After the animal has been properly secured,--which is done by an assistant's holding the nose with one hand, and one of the horns with the other,--the operator draws the skin tight over the windpipe with the thumb and fingers of his left hand; then, with the scalpel in his right, cuts through the skin, making an incision about three inches long, dissecting up the skin on each side, which brings the _trachea_, or windpipe, in full view. He then cuts out a piece of the cartilaginous rings, about two inches long and about half an inch wide. This simple operation has saved the lives of very many valuable animals. The wound readily heals, and seldom leaves any perceptible blemish, if the work is properly performed. SPAYING. To secure a more uniform flow and a richer quality of milk, cows are sometimes spayed, or castrated. The milk of spayed cows is pretty uniform in quality; and this quality will be, on an average, a little more than before the operation was performed. In instances where the results of this operation have been carefully noted,--and the operation is rarely resorted to in this country, in comparison with the custom in France and other continental countries,--the quality of the milk has been greatly improved, the yield becoming regular for some years, and varying only in accordance with the difference in the succulence of the food. The proper time for spaying is about five or six weeks after calving, or at the time when the largest quantity of milk is given. There seems to be some advantages in spaying for milk and butter dairies, where attention is not paid to the raising of stock. The cows are more quiet, never being liable to returns of seasons of heat, which always more or less affect the milk, both in quantity and quality. They give milk nearly uniform in these respects, for several years, provided the food is uniformly succulent and nutritious. Their milk is influenced like that of other cows, though to a less extent, by the quality and quantity of food; so that in winter, unless the animal is properly attended to, the yield will decrease somewhat, but will rise again as good feed returns. This uniformity for the milk-dairy is of immense advantage. Besides, the cow, when old and inclined to dry up, takes on fat with greater rapidity, and produces a juicy and tender beef, superior, at the same age, to that of the ox. The following method of performing this operation is sanctioned by the practice of eminent veterinary surgeons in France:--