i68 
J. M. PARKER. 
attention was called to a heifer 14 months old. It was strong 
and rugged for its age. The owner asked me what I thought 
of breeding her when she came in heat, a farmer standing near¬ 
by remarked that it was the best thing he could do. I asked 
him why. He said because she would become a better milker. 
That, I believe, is a fair sample of the way farmers look on the 
matter. He would have her a big milker at whatever cost to her 
strength and constitution. 
Again, what is to be said about the practice of continuing 
to milk a cow while carrying a calf. Through use and want it 
has become the invariable practice, at the same time I believe 
it to be one of the most serious of the many serious conditions 
that tend to sap the strength and vitality of our dairy cattle. 
Probably you are aware what the result would be, if a 
woman were to nurse a child while pregnant, yet not only is 
this invariably done in dairy cows, but the milking qualities are 
forced to the utmost limit, and if she gets a month s rest before 
calving, she is in luck. On top of this, inn-breeding is com 
monly practised, and a cow is expected to bear a calf with un¬ 
failing regularity year after year, and if unable to do so, she is 
thrown aside as worthless. 
Nor is this all—all of you are familar with the hot, foul air, 
reeking with the smell of the cattle, that will meet you when 
the barn door is opened in the morning. The cows in many 
cases are packed in, every crevice and opening through which 
the air may gain admittance is blocked up, and theyaie kept in 
these conditions during the entire winter, with little or no ex¬ 
ercise. You have here just the conditions that are most suited 
for the development of the disease. 
Introduce a consumptive cow into a herd kept in this way. 
The cow has a cough possibly, or more or less of a discharge. 
The discharge comes in contact with the woodwork. This 
dries up, particles fall off, and mix with the hay, and dust and 
chaff. The barn is close and stuffy, the animals close together, 
there is no fresh air to carry away the poison-laden atmosphere. 
They breathe the same air over and over again, with their noses 
