290 Norfolk Farming. 



turnips, a great many horses must always be kept. Cart-horses 

 have latterly received more corn and less hay. It was usual 

 to rack up horses in the stables and yards with long hay, but 

 a very small portion is now given long, almost all being cut 

 into chaff. The average allowance of corn for a cart-horse is 

 from one to two bushels per week, one-third being beans Avhen 

 the work is hard. The refuse barley is frequently sprouted and 

 given to horses ; and in the east, where there are many large 

 corn-mills, a great deal of pollard or bran is also consumed by 

 them. Horses in the summer are kept as much as possible in 

 the yards, and are then fed with rye, vetches, clover, sainfoin, or 

 any long grass that can be had. 



Working oxen do not increase. Devons are mostly used as 

 workers : they are active, and stand the heat better than any 

 other cattle. On off-lying premises, where no labourers reside, 

 a team of bullocks frequently answers well. Horses want groom- 

 ing, and long attendance to feed them properly ; but the working 

 cattle, if at once supplied with their provender, can be turned 

 into a yard, and require no further attention. 



A\ itli the vast amount of valuable live stock in Norfolk, it is 

 really wonderful that there are so few properly qualified veteri- 

 nary surgeons. Some there are in the towns, and a few in the 

 country, able and excellent practitioners, but the great mass of 

 the cattle-doctors are but a shade better than the original cow- 

 leeches of olden time. Tiie blunders these men make are endless, 

 and the consequences of such errors necessarily fall on their em- 

 ployers. Consideiing the experience which some of these farriers 

 have, it is curious that practice has not taught them some of the 

 first rudiments of veterinary science. Farmers themselves fre- 

 quently know but little of the diseases of cattle, and many of the 

 cow-doctors know even less. There are many parts of the county 

 where there is a good opening for a hard-working veterinary 

 surgeon, but there are natural hindrances to a successful start. 

 Such a man must be well paid, and the parish blacksmith can of 

 course work cheaper than he can. Farmers are too apt to forget 

 that quality is the true test of cheapness ; they grumble at 

 paying respectable veterinary surgeons' fees, but do not mind 

 the farrier's small account, which is often dovetailed in with the 

 blacksmith's bill. So long as this penny-wise and pound-foolish 

 plan is carried out, the qualified practitioner has up-hill work ; 

 but when the knowledge of his profession is better understood, 

 his services cannot fail to be more appreciated. A science which 

 mitigates the sufferings of some of the noblest and most useful 

 animals in creation, and by saving a vast amount of human food 

 increases the wealth of the country, can never be an unworthy 

 study. How singular it is, when other professions are over- 



