Henry Ernest Dudeney/Modern Puzzles/92 - A Cow's Progeny

Modern Puzzles by Henry Ernest Dudeney: $92$

A Cow's Progeny

"Supposing," said my friend Farmer Hodge, "that cow of mine to have a she-calf at the age of two years,

and supposing she goes on having the like every year,

and supposing every one of her young to have a she-calf at the age of two years,

and afterwards every year likewise, and so on.

Now, how many do you suppose would spring from that cow and all her descendants in the space of twenty-five years?"

I understood from Hodge that we are to count from the birth of the original cow,

and it is obvious that the family can produce no feminine beef of veal during the period stated.

Sources

• 1926: Henry Ernest Dudeney: Modern Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): Arithmetical and Algebraical Problems: Various Arithmetical and Algebraical Problems: $92$. -- A Cow's Progeny
• 1968: Henry Ernest Dudeney: 536 Puzzles & Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Arithmetical and Algebraical Problems: Miscellaneous Puzzles: $175$. A Cow's Progeny