DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Cn.vr. I. 



from the system ; but there is no reason to suppose that it favors the accu- 

 n\ulation of fat. Liebig, indeed, asserts that ' tlie absence of common salt is 

 favorahh to the format i(>7i of fat, ^ and tliat the ' fattejiing of an animal is 

 rendered impossible, when we add to its food an excess of salt, althougli 

 short of the quantity required to produce a purgative effect.' liecently, 

 liowevcr, in allusion to experiments made since the publication of the work 

 in wliich tlic above sentences occur, Liebig says: 'Salt does not act as a 

 ]u-oducer of flesh ; but it neutralizes the injurious actions of the conditions 

 which must be united in the unnatural state of animals fed or fattened in 

 order to produce flesh ; and the advantatjes attending its use can liardly be 

 estimated too highly.' 



" Boussingault is also in favor of salt. Two lots of steers were fed thirteen 

 months, one with and one without salt. The average weight per head of 

 tlie salttd lot, at the commencement of the experiment, was 095 lbs. ; at the 

 cud of thirteen mouths, 2,090 lbs. Increase, 1,135 lbs. They consumed per 

 head 15,972 lbs. of hay. One tun of hay, therefore, produced 143 lbs. of 

 increase of animal. 



"The second lot, which received no salt, averaged at the commencement 

 of the experiment 896 lbs. ; at the end of thirteen months, 1,890 lbs. 

 Increase, 994 lbs. They consumed per head 1-1,553 lbs. of hay, or one tun 

 of hay produced 137 lbs. of increase of animal. 



"The steers receiving salt produced six poimds more increase for each tun 

 of hav constimed than those which were not allowed salt. This may be 

 considered only<a slight advautagc, and in France did not pay the cost of 

 the salt ; in this country, however, where salt is much cheaj^er, its use will 

 doubtless be profitable. Boussingault remarks : 'Tlie salt exercises no con- 

 siderable influence on the growth, yet it appears to exert a beneficial eflect 

 on the appearance and condition of the animal.' Up to the first fourteen 

 days no perceptible difference was observed between the two lots ; but in the 

 course of the month following, the difl'erence was visible, even to the 

 unpracticed eye." 



With such good authority, it is presumed feeders will continue the use of 

 salt; but let us give them this one word of caution — do not give it in excess. 

 If you can not get rock-salt, or if that is too expensive, mix fine salt with 

 soft clay, and dry that in large cakes, and lay them under cover for the cattle 

 to lick. 



97. Rock-Salli — "\Ye reiterate that rock-salt is not only the most econom- 

 ical, but the most convenient for the farmer to salt his cattle, since it can be 

 placed where they can lick it at their leisure, and there it will remain, sum- 

 mer and winter ; the rains have very little effect upon it while in a lump, 

 as it comes from the quarry, it being really what its name indicates, a piece 

 of rock. "When broken fine it dissolves easily, but not before. 



A farmer who has the least idea of economy should learn how much he 

 can save in a year, or a lifetime, by the simple operation of substituting rock- 

 salt in place of that in ordinary use for farm-stock. A lump of rock-salt 



