Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1892-02-19
Sarm Copies.
CATTlE-RAISiNG IN VERMONT
APAPER BY CAPT. @ E ABEL OF ORWELL
READ AT H FARMERS MEETING
In BENSON. EER.4. 1902.

heNo ~ TIT FRHMGhS WE lNS
IN BENSON, FEB.1, 1892
Being urgently requested to contrib.
ute an article for your agricultural
meeting, | will try to say Il few words,
very reluctantly, too, for what | may
say would be far better told by the learn
ed members of the board, and far more
scientifically, but | know that farmers
take more readily to what another farm
er can say from actual experiences, so
that an ounce of suggestion from him
may be worth more to the practical farm
er than Il pound of theory from a man
wearing a plug hat and kid gloves.
We ought to give thanks to Diyinc
Providence that we live in Il country so
constituted that agricultural employ
ments can be so diversified as to suit the
habits and tastes of almost every farmer.
While the forte of one man is to raise
horses, another may delight in perfect
ing his flOcks of Merinos or S~hropshires,
still another views with almost infinite
pleasure his broad fields of ripening
grass or grain, while others are only hap
ply while caring for their gentle kline or
raising cattle to crop the grass from the
verdant hillside.
1t is to the subject of cattle-raising in
Vermont and its profitableness at the
present time | would, very briefly, ask
your attention.
1t Is not my purpose to sound the prais-
es of any particular breed of cattle, but
to tell how to raise them successfully.
hoping that | may suggest some idea
that may be beneficial. The especial
purposes for which cattle are now rails
ed are. for their milk product and beef.
While there are many farmers who de-
vote their energy to making butter or
cheese, raising only as many calves as
they may require TO keep their diaries in
the best condition, others, using some of
the larger breeds of cattle, combine
dairying and raising cattle to be turned
for beef as their inclination or surround
ings seem to dictate.
But ~''calves is calves, and to what
ever sphere of usefulness they may be
allotted, for the first year at least, their
rearing is about the same. 1t was the
custom in former times to let the calf
do its W milking and in its own way.
but dairymen at the present time teach
their calves to drink so that they may be
able to manipulate the upper part of the
milk without the assistance of the calves
but to keep on friendly terms with
both COWS and calves they should be al
lowed to run together for three or four
days. When a calf arrives at that ma
ture age he should be taught to drink.
Such a calf is called IA deacon. How
long he retains his dcaconship after he
once gets it | am unable to inform you.
Why he is called "A deacon | cannot say
with any degree of certainty. On these
points | painfully admit that my early
education was sadly neglected. | can
only excuse myself by saying that my
learning days, unfortunately, came prior
to the foundation of the Vermont agri-
cultural college, or before the agricult-
ural college funds were absorbed by the
State university. But | have heard one
reason advanced, and perhaps with much
prOpriety, that such "A calf is called a
deacon because its namesake is often so
gay and frisky. But it seems to me far
more probable that it is on account of
its innocence of character, and which a
true deacon is known to possess, al
though he must be allowed some privi-
leges in "A horse trade.
To teach a calf to drink is a pastime
that comparatively few are permitted to
enjoy; still there is often more pleasure
in being a spectator than to be the teach
err. The teacher should be a person of
high moral character and not in the hab-
it of using forcible language in higher
English, and approach the calf calmly
and with a fixed and steadfast determi-
nation to teach him to drink. If the
calf happens to fill his boots with milk.
he should keep cool. 1t sometimes re-
quires all the patience a man has to
teach a really stubborn calf his lesson,
and. having learned 1t, he is on the high
road to prosperity, if perchance, the
ills to which calves are heir do not set
in to check his growth and blast his
hopes of future happiness.
DeacOns are quite liable to become
lousy. When you see them scratch their
heeds you may know that something
alls them. Look for lice. Nip them in
the bud. 1t is a well established fact
that "A pair of able bodied lice will pro-
duce 10000 of their kind to "A square
inch in fifteen days. a deacon can be
cleaned by immersion. Older cattle
may be anointed. Lard, or lard oil, per-
fumed with sulphur, and kerosene, ap-
piled with a brush will destroy lice fast
er than they will multiply, if you will
work with sufficient energy.
80, g,.l .l,n- ,;n-