f
the calf that she does not, for a long time after, yield her milk freely
to the dairyman. The calf does not when young draw off the milk
completely, and when it is taken off by the hand, the cow withholds a
part of her milk, and, whenever a cow's udder is not completely emptied
every time she is milked, the lactic secretion--as before stated--is
thereby diminished.

Feeding of calves by hand is also, in various respects, advantageous.
Instead of depending on the uncertain, or perhaps precarious supply of
the dam, which may be more at first than the young animal can consume or
digest, and at other times too little for its supply, its food can, by
hand-feeding, be regulated to suit the age, appetite, and the purposes
for which the calf is intended; other admixtures or substitutes can be
introduced into the milk, and the quantity gradually increased or
withdrawn at pleasure. This is highly necessary when the calves are
reared for stock. The milk is in that case diminished, and other food
introduced so gradually that the stomach of the young animal is not
injured as it is when the food is too suddenly changed. And, in the case
of feeding calves for the butcher, the quantity of milk is not limited
to that of the dam--for no cow will allow a stranger-calf to suck
her--but it can be increased, or the richest or poorest parts of the
milk given at pleasure.

Such are, substantially, the views upon this subject which are
entertained by the most judicious farmers in the first dairy districts
of Scotland.

In those districts--where, probably, the feeding and management of
calves are as well and as judiciously conducted as in any other part of
Great Britain--the farmers' wives and daughters, or the female
domestics, have the principal charge of young calves; and they are,
doubtless, much better calculated for this duty than men, since they are
more inclined to be gentle and patient. The utmost gentleness--as has
been already remarked, in another connection--should always be observed
in the treatment of all stock; but especially of milch cows, and calves
designed for the dairy. Persevering kindness and patience, will, almost
invariably, overcome the most obstinate natures; while rough and
ungentle handling will be repaid in a quiet kind of way, perhaps, by
withholding the milk, which will always have a tendency to dry up the
cow; or, what is nearly as bad, by kicking and other modes of revenge,
which often contribute to the per