490 



BRITISH HUSBANDRY. 



[Ch. XXXIX. 



the shelter of the sheds. There can indeed be little doubt that it would be 

 found an expeditious mode of fattening; for trials made upon some of the 

 same flock fed with corn of difflsrent kinds, and some with oil-cake, have 

 proved that they do the business in the shortest time*. The experiments which 

 we have already detailed on the feeding of neat cattle, have, indeed, thrown 

 some doubt on the superior efficacy of potatoes when steamed ; but those 

 in the Chapter on the fatting of Swine show a diff"erent result. 



There is a certain degree of fatness that is both requisite for the con- 

 sumer and profitable to the feeder ; but when carried too far, is injurious 

 to the quality of the meat, without adding to the gain of the farmer, though 

 the increase of tallow puts money in the pocket of the butcher t. Soiling, 

 when used with discretion, will not do this ; but oil-cake, linseed, and 

 expedients of a similar nature for creating flesh quickly, certainly effect it ; 

 sometimes with profit, though frequently with loss, and always with dis- 

 advantage to the mutton. Many >heep are, however, fattened upon the 

 rich grazing lands of Ireland and the north of England, as well as in the 

 marshes of Essex, Somerset, and Kent, where they arrive gradually to a 

 state of perfection ; and, if we consider the firmness, nutriment, and savour 

 of the flesh, this is certainly the preferable mode of feeding. The number 

 which an acre will maintain must of course depend upon the richness of 

 the land, and the sort of sheep to be fed upon it ; and it is not every kind 

 of pasture that will fatten the animal, though capable of su[)porting it in 

 health. Any calculation upon the subject made upon any other grounds but 

 those of locality and knowledge of the breed, would therefore be futile. 



The value oi fattincj land being different, the practice of graziers must 

 also difi'er, and their profits must in a great measure depend on the pro- 

 perties of the soil ; for inferior fatting ground will not produce the same 

 profit in proportion to the rent, as will land of the first quality. The 

 farmers' profit must also be governed materially by his judgment in the 

 purchase of lean stock ; the seasons also have great influence on the profits 

 of grazing ; but the greatest profits are generally made by those who, having 

 various qualities of pasture, have always a successive supply of stock to 

 succeed those taken oft", and by attending to the number more than the 

 breed of such stock. 



To the details of feeding in the rich lowlands, we refer with confidence 

 to Price, " On the System of Sheep-grazing in Romney-Marsh ;" and, as 

 the fields are in such cases often only divided by dykes, we copy from the 

 Essex Report, the cut of a light portable wooden bridge, for the more easy 

 transmission of the animals from one field to another. 



* Sussex Rep. p. 318. A flock of Southdowns consisting of 1651 breeding ewes 

 were during four months almost exclusively fed uiion raw potatoes, of which they con- 

 sumed fifty-one bushels per day. Upon an average a full grown Southdown wedder 

 will eat a gallon per day, together with a little hay morning and eTening. — lb. p. 315. 



t The cpiantity of inside fat depends much upon the age and time of fattening. It 

 gathers itself much more in old sheep than in young ones. The tallow of a wether in 

 common management will generally average from an eighth to a tenth of its dead 

 weight. Some fat Southdowns slaughtered by Mr. Ellman have varied from a seventh 

 to a tenth, and one liad the proportion of one-sixth loose fat, — Sussex Rep. p, 332, 



