chicjly as regards the Production of Meat. 411 



April, and so rapid is the progress of the Dexters, the Donegals, 

 and Moyles, that they are sometimes ready for the shambles by 

 the latter part of June. Present rates considered, a cow pur- 

 chased in for 11. to 8Z., makes in 12 to 18 weeks from 11/. to 

 12/., and so on ; but it is generally believed that this class leaves 

 a wider margin for profit than the better class purchased in at 

 12Z. to 15/. However, both kinds have their zealous advocates. 

 I know of more than one instance where graziers, who were so 

 dead set against Irish cattle a iew years ago, that they would not 

 have one on their land, now graze nothing else in the cattle 

 line. And so with those who go in for different descriptions ; 

 some prefer the large sorts at one period of their lives, then turn 

 round to the smaller, and vice versa. With the aid of a little 

 cake or corn, not only is the period of keep shortened, but the 

 quality of the animal is improved, so that some graziers are now 

 getting into the way of supplying a little extraneous food daily. 

 Linseed cake, cotton cake, and Indian meal are the principal 

 descriptions of food in use, although here and there a farmer 

 prefers to give a portion of crushed oats. The use of artificial 

 food to assist cattle grazing in the fields is by no means general : 

 on the contrary, it is the exception. In fact, there are still 

 many graziers and farmers who are hard of belief that it is a 

 paying speculation, and so the majority choose rather to take 

 what the pastures produce naturally than go to the price of arti- 

 ficial food. Until recently, so little was known of the virtue of 

 pure and well-made cakes, that most feeders of stock were of 

 opinion that fat could not be laid on any quicker by artificial 

 aid when cattle were fed upon good-bodied pastures ; but their 

 minds have at length generally been set at rest upon this point, 

 although hei'e and there an adherent to the practices of the old 

 school still exists, having more faith in either grass or oats than 

 foreign cakes, of which he declares we English know but little. 

 Cake, however, pays — and pays well. Cattle which are allowed 

 a portion while grazing upon the pastures, thrive much more 

 rapidly than those fed solely upon grass, inasmuch as the 

 appetite is improved, and they are less liable to any internal 

 derangement. They become fat fully a month sooner as well, 

 so that the grass parks are freed early ; and where a regular 

 quantity is allowed daily, a certain extent of land will maintain 

 more stock. Perhaps the greatest benefit which accrues from the 

 use of cake is to the land ; but as many of the permanent 

 pastures change hands at the end of each year, there is no 

 doubt that holders are not so careful to improve the land as 

 they might be under better arrangements, not knowing who is 

 to reap the benefit in future years. 



In the winter season large quantities of Irish cattle are either 



