46 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



undertakes to breed or fatten cattle with hope of success, must 

 be well versed in the knowledge of buying and selling, and be 

 able promptly to judge of all points indicating milking qualities, 

 power and disposition for work, and aptitude to make a due 

 proportion of bone, muscle and fat. This requires a quick, dis- 

 cerning eye, and a certain tact with the hand, which cannot be 

 acquired without long practice and experience. After the pos- 

 session of a good stock, cleanliness and regular distribution of 

 food must be strictly attended to. Animals soon acquire a 

 correct knowledge of time, and become uneasy unless precise 

 hours are observed in feeding. They also acquire a knowledge 

 of the usual quantity placed before them. After eating, they 

 will quietly go to rest, but if stinted at any one meal, or if they 

 do not get the usual allowance, they become restless and uneasy, 

 and the repose and quiet arising from the certainty of receiving 

 their food at regular intervals and in due measure, will be lost, 

 and cannot be made up by a larger supply at a subsequent 

 feeding, or at irregular intervals. The hours of feeding and 

 quantity supplied should, therefore, be regular, and when once 

 adopted should be punctually adhered to. 



Fattening cattle in winter upon hay alone, is a resort of many 

 farmers, and where hay is plenty and distant from market, the 

 practice is not inconsistent with economy. If well attended, 

 good animals consuming four per cent, of their live weight of 

 good hay daily, will gain daily two pounds of flesh. Supposing 

 the flesh gained to be worth sixteen cents, it will be equal to 

 eight dollars the ton for the hay. The better practice, however, 

 is to give only three per cent, of the live weight of the animal 

 in hay daily, and an equivalent for the other one per cent, in 

 Indian meal or roots. The gain would be greater for the same 

 cost of food. 



The best age for feeding cattle for beef, is from four to eight 

 years. Young growing cattle may be fattened, but it will 

 require more food in proportion, and longer time. 



When looking for breeding cattle for the dairy, the maxim 

 that like produces like should be observed, and the same indi- 

 cation of health and strength of constitution should be insisted 

 ui)on as when selecting breeding cattle for the stalls. Some of 

 their shapes, however, differ. 



