PIG. 339. 
drink from the pail it should be tied up with a 
rope-halter giving it about 18 inches of loose 
rope. Until it has learned to drink it is t est 
to have the calf loose in the pen. It is taught 
to drink as followsHolding the pail with 
the milk in the left hand (a 10-quart tin pail 
kept for the purpose is the best), the call is 
taken by the head, with the nose in the palm 
of the hand, and the two middle fingers pre¬ 
viously dipped in the milk, in the month. The 
calf will begin to suck the fingers and is then 
backed up into a corner of the pen and its head 
is pushed down to the milk so that it can suck 
it up between the two fingers, kept a little 
apart. Several trials may be required before 
the calf discovers what is meant, but with a 
little persevsrance the calf will take to the milk 
as soon as it succeeds in gettrng a little of it. 
Care must be taken not to cover the nostrils 
so as to prevent breathing, and it may be nec¬ 
essary to dip the fingers in the milk once or 
twice until the calf can be induced to suck 
them. When it begins to suck the fingers the 
trouble is nearly over. The main difficulty is 
then to teach it to drink without the fingers, 
and this is done by gradually withdrawing 
them but still leaving the hand on the nose. 
By-and-by this may be gradually discontinued 
and the calf left to drink. In this way from 
three days’ to a week’s training will break in 
the most stupid calf and an extra-bad case may 
be broken in by leaving It without a meal un¬ 
til it is hungry enough to act reasonably. This 
is generally successful. 
As soon as the calf drinks there is to more 
trouble. It should have its meal three times a 
day: in the first week two quarts at a meal 
are sufficient; the next week, three quarts may 
be given night and morning, with two at noon. 
After four weeks, nine or ten quarts a day 
will be taken and a little fine clover hay 
may be hung in a small bundle in the pen for 
the calf to nibble at. Some calves will begin 
to eat hay at a week old and all [will try It at 
three or four weeks. At this age the calf may 
be taught to lick a little ground oats and corn 
or to eat a spoonful or two of oats. When it 
will take these a small ration should be given 
daily, at the same time that the cows are fed. 
In the Summer a handful oi the sweetest grass 
or clover may be cut for the calf aud given to 
it in its trough. It should be kept clean by 
brushing and the pen be well littered. If this 
manner of feeding is continued up to three 
months, gradually increasing the solid food, 
keeping up the supply of warm skimmed milk 
twice a day, and giving a little fresh water at 
noon, the calf will be as large at that age as 
one fed ia the usual haphazard manner would 
be at six to twelve months. In fact, this period 
is the making of the future cow. The milk so 
long continued, and the oats, give a grand de¬ 
velopment of bone, muscle, stout limb6, deep 
body, broad loins and hips and an elegant aud 
graceful contour. The hind-quarters and ab¬ 
domen are developed and become large, the 
udder and teats become well formed while the 
head and neck remain fine and delicate. 
After having raised many calves Into excel¬ 
lent cows 1 find no other food so useful in 
forming the animal as warmed, skimmed 
milk with a daily ration of oats, beginning at 
a month with a handful and reaching at lour 
months to a quart. Corn meal is objectionable 
as it fails to develop the bone and muscle and 
a desirable and graceful cow form ; and pro¬ 
duces an animal more inclined to beefiuess 
with coarser points than should be sought for. 
It may be objected that form does not make 
the good cow. But this is altogether a mis¬ 
take, at least so far as this, that the form and 
the good cow always go together, the good 
form being an indispensable attribute of the 
good cow. If this is so, it seems to follow, in 
a measure at least, and subject only to excep¬ 
tions, that if we secure the good form we get 
the good cow. And in rearing and training 
a calf we surely lay the foundation for a good 
cow when we develop a capacity for eating, 
digesting and assimilating food; when we 
gain a large frame, well proportioned, broad 
hips, deep ribs, large pelvis, large udder and 
good teats and when we lay the foundation for 
a robust and stout constitution. 
We secure a good temper, kindly dispo- 
BROMUS SBCALINUS—CHEAT OR CHESS 
upon or by frost or other causes, it and gentle efforts. In thus weaning a calf it 
turns, or may turn, to chess, and the question should be considered what a complete subjec¬ 
ts still occasionally discussed in agricultural lion of its natural Instincts this is, and due 
journals. It is j ust as sensible to suppose that allowance should be made for the reluctance 
Indian corn, under the same conditions, might or perversity of the young aulmal. Kindness 
turn to chess or that barley might change to and patience should therefore be exercised in 
wheat. This plant Is an annual, flowering in this first lesson of its training. 
June and July, but when it ia cut sooner or There are some provisions to be made that 
otherwise falls to mature seeds, it survives and will greatly help In this training and that will 
matures seeds the second year. It belongs to compel the calf to fall in with its owner’s 
the natural order Graminete, or Grasses, and wishes. These may be noticed seriatim. First, 
the tribe Festueea?—Fe6eue Grass, etc. the calf should be kept in a convenient pen in 
