The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-07-25
How to Raise Calves.

1t either pays to raise calves, says the
Western Rural, or else our live stock
business is not as productive of the ag-
grcgate profits as we are won't to claim.
If a calf cannot be raised at a profit
which some claim-then somebody is
losing, for somebody must raise the
calves. That it is profitable is well
enough attested by those who practice
it. Men who are close fgurers in their
business find the raising of calves suffi-
GENTLY profitable to make it satisfactory.
Where an opposite opinion prevails there
are two reasons for it; either the milk is
esteemed so valuable-a part of the too
common short-sighted policy which looks
wholly to immediate gains-that the
owner of the COW can not even as much
as permit the few days during which it is
absolutely unfit for human food to pass
without using it, or else there is an utter
neglect to consider the value of the calf
at all. The young animal in either case
is considered rather burden than other
wise, and one that is to be got rid Of
just as soon as the butcher will buy it,
1t may be we'll questioned if it
is an established fact that the practice of
taking the calf from the COW, even for
the purpose of making butter and cheese,
is profitable at all. 1t is certain that
there is a steady and remunerative de-
mand for mich cows. Nothing sells more
readily than a good mich cow. 1t would
seem to be policy, therefore, to raise them
and the safest way to do so is upon the
mothers milk. They may be raised by
hand and come out all right, but there
are defined dangers to threaten success.
Now, one good COW will suckle two calves
if she has good pasture, and weaving the
calves at three or four months old she
will not only likely make the raising of
the two calves perfectly successful, but
she will then have long time before her
during which her milk can be used for
other purposes. There is no other food
that can perfectly take the place of milk
as food for the calf 1t contains Just
what the system needs. Still we do not
suppose that anything we might say
would induce those who are in the habit
of substituting other foods for the milk
to change their practice, and we do not
wish to say anything to produce such re-
suit. We have only called attention to
the doubt that may reasonably exist as to
the profit of taking the calf away from
the COW. Of course, we recognize
the fact that milk is the most expen
sive food, and we are free to
admit that our opinion is that it
is more profitable to raise the calf on
artificial food Our practice is TO let the
calf run with the COW for about ten days
and then put it upon skinned milk,
which in short time may be fed alter
nately with other suitable food. Crushed
or ground oats are the best food next tc
milk, and if, when feeding the skinned
milk, it be scalded, and some oatmeal
added, it will be excellent And if the
calf is taken from the COW at once give
it handful of salt-which acts as
purgative to cleanse the stomach, al
office which the first milk of the COW
performs-repeating the administration
of salt for several days, and prepare it,
food by boiling pint of tlaxseed in five
quarts of water, weakening it with ma,
tea until it is nearly as thin as milk
Feed at the temperature of milk wher
drawn from the udder. Indian meal,
barley, rye and oatmeal can be added
as the calves become older In all arti
fetal feeding the effect upon the bowels
must be carefully watched and any baC
effects Immediately counteracted L
should be allowed access to good, sweet
short pasture as soon as it will eat it
1t is important that in hand feeding i
should have something beside skin
milk. Such milk is not perfect, anC
consequently it is not a complete food
and the calf should not be fed exclusive
ly upon milk even directly from the COW
for milk alone does not properly distenc
the stomach