631 



CATTLE. 



CATTLE. 



turnips, and sent to Smithfield in the spring and summer following 

 If they do not produce so great a weight of beef as many othe 

 breeds, they always bring the highest price in the market, and requir 

 but a very short time to get fat. The Galloway is a peculiar breed 

 which has many good qualities ; it has no horns ; the body is compact 

 and the legs short ; and few breeds can vie with the Galloway oxen 

 and heifers in aptitude to fatten. There 'is a peculiar roundness in al 

 the parts of the body, which makes the animal look well in flesh, even 

 when he is lean. The skin is loose, and the hair soft and silky to the 

 touch. They are mostly black, but some are of a dun colour, which 

 shows a connection between this breed and the polled Suffolk. It is 

 only the colour which distinguishes them. Many of the Galloway 

 heifers are spayed, and get very fat at an early age. The Galloway 

 cows are not very good milkers, in which respect they differ from the 

 Suffolk, but their milk is very rich. 



The Angus is also a polled breed, and has been long in repute. It it 

 probably a variety of the Galloway, to which it bears a strong resem 

 blance, than which it is larger and coarser, but it has been found ir 

 Angus from time immemorial. 



The Shetland cattle are very diminutive and coarsely shaped, but 

 their flesh is reckoned well flavoured. They are seldom driven into 

 England or the South of Scotland, because when fat they attain but a 

 very small weight. The breed is, however, worth the notice ol 

 experimental agriculturists. 



The Aberdeenshire and Fifeshire breeds are horned, and have been 

 produced by various crosses with short-horns and other English breeds. 

 All the Scotch breeds have been greatly improved by the premiums 

 given by the Highland Society for the encouragement of breeding. 



Of Irish cattle, the small Kerry cow seems to be purely native. It 

 is a useful breed for cottagers, requiring but moderate keep and care, 

 and giving a considerable quantity of inilk in proportion to the size oi 

 the animal and the food it requires. 



Irish cattle are becoming rapidly improved by crosses with the 

 short horn breed, of which numerous herds now exist in that country. 

 They have hitherto been more affected by crosses with the improved 

 Leicester long-horns. 



These are the principal breeds of cattle in the United Kingdom. 

 By selecting those which are best suited to each situation and pasture, 

 the industrious farmer may add considerably to his profits, and at the 

 same time enrich his land with the manure. In purchasing cattle it is 

 very necessary that the age should be readily ascertained ; the surest 

 mode of doing this is by examining the teeth. A calf has usually two 

 front teeth when he is dropped, or they will appear a day or two after 

 his birth ; hi a fortnight he will have four, in three weeks six, and at 

 the end of a month eight. After this, these milk-teeth, as they are 

 called, gradually wear and fall out, and are replaced by the second and 

 permanent teeth. At two years old, the two middle teeth are replaced ; 

 the next year there will be four new teeth in all ; at four years there 

 are six permanent teeth, and at five the whole eight are replaced. The 

 milk-teeth do not always fall out, but are sometimes only pushed back 

 by the second set ; and in this case they should be removed with an 

 instrument, as they impede mastication and irritate the mouth. The 

 periods of their appearance are, however, affected like other evidences 

 of growth and maturity by the earlier precocity of well-bred stock ; 

 and the following table, taken from Professor Sirnonds (Vol. xv. 'Journal 

 of the English Agricultural Society '), represents the difference in this 

 respect between mongrel and well-bred cattle. 



DENTITION OF THB OX. 



Table of early Average. 

 The breed, &c. Favouring Development. 

 Years. Months. 



1 9 Two permanent incisors. 



1 3 Four 



2 9 Six ., 



3 3 Eight 



Table of late Average. 

 The breed, &c. Retarding Development. 

 Years. Months. 



2 3 Two permanent incisors. 

 1 9 Four ,, 



3 3 Six; 

 3 a Eight 



After six years old the edges of the teeth begin to wear flat, and as 

 they wear off the root of the tooth is pushed up in the socket, and the 

 width of the teeth is diminished, leaving interstices between them ; 

 this begins in the middle teeth, and extends gradually to the corners. 

 Atten years old, the four middle teeth are considerably diminished, 

 and the mark worn out of them. After fifteen years of age, few cows 

 can keep themselves in condition by pasturing ; but they may continue 

 to give milk, or be fattened by stalling and giving them ground food. 

 Horned cattle have rings at the root of the horns, by which the age 

 may also be known. The first ring appears at three years of age, and 

 a new one is funned between it and the skull every year after. But 

 this mode of ascertaining the age is not so sure as by the teeth, decep- 

 tion being much easier, by filing off the rings. 



In order to learn by experience what breed of cattle is most profit- 

 able, it is very advantageous to weigh them occasionally, and note their 

 increase. For this purpose several simple and ingenious weighing 

 machines have been invented. Experience has shown the propor- 

 tion between the saleable quarters and the offal, in different states of 

 fatness ; and tables have been constructed by which the net weight is 

 found by mere inspection. Multiplying the live weight by 0'6, gives a 

 near approximation to the neat dead weight in an ox moderately fat 

 Mid of a good breed. When an ox ia fat, his weight may be very 



nearly guessed by measuring his girth immediately behind the fore 

 legs, and the length from the tip of the shoulder to the perpendicular 

 line which touches the hinder parts, or to a wall against which the 

 animal is backed. The square of the girth in inches and decimals is 

 multiplied by the length, and, the product multiplied by the decimal 

 238. This gives the weight of the four quarters, in stone.j of 14 Ib. 

 This rule is founded on the supposition, that there is a certain propor- 

 tion between the net weight of the quarters and that of a cylinder the 

 circumference of which is the girth, and the axis the length taken as 

 above. The proportion has been ascertained by observation and re- 

 peated comparison.* The measurement will at all events indicate the 

 proportional increase during the period of fattening. 



Cattle are not subject to many diseases, if they hare plenty of food 

 and good water, and are kept clean. Air is essential to them, and 

 although cows will give more milk, and oxen will fatten better when 

 kept in warm stalls in winter, they are both less subject to diseases 

 when they are kept in open yards, with merely a shelter from the 

 snow and rain. Epizootic diseases, which sometimes ravage whole 

 districts, are less known in England than in most countries. For the 

 peculiar diseases of cattle see Ox and Cow. 



The most economical mode of feeding cattle is evidently by allowing 

 them to seek their food on commons and uncultivated pastxires ; but 

 it is only in particular situations that it is the most advantageous. 

 Cattle fed on commons add little to the stock of manure, except when 

 they are kept in the yards or stalls in winter : even then their dung 

 is of little value, if they are merely kept alive on straw or coarse hay, 

 as is generally the case where the stock is kept on commons or moun- 

 tains in summer. When they feed in inclosed and rich pastures, their 

 dung falling in helps on the grass does more harm than good. The 

 urine fertilises the soil in wet weather when it is diluted ; but in dry 

 weather it only burns up the grass. If we calculate what would be 

 the amount of dung collected if the cattle were kept in yards or 

 stables, and fed with food cut for them and brought there, and also 

 the loss of grass by treading on the pastures, we shall have no doubt 

 whether the additional labour of cutting the grass and bringing 

 it home daily is not amply repaid by the saving. But if we also take 

 into the account the variety of artificial grasses, pulse, and roots which 

 may be grown with advantage on land unfit for permanent grass, and 

 the quantity of arable land which may thus be kept in the highest 

 state of cultivation, we shall be convinced that the practice of those 

 countries where the cattle are constantly kept at home is well worthy 

 of imitation. It may be of use to the health of the animals to be 

 allowed to take a few hours' air and exercise in a pasture near the 

 stable ; but there is no advantage in their having any grass crop there : 

 on the contrary, the barer of grass the surface is, the better. They 

 will relish their food better when they are taken hi after a few hours' 

 fasting. A bite of fresh short grass might, on the contrary, give them 

 a dislike to their staler food. When cut' grass is given to cattle in the 

 stalls, it is best to let it lie in a heap for at least twelve hours before 

 it is given to them. It heats slightly, and the peculiar odour of some 

 of the plants, which oxen and cows are not fond of, being mixed with 

 that of the more fragrant, the whole is eaten without waste. Expe- 

 rience has shown that many plants which cattle refuse in the field, 

 where they have a choice, have nutritious qualities when eaten mixed 

 with others in the form of hay. There are few deleterious plants in 

 good grass land or water meadows, and these are readily distinguished 

 and weeded out. The quantity and quality of the dung of cattle 

 stalled and well fed is so remarkable, that its value makes a con- 

 siderable deduction from that of the food given ; especially of green 

 food, such as clover, lucern, tares, and every kind of leguminous plant. 

 This supposes a sufficient quantity of straw for litter, and an econo- 

 mical collection of the liquid parts in proper reservoirs or tanks. In 

 order to make the feeding of cattle advantageous, the buildings must 

 je conveniently placed with respect to the fields from which the food 

 s to be brought. Moveable sheds, with temporary yards, which can 

 :>e erected in different parts of a large farm, according as different 

 ields are in grass or roots, are a great saving of carriage, both in 

 wringing the food to the cattle and carrying the dung on the land. A 

 clay bottom should be selected, in a dry and rather high spot, if 

 jossible. But if permanent buildings for cattle, constructed of rough 

 materials and thatched with straw, were erected in the centre of about 

 ! orty acres of arable land, in different parts of a large farm, it would 

 irobably be a great saving in the end. 



Good water is most essential to the health of cattle, and that which 

 las been some time exposed to the air seems the best for them. 

 When they are fatted in stalls on dry food, they should always have 

 a trough of water within reach. A piece of rock-salt to lick, or some 

 alt given with their food, is highly conducive to their health, and 

 vill restore their appetite when it begins to flag. Rubbing the hide 

 svith a wisp of straw or a strong brush, as is done to horses, may 

 ippear a useless labour, but it is well known that there is no better 



If g he the girth and I the length taken as above, a the area of a circle whose 

 ircumference is unity, then / g 3 a = cylinder ; and if the proportion of this 

 ylinder has been found by repeated trials to be the "weight of the carcase in 



a fi 



tones of 14 Ib. as & : 1, then I g* x - is the net weight. In this case - has been 



tt o 



ound = 0-238. .'. I g' x 0-238 is the weight. 



