The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1886-03-27
THE RURAL HOME.
EARN Hints for March.

and planting now IN the latitude OF
Boston, but the season for that is
near at hand, and it is well to be max
ing preparations for it.
In the meantime the animals at the
barn demand even more attention
than they did during the winter
months, especially if calves, lambs or
pigs are expected, as they should be,
for there is more profit in having either
of them come now than later in the
season.
The COW which is to calf this month
should be placed in a box stall at
least a week before the calf is expect
ed. It is better that such stall should
be so situated that she can see her
companions when standing up, that
she may not be lonesome and uneasy;
but it should be so that she will not
be seen by them when lying down. If
this cannot be arranged, it is better
that she be out of sight of them alto
gether, as the injury to her from I'M
easiness would not be so great as that
to the rest of the herd from excitement
at the appearance of the little new
conner. Farmers selling milk, who
have occasion to know very accurate
ly how much milk they get each day,
have noticed that if a COW CHANGED to
drop her calf in the stable among the
other cows, the excitement would
cause a loss OF from one to three
quarts of milk from each COW. Again,
the better the COW the more nervous
she will be, and the greater the shrink
age from this or any other excitement
Her food should now be of the best
hay, and she should have few roots
every day, unless she is being fed with
en-llage. Potatoes are excellent for
this purpose, if other roots are not at
hand, but they should be so cut as to
avoid all danger of her getting choked
with them. Sheshould not be Obliged,
or even allowed, to drink ice water If
her udder fills before calving, so as to be
hard, it is better to draw off q part, at
least, of the milk therein, as it is liable
to inflammation if allowed to remain
so swollen for many days. Our grand
fathers might have thought different
in their day, but their animals were
not so highly bred and highly fed for
the purpose OF making them merely
milk-producing machines as is the case
now. A neglect to properly care for
the udder before calving, in cows which
give large quantities OF milk, is not an
uncommon cause of milk fever, and a
should this matter belOoked after with
young cows which are carrying their
first calves.
1t may seem necessary to add that
the young COW should have been han
died each day so gently that she viii
not object to the presence OF her mas
ter in the stall after she has her calf
by her side, but this is sometimes neg
lected, and in such cases she may so
resent the intrusion of a stranger, or
his meddling with her calf, as o.make
it no small Job to take care OF her or to
milk her. She also should have been
accustomed to having her udder and
teats handled before she calves. After
the calve isup and has drawn the first
milk, draw away the remainder as
clearly as possible. The practice of
giving this to the COW to drink is a
dangerous one, and has nothing to rec
ommend it. Nor should it ever be
given to sows that are with pig.
Give the COW a pail OF warm water
in which a quart of rye meal has
been stirred, and for three orfour days
it will be better to give all water
slightly warm. Continue food as be-
fore calving, and do otgive any grain
other than a small quantity of wheat
bran until the Calls week old. The calf
should be removed from the presence
OF the dam, and put out of her sight
as quickly as possible after the first
sucking, and only taken to her for the
purpose OF sucking. She will be much
quieter and more easily handled if the
maternal instinct is not too strongly
aroused in her by the presence of her
calf.
Many farmers do not allow the calf
to suckle the COW but once, if at all,
preferring to draw the milk and feed it
to the calf, rather than to be at
the trouble OF weaving it at a
later date. This plan has one adj
vantage, that after the calf is a week
old one may give it the milk from some
other COW, and the milk which will
make the most butter will not make
the latest calf. The facts usually are
that a cow which raises fat calf is
very seldom agood butter making COW.
For the first week the calf should be
fed three times a day, and each time
all the milk should be taken after thu
calf has got through.
If it is intended to raise the calf, it
certainly should be taken away, and
the milk carried to it three times a
day for the first week, and twice a day
afterward, for thereasons given above,
oil Oh Il 80
substituted later in the season. Not
only is the skinned milk cheaper, but
it is better food for the calf afUer the
first four weeks, and by reason OF its
cheapness may be continued much
longer.
Before deciding whether or not to
raise the calf, see that it is from good
stock on the part OF both parents.
Then see that it is well formed, and
with four perfect teats. Some also are
governed very much by the escutcheon,
or amount OF hair which grows with
the points upward on the inner and
back part Of the thighs The larger
the space covered with this hair, the
better the chance of q good milking
blood, they say. Others haveno faith
III tliiS; Ouo IL 10 cctio W say Uudt 81
large escutcheon is a favorable indica-
ton, though not an invariable one.
II the calf is really a good one, do
not be tempted to part withit because
veal will bring a good price in April or
May, and then raise an inferior animal
simply because the butcher does not
want it later in the season. The slight
difference in the coat OF thecalf at four
or five weeks old will make but little
difference in the cost OF the animal at
four years old, when there will be a
great difference in the value of the two
animals. The feeding Of one will prob
ably cost as much as that of the 9th
er.
Hints were given last month in re-
gard to the care of sheep and swine.
They will need the same care this
month, and perhaps even more atten-
ton in the same line, as the cold winds
and rains of March are more apt to
prove fatal to Young lambs and MICS