Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/420

Rh 390 AGRICULTURE [LIVE STOCK much for their interest to aid their tenantry in at once procuring really good bulls. Cattle shows and prizes are useful in their way as a means of improving the cattle of a district, but the introduction of an adequate number of bulls from herds already highly improved is the way to accomplish the desired end cheaply, certainly, and speedily. We must here protest against a practice by which short horn bulls are very often prematurely unfitted for breeding. Their tendency to obesity is so remarkable that unless they are kept on short commons they become unwieldy and unserviceable by their third or fourth year. Instead, how ever, of counteracting this tendency, the best animals are usually &quot; made up,&quot; as it is called, for exhibition at cattle shows or for ostentatious display to visitors at home, and the consequence is, that they are ruined for breeding pur poses. We rejoice to see that the directors of our national agricultural societies are resolutely setting their faces against this pernicious practice. It is needful certainly that all young animals, although intended for breeding stock, should be well fed, for without this they cannot attain to their full size and development of form. But when this is secured, care should be taken, in the case of all breeding animals, never to exceed that degree of flesh which is indispensable to perfect health and vigour. The frequent occurrence of abortion or barrenness in high- pedigreed herds seems chiefly attributable to overfeeding. The farmer who engages in cattle-breeding with the view of turning out a profitable lot of fat beasts annually, will take pains first of all to provide a useful lot of cows, such as will produce good calves, and if well fed while giving milk will yield enough of it to keep two or three calves a-piece. That he may be able to obtain a sufficient supply of good calves he will keep a really good bull, and allow the cottagers residing on the farm or in its neighbourhood to send their cows to him free of charge, stipulating only that when they have a calf for sale he shall have the first offer of it. Cows are an expensive stock to keep, and it is therefore of importance to turn their milk to the best account. It is poor economy, however, to attempt to rear a greater number of calves than can be done justice to. Seeing that they are to be reared for the production of beef, the only pro fitable course is to feed them well from birth to maturity. During the first weeks of calf-hood the only suitable diet is unadultered milk, warm from the cow, given three times a-day, and not less than two quarts of it at each meal. By three weeks old they may be taught to eat good hay, linseed cake, and sliced swedes. As the latter items of diet are relished and freely eaten, the allowance of milk is gradually diminished until about the twelfth week, when it may be finally withdrawn. The linseed cake is then given more freely, and water put within their reach. For the first six weeks calves should be kept each in a separate crib ; but after this they are the better of having room to frisk about. Their quarters, however, should be well sheltered, as a comfortable degree of warmth greatly promotes their growth. During their first summer they do best to be soiled on vetches, clover, or Italian ryegrass, with from 1 Ib to 2 tt&amp;gt; of cake to each calf daily. When the green forage fails, white or yellow turnips are substi tuted for it. A full allowance of these, with abundance of oat straw, and not less than 2 Ib of cake daily, is the appropriate fare for them during their first winter. Swedes will be substituted for turnips during the months of spring, and these again will give place in due time to green forage or the best pasturage. The daily ration of cake should never be withdrawn. It greatly promotes growth, fattening, and general good health, and in particular is a specific against the disease called blackleg, which often proves so fatal to young cattle. Young cattle that have been skil fully managed upon the system which we have now sketched, are at 18 months old already of great size, with open horns, mellow hide, and all those other features which indicate to the experienced grazier that they will grow and fatten rapidly. This style of management is not only the best for those who fatten as well as rear, but is also the most profitable for those who rear only. We have already stated that in Scotland comparatively few cattle are fattened on pasturage. An increasing number of fat beasts are now prepared for market during the summer months by soiling on green forage ; but it is by means of the turnip crop, and during the winter months, that this branch of husbandry is all but exclusively con ducted in the northern half of Great Britain. But a few years ago the fattening of cattle on Tweedside and in the Lothians was conducted almost exclusively in open courts, with sheds on one or more sides, in which from two to twenty animals were confined together, and fed on turnips and straw alone. Important changes have now been in troduced, both as regards housing and feeding, by means of which a great saving of food has been effected. Under the former practice the cattle received as many turnips as they could eat, which, for an average-sized two-year-old bullock, was not less than 220 Ib daily. The consequence of this enormous consumption of watery food was, that for the first month or two after being thus fed the animals were kept in a state of habitual diarrhoea. Dry fodder was, indeed, always placed within their reach ; but as long as they had the opportunity of taking their fill of turnips, the dry straw was all but neglected. By stinting them to about 100 Ib of turnips daily, they can be compelled to eat a large quantity of straw, and on this diet they thrive faster than on turnips at will. A better plan, however, is to render the fodder so palatable as to induce them to eat it of choice. This can be done by grating down the tur nips by one or other of the pulping-machines now getting into common use, and then mixing the grated turnip with an equal quantity, by measure, of cut straw. Some persons allow the food after being thus mixed to lie in a heap for two days, so that fermentation may ensue before it is given to the cattle. There is, however, a preponderance of evidence in favour of using it fresh. To this mess can conveniently be added an allowance of ground cake, whether of linseed, rape, or cotton seed, and of meal of any kind of grain which the farmer finds it most economical at the time to use. The ground cake and meal are, in this case, to be thoroughly mixed with the pulped turnip and cut straw. The same end can be accomplished by giving a moderate feed (say 50 tt&amp;gt;) of sliced roots twice a-day, and four hours after each of these meals, another, consisting of cut straw, cake, and meal. In this case the chaff and farinaceous ingredients should be mixed and cooked by steam in a close vessel; or the meal can be boiled in an open kettle, with water enough to make it of the consistency of gruel, and then poured over the chaff, mixed thoroughly with it, and allowed to lie in a heap for two or three hours before it is served out to the cattle. From 2 to 4 Ib of meal, &c., a-head per diem is enough to begin with. But as the fattening process goes on it is gradually increased, and may rise to 7 or 8 ft) during the last month before sending to market. It is advisable to mix with the cooked mess about 2 ounces of salt per diem for each bullock. An important recommendation to this mode of preparing cattle food is, that it enables the farmer to use rape- cake freely ; for when this article is reduced to a coarse powder, and heated to the boiling point, it not only loses its acrid qualities, but acquires a smell and flavour which induce cattle to eat it greedily. Moreover, if the rape-seeds should have been adulterated with those of wild mustard before going to the crushing-mill (as not unfrequently happens),