266 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
one heifer, impregnated with a view to have her calve at two 
years old, will not carry to term, there is danger that the effect 
may, by reason of the strain upon the constitution thus pro¬ 
duced, be felt in the subsequent pregnancies; and a table 
previously given shows, that while five per cent, of those 
which calved under three years of age aborted, in some of 
the subsequent pregnancies, the abortions of those which 
first calved at three years old or over, was but three per cent. 
In the second place^ the amount ol milk demanded per cow, 
in the districts examined this year, as has been shown, is 70 
per cert, greater than the amount dtitermined, by the yield of 
1,195,000 cows, to be the natural yield. It is respectfully sub¬ 
mitted, that this constitutes a violation of the rule that an ani¬ 
mal very seldom naturally suckles one offspring at the same 
time she is pregnant with another; in other words, that the 
milk-secreting organs shall be in a condition of comparative 
quiesence during the period of gestation. 
Now, the excessive yield here indicated, is brought about 
by first getting all the milk possible during the height of the 
season, and secondly, by continuing the process as long as 
possible—as long as the mammary gland can, by any means, 
be stimulated to activity—and yet, during the latter part of 
this time, the cow is pregnant; the foetus is demanding an 
unusual supply of blood to the placenta for its nourishment 
and the farmer is demanding a supply to the mammary gland 
for milk, forgetful entirel}"", apparently, that the original design 
of the whole reproductive apparatus is to perpetuate the species^ 
not to get milk^ simply. Under the circumstances of this drain, 
either the cow must refuse to give the milk, and be dried off^ 
or the development oh the foetus, which is now the lowest in 
order of vitality, is checked from lack of nourishment. In a 
certain number of cases the latter occurs, and an abortion is 
the result. 
In further confirmation of this view, of the arrest of devel¬ 
opment from lack of nourishment, attention is called to the 
table indicating the period of pregnancy at which abortions 
most frequently occur, and it will be seen that of 1,320 abor- 
