THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



479 



upon the state of the grass. When that is in a very succu- 

 lent state, straw or hay-chaff and meal would be the best cor- 

 rective ; whereas iu hot weather, when the pastures are in a 

 dry state, cake and hay might be given. These, however, are 

 matters on which the feeder must necessarily exercise his own 

 judgment. Mr, Oakley, of Lawrence End, Herts, informs me 

 that he has used the meal of Egyptian beans very auccess- 

 fully. He gives it with straw-chaff cut very fine. By pursuing 

 this plan, and by the improvement to the pasture resulting 

 from \ti he now feeds upon the same land more than double 

 the number of cattle that he did formerly, notwithstandiDg 

 they are put into the yards at night, and thus take some of 

 the manure from the pasture. It may be argued that land 

 treated as I have recommended would soon become too much 

 manured. When that occ\u-s, other fields should be selected, 

 and the over manured ones mown for a time. Besides, the 

 manure collected in the sheds, and that gathered in the 

 fields where laid too thickly, might be applied to the 

 fields usually mown, or to the store pastures. It will be 

 long before any great difficulty arises on this point. 

 I am not enough of a chemist to be able to say whether feed- 

 ing of cattle in the way I have described will of itself be suffi- 

 cient to renovate our old pastures. Should lime, superphos- 

 phate, or other applications be necessary, cur agricultural 

 chemists will enlighten us on the eubject, and the manufac- 

 turers of manure supply the necessary stimulant. There is 

 onlj' one other point on which I need trouble you : that relates 

 to the practice of soiling cattle. On arable farms with artifi- 

 cial grasses, or with water-meadows that can be flooded at 

 pleasure, and a regular supply of grass depended upon, this 

 practice may answer. On old upland pasture I doubt its being 

 at all successful. It is generally so late in the season before 

 it is fit to mow; and, when it is so, it would bo soon outgrow 

 the wants of the cattle ; and with variable seasons also it 

 would be nest to impossible so to regulate the supply of cut 

 grass aa to suit the demand. Moreover, tliis system on a 

 large scale would require an amount of both cattle and labour 

 much beyond the present supply of either, and would on that 

 ground alone be impracticable. As to the quantity of cake it 

 is desirable to give, I commence with 41b3. per day, and finish 

 with 61b3., giving on an average Slbs. per day. If this is con- 

 tinued for six weeks it will amount to 15 stones per head, 

 which, at about the average price of cake during the summer, 

 will not exceed 203. We know from our experience that be- 

 tween a ripe bullock and one that is not well up to the mark, 

 there is commonly a difference of more than doulde that sum 

 in their respective prices, supposing they are equal in size. 

 If, therefore, by an outlay of £1 we receive £2, the investment 

 is a profitable one. But supposing it to be rather less than 

 this, we must not forget the extra number of beasts that can 

 be so fed on the same quantity of land ; and the rent, rates, 

 and taxes being the same in both cases, a further additional 

 profit is thus obtained, to say nothing of the rapid improve- 

 ment of the soil. I have not thought it necessary to go into 

 the question of sheep. feeding, that being too well understood 

 to require discussion on the present occasion. In ccncluaion 

 I have only to remark that I am quite sensible I have nothing 

 new to offer for your adoption. I have ventured, however, to 

 recommend to the graziers of England a much more extended 

 use of a practice now only carried out in isolated cases, and on 

 a very small scale ; feeling assured that the time has arrived 

 when we can no more depend upon grass alone for our sup- 

 plies of beef during the grass season, than we do upon roots 

 alone during the Norfolk season. In short, we must adapt 

 the practice of winter feeding to our old pastures, with such 

 modifications a3 the circumstances require, 



Mr. Hudson (Castle Acre) said he had but a few ob- 

 servations to offer on the subject contained in the excellent 

 paper just read by Mr. Wallis, He might be mistaken, but 

 he had understood Mr. Wallis to recommend that the dust of 

 cake should be given to sheep. He (Mr. Hudson) pre- 

 ferred that the dust should be given to the cattle with cut 

 hay iu boxes ; for having used a great deal of cake for sheep, 

 he thought it desirable that they should have as little dust as 

 possible. They would not touch the dust, but they would 

 eat the cake in pieces the size of a hazel nut. Cattle would 

 eat it with cut liay, but sheep would refuse it. He agreed in 

 almost everything that was stated in Mr. Wallis's essay, and 

 he thought that, considering the large demands that were 

 made on the feeders of cattle in this country, they could not 

 keep pace with the consumption unless something new was 

 discovered for summer feeding, and he did not think of any- 

 thing that would supply the market better than a little addi- 

 tional food in the shape of cake when the cattle were at grass. 

 Many persons, he was aware, objected to that; he not 

 only consumed a great deal of cake in the winter season, but 

 had no objection to consume it iu summer also. He bad done 

 it (or many years, and had experienced the benefit of the 

 practice. His cattle were always then ready, one lot to take 

 the place of another, as they came ready for market. He be- 

 lieved also that it had the effect of improving the pasture-land, 

 whilst the system of feeding on pasture and folding on arable 

 land during the uight robbed Peter to pay Paul. 



The Chairman : Can you give us any idea of the breed 

 of cattle best fitted for the purpose ? 



Mr. HuDsoix : The best of every breed (Hear, hear.) Why 

 feed bad cattle ? (Hear, hear). Ouly last week he had enjoyed 

 a great treat. He had been through several herds of Short- 

 horned cattle in a district in Wiltshire that he visited eight or 

 ten years ago, and the improvement that had since taken place 

 was perfectly marvellous. The cattle he had seen there were 

 such as would do credit to any county in England ; and he 

 could name the owners, but that perhaps would be invidious. 

 The Shorthorned cattle were decidedly the cattle with which 

 to feed the people of England. True, they might better please 

 the pampered palate of the rich by the Highland Scot, or the 

 beautiful little Devon ; but the million wanted a heavier class 

 of cattle, and the million were the farmers' best customers 

 (Hear, hear). As long as they could earn plenty of money 

 they would have beef, and they ought to have plenty of it. 



The Chairman : Have you considered the relative value 

 of sheep and cattle ? 



Mr. Hudson : Well, there were certain districts that would 

 feed shaep, which were not calculated to feed cattle ; and Nor- 

 folk men were under great obligations to Hampshire men for 

 keeping up a very useful class of sheep — a sheep that suited 

 their purposes particularly by being uaed with the Cotswold 

 ram. Tiiere they had the very sheep to make meat for the 

 million. Indeed, he believed they were the most profitable 

 sheep that we could have. They could not be bred to a very 

 large extent iu his count)', but he was too happy to send his 

 men into Hampshire and Wiltshire to buy the class of sheep 

 which was now breeding there from the large Hampshire ewes 

 crossed by the Cotswold ram. At twelve or thirteen mouths 

 old they would give as much as 20!b3. or 251bs. of mutton per 

 quarter, and 7§lbs. or Slbs. of wool of the description which 

 manufacturers most wanted to be grown, and which was the 

 most useful to them. 



Mr. Little (Landhill, Wilts) agreed that Mr. Wallis had 

 given them an excellent paper of a highly practical character, 

 for which he begged to express his indebtedness. He ob- 

 served that Mr, Wallis declined to recommend the use of oil- 



