164. 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



STALL FEEDING OF CATTLE 



The recent discussions in the Farmers' Club House in 

 London on the subject of farm buildings, and more es- 

 pecially of tlie parts tluit are destined to accommodate 

 llie fattening of cattle, h iving terminated in no special 

 adoption or recommendation on that point, I am induced 

 to make a few observations on the subject, as it is a part 

 of arrangement of a very chief importance in the de- 

 signing ot improved farmeries. I have ever been of opi- 

 nion that open yards with shelter sheds form the best 

 accommodation for fatting animals, and I perceive tiiat 

 Mr. Baker, of Writtle, is of the same opinion, after all 

 that has been spoken and written on the subject I am 

 pleased with Mr. Baker's judgment, as his authority 

 weighs heavily on all points of enli'j;htened agriculture. 

 It is impossible to see what advantage an animal con- 

 fined in a box or single stall can enjoy over two, three, 

 or four together in an open yard provided with a shelter 

 shfd, racks for straw, and cribs for roots. I remember 

 having seen, nearly thirty years ago, a feeding shed with 

 single boxes, on the farm of Wark, near Coldstream, on 

 the English side of the Tweed, which was designed and 

 used by the celebrated CuUeys, who for a long time 

 tloui'ished on that farm. The turnips were given to the 

 animal through a spout-hole in the front wall, and the 

 space barely allowed the beast to turn round, who could 

 enjoy no exercise. The position was dull, cold, and un- 

 comfortable, and the plan never advanced into use, and 

 was not approved even on the farm where it was seen. 



Two of the largest-sized animals of any breed are 

 most beneficially provided in an open yard svith a shel- 

 ter shed, and three or four of the medium-sized will do 

 equally well in that accommodation. The aspect of the 

 yards must front the southern hemisphere, and be shone 

 upon by the sun during some hours of the day. When 

 filled with meat, the beasts lie down and bask in the yard 

 in fine w. ather ; and during rains and storms, retire into 

 the shed, and repose undisturbed and under shelter. In 

 wet and stormy countries, it will be advantageous that 

 the animals eat under cover of the shed, and for this 

 purpose it is contrived that a railway runs along the wall 

 of the sheds, and discharges the turnips through spout- 

 holes in the wall into the ciibs placed in the shed ; but 

 in most cases the roots are placed in cribs with latticed 

 boltoms, and the straw in an open rack. 



Two, three, or four beasts of any size arc most con- 

 veniently fattened in this way ; but with Scotch cattle a 

 different arrangement is required. The larger breeds 

 may be treated as English cattle : but the small beasts, 

 called Kyloe or the West Highland cattle, of which there 

 are several varieties, are so very restless in temper and 

 pugnacious in disposition, that the tying system in stalls 

 becomes eligible, and even imperatively necessary. These 

 animals require to be wintered for two years — the first, 

 they may run in an open yard and shed in six, eight, or 

 ten together, and bs half fattened on untopped turnips 

 and straws in racks ; the second, the beasts arc tied to 

 stalls in double trevisi s, and are fully fed with topped 

 turnips, beginning in November, and will be finished in 

 March and April. The very small Highland cattle may 

 be fattened in yards, but the Argyle and Dunrobie 

 breeds require to be tied in stalls. And with this view 

 every feeding farm should be provided with a fattening 

 shed along with the open yards for the purpose. 



A yard, including the shed, of 60, 70, or 80 feet long 

 and 30 wide, will accommodate 2, 3, or 4 beasts, as it 



may be built. The shed is 20 feet wide, and Iws a 

 square front ope;iing of 12 feet. The bottom slopes 

 outwards, in order to provide a dry bed, by discharging all 

 moisture to the yard; the roof is filled with loose straw 

 from the level of the walls to the top ridge, supported 

 by beams apart at the necessary distances. This filling 

 prevents th.e cold of the otherwise empty space ; and the 

 openings of the loose straw allows the passage of air, 

 without the close confinement of a ceiled roof. The 

 bottom of the yards slopes to the gateway in the interior 

 of the farmery, to which the urine falls, and escapes in 

 an open gutter to the south front of the farmery, where, 

 being received by an iron grate into a covered drain, it 

 is conveyed to a tank, and absorbed by earths, or pre- 

 pared as liquid manure. lUit the strawy liiter of the 

 yards will in most cases absorb all the urinary Iceces ; 

 and, afttr all that has been said and written on the sub- 

 ject of liquid manure, the best use of it is in that way. 

 I have for many years advocated the cutting into short 

 lengths of all straws used for litter; that the yards be 

 thinly and frequently strewn with the cut straw ; and 

 that mixed excrements be all lifted and carried in a 

 fresh condition to the prepared land for turnips, be 

 covered in broadcast by one ploughir.g, and subse- 

 quently mixed with the soil by the workings of Finlay- 

 son's harrow lengthwise and crosswise. Fresh dung is 

 superior in elTect to the mixen of fermented heaps : the 

 specific caloric, or animal heat, of freshly voided faeces 

 is much more efficacious than the production of artificial 

 fermentation. Whatever the cause may be, the fact is 

 certain. 



The proposed design of roofing over the entire 

 farmery, like the terminus of a railway, may not be 

 eligible for the purposes of agiiculture. The exclusion 

 of the rays of the sun will render the whole area cold 

 andungenial; and it seems necessary that the warmth 

 of that luminary be applied to all objects of organized 

 life. An open yard, for necessary heat and occasional 

 exercise, with a shed, to which to retire for shelter from 

 rains and storms, appears to be the best arrangement 

 that has yet occurred. 



The very superior quality of the turnips and the 

 straws over Scotland and the North of England fattens 

 into prime beef the cattle of these countries, and no 

 variety of food is ever proposed. In South Britain 

 other kinds of food are used, which require boxes to 

 be placed in the yards or sheds, from which the beasts 

 can eat the meat. The shed may afford a cover for that 

 purpose. 



The piggery and poultry yards are best in being 

 vvholly disjoined from the farmery, and placed on some 

 side of it, or in the south front, as the walls arc low, 

 and tiie buildings will not exclude the sun from the 

 yards th.'jt arc behind. An excellent yard for store pigs 

 may adjoin the stable, where the strawy litter, with hot 

 fceees of the horse, affords a most agreeable bed to the 

 swine ; and a valuable manure u compounded with the 

 cold and saponaceous excrements of the pig with the 

 dry and hot fseces of the horse. The winter food may 

 be roots and raw potatoes ; and during summer, clovers 

 and vetches. The animals will be in good readiness to 

 be transferred to the feeding-sties of the piggery, 

 wheiein, two together, the fattening process is finished 

 for bacon. J. D. 



