CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



The cattle are placed either singly or in pairs. 

 When single, the divisions are usually spars, to 

 admit of the animals seeing one another. Spars 

 being more economical than walls of stone or 

 brick, are the more common division, even when 

 two or more cattle are placed together. The 

 advocates of box-feeding assert, that besides the 

 warmth and shelter provided without the restraint 

 of the stall, there is economy of straw used for 

 litter ; and, without question, the manure is very 

 superior to that produced in open courts or from 

 byres. 



Board-feeding has also been advocated by Mr 

 Mechi and others. But cattle kept on sparred 

 boards do not advance in the same ratio as cattle 

 kept in loose boxes or open sheds, with their 

 comfort secured by well-littered beds the feed- 

 ing and other conditions being similar. 



The methods of feeding present even greater 

 diversities than the systems of housing. In 

 England, the practice is rather to restrict the 

 consumption of roots ; while in Scotland, turnips 

 are given without stint. In the former, hay is 

 the usual fodder ; in the latter, straw. Both fatten 

 cattle at nearly the same rate of advance, which 

 is on an average about two pounds of live weight 

 daily. 



The most recent and most highly approved 

 system of preparing the food is to cut the fodder 

 a mixture of hay and straw and to reduce the 

 roots by a pulping-machine. The cut fodder and 

 the pulped roots are mixed together, and after- 

 wards given to the stock. Some feeders advocate 

 that the mixture should be allowed to lie in a heap 

 for some hours before it is put into the feeding- 

 troughs. Besides the mixture of fodder and roots, 

 the adding of dissolved linseed or cake, made into 

 a jelly, is practised, and with the best results. 

 The economy of roots is so considerable that the 

 consumption is reduced to fully one-half; and the 

 progress obtained is the maximum. 



The most general practice is to house cattle 

 early in October, and to commence feeding with 

 the softer varieties of turnip ; these, continued up 

 till the month of January, are followed by Swedes 

 or mangel-wurzel. Cake or corn is allowed ; 

 sometimes a mixture of the meal of barley and 

 beans is given along with oil-cake, equal weights 

 of each. As the condition of the animals advances, 

 the allowance of cake, corn, &c. is increased. 

 Commencing with three pounds, the allowance is 

 augmented to ten pounds daily. 



The quantity of roots an ox will consume 

 depends in some measure on the age, condition, 

 and size of the animal, but especially upon the 

 quantity of auxiliary feeding- substances given 

 along with the roots. An ox which, when fattened, 

 will weigh 60 stones of 14 pounds, will, with straw 

 as fodder, consume of white turnip, 160 to 180 

 pounds daily; of Swedes, 120 to 160 pounds ; of 

 mangel-wurzel, 100 to 140 pounds. When the 

 roots are reduced to thin slices, or are pulped, 

 and then mixed with chopped forage, the con- 

 sumption of roots will diminish about 25 to 40 

 per cent When the allowance of concentrated 

 feeding-substances amounts to five pounds daily, 

 the reduction in the weight of roots is about 10 

 per cent. With auxiliaries to the weight of ten 

 pounds daily,' the quantity of roots eaten is 

 reduced by 30 to 50 per cent, when cake and 

 cut forage are allowed. 



634 



DAIRY HUSBANDRY. 



Dairy husbandry is generally practised in low- 

 lying districts, with an argillaceous soil, producing 

 nutritious herbage. Occasionally, dairy-farming, 

 combining the rearing of cattle, is followed in 

 upland and moorish districts, unsuitable for sheep 

 or for arable husbandry, and the fattening of stock. 

 Dairy-farms in England are most frequently to 

 be met with in Cheshire, Gloucestershire, Wilt- 

 shire, Lancashire, Leicestershire, and the counties 

 of Devon and Somerset ; in Scotland, in the 

 counties of Ayr, Renfrew, Lanark, Dumbarton, 

 Stirling, Linlithgow, Wigton, and Kirkcudbright. 

 In Ireland, the best dairy-farms are to be met 

 with in the southern counties, the best quality of 

 butter being shipped at Cork. 



A well-arranged homestead, having every con- 

 venience to accommodate the cattle, and to store 

 and prepare their food, is of essential importance 

 in a dairy-farm. 



An excellent arrangement for a dairy-farm 

 steading will be found in Mr Stephens's elaborate 

 work, The Book of the Farm, vol. ii. p. 289.* 



Cow-houses Cleaning. 



Cows cannot be profitably maintained unless 

 they are treated carefully, and their comfort 

 secured as to house accommodation, feeding, and 

 cleanliness. They should be kept during winter 

 in roomy, well- ventilated byres ; and in summer 

 they should be protected against cold, damp, and 

 heat. To secure this protection, the byre should 

 be occupied part of the twenty-four hours during 

 all seasons of the year. The cows should be kept 

 as free as possible from all extraneous annoyance, 

 such as flies, skin-irritation, &c. Many of the points 

 to be attended to in the construction of stables 

 (see No. 39, THE HORSE), are of equal importance 

 in that of cow-houses. 



Single stalls are preferable in almost every 

 point of view to double. The cows are more 

 easily milked, and not so troublesome or restive 

 as when confined with a neighbour. The division 

 between the stalls or the travis, as it is termed 

 should be of wood ; but stone is commonly 

 used in Scotland. In the majority of byres, 

 travises are absent, the cows being tied to a 

 stake a round post of wood fixed in the ground 

 at the one end, and above to a wooden beam, 

 which passes the whole length of the byre, with 

 the ends built into the walls. For floors, see our 

 remarks on stables in the number on THE HORSE. 

 The manger should not, as is frequently the case, 

 be on a level with the floor. 



There are various ways of binding or fastening 

 cows to the stall. The baikie is objectionable, as 

 it only allows of one position being maintained. 

 The seal is said to be the best. This consists of 

 a chain or ligature provided with a hook and clasp 

 for retaining it round the neck of the cow ; the 

 other end terminates in a ring, which is allowed 

 to slide up and down a post placed in an inclined 

 position at the head of the stall. The lower part 

 of the window should be made of two shutters, 

 the upper part glazed. Where a number of cows 

 are kept, the byre or shippen should have a central 

 passage, the stalls being arranged right and left 



* Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London. 



