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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, 



aud present a large attetching iidt of fertile and productive 

 land. Heavy crops tf corn are grown upon them, frequently 

 more bulky iu stiaw thau richly laden v?ith grsin. Mangolds 

 grow well upon these soils, and heavy crop^ may be produced. 

 Eye-grass appears better suited than clover to fen lands gene- 

 rally, and bulk rather than quality is afforded. But although 

 the land produces plenty, yet the quality of all is inferior. 

 Even the grain is commonly of a low quality, except in very 

 peculiar and favourable seasons. The straw, as also the rye- 

 grass and clover hay, are generally coarse, and contain no really 

 feeding properties. Mangolds too, which grow so freely, and 

 afford such an abundance of keeping, possess but a small per- 

 centage of nutrimeni, but contain too much water, and too 

 little saccharine matter. Straw, seed-land hay, and mangoldf, 

 then, are the three varieties of food, which, on the farms to 

 which we are referring', are produced, and have to be consumed 

 ia the fold-yard during the winter months. And none of 

 these, either separately or combine'1, will fatten an animal. 

 They may slightly improve his condition, but will never make 

 him fat, if kept upon them to the end of time. Artificial food 

 must be very freely given, if an animal is to be made fat and 

 fit for the butcher on a Fen farm of average quality. Stall- 

 feeding is, therefore, too expensive a practice to receive very 

 general adoption. The mote common custom is to buy lean 

 cattle iu the autumn, giving them the produce of the farm, 

 with a small quantity of cake or corn, during the Winter, and 

 selling them in somewhat improved condition in the spring. 

 From what I have seen of bullock-feeding iu the yards iu 

 North Lincolushire, I entertain the decided opinion that, in 

 a given time, a bullock will acquire a given weight, with four 

 to six pound leas cake per day there, than he would on any of 

 the farms I occupy ; simply because the natural food is ao 

 much more fattening. And I am supported in this view by 

 North Lincolnshire farmers of eminence, who have witnessed 

 my efforts at feeding, and have ccraparsd them with their 

 own. I have said thus much, simply to convey to this meet- 

 ing what I mean by the words on the card, " On farms where 

 the produce is not fattening," or, as it should read, " Upon 

 farms where the natural food is not fattening." One further 

 explanation is required. The card proceeds to say, " and no 

 roots but mangolds can be grown," which should read 

 " can be successfully grown." 'Tis true, turnips may be 

 sown ; and something with a coarse loug neck, and a small 

 woody fibrous bulb, will be the result. But what is it worth 

 when produced ? Simply, nothing at all, except to make lean 

 bullocks and sheep still leaner. I have had some experience 

 in this matter, and such experience has taught me " never to 

 do the like again," and enables me to assert most positively, 

 that, on all farms resembling my own, turnips cannot be 

 successfully grown. Mangolds, as I have before stated, grow 

 well, and yield a large crop, although not of a fattening 

 quality. I need not dwell longer in defining the terms of my 

 subject, as I have said quite enough in elucidation and explana- 

 tion of the so-called " too involved" terms in which it is couched. 

 How far other districts of the country may resemble my own 

 I cannot tell ; but of course the remarks I have already made, 

 and those I am about to make, apply only to those where 

 there is. some degree of similarity. Of necessity the whole of 

 the turnip districts of the country are excluded. As already ob- 

 served, these fen lands of ours grow a heavy crop of mangolds 

 and a bulky crop of straw, although the quality ia inferior. 

 And I may here further remark, that a crop of mangolds does 

 not appear to impoverish the land where properly cultivated 



but the whole may be drawn from the field upon which it has 

 been grown, to be consumed where circumstances may direct, 

 without any apparent loss being sustained by the following 

 cereal crop. As a rule, in average seasons we grow an abun- 

 dance of straw after mangolds. This is important, as it enables 

 the whole crop to be drawn near the fold-yard, to be there 

 consumed if deemed desirable. We are then brought to this 

 point : We have the corn standing in the stack-yard,'ready to 

 be thrashed, that the straw may be converted, during the 

 winter months, into manure; we have the mangolds also 

 carted into heaps in the neighbourhood of the fold-yard, ready 

 to be consumed ; and we have the hay stacked there too, for 

 the SRme purpose— at least so much of it as is not required 

 for the work-horses. The question then arises, How can this 

 straw be manufactured into manure, aud this accumulation of 

 food consumed most profitably ? Can it be best effected by 

 bullocks or by sheep ? Doubtless many would at once exclaim> 

 " By bullocks," and would in haste endorse the sentiment of 

 " A Practical Farmer," to whom I have before referred, who, 

 iu a popular agricultural journal, in speaking of me and my 

 subject, say?, " Sheep are unquestionably useful for folding in 

 the fields, but not equal to cattle in the fold-yard." Possibly 

 this meeting may entertain very similar views to these, and 

 may be led to the utterance of similar sentiments. Be it so. 

 I am not here to dogmatize, or to arrogate to myself superior 

 wisdom in these matters. I rather seek to " live and learn " 

 than affect to teach. But I would wish ;modestly to place 

 before this meeting a few facts, which I have acquired from 

 actual experience upon this subject. Facts, it ia said, speak 

 louder than words. In this instance, then, let the facts go 

 for what they are worth, and let them exercise their legitimate 

 influence in the formation of our individual opinions. In a 

 former part of this paper I have intimated that the more com- 

 mon method of converting our coarse straw into manure, and 

 of consuming our mangolds end inferior hay, has been by pur- 

 chasing for that purpose some growing bullocks in the autumn, 

 giving them a few pounds of cake or corn per day, in addition 

 to the natural food, and selling them again in the spring either 

 at our home fairs or at Norwich or in some other grazing 

 district. If the bullocks have kept healthy and thriven well, 

 they have occasionally left 20s. or 30s. per head for the natu- 

 ral food consumed ; but it has been far more frequently the 

 case that they have only just paid for their artificial food, and 

 the mangolds and hay have had to be charged to the manure 

 accoisnt. This mode of management was not very satisfactory. 

 But the case has become even worse during the last few j'ears, 

 since the appearance of the lung disease, and our losses from 

 this cause alone have been fearful. It is not, then, to be wpn- 

 dered at, that with no profits under favourable circumstances, 

 and with heavy losses under these adverse circumstances, that 

 we should anxiously inquire, Cannot we make our manure 

 and consume our winter food without being compelled to 

 sustain these heavy losses? In other words, cannot we dis- 

 pense with bullocks altogether for this purpose ? At the first 

 it appeared very doubtful whether such a thing could be, and 

 we were inclined to fear it would prove an impossibility. But 

 continued and severe lung disease urged us to the trial. 

 Numerous difl^iculties and objections had to be weighed and 

 deliberated upon. It was said sheep would tread down no 

 quantity of straw, and we should never get our great straw 

 stacks made into manure fit for the land at all ; it would be 

 an utter impossibility. It was also said that sheep would 

 suffer from foot-rot, and would lose condition by lying on the 



