Ch. XXXIV.] WINTER STALL-FEEDING. 385 



then wisped, it visibly occasions a very pleasurable sensation : as tliey 

 begin to fatten, the ancient coat falls off", and if this be accelerated by 

 the curry-comb, the better appearance of the beast will well repay the 

 trouble, 



FOOD. 



The relative proportion of food consumed by failing beasts must neces- 

 sarily depend, not only upon the sort of animal, but also upon the kind of 

 nutriment by which he is supplied ; for it is not the quantity which the 

 animal takes that fattens it, but the quality. Of all vegetable productions, 

 nothing can be better than good hay for improving the flesh of fatting 

 cattle ; and this was formerly the only substance used. Of late years, 

 however, oil-cake has been very generally added in fattening them off for 

 market ; and the increased consumption of animal food, together with the 

 production of green crops now cultivated by the improvements in our agri- 

 culture, have also induced the feeders to employ every species of field-root 

 grown on our farms. Potatoes, mangel-wurzel, carrots, parsnips, cabbages, 

 and turnips of every kind, are therefore in general use ; and in some of 

 our large distilleries, bullocks are also fed upon the wash *. Treacle has 

 also been tried ; and there can be no doubt that, if it could be had free of 

 duty, it would be a valuable assistance in fatting, if given either in water 

 or mixed up with meal f. We doubt, however, whether any of these pro- 

 ducts can produce meat of such succulence and flavour as that furnished 

 by a grass-fed ox of mature age, finished oft" in the winter by fine meadow 

 hay, with perhaps a little addition of barley or bean meal ; but that plan 

 can no longer be generally pursued, for our meadow and pasture land 

 would not alone furnish animals equal to the demand. 



In those districts where grass abounds, and where hay is much used 

 in fatting, it has been generally found that a bullock of 50 stone weight, 

 consuming 40 lbs. daily of sound hajs will acquire flesh at the rate of 2 lbs., 

 and should, therefore, in twenty weeks, increase to 70 stone : or 10 lbs, of 

 hay, with a bushel of potatoes, will have the same effect. In other expe- 

 riments it has been observed, that, besides an adequate quantity of dry food 

 to correct the eftects of moist roots, bullocks of 60 stone or upwards re- 

 quire about 18 stone of common turnips daily : an acre of 25 tons will there- 

 fore generally fatten a beast of that weight, if the dry meat consist of hayf. 



that the rest of the cattle drank as often as the one fixed on. Now, twice a day is the 

 most in which they {generally get water ; and they are not able, at one or two oppor- 

 tunities, to drink a sufficient (quantity. — Husb. of Scotland, p. 100. 



* Messrs. Smith and Harrington, of Brentford, once fattened 810 oxen on the refuse 

 of 2j,750 quarters of barley, and in twenty weeks an increase of flesh was acquired 

 averaging each 35 stone ; which, deducting 5 stone as the value of the hay which they 

 consumed, leaves 24,300 stone of beef, — or about one stone for the grains from a quarter 

 of barley : which is about double the usual price. The same gentlemen, however, 

 fatted 250 bullocks on the refuse wash of a sugar distillery; but the quantity of hay 

 consumed was so great, that, although the wash was only valued at 20s. per head, yet ' 

 a loss was incurred upon the experiment. 



f In using this article, about a pint of the molasses should be boiled in half-a-peck 

 of meal, and given when cool in a mash. It is also mixed with the common drink of 

 aged horses in the West Indies, and has been found a great restorative to cattle which 

 have been hard worked. 



X From some experiments that were confined to the common white turnips, it has been 

 estimated that 31 tons produce 43G lbs. of beef and tallow ; v.'hich is nearly 13 lbs. per 

 ton. The feeding having, however, been calculated without any succession of yellow 

 turnips, or Swedes, and continued during five months and a half, the common white 

 sort must have lost so much of tlieir nutritive properties during the close of the feeding 

 season, that it does not afford a fair average ; and if only conthiued during four months, 

 11 lbs. per ton would probably have been nearer the mark. At the same time it was 

 VOL. II. 2 c 



