and allowed a limited time to suckle the mother
three times a-day. It must not be allowed a full allowance for the
first fourteen days after birth. A confidential servant must remove the
muzzle, stand beside the calf until it has taken a safe allowance, and
then return the muzzle. When the calf has got the cud, which will be
observed about fourteen days after its birth, it will then be safe to
remove the muzzle. I muzzle all my calves, to prevent them from eating
straw, hair, &c, which they cannot digest, and which accumulate in the
stomach and prove the death of the animal. Many thousand calves are
lost in this way, the owner never suspecting the cause. If the calf is
opened up after death, there will be found in the stomach a large,
firm, round ball composed of straw, hair, and other substances, with
knots of curdled milk conjoined. After the calf has got the cud, and is
fourteen days old, it may be allowed to suck at pleasure. It must be
seen, however, that the calf has ability to clean out the udder of the
cow; if part of the milk is retained, the cow must be milked by the
hand.

Plenty of good milk is the proper foundation to make a good animal; if
stinted when a calf, a year's growth is lost. Selling a great deal of
butter and rearing a good bullock are incompatible. Many good calves
are milked from the pail, and they thrive better after they are weaned;
but it will generally be found that the sure way to make first-class
calves is to allow them to suckle. There will be many drawbacks at the
expense of the calf if it is brought up from the pail; drafts will be
required by the housekeeper for milk, butter, and cheese for the
family, which cannot be made if the calf is suckled by the mother in
the field. The plan adopted by some of giving skimmed milk to the calf
cannot be too much reprobated; and to give old milk to a new-dropt calf
is perfectly preposterous: it is unnatural, and will probably prove the
death of the calf.

The calf should be allowed to suckle or be fed from the pail for six or
eight months. It has then strength to stand weaning, and, if properly
cared for, will not be checked in its growth, and it will retain the
good calf-flesh it has put on. The loss of the calf-flesh cannot be
remedied, and great care should be taken to avoid this. If the
calf-flesh is lost the animal will be reduced in value, and can never
be made to yield first-class meat. Great care, therefore, must be taken
by the breeder