1026 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



generally, he sheds his antlers, which are not completely renewed till August. He will live 

 to between thirty and forty years of age, and was formerly, amidst the other vulgar er- 

 rors of antiquity, supposed capable of attaining most extraordinary duration. The stag is 

 supposed to have been introduced from France into England, where he has latterly been 

 made to give way to the fallow deer, an animal more gentle in its manners, and more 

 valuable as food. In some parts of Scotland he is yet to be found in his original 

 wild state. A stag of five years old is, in hunting, termed a hart ; the female, hinds ; and 

 the young, fawns. 



6618. The roe (C capreolus, L., fig. 698 b) is the smallest of the deer tribes which are 

 natives of Europe; it is generally of a reddish brown color; graceful, sprightly, and 

 courageous, particularly cleanly, and delighting in dry and mountainous situations : it 

 leaves a strong scent behind it, but possesses such arts of defence, that by various doublings 

 and intermixtures of past with present emanations from its body, it frequently baffles 

 the most experienced dogs, and remains in a state of security, while the full pack passes 

 almost close by its retreat, distinguishing it neither by sight nor smell : it differs from the 

 stag in the constancy of its attachment, and the parents and their young constitute a fa- 

 mily, never associating with strangers: two fawns are generally produced by the 

 female at a birth, one of each sex, which, living together, form a mutual and invincible 

 attachment. When a new family is to be nursed, the former is driven off to provide for 

 itself, but returns again after a certain interval to the mother, whose former affection is 

 restored : a final separation speedily takes place, however, soon after this return, between 

 the fawns of the season preceding the last and their dam ; and the former remove to a dis- 

 tance, constituting a distinct establishment, and rearing an offspring of their own. When 

 the female is about to bring forth, she secludes herself in some remote recess of the for- 

 est, from which she returns at the end of about ten days, with her fawns, just able slow- 

 ly and weakly to follow her steps : in cases of danger she hides them in a place deemed 

 by her most secure from the enemy, and attracts the attention of the latter from them to 

 herself; happy, by her own perils or even destruction, to effect the security of her off- 

 spring. In winter, these animals feed on brambles, broom, heath, and catkins; and in 

 spring they eat the young wood and leaves of almost every species of tree, and are 

 said to be so affected, as it were with intoxication, by the fermentation of this food in 

 their stomachs, that they will approach men and other enemies (whom they generally 

 shun with great care), without apprehension or suspicion. The flesh of these animals is 

 excellent, though after two years of age that of the males is ill-flavored and tough. 

 The roe exists now in no part of Ireland, and, in Great Britain, only in a few districts 

 of the Highlands. 



6619. The fallow deer (C. damn, L.,fig. 698 c) is in general much smaller than the 

 stag ; but in Spain is nearly equally large : in P>ance and Germany it is rarely to be 

 found, and it has never been known to have existed in America : it has the elegance of 

 the stag, connected with a much more tractable disposition r it sheds its antlers, which, as 

 in the stag species, are peculiar to the male, every year ; is stated to live to the age of 

 twenty years, and arrives at its maturity in three ; it is by no means fastidious in its 

 food. 



6620. Deer Jiusbandry. The author of the Agricultural Survey of the County of Hertford, observes, 

 that " the Earl of Clarendon, justly considering that there is no more impropriety in converting one ani- 

 mal to profit than another, makes deer an object of husbandry. As soon as the rutting season is over, or 

 usually about the 10th of November, his lordship selects from the herd, the weak ones, some of which 

 would probably die in the winter, and keeps them in a small yard that has a shed on one side, and a net 

 over the whole against pigeons, &c. ; the spot very warm, and well sheltered. Their antlers are imme- 

 diately sawn off, the place is well littered, and they are fed at a very small expense on pea-straw, hay, &c. 

 warmth making up for the want of better food. At times, during the winter, they have clover-hay cut 

 into chaff, and if they do not eat it well, a little salt is added. They have always plenty of water, and are 

 kept perfectly clean : much attention should, he says, be paid by the keeper to make himself familiar with 

 them, that he may enter the place without disturbing them. The first week in March he gives them oil- 

 cake, about half a cake each a-day, with chaff, which fattens them so quickly, that all are gone in May.. 

 Before killing, they have some green meat given, to take away any ill flavor from the cake, supposing 

 such to be the effect of the food, for it is certain that the venison is exceedingly good. As to weight, a 

 haunch usually weighs about 24 pounds; a brace is sold for 15 guineas: the skin, worth 2/. 2s. is the 

 keeper's perquisite ; so that the value of abrace amounts to 111. 17s. exclusive of some trifling articles. The 

 purchaser sends for them." It is added, that his lordship usually fattens nine brace : his whole winter-stock 

 rises to 350 head, in a park of 250 acres, but much of it is thickly covered with timber ; 30 sheep and ten 

 cows also feed in it. The park consumption of hay amounts to 32 loads, being reduced to that quantity by 

 the use of much browse ; all ash, elm, and Scotch pine, being brought for that purpose before faggotting^ 

 which not only saves hay, but improves the flavor of the venison. 



6621. By castrating the males of deer when newly dropped, which is not in the least 

 dangerous, it affords the means of having good venison until Christmas, without any other 

 sort of food than the common grass ; they also fatten more quickly; the operation must,, 

 however, be performed while they are quite young. {Devonshire Report. ) 



6622. The moose deer, or elk [Cervus alces, 'L.^ is indigenous in Europe, America, 

 and Asia, as far as Japan, and was formerly wild in this country though now extinct. It is 

 of the size of a horse ; gentle, except when teazed by the gad-fly ; feeds on twigs, and 

 branches of trees, and marsh plants ; goes on its hoofs with a shambling gait at the rate of 



