All other diseases of cattle (and they are numerous) are too serious to be tampered with, and should be referred to a good cattle doctor at once.
Many persons say a great deal of the kinds of cows that are to be preferred; but this I think of very little consequence, as there are good and bad milkers of every breed. Generally speakings small, neat, compact-looking cows, are best suited for a gentleman's demesne, as they look better in the landscape, and do not tread up the ground so much as large heavy cattle. Alderney cows are much admired for the elegance of their forms and the richness of their milk; but they are delicate, and are subject to colds and loss of appetite. The Ayrshire cows are quite as handsome, and both better milkers and much hardier; but they are not often to be met with in England.
Whatever kind you select, a great deal depends upon their management. They are delicate in their appetites, and do not like grass that they have trodden down and breathed upon for many days; and they require rather long grass, because they always wrap the grass round with the tongue before they bite it, instead of nibbling the grass with their lips, and biting close to the ground, as is done by sheep and horses. For these reasons cows require to have their pasture changed every fortnight if practicable; and, when they are removed from a field, a man should be employed to toss their manure about so as to prevent it from lying in patches, as, unless this is done, coarse strong grass, which no cow will eat, will spring up from every place where a patch of cow-dung has lain. If, however, the field be properly treated, the cow may be brought back to it in about a fortnight, or at most in three or four weeks.
Cows are very particular in having clean water, though they do not drink often, as the second stomach serves as a reservoir; and where there is a pond they generally go into it till they come to deep water before they drink; and this habit is good for their feet. There should also be either an open shed, or at least one large tree, in the field, to afford shade for the cows while they are chewing the cud; and they should never be changed suddenly from a very poor pasture to a very rich one, or the reverse.
When cows are first taken up from grass in autumn, they should be fed on cut grass, mixed occasionally with a few carrots; and they should be turned out in the daytime, but not till after nine or ten o'clock in the morning, and taken up before the dew falls at night. By degrees hay should be mingled with their food, and the quantity of this should be gradually increased while that of the grass is diminished; some carrots cut in tolerably thick slices and a few grains being given occasionally, till the cows have become accustomed to their dry food. There are few points in the management of cows of greater difficulty than that of enabling them to bear the transition from grass to dry food without losing their flesh, or the quantity of their milk being diminished. The one is, indeed, generally dependent on the other, as no cow will yield a proper quantity of milk unless she is in good condition; and many cows refuse their food altogether when they are first taken up for the winter, as they none of them like dry food so well as grass. It is on this account that many farmers give their cows turnips when they are first taken up from grass; but all succulent roots and vegetables, except carrots and boiled potatoes, give an unpleasant flavour to the milk; so that they ought never to be used in private families, where, of course, it is of more importance to have the butter good than to have a large quantity of it.
Many persons milk their cows in summer three times a day, and I believe this to be a very good plan, where it is an object to get as much milk as possible, as there is no doubt that frequent milking increases the quantity of milk secreted by the animal. As, however, I have frequently heard that the milk is poorer under this management, in most cases I should think it hardly worth the trouble. It is, however, a very good plan to make the dairy-maid take a little can of warm water with her when she goes to the field, and to make her wash the udders and teats of the cows well with a sponge before she begins to milk. This is not only a cleanly practice, but it is agreeable to the cow, and makes her part with her milk more readily. After the dairy-maid has milked all the cows, she should begin with the first, and milk them all over again, as the milk produced by this second milking, which is called the drippings, is always richer than the rest; and besides, if it is left in the udder, the cow will gradually become dry.
There are many opinions about the length of time that a cow should be suffered to be dry before calving; some farmers advising the cows to be let dry two months, and others milking them till within a fortnight of the time of calving. As far as my own experience goes, the latter plan is the best, as I have observed that, when cows have been dry a long time, they are very subject to inflammation in the udder when they are again milked, instead of the contrary being the case, as is commonly supposed. When a cow is to be let dry, a little milk is left in the udder every time of milking, and in about a week or ten days the secretion of milk will cease.
The first milk after calving is called biestings, and is so very different in quality from the other milk, that it should not be mixed with it. It is of a yellow colour and a glutinous nature, and, though it is used in some places for making puddings and custards without eggs, it ought always to be reserved for the calf, to whose use nature has especially assigned it. When calves are allowed to suck their mothers' milk for the first four or five days after they are calved, they have seldom any thing the matter with them; but, when they are fed with the milk of other cows, they generally require castor oil and other medicines.
Calves, when they are to be reared, are generally fed principally on milk for the first thirteen weeks, after which they are fed partly with hay tea, which the dairy-maids make them suck through their fingers, till they are old enough to eat grass; but the rearing of calves is rather too difficult a task for you to undertake from any directions that I could give you; and, as for the management of those poor calves which are to be fattened and then sold to the butcher, I am sure you would not wish to know any thing about it.
Some people are very partial to goat's milk, as it is remarkably rich and sweet; but goats are rather troublesome creatures. In the first place, the female goats are very capricious, and will not only seldom permit a stranger to milk them, but will often refuse to give down their milk even to those to whom they are accustomed. They are also very troublesome from their being much more partial to branches of trees than grass; and if they can ever contrive to get into a shrubbery, which they will do if possible, they will destroy nearly all the shrubs in an incredibly short space of time. Besides this, some goats are very fond of butting at children or any persons who may appear weak and delicate; and, even though they may not be able to do any serious mischief, they may cause considerable alarm. Many persons are very fond of the flesh of kids, but it is more eaten abroad than in England. When goats are kept, they do best in flocks, and they should have access to shelter, both in winter and summer, extremes of heat and cold being alike prejudicial to them; and the house in which they are kept should have a paved floor, and no litter.