AGRICULTURAL ZOOLOGY. 365 



Blanketing Cows. 



A correspondent of the Rural Intelligencer, who has been travelling through Holland, 

 says that "great care is there taken of their cows, both in winter and in summer. In a 

 lowery, wet day, you will see the cows in the field covered with blankets ; aye, even more 

 commonly than a horse is blanketed here in the winter. This care is well repaid by a greater 

 flow of milk and a less consumption of forage." 



Hereditary Diseases of Cattle. 



Mr. Finlat Dun, in a recent prize essay on this subject, in the Journal of the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society of England, mentions as the most important hereditary diseases of cattle — 

 diarrhoea, rheumatism, scrofula, consumption, dysentery, malignant tumors, and the affec- 

 tions depending on the plethoric state of the body. The characters which cattle should pos- 

 sess in order to perpetuate in their offspring a healthy and vigorous constitution, he gives — 

 among others the following : — 



"The head small; muzzle fine and tapering; nostrils large and open; the eyes full and 

 lustrous ; ears small, and not too thick ; the head well set on the neck ; the distance between 

 the ears and the angle of the jaw short, but the width behind the ears considerable, (no dairy 

 cow should have a short, thick neck ;) the chest wide and deep ; the girth, taken immediately 

 behind the shoulder, should closely correspond with the length from behind the ears to the 

 rise of the tail ; the carcass of a barrel shape, for a thin, flat-ribbed animal eats largely, 

 thrives badly, and is usually liable to diarrhoea ; there should be little space between the 

 prominence of the hip and the last rib ; the quarter large ; the measurement from the promi- 

 nence of the haunch backwards to the rise of the tail, and downwards to the hock, as great as 

 possible ; the lower part of the haunch thick and broad ; the hide thick and pliant ; small- 

 ness of bone is a sure indication of early maturity and aptitude for fattening. These, among 

 other characters and qualities enumerated by Mr. Dun, indicate the possession of a vigorous 

 and healthy constitution and freedom from all inherent disease." 



New Food for Sheep. 



A foreign correspondent of the Agricultural Gazette furnishes the following information 

 respecting the use of the horse-chestnut as a suitable food for sheep. He says : While I was 

 at Geneva, I observed every one collecting carefully the fruit of the horse-chestnut, and on 

 inquiry I learnt that the butchers and holders of grazing-stock bought it readily at a certain 

 price per bushel. I inquired of my butcher, and he told me it was given to those sheep in 

 particular that were fattening. The horse-chestnuts were well crushed — something in the 

 way, so I understood, that apples are previous to cider being made. They are crushed or 

 cut up in a machine kept solely in Switzerland for that purpose ; then about two pounds' 

 weight is given to each sheep, morning and evening. It must be portioned out to sheep, as 

 too much would disagree with them, being of a very heating nature. The butcher told me 

 that it gave an excellent, rich flavor to the meat. The Geneva mutton is noted for being as 

 highly flavored as any in England or Wales. 



Corn and Cob Meal. 



The grinding of corn and cobs together, which we have heard ridiculed very much by 

 some formerly, has now become an everyday occurrence, farmers being convinced that the 

 cob contains too much nutriment to be thrown away. 



Our experience heretofore in regard to its use is this : For those animals that chew the 

 cud it is a most excellent provender ; but for those that do not, it is not so valuable. Thus, 

 for oxen, cows, and sheep, it is a capital feed. These animals, after what they swallow in 

 the warm vat, called the first stomach or paunch, have the faculty of throwing it up again in 

 small portions called cud, and chewing it over in a leisurely manner until it is ground very 

 fine ; and then after being thus thoroughly mingled with the saliva, swallowing it again into 



