REARING DAIRY CALVES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1672, 12 February 1913, Page 10

REARING DAIRY CALVES.

is ? " : ; .'Although .there ; 19 room >for. : : tho. best, judgment as: to what is consistent' with' health, all experience' in, tho;rearing",of ariimals as well as human beings goes to show* that growth; and 'assimilative power are dependent'upon.' judicious 'crowding' of food in the early period of life,-«ivy3.' Dr. H. B.Favill, of .^Chicago,writing' in' "Farm nnd;;Daify!;r'on'"the.'questioE of whether .. heavy-'i feeding';>injures dairycalves. :Let':Ushdt,"hß Says,' bo lcd.astray' by the popular dictum . founded ■>; upes l sound observation that it is-well to keep calves hungry, ; , Whatever .'.truth ...there is Jii'i that 1 obseryatiob. is -hut',. a . practical method and; 'hot, a principle. It is .simply. a' way; of ; ;;sati'sfying' ourselves, ', the calf is rand jdoes'not at all' mean. that','tlo.';pljrpbs((';|pi;; which ,wo. aro. woi'king would'-not been better secured if .the' h'hhgryi'ca'lf. had; .been fed more.; It must' consequently '■■ be' regarded 'as,--a' measure. ofrsa'fety^and-Vhdt-iasa,principle of action,;;"-";"-:; ''■■-''•'? •'•*'■;'''. V •■■";.■".:.' /','■ ;' ; ';With' other domestic .animals whose is, attempted .uhdef'differont physical conditions there is no'suggestion that it is desirable to keep' them i hungry.; In draft.; colts, for, example, .whoso.'value,-is related to'sjze, all'experience goes to show that early indispensable."■' Less trouble occurs ' with them, however, because of tho freedom of their lives-as compared with ;the hothouse methods employed with dairy, calves.; •' '.. •■''"''

Doss it Tend'to Best Type!

This question,' however,'.presents' itsslf and is prominent in tho. minds of many breeders. locs the heavy feeding and deyelopinejit. of dairy caly.es have a tendency to. transform .them ffom'cthe dairy "typo' into the. beef type? ■'•:', •; ' .'..- Dr.',' Fayell's ■ opinion' ; : is' that 'no' siibh iconfhot need occur. } Ho adds that ho believes that'where full .feeding of dairy stock has had bad results, if at all,;it is in inco.rrect feeding rather than in excessive : feedin^.t.'Tho. growth ,of. a' ,cnlf.' is ■a : matter of skeleton: and. not -a- matter, of ; flosh. AH people agreb that' tho -dairy, cow-, and particularly the Holstein-Prio-sian cow, should bo brought to its- full size. All breeders kn,oW;that it ,is only to bo brought to its full size by forcing it during its first two years. /The simplo Question is, need anyone, fear to,do it lest, ho impair the milk function? "

Dairy QualityVHareditary.;'; ;< v '..''''..''■■;' "In. conclusion, 7 Dr.' Fiaveil'says: I am strongly' of;:the ,'opinibn .that','the 1 heaviest feeding, consistent .with,health'.'of proper skeleton -forming'/,foods' cannot iriteriero with ;tho dairy: ,type.', ■ I,.believ'e.'thaf the dairy function is not an acoideilt; that it .is an. endowment'.derived.' from. ;the sum °f. $°. ancestors and :that whatever possibilities there, aro in a given animal are to bo fostered,, and -'augmented,.by- strong feeding in. rather than -the reverse,- ■ , '•;• ■', ' .'V," :".:' ~.

So far as scienco .throws any light upon it at all it distinctly favours that view of the matter. ■■• In "our effort 'tb'c'reatb n strong transforming machine'for turning food into milk wo not only must begin this early,.but,wo need not fear that in the .process wo' shall"d-es'tfoy' fh'd '-iriilk' typo by creating another type."lf thoro is nonsuch, fear, -then tho -factor of size :s at the'sumo time; secure, and if, more-' over, it-is-true that assimilative power, skeleton andmilk function.are all dependent upon essentially: tho. ;saino kind .of food, viz., high-protein-food, the problem seems to take;a.definite form.' .; ;, Right here, let moi'call -attention to something which is not always realised. Bones aro not primarily Mime:'of . ■phosphate. _ They are primarily tissue, more like gristle, a high protein Substance, and must have abundance of-prbteid! material ,to form them. Lime and other salts are .put into them ultimately, for, the purpose of stiffening, but the growth of the skeleton is a proteid growth. This we aro liable to forget. '..■-.■■■-.. .