THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



19 



five can be kept in the place of four), but brings them 

 to an earlier maturity, givet them that softness and 

 silkiness of skin so much admired by butchers, and 

 makes their manure fully half as valuable again. 



Light and Hard Stocldng. — If pastures are stocked 

 too lightly, enough profit is not made : if over-stocked, 

 both cattle and land suffer ; indeed on some soils by over- 

 stocking before midsummer there is danger (if the 

 season be hot) of losing the whole of the summer grass. 

 In this, as in other things, the wisest plan is to take a 

 middle course, shunning the extreme on either hand. 

 Judicious management will prevent the waste of any 

 grass by making store stock, sheep, <Sic., follow the 

 fatting beasts, for whom, of course, the best pastures are 

 reserved. If the latter are in good condition, when first 

 turned to grass in the spring, six or eight weeks' grazing 

 will, perhaps, render them fit for the butcher. The land 

 they were on may either be kept for a reserve for other 

 stock ; or else directly the fatting beasts are removed, it 

 may be crowded with stock to eat the field close as soon 

 as possible, then laid in for a few weeks to freshen, after 

 which a second lot may be fattened. 



Quick Land. — Sometimes grass grows so rapidly 

 that it is found necessary to put as much stock on the 

 land as it can well carry; this is often the case on what 

 they call the " quick land" in Romney Marsh, Kent, 

 where they depend mostly on sheep. It is there cus- 

 tomary, when the grass shows symptoms of running 

 away, to buy or hire a sufficient quantity of stock to 

 keep it down ; but we must notice that this extra stock 

 must be removed as the summer declines, to keep the 

 pastures in good order. 



Winter. — As November approaches, the grass begins 

 to lose its nutritive quality. If the season is wet and 

 cold, a little good hay given to fatting bullocks in the 

 morning will do much good in preventing scouring, &c. 

 Soon after the month comes in, according to the season, 

 they should, if not fat, be taken into the stall, and 

 finished with corn or cake. The lean stock are now 

 put into the straw-yard, and the pastures cleared of all 

 but their winter stock (often the breeding ewes) ; other 

 sheep are usually by this time on turnips or coleseed. 

 About the middle of January the pastures intended for 

 early stocking should be cleared, but meadows need not 

 be " laid in" until May. 



Size of Enclosures. — With regard to the size of en- 

 closures, it is well known that stock do better in small 

 fields than in large. Mr. Nichollssays(" The Farmer,") 

 " The English graziers have found that five enclosures 

 of ten acres each will feed as many cattle as sixty acres 

 within one fence." 



Water. — A supply of pure water is necessary to the 

 well-doing of stock. When bullocks drink from a pond 

 it should be hurdled round, to prevent them spoiling the 

 water with their feet and dung ; a tub may then be 

 placed outside the hurdles, which can easily be filled 

 from the pond, or else two posts and a rail may be 

 placed so that the cattle can get their heads to the water 

 without being able to stir up the mud. 



Shade. — Shade too is very beneficial, particularly to 

 cattle, who should never be without it where obtainable. 



Posts. — Where there are no trees, rubbing-posts 

 should bo set up in the fields, to prevent the use, or 

 rather abuse, of gates and fences. The Rev. Sidney 

 Smith, of fticetious memory, used to pride himself on 

 what he called " a universal rubbing-post" of his own 

 invention, equally suitable to beasts, horses, and sheep. 



Droppings. — The droppings of cattle should be care- 

 fully knocked about from time to time; the neglect of 

 this makes the grass to grow coarse »yid in tufts. I have 

 heard of people who cause them to be collected every 

 day from their pastures, which necessarily therefore re- 

 quire a periodical dressing of manure. I should not 

 think the increased produce would pay the expenses of 

 collection and distribution. Once pvery year, at least, 

 the pastures should be closely fed <>S, This gives the 

 finer grasses an opportunity of coniag up, and makes 

 the whole herbage sweeter. A goad time for this is 

 after the heat of summer. Brushing the pastures with a 

 scythe is done to answer the same purpose, and the cat- 

 tle will soon pick up what is thus cut. The same 

 reason — that of getting rid of the old grass to make 

 room for the new — causes the squatter of the American 

 continent to fire the prairies. 



Moles and Ants. — Some of our wise ancestors used to 

 encourage moles and ants in their pastures, under the 

 delusive idea of getting more land for their money. 

 This, with its kindred notion of cutting crooked chan- 

 nels for water, has now gone out of fashion, and we 

 slaughter the little " gentleman in black" whenever we 

 find him, in spite of his instructive lesson to Mr. 

 Hoskyns. Ant-hills should never be allowed. If they 

 cannot be kept down by rolling every year, the operation 

 called gelding should be performed, thus described by 

 Loudon {Encyclopmdia of Agriculture') -. " With a turf- 

 ing iron make two cuts across the hill at right angles to 

 each other ; then turn back the four quarters thus ob- 

 tained from off the hill, leaving it bare. Next cut and 

 throw to a distance the interior earth of the hill, with all 

 the ants, their eggs, and winter's store of provision. 

 Now return the quarters of turf to their places, treading 

 them down to form a basin to hold the winter's rain, 

 which will prevent a new settlement of ants, and 

 they being thrown to the surface will perish by the 

 frost." 



Weeds. — Weeding should be constantly attended to ; 

 docks and suckers from trees or hedges pulled wherever 

 seen ; thistles should be spudded below the crown, or 

 pulled with tongs if the ground is moist enough. Far- 

 mers are generally too careless in allowing weeds to 

 flower in their hedge-rows. Thistles are biennials, but 

 they flower and seed very quickly, and the wind dis- 

 perses the seeds a long distance from the parent weed. 

 Hedges should be weeded as carefully as the fields they 

 surround. Moss is sometimes very troublesome on old 

 pastures. There is nothing better than to harrow well, 

 and administer a good dose of lime and salt. Rushes 

 ought not to be permitted ; they generally show the 

 want of draining. When that necessary work is done, 

 mow the rushes, and apply 50 or 60 bushels of wood 

 ashes per acre, if obtainable. 



Breaking up Pastures. — The practice of breaking up 



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