Cultivation of Grafs Land- Cow-keeping. .Feeding of, fyc. 



In the feeding of the animals it has been obferved, that care fliould be taken 

 to keep them conftantly in good condition, as where they are ever fuffered to be 

 come very lean, and that in the winter feafon, h is impoflible to fuppofe that they 

 can be brought to afford a large quantity of milk, by getting them into perfect 

 condition in the fummer months ; as where cows are lean at the period of calving, 

 no management afterwards is ever capable of bringing them to afford for that fea 

 fon any thing near the proportion of milk that they would have done if they had 

 been fupported in proper condition during -the winter.* Food of the moft nou- 

 rifhing and fucculent kinds fhould therefore be regularly given in fuitable propor 

 tions in the cold inclement months, and the animals be kept warm, and well 

 fupplied with pure water, in the way juft mentioned. -f Some advife their being 

 cleaned by combing and other means; but this is a practice, which though ufeful 

 in making them yield their milk more freely,;]; can perhaps feldom be employed 

 on an extenfive fcale. 



In this fort of bufinefs the cow-keepers find great advantage in keeping the 

 animals conftantly fed \vith different kinds of fucculent food, fuch as brewer s 

 grains in a frefh unfermented flate, turnips, cabbages, green tares, frefh cut grafs, 

 and foft green rouen, or hay that has undergone little or no fermentation in the 

 flack : By this means much juicy matter is thrown into the fyflem, and a continual 

 varied flimulus kept up, by which a large increafe of milk is produced. As the 

 different articles thus employed mufl have lefs effed in exciting the fecrctory 

 organs of the animals in proportion to the frequency of their ufe, the utility of 

 varying their food as much as poffible is rendered fufficiently obvious. On the 

 fame principle there are probably various other fubftances, as well as thefc, that 

 might be made ufe of with great benefit ; but too few experiments have yet been 

 made with them, in this view, to lead to any ufeful conclufions. There is another 

 circumftance, however, that deferves the attention of the milk-farmer, in the feed 

 ing of his cattle, which is that of the dry food being properly proportioned to that 

 of the green or rich fucculent kind, as, where this is not well attended to, the cow?, 

 by being kept in too lax a ftate of their bowels, from the great tendency which 

 fuch materials have to runoff in that way, may afford a much kfs quantity of milk 

 than would otherwife be the cafe. We know from repeated experiment that con* 



* Anderfon s Recreations in Agriculture, vol. III. t Ibid* 



J Corrected Report of the Weft Riding of Yorkfliire. 

 VOL, ir. 3 R 



