130 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARI50RICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



winters his young cattle, as he very often does in the north of 

 England, in the open. It has become more and more apparent 

 to the farmer that if healthy cows for the supply of milk for 

 the large towns are to be reared, badly ventilated, overheated 

 byres do not constitute the best nursery for heifer calves and 

 young stock generally. It has been proved by experiments, on 

 a small scale at anyrate, that in the case of certain breeds (for 

 example, Galloways), with equivalent supplies of food, the actual 

 gain in live weight per head is greater in out-wintered young cattle 

 than in box or stall-fed ones, where there are plenty of shelter 

 woods for the pasture fields. Under such circumstances the stock 

 very seldom avail themselves of shelter sheds, and prefer to lie 

 out in the open fields. I think that this is a very important 

 matter — well worthy both of the attention and help of the 

 forester. I think it is generally admitted that tuberculosis 

 is of much rarer occurrence in cattle reared in the open than 

 with those animals reared under the ' coddling ' system in often 

 very badly ventilated byres. 



" ' Selection ' woods would probably solve the problem best 

 because they make for continuity of sheker. In those instances 

 where we cannot have ' selection ' woods then we must period- 

 ically lay down new shelter-belts as occasion requires. I was 

 very much struck, in reading an old newspaper cutting from the 

 Scotsman which I came across the other day, with what Mr Elliot 

 of Clifton Park had to say about the effects of shelter. With your 

 permission I will read a very short extract from it. Mr Elliot 

 says that there is a proverbial saying amongst farmers that 

 'shelter is half meat' — that is to say that not only do you 

 get more grass within the influence of shelter but less pasture is 

 required because you have got warmer conditions for the stock. 



" ' It has been very partially recognised that the influence of 

 the shelter-belts of wood on crops, as well as on the growth and 

 especially the maintenance of grass in dry seasons, is of great 

 importance. It is most interesting to observe the decline or in- 

 crease of grass as it is further away from or nearer to shelter. 

 In the case of a wind-swept haugh (flat) I lately measured the 

 height of the grasses, and they gradually, as regards their seeding 

 stems, fell from 6 feet in height to 5 ft. 8 ins. in the middle, 

 and 4 ft. ID ins. at a distance of 70 yards from the shelter, 

 which consisted of a stone wall about 5 feet high. Two sides of 

 the shelter square were sheltered by the stone wall, the remaining 



