HINTS ON GRAZING 139 



a start, late spring fi-osts or a persistent east wind may upset 

 the grazier's calculations, and the stock may begin to go back 

 through scarcity of food. Then a supply from the ^Mangel 

 clamp, or from a few acres of Cabbage or Thousand-headed 

 Kale, will prove a boon indeed. 



When sheep begin to graze in mixed pastures they will 

 probably keep the plant down close ; but, as herbage gi'ows 

 more rapidly, young horned stock should be added, so as to feed 

 down the rising culms and flower-stalks which the sheep pass 

 by. Sometimes neither sheep nor bullocks will eat the stems 

 of Cocksfoot, and then it is necessary to run the mower over 

 the pasture to prevent a copious seeding of this grass, which, 

 however valuable in suitable proportions, is on certain soils a 

 great pest when allowed to predominate. I have known cattle 

 to derive benefit from grazing in one pasture by day and being 

 turned into a different field at night, and it is interesting to 

 note the eagerness which stock soon display for this change in 

 then* run. 



A pasture specially adapted for fattening bullocks should 

 not, as a rule, have sheep put on it ; and a perfect sheep pasture 

 should never have the grass long enough to feed a bullock ; but 

 from an ordinary pasture, devoted to mixed stock, probably 

 the aggregate produce will not be utilised except by a judicious 

 combination of horned stock, horses, and sheep. The grazier 

 affords clear evidence of his skill by the manner in which he 

 takes advantage of the special characteristics of every separate 

 field as the seasons vary. In so proportioning stock as to feed 

 the crop down evenly he benefits the pasture, and by changing 

 the animals from field to field a difference of diet is ensured, for 

 scarcely any two pastures produce exactly the same herbage. 

 Each animal has its own likes and dishkes, but between them 

 they are almost certain to clear the crop. Calves need the best 

 grass that can be given them, and they generally thrive better 

 alone than in company with other animals. Cows and sheep 

 feed better together than do fat bullocks and sheep, and this 



