26 THE CATTLE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



and possibly nitre. We could not say a word in favour of such 

 compositions as food for calves, or as the seasoning for their 

 food, because we consider them very objectionabl?. If the 

 young animal is in a healthy state, and under proper manage- 

 ment, digestion and appetite will be quite equal to the wants of 

 th3 body. The use of such food will tend to impair the diges- 

 tive faculties. We should not consider it desirable to give a 

 child mustard or hot pickles, inasmuch as such stimulating food 

 would injure the stomach ; and so the use of cattle condiments 

 must be condemned for young stock, however advantageous in 

 the case of fattening animals. Even if there were not these 

 drawbacks, the condiment, as tending to create an abnormal 

 appetite, would induce the deposition of fatty matter, and thus 

 predispose to disease. To quote from a writer on this subject • 

 *'It is now generally admitted by physiologists that an extra 

 development of fat is opposed to the normal growth and health 

 of muscle, and when the accumulation of fat is in connection 

 with any of the vital organs, as the heart, the degree of health 

 is then very low, the slightest influence from without — extra 

 heat or cold, or sudden exercise or excitement of any kind — 

 being sufficient to endanger life. An extra deposition of fat 

 about the liver or kidneys is also attended with similar condi- 

 tions unfavourable to the general health. High-bred stock too 

 often inherit a tendency to accumulate fat, which all our care is 

 unavailing to counteract. The best antidotes are plenty of 

 exercise, which acts by exciting the excretory organs to free 

 action, with a supply of food suitable for building up the 

 frame ; and if, in spite of such treatment, animals will still get 

 fat, we don't know that there is any remedy. Nothing is more 

 opposite to nature than the system of forcing upon stimulating 

 food, and keeping young stock shut up in houses — plans that are 

 too frequently adopted in the case of animals intended for 

 exhibition." 



Having wintered well during their first year, after manage- 

 ment is comparatively easy. The animal will be able to take 

 care of itself. Our practice must now depend upon the end in 

 view. If we intend fattening the animals, the process must be 

 continuous, and a supply of cake and other artificials must be 

 given at grass or supplied with the forage crops in the yards ; 



