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\\.— Thc Blanagcment of Cattle. By William Little. 

 Pkize Essay. 



It is universally admitted tliat there is no subject connected 

 with farm produce of more importance at the present day than 

 the management of cattle. The relative prices of beef and grain 

 affords sufficient evidence of this. Taking it for granted that 

 too much has not as yet been written upon this subject, I pro- 

 pose to give a plain report of the general management of cattle 

 throughout the estate with which I am connected, and more 

 particularly to state the results of some experiments conducted 

 by me during the summer and autumn of 18b*4, on one farm in 

 a high state of cultivation in Connexion with a colliery. 



The estate referred to is Lambton, the property of the Earl 

 of Durham. Several important collieries are worked by the 

 proprietor, and, although the greater portion of the land is let on 

 lease to good tenants, the requirements of the coal-mines neces- 

 sitate the retaining of several arable farms of various sizes in 

 the owner's hands. It very frequently happens that when agri- 

 culture is thus closely allied to the working of a commercial 

 enterprise it only receives a very secondary share of attention, 

 but such is not the case here. The greatest attention is paid 

 to the cultivation of the land as well as to the working of the 

 mines. 



In connexion with the cultivation of the land the management 

 of the cattle is deemed a matter of the first importance. Our 

 course of breeding is a successful system of crossing between 

 two established breeds. The larger proportion of the herd is 

 from a cross between the Shorthorn bull and the West Highland 

 heifer. The result of this cross is a finely-developed animal lor 

 the butcher, which invariably possesses in a great degree the 

 size, form, and feeding qualities of the sire, whilst at the same 

 time inheriting the hardy constitution of the dam. About 

 50 or 60 West Highland heifers (a year and a half old) are 

 annually bought at the Falkirk Tryst or Fair in Scotland. They 

 ai-e brought home to the highest-lying farm, where they are 

 wintered on straw and a few turnips, and merely kept in a fair 

 thriving condition. In May they are turned out to pasture on 

 the same farm, and the Shorthorn hv^\ is put amongst them 

 in the beginning of July. In the autumn they come down 

 to the lower-lying farms, where they get a run over the pastures 

 which have carried the ieeding-stock, and on the annual draft ol 

 fat cattle being disposed of before Christmas they are taken into 

 the fold-yards. They are kept upon a moderate allowance of 

 turnips, oat-straw, and water in the folds. They generally drop 



