166 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



was no t room for it, even if the place Iwid been clear of visi- 

 tors. But, with such a crowd as attended on the two days 

 I was there, it was impossible to examine any one uoachine 

 80 as to form any competent judgment of its efficiency ; 

 and I gave up tlie task in perfect despair, and could 

 only walk through the rooms and admire the perfection 

 of the workmanship of the several machines, and guess 

 at their adaptation to the work for which they are de- 

 signed. This is the only fault attached to the Show, 

 but it is a great and growing one; for every year adds 

 to the number of the specimens exhibited, whilst the 

 bulkiness of many of them requires a much larger space 

 to display their capabilities. 



Whether the present site of the Exhibition is the best 

 adapted to the purpose that can be obtained, is a ques- 



tion I do not feel competent to decide; but there is a 

 plot of ground in the centre of the metropolis which 

 might be devoted to that purpose, if it is attainable. I 

 refer to Old Smithfield, where an ample building might 

 be erected suitable to the Show, and applicable to other 

 uses during the rest of the year. I understand that a por- 

 tion of the ground is to be appropriated to a dead meat 

 market, but there would still be abundance of room for 

 a Smithfield Club " Crystal Palace." Such a 

 building would reflect honour upon the Club, and I 

 think might be managed so as to yield an ample return 

 for the capital expended. 



Yours truly, 

 An Old Norfolk Farmer. 

 London, Dec. 15, 1857. 



FEEDING OF CATTLE. 



I felt happy in aeeiug the question mooted in your paper of 

 the 9th iustant, " W hat shall we do with our sprouted wheat ?" 

 It is one which I aoi very certain has been too much neglected 

 since the disastroua harvest of 1856, when so much of that 

 valuable cereal was readered unfit for the \isual appliance to 

 human food. Having used graiua, especially cats and barley, 

 for several years in the fiuiahing-olF my fattening cattle, gene- 

 rally usin;;; this artificial food three mouths before selling, and 

 always found its use profitable; even when cattlt' were as low 

 aa 83. a Dutch stone, I considered it a profit to use these 

 grains, when oats were under 203 , and barley 24s. per quarter, 

 for the respective standard weights of 40 lbs. and 53 lbs. per 

 bushel. I have often remonstrated with my ap;ricultural 

 frieuda on the folly of using oilcake at £il and £12 per ton, 

 when grain was at these rates, especially when in most seasons 

 from late districts they can both be purchased at !i;;ht weights, 

 say 3G lbs. and 48 lbs., thus re fucing the price. While I draw 

 attention to these inferior qualities, I may state that I never 

 foinid it a loss to use the very best quality of both, as wlien f;ood 

 I got it cut with mill stores, without drying, and thus lost no 

 weight. Having; a corn mill of my own, I doubtless possess a 

 facility for stuffs to mix the cut grains with, which others, 

 differently situated, may not so easily obtain ; but this is very 

 secondary, as I conceive cut straw, chaff, and husks of oats 

 got from a rorii mill quite suitable : better than either, bran 

 would suit the practice admirably. My own practice has been 

 to give either meal seeds, which sell at 5d. a stone, or coru 

 dust, which can be had at 4d. a stone. The meal seeds, beiujf 

 sweeter, is taken with more avidity ; but when once cattle 

 commence with them, I find no difficulty in getting; them to 

 take dust when given instead. Just now, my mdch cows are 

 all getting cut wheat, with dust, while the fattening cattle are 

 upou the seeds. The immense importance of such a feed over 

 oilcake is, that you save so many turnips. When feeding off 

 cattle iu the early spring; months, I have given as few as onc- 

 fonrth the quantity of turuips an ox would eat, when not sup- 

 plemented ; in such a case, giving water once a day, I may 

 briefly state my own mode of treating the cattle. When they 

 are put up iu October they get for two weeks turuips alone, 

 fid thrice a day ; after such time I give one feed of cut grain, 

 either oats, barley, wheat, or rye. I have frequently used Irish 

 meal, when it could be bought not over SOs. a load. The 

 quantity of cut grain allowed at first, 3 lbs. a feed, mixed with 

 nearly a stable pailful of meal-seeds or corn-dust. The cost of 

 such feed at preaent, taking wheat, rye, or barley at 30s., 

 will not exceed 4^d., and, I may mentiou that cattle thus fed 

 will do as much iu three weeks as in a mouth if ou turnips 

 alone. I always give it dry ; at first it was mfde ifito brose, 

 but I find the cattle take it more readdy dry, and it seems to 

 do equally well, if not better, with them : let it be under- 

 Etocd, this food serves wholly for the usual supply of turnips 

 at this time of feeding. When scarce of turnips I give the 

 grain feed twice, and turnips once, thus saving two-thirds 

 turnips ; and if having sufficient straw for littering and eating, 

 I can feed three cattle for one ; and I am very certain that 

 when I raise the grain-feed to 3^ lbs., and give twice a day. 



and once turnips, I can fatten twice as fast as on turnips alone. 

 My Btails for the food are flag stones, so no trough is required 

 to give the food in ; the cattle-man just sweeps it clean with a 

 wisp of straw, and when thus occupied, never have you seen 

 horses more restive for their oats when hearing the corn-chest 

 opened, than the cattle for this their dainty food. I have all 

 my milch cows just now in a flow of milk on the same rations. 

 In their case I give the corn dust instead of the meal-seeds ; it 

 is cheaper and more plentiful. I consider if a cow is giving 

 8 quarts, it is profitable to feed her thus, either once or twice 

 ou grain, as you may deem fit. You will secure 11 or 12 

 quarts instead, have the butter sweet and free of turnip taste, 

 and, on a cold frosty moruinjf, have the satisfaction in seeing 

 your cows eating with comfort, instead of trembling over 

 a mass of frosty turnips. When cows are becoming dry, or 

 when the flow of mdk gets below the said minimum quantity, 

 it is the better way not to force, unless the cow be not iucalf; 

 iu that case feed on as high as you please, for cows milk to the 

 last and lay on very fine beef too. Your correspondent " S." 

 refers to analyses of cereal grains iu Professor Johnston's 

 Elements of Agricultural Chemistry. I had ray attention 

 drawn to the very pages he notices from seiing the sprouted 

 wheat selling at so low a price, as well as good rye; the rye 

 is not priced by your correspondent, but it will be fouud to 

 possess feeding properties in its analysis just about equal to 

 wheat. Since seeing this, I have been using iu the very same 

 way rye and sprouted wheat iu equal parts, iu the exact mode 

 as I have detailed. For two months my cattle feeding; and 

 milk cows have been thus treated, and my cattie-man says it 

 is suiting better than the oats or barley, and the dairymaid has 

 no complaints of a lessened supply of milk. Now, at the 

 ruinously low rates of wheat (some of last year's crop I bought 

 as low as 24s., it weighing only 53 lbs., and rye at present 

 is only 223. to 233. per 531bs. weight), I maintain it is 

 madness to sell a bushel, and use turnips even at the 

 moderate rate of 6s. a ton. In my experiments I have never 

 taken into accmnt the increased value of manure, wh:ch is 

 very sreat when the byres are cleaned out from cattle so fed ; 

 the discharge of urine i< found less by one-half, and the 

 pungency of the atmosphere clearly proves the ?reat increase 

 of aaimonia. Apart from this profit I am certain that if beef 

 does not fall below 6d. a pound to the farmer, iu selling his 

 fat cattle, it is his profit to use oats, if not above 20s. per 

 qr., at per bush, of 40 lbs., barley 263. 53 lbs., wheat 363. 

 62 lbs., rye 28s. 56 lbs., rather than give full turnips at 

 63. per ton, and I question if many turnips this season are 

 being consumed at so low a figure. Last season, when wheat 

 was very wet, I had it kiln-dried before Leingcut; as unless so, 

 it would have got musty, unless cut very frequently. 1 may 

 mention a caution very much needed, however, iu feeding with 

 oats or oatmeal ; the oats possess an alka'ine character different 

 from the other grains, and the cattle fed on them are very 

 liable to get hoven, so much so, that I could never leave them 

 for two hours after being fed with turnips, the first feed sub- 

 sequent to the grain feed When feeding with the oats, I had 

 almost daily to use turpentine to suppress hoveu, which is 9 



