•302 ON THE ECONOMICAL USE OF TURNirS 



daily, whatever be tlie quantity of bulbs on which they are being 



fed. This is a point, the importance of which has not been 



sufficiently realised by cattle-feeders in the past, though it must 



be added as a gratifying circumstance, that of late years farmers 



have been gradually becoming more alive to the advantage of 



attending to it. Accordingly, it is getting far from uncommon, 



where circumstances are favourable, to introduce water by 



.gravitation into cattle-courts, boxes, and even stalls, so that 



the animals may quench their thirst when they feel inclined 



to do so. Many of the correspondents who have favoured us 



with communications on the subject of this paper dwell with 



•emphasis upon the importance of all w^inter-fed cattle having 



access to water. It is well known that some men drink more 



water than others who are living otherwise on precisely the same 



diet. Is there any reason to doubt the existence of a similar 



-diversity among the lower animals in regard to the inclination 



for and the need of moisture in some form ? Besides, just as 



human beings, owing to a change in the state of their bodies, feel 



a greater need of a drink to cool their heated system at one time 



than another, so live-stock undergo similar changes in their 



state of body and general health which create in them a varying 



desire to quench their thirst. They will sometimes partake of 



water and at other times not, but they should always have the 



•offer of it, if not constantly, at least at frequent intervals, and at 



the longest daily. It may be put within their power with 



perfect confidence, for their unerring instinct will prevent them 



from taking more than is good for them. 



We make no apology for dwelling at such length on the 

 watery nature of turnips, and their unsuitability on that account 

 for being the sole or the principal food for stock, because we 

 are persuaded that their use in excessive quantities has in many 

 cases arisen from an imperfect realisation of their composition. 

 There is an argumcntum. ad hominem, we have heard used with 

 good effect, which may be briefly quoted before passing from 

 this part of the subject. Swedes we have seen to be composed 

 of water and solid matter in the proportion of nine parts of the 

 former to one of the latter. What would a sheep-feeder, who is 

 in the habit of giving his flock nothing for months except turnips, 

 think of the following recipe for mixing his grog ? — " Take a 

 quart bottle, and in it mix one glass of good whisky with nine 

 glasses of cold spring water; partake ad libitum, especially when 

 the temperature is below the freezing point, and refill the bottle 

 as often as required." It would be safe to predict a very limited 

 consumption of such a mixture. But that is just the proportion 

 in which the food of his sheep is mixed, and we w^ould ask, in 

 all seriousness, is there any good and sufficient reason w^hy the 

 one should be differently treated from the other in this respect ? 



