1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
7o7 
milk, and that there is no necessity of purchasing 
high-priced products when corn meal and oats can be 
obtained. 
Two pictures of the calves are shown at Figs. 296 
and 297. At the time the pictures were taken, the 
calves were eight months old. They had been sep¬ 
arated into two lots for the purpose of conducting 
another experiment The present scarcity of beef 
stock will, no doubt, force cattle-growers to adopt 
something of this plan. Butter is, also, increasing in 
value, and they can no longer afford to feed calves on 
whole milk. The use of oatmeal will enable them to 
obtain two values for their milk. A creamery en¬ 
ables them to sell their butter, while the oatmeal 
porridge gives them an opportunity to produce beef 
stock. 
Prof. Curtiss truly says that many calves are not 
worth raising by any method. There is no sense in 
trying to raise dairy-bred calves for beef purposes, 
and it is equal folly to try to make dairy cows out of 
beef calves. It is, also, wrong to attempt to grow 
both beef and dairy calves by the same method. A 
beef cow should be fed so as to carry, from birth to 
maturity, an even covering of thick flesh. That is 
just what we do not want with the dairy calf, for the 
cow trained and fed from its birth, to lay fat upon its 
ribs, will not acquire the power to put fat into the 
pail. The oatmeal diet is especially val¬ 
uable in feeding the dairy calf ; in fact, it 
cannot be said too forcibly, that oatmeal 
is, of all grains, the best to produce bone, 
muscle and growth. 
THE FALL OR WINTER CALF. 
In changing from summer to winter dairying, 
many of the best calves will be dropped in the fall. 
In raising the heifers, what is the difference in 
treatment from that given the calf dropped in 
spring ? What is the best way to handle a fall calf? 
How to Manage the Fall Calf. 
Having for a long time been convinced 
that a cow coming fresh in the fall was 
more profitable to her owner, and wish¬ 
ing to raise my heifer calves, I continued 
to do so regardless of the time they 
were dropped. I have found it much 
easier to raise a fall or winter calf if one 
has warm quarters for it. It requires 
more heat than a mature animal, hence 
one must be very careful that it does not 
get frosted ears or feet. A small, clean 
pen in the same barn where the cows 
are makes a most admirable place to 
raise winter calves. Those dropped in 
September and October get a good start 
and will endure more outdoor exercise, 
and they enjoy it on a fine, sunny day, for 
a short time. My experience is that a calf 
raised in winter well cared for, does not 
stop growing when turned out to grass 
in the spring, while the spring calf 
turned out to fight flies, or tied to the 
fence, usually grows smaller all the time. 
The food for fall or winter calves con¬ 
sists of the mothers’ milk diluted with 
the separator skim-milk until the calf 
is two weeks old, when the mothers’ milk 
is gradually withdrawn and warm sep¬ 
arator milk, with a small amount of 
flaxseed jelly, or linseed meal is added ; 
be careful not to give too much jelly or 
meal. Increase the feed as the calf 
grows. One very essential point where 
one does not separate but once a day, 
is not to get the skim-milk too warm ; 
better use a thermometer, and get it as near normal 
as possible. Keep all feeding utensils clean, and give 
a clean, dry pen ; occasionally sprinkle in some land 
plaster. Give a little salt occasionally, or better yet, 
keep it near them at all times. Sometimes an old sod 
or a handful of dry earth to lick will be relished. 
Calves dropped in the fall and bred to come in in the 
fall, are more sure to breed regularly in the fall; at 
least that is my experience. With clover hay or en¬ 
silage as roughage, calves raised in the winter when 
one has plenty of time to look after them, are raised 
the cheapest and best. Do not feed too fattening 
foods, if desired for the dairy. Bran or oatmeal is a 
most excellent food for a growing calf. 
New York. A. D. baker. 
Ensilage as Soon as the Calf Will Eat It. 
For many years, we have been in the habit of hav¬ 
ing our calves dropped at all seasons of the year, as 
many coming in the winter as in the spring. We find 
that, with good stable accommodations, they can be 
raised as easily and about as cheaply, at that season 
of the year. In fact, we think the loss is lighter dur¬ 
ing the cold weather than during the hot months of 
sumiser. ^Ve use ensilage with our pows, feed it to 
our calves as soon as they are old enough to take it, 
and do not observe any disadvantage from the season 
of birth. We make no change in food. Our calves 
are fed new milk until four to six weeks of age, when 
skim-milk, sweet from the separator, and heated to 
about the normal temperature, is used. About this 
time, we commence putting a very small allowance 
of grain feed—wheat bran and ground oats—in the 
manger, each day. They soon learn to eat its and in 
a short time, this is followed by the use of ensilage, 
in very small quantities at first. Calves dropped in 
the early winter are ready to turn to pasture in the 
early spring, and make a good growth. 
New York. smiths & powelr co. 
Don’t Raise a Poor Calf. 
I have had very good success with fall calves ; in 
fact, I prefer a fall calf to one born in the spring. 
The reason why I prefer fall calves is because I think 
they can be got into cows cheaper than spring calves, 
and generally with less danger of losing them with 
“scours,” etc. The first winter, the spring calf must 
be very well fed and cared for, or it will be but very 
little larger in the spring than it was the previous 
fall. My way of raising calves is as follows : In the 
first place, I never start a calf that is not strong and 
healthy at birth, even though the calf is from the 
best cow. We must remember that a good, rugged 
constitution is one of the principal points in a cow, 
and if this is lacking in the calf, it is better to kill it 
on the start than take the chances with it. The first 
two weeks, I feed the calf milk fresh from the cow, 
and I always give the calf the first milk from the 
cow, never the strippings, as these are too rich. When 
the calf is two weeks old, I add about one-half sweet 
skim-milk to its feed, and gradually increase this 
until it soon has only skim-milk. When the little one 
is a month or six weeks old, it will begin to eat a 
little hay and bran or oats, when I let it have all the 
dry bran or whole oats it will eat together with its 
skim-milk twice a day. If plenty of milk is lacking, 
one may make a gruel of oil meal; but begin very 
carefully, not giving it above a tablespoonful at a 
feed, boiled up in, say a quart of water. One of the 
best cows I have, never had a drop of milk after she 
was three days old ; but I didn’t raise her, and don’t 
know how the owner managed to make her live. She 
was a very hearty, strong calf, and probably, one 
with weaker digestive organs would not have sur¬ 
vived. 
Towards spring, when the calf gets to eating a 
gopd quantity of hay and grain, I begin to adcl water 
to the milk and gradually wean her, so that she may 
be turned out to grass, when she is allowed to look 
out for herself. The next winter, she will require 
very little grain, so you see that the fall calf has had 
to be looked after only six or eight months, while 
the spring calf mu3t be fed about 14. I have a heifer 
dropped November 9, 1895, that became fresh July 8, 
1897. She took first prize at both Chenango and 
Madison County fairs this year, and has given more 
milk all summer than any of my other heifers that 
were 25 or 26 months old before they became fresh. I 
also have four heifers that are just about a year old 
now, that will become fresh in April and May. They 
are running wild in a back pasture, j. grant morse. 
New York. 
Why Fall Calves are Best. 
We formerly started all our calves in spring or early 
summer, but for several years, have raised only fall 
or early winter calves. There are several reasons 
why we like the latter plan better. The most profit¬ 
able cows are those that come in from September to 
January, and as we like to raise only from our best 
cows, our best calves come then. They are started 
and brought up to the age when they can care for 
themselves at the time when we are not pushed quite 
so hard with work, and we can give them better care, 
and do it much more economically than in the sum¬ 
mer. Every minute counts at that sea¬ 
son, and the summer calf is likely to be 
neglected or half taken care of because 
it doesn’t just at that time seem to count 
much ; but it does. We did not have much 
fun driving a lot of calves, that knew 
only enough to go where they didn’t be¬ 
long, twice a day to pasture, or carrying 
to the nearby calf pasture their twice-a- 
day ration of milk. We can and do teach 
them to drink more easily in the fall, I 
don’t know exactly why, perhaps because 
one’s stock of patience is less when it’s 
hot and he’s tired. One or two trials 
will now almost always start the calf to 
drinking on his own hook. 
The vital point in a cow’s life is often 
from the first to the sixth month of her 
life. Proper care then tends towards suc¬ 
cess. During the fall and colder weather, 
they are less liable to scours than in 
summer, although this trouble can almost 
always be easily traced to one or more 
of three causes—filthy stables, overfeed¬ 
ing, or feeding milk at the wrong tem¬ 
perature. Careful attention to these three 
details will almost guarantee freedom 
from this scourge. 
We raise our calves on about the fol¬ 
lowing plan : They suck the mother from 
three days to a week, depending on the 
calf ; if a strong, vigorous one, three days 
are sufficient. Then we teach them to 
drink, feeding whole milk from 10 days 
to two weeks, gradually mixing in skim- 
milk, and soon feed them entirely on the 
latter, although we have, sometimes when 
short of skim-milk, fed them partially on 
sweet buttermilk with success. We avoid 
sudden changes, and don’t stuff the calf. 
No one likes to see a potbellied calf. We 
have the milk always for the first two 
months about the same temperature as 
the newly-drawn cows’ milk. A ther¬ 
mometer comes in handy here, as the 
majority of persons will not get within 
10 degrees of the right temperature by 
guessing. 
How much milk to feed, and how long to feed it, 
depends on the calf. Common sense ought to teach 
one, but it does not seem to always. When they are 
a month old, we feed from four to six quarts twice a 
day. They are given daily from a week old up, a hand¬ 
ful of wheat bran, and a fresh lock of rowen or early- 
cut fine hay. It is surprising to see how very young 
a calf will begin to pick out and eat the hay. I enjoy 
seeing them do it. A pinch of salt is given occa¬ 
sionally with the bran. They will learn to drink cold 
water and eat a pretty fair ration of grain and hay 
at from two to three months of age, and as soon as 
spring pasture is ready, they are driven off to the 
field a couple of miles from home, there to care for 
themselves nearly six months. We like to have the 
heifers drop their first calves as early as possible—at 
18 to 24 months of age. Then we milk them about 
eighteen months before allowing a second calf. 
Connecticut. h. g Manchester 
Books Ark Brain Toors. —A man cannot make a 
boat with his fingers alone. A farmer cannot do his 
best with only bis own experience. Good books help. 
The R. N.-Y. sells ail books. We want your trade. 
Send for our new book catalogue. 
GROUP OF SKIM-MILK CALVES, EIGHT MONTHS OLD. Fig. 296 . 
Average Weight, 518 Pounds. 
GROUP OF SKIM-MILK CALVES, EIGHT MONTHS OLD. Fig. 297. 
Average Weight, 535 Pounds. 
