320 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Oct. 
Rearing Calves* 
The lecture of Prof. Simmonds, alluded to in another 
place, was followed by a discussion in relation to the 
“ best way of rearing cattle from the time they are 
dropped till they are a year old.” As might have been 
expected, there was not a unanimity of opinion on the 
question; some, especially those who reared cattle 
chiefly for beef, were in favor of letting calves suck 
their dams for the first six months. Others preferred 
a different course. Mr. Turner, a noted breeder of 
Devon cattle, said it was the custom in his neighbor¬ 
hood to let calves suck for the first ten days, and at 
the end of that time they were taken from the cow, and 
three quarts of new milk given to each, twice a day. 
This was continued two or three weeks, according to 
the strength of the calf; at the end of that time they 
withdrew a portion of the new milk, and gave the ani¬ 
mal some skim milk; in addition to this they gave it 
oatmeal, hay, and turneps, taking care that it should 
be kept perfectly clean, with a free circulation of air, 
and well littered. Two or three weeks after this the 
calf eats hay or grass with avidity; the new milk is 
withdrawn, and skim milk given. It was continued 
five or six weeks longer, and then the calf fed heartily 
on cut hay and oatmeal. It was kept in during the 
winter months, and then on the first sunshiny season 
they gave the calf the free use of his limbs. They then 
turned him into a good pasture, and was shifted from 
one to another as convenient; for he held as an essen¬ 
tial point, that it was necessary for every young animal 
during the first year of its existence, to be fed on dif¬ 
ferent kinds of food. The case of calves and lambs 
was similar in this respect with young children, and 
every other animal, (laughter.) His own calves were 
carried on in this way, being taken in at the latter end 
of October or the beginning of November. The yard 
was kept clean and well littered, and the animal had a 
little hay, and chopped straw, and turneps. In the 
winter months the animal might have mangel-wurtzel. 
Thus it w T as kept during the winter months; and when 
spring arrived, they turned it into the first good pas¬ 
ture they could, and all trouble was then at an end. He 
held it to be most essentially necessary that animals 
should not be forced. 
Mr. Pelham gave calves new milk for the first fort¬ 
night; after that he gave skimmed milk, to which he 
added for each calf daily, a quarter of a pound of flax¬ 
seed, a quarter of a pound of bean meal, (by way of 
restoring the casein of the new milk,) and a quarter of 
a pound of molasses. He found this a satisfactory and 
not an extravagant plan. 
Mr. Barrett said he left the calf with the cow four 
or five days, and then removed it to the calf pens, 
which are constructed so as to be very cool in summer, 
and sufficiently warm in winter. He preferred pens, 
thinking that when young calves are tied up it irritates 
them and produces scouring. When taken from the 
cow, he gave three quarts of new milk morning and 
evening for four weeks; at three weeks old a very small 
quantity of crushed linseed and chaff; at a month he 
added “ sweet ” skim milk, two quarts, reducing the 
new to two quarts, and increasing the quantity of lin¬ 
seed, chaff, a id adding fine pollard ; at six or seven 
weeks old he added skim milk, and then half a pint 
crushed linseed, and more chaff and pollard. The skim 
milk he continued as long as there was any to spare 
from the younger calves. He found it useless to give a 
very liberal allowance of new mitk to a calf after six 
weeks old; he thrives better by using sweet skim milk, 
and he accounts for it in the following manner: The 
new milk satisfies his appetite, and he does not con¬ 
sume a sufficient.quantity of linseed and chaff for his 
age. If a calf scoured, which it seldom did, he gave 
the following: One ounce of salts in half a pint of warm 
beer, stopping their milk at morning feeding time, and 
reducing the quantity the next three times of feeding j 
and should the attack be more severe, and not give way 
to this treatment, he boiled the milk for a few days. 
Should the soouring be attended with much pain, indi¬ 
cated by the calf groaning and looking back at its 
flanks, he gives one ounce of linseed oil, and takes 
away a small quantity of blood, according to the age of 
the calf, say from four ounces to eight ounces, from a 
week to eight weeks. Heifers should calve in April, 
as the grass in May forces their milk and lays the 
foundation for their becoming good milkers. 
Mr. Shaw said he was himself a dairy farmer, and 
sold a good deal of milk. He never suckled more than 
eight weeks, and did not give after that more than a 
quart a day ; but he gave them oil-cake, or cut hay, to 
induce them to eat. By these means he got them to 
eat at three weeks old. He found that by giving them 
linseed to eat for a certain period—not too long, as he 
considered linseed to be a bad thing when too long con* 
tinued—that a change for oat cake was the best thing. 
Mr. Mechi thought the same remarks applied to 
the rearing of a calf as to the child of human beings. 
If the Almighty had provided the parent with food con¬ 
taining the best materials for forming the perfect ani¬ 
mal, which no one could for a moment doubt, and if 
they were desirous of following nature, they must, if 
they removed the young animal from its mother, give 
it those things which come as near as possible to the 
mother’s food. They all knew that when they reared 
a child they gave it food assimilating in its nature to 
its mother's food, as near as possible; and the same 
laws applied to the young of the lower animals as to 
the young of man. They should give food which would 
ensure the growth of bone, fat, and muscle. He saw 
an attempt to follow this principle in the food recom¬ 
mended by preceding speakers, who had been enlighten¬ 
ing them. Some gave oatmeal or nitrogen; others, 
linseed or carbon; and they ought also to give oatcake 
for the phosphates. Depend upon it, they must not 
rely on any one meal; but they must so contrive their 
food that they may give the phosphates, the nitrogen, 
and the carbon. Whatever they found necessary to 
give to grow a good strong man, they would require to 
be given, in order to rear a strong, healthy, and valua¬ 
ble calf. 
Rust in Wheat. 
Editors Cultivator —My experience of the present 
season induces me to make some observations upon the 
above subject. On the 21st of October last, I sowed 
three and one-half bushels of wheat, sold me by Messrs. 
A. B. Allen & Co., N. York, as the genuine “ white- 
flint,” of 11 Wheatland.” I presume it was as repre¬ 
sented; being as large and handsome grain as I ever 
saw. It was scarcely as large, however, as I had antici¬ 
pated, its'weight being just 60 lbs. per bushel. 
On the 22d of October, I sowed 6^ bushels North 
Carolina Red wheat, about 58 lbs. per bushel. The 
soil was as nearly the same as could be, with a similar 
preparation, and like quantity of seed per acre. The 
native wheat was cut the 15th of June; the New-York 
the 20th; the latter being six days later than the for¬ 
mer. In a month after their appearance there was a 
perceptible difference in the two, the northern having 
broader leaves, and being more green and vigorous. 
It retained its superiority throughout the growing sea¬ 
son; the stalks being larger, and the heads decidedly 
superior. I expected much from this. But some fif¬ 
teen days before cutting, I perceived the rust in it, and 
before harvesting it was materially injured. Although 
much shrunken, its yield nevertheless was 32 per cent, 
more than the native wheat. The latter had not, that 
I saw, a single stalk of rust throughout the lot. 
