CATTLE. 



He mentions, as the result of his experiments, that poultry fattened upon a small 

 admixture of chopped truffles with other food, will have a finer flavor than those chickens 

 that have been stuffed or larded with truffles preparatory to cooking; the argument being 

 that the truffles eaten by the chickens permeate the whole system, flavoring the meat, which 

 is not the case when they are placed in the dressed carcass of the fowl. He also gives 

 instances in which the flesh of larks shot in a cabbage field, hares killed in a wormwood 

 field, and eggs laid by hens which had eaten diseased silkworms, had such a nauseous taste 

 that no one could eat them ; while tame rabbits which are fed upon the waste of anise-seed in 

 barley and bran, and others with the food flavored slightly with the essence of thyme, had 

 a much finer flavored flesh than those fed in the ordinary manner. He found the same true 

 also of ducks and fieldfares which had been feed upon sprigs of juniper. 



These facts all prove clearly that the food of all animals permeates the whole system and 

 largely influences the quality of the flesh. This being a fact, it is important that the kind 

 and quality of food given domestic animals that are designed as food for mankind, should 

 receive more careful attention than is sometimes given to this important branch of farming. 

 It also gives the opportunity for testing the skill of the feeder, in furnishing those 

 combinations of food that will produce meats of not only good quality, but of fine flavor. 



Marbled Beef. The best means of producing that quality of meat known as 

 &quot;marbled beef,&quot; which is characterized by a desirable mingling of fat and lean, is at present 

 claiming the attention of breeders of stock for beef production and is the subject of much 

 discussion. Some claim this quality to be inherent in the breed; others that it is the result 

 produced by feeding, irrespective of breed. Although some breeds, with suitable feeding, 

 do excel others in this respect, yet it cannot be denied at the same time, that marbling is in 

 a great measure contingent upon the character of the food given. In order to produce the 

 best quality of beef, the food should contain the material for forming flesh, fat, bone, and 

 muscle in proper proportions. 



The rations therefore should consist of a variety of food, while the temperature, and 

 the constitution of the animal, should also be considered. No animal that is not mature will 

 marble well with fat. The extensive use of corn for fattening cattle, to the neglect of other 

 food, cannot, in the nature of things, produce the best quality of beef. In such cases there 

 will be a superabundance of fat in large masses, and not that intermingling of fat and lean 

 which is seen in beef of the finest quality. The most successful English breeders claim that 

 the finest quality, as well as the maximum quantity of beef, can be produced only by generous 

 feeding from birth, not only to maturity, but to the butcher s block, while the food should 

 at the same time consist of a variety. Nature has provided for this want in a great 

 measure by the great variety of grasses furnished in our pastures. It is no uncommon thing 

 to find from ten to fifty varieties of grasses growing in our common pastures, while some of 

 our older grazing lands probably contain a hundred or more varieties, thus furnishing a ration 

 to meet the different wants of the system. 



Almost every article of food has some quality or combination of qualities in excess of 

 all others, and if the practical feeder will inform himself as to the different kinds of food, he 

 will soon learn to combine them properly in the rations for his stock. Young and tender grass 

 contains a much larger proportion of albuminoids than that which is nearer maturity, and it 

 has consequently been found that cattle will fatten more readily upon grass which is from 

 two to four inches high, than upon that which is of larger growth. Long practice in feeding 

 has established the fact of a certain relation between the amount and quality of food taken, 

 and the gain in the weight of the animal. Dr. J. B. Lawes of Rothamstead, England, 

 found after repeated experiments, that it required from twelve to thirteen pounds of the dry 

 material of food, consisting of grain, roots, and hay, to produce an increase of one pound in 

 live weight on full feed. 



