Stall-Feeding. 143 



The results are, apparently, not alike in both cases, 

 owing, probably, to different herbs abounding in the two 

 countries. As in France the experiments appear to have 

 been carried out in the greater detail, we may take the 

 latter to be the more correct; there we see the goat con- 

 sumes no fewer than eighty-five more plants than the sheep 

 and four times as many as the pig. 



I should be careful to observe, however, that there is 

 a vast difference between what goats as a race will eat, 

 and what an individual specimen is ready to consume. 

 Any person keeping half-a-dozen of these animals together 

 will find each has its likes and dislikes in regard to its 

 food, quite as much as any member of his family, one 

 eating with avidity what another will reject. In fact, that 

 essentially goaty word " capricious " applies as much 

 to its appetite as to other characteristics, and, therefore, 

 it is impossible to lay down any hard and fast rule as to 

 what a goat may be fed on, and expect it to apply to all 

 goats alike. There are some things which I may mention 

 as generally supplied in the way of green food, and 

 which are in most cases appreciated, even though a small 

 portion only may be consumed at one time. 



Roots. These in their order of preference are : man- 

 golds, swedes, potatoes, carrots, Jerusalem artichokes, 

 parsnips, and turnips, the last-named being liked perhaps 

 least. They must all be scrupulously clean ; though in 

 regard to mangolds and swedes it is less important if they 

 are cut in half, and each hemispherical portion placed, 

 the cut part upwards, at the bottom of the goat's pail. 

 It can then scrape or bite off portions with its teeth 

 without the root being displaced by the force and action 

 of the jaws. The operation will be continued all round 

 the inside until only the rind is left, like an empty shell. 

 I have tried giving roots pulped in a machine, and also 

 the same cut into squares, but the other plan answers 



