164 FARMERS' REGISTER— LIVE AND DEADWEIGHT OF CATTLE. 



In the statement made in the before mentioned 

 work, they set'tlie average gross weight of mar- 

 ketable beasts at 800 lbs.; whether this average 

 be laid too high or too low is immaterial to our 

 present object; according to their rule, the gross 

 weight being 800 lbs., the dead weight of the car- 

 cass, after deducting the oil'al, will be 550 lbs., or, 

 in the proportion ot" 13| lbs. dead, lor 20 lbs. live 

 weight. Now, I consider (and am borne out in 

 * my opinion by all the experiments I have made) 

 that ti-om 14\ lbs. to l\^ lbs. is the average pro- 

 portion of tairly fed beasts, and I have no hesita- 

 tion in saying, that if a lot of beasts, fed to the or- 

 dinary state of fatness, Avere weiglied at home, 

 (say 100 miles from London) they would scarcely 

 average 11 lbs. dead v/eight there, lor every 20 

 lbs. they weighed alive at home. I consider, 

 takini^ one season of the year with another, that 

 a iiit Deast of 100 stone will lose 50 lbs. in live 

 weight for every hundred miles it travels. 



Wc next come to sheep and lambs; these they 

 take at an average of 78 lbs. live weight, which 

 according to their rule, will give 50 lbs. dead, or 

 in the proportion of 12| dead for 20 hve weight; 

 this is a considerably higher proportion than I have 

 been able to obtain, those I have made being in 

 the proportion of 11.^ to 20, as you wUl perceive 

 by the annexed extracts from my books. 



We will now proceed to examine their state- 

 ment with respect to calves. They say a calf of 

 140 lbs. hve weight will weigh 105 lbs. dead, or 

 in the proportion of 15 dead to 20; in this estimate 

 I consider them farther from the real proportion 

 than in the beasts or sheep. I have been ibr some 

 years in the habit of vealing calves, rather exten- 

 sively, and have fed some as fat calves as most 

 persons, and some Avhich have been allowed to be 

 the best and fattest calves ever seen in the places 

 where they have been killed, and yet, in no in- 

 stance, did any of them exceed 13 in 20. One, 

 and only one, approached that weight, her live 

 weight being 332, dead 214; she was twelve 

 weeks and two days old, and was a very remark- 

 able small calf, (a cross between the Durham and 

 Devon breeds;) her hind quarters weighed 58 lbs. 

 each, the loins 26, the legs 32; while her fore 

 quarters weighed only 49. When alive, her fore 

 quarters were considered to be fully as heavy as 

 the hind; the difi'erence was occasioned by the ex- 

 treme size and fatness of her kidneys, which had 

 above 10 lbs of suet on each: she was estimated 

 by several good judges at 45 lbs. a quarter, and 

 bets Avere made that she would not weigh 47; she 

 had 23 lbs. of rough fat. You wUl perceive, by the 

 statements annexed, that 12 lbs. is about the aver- 

 age proportion; small calves, if not very liU, will 

 scarcely reach that proportion. In corroboration 

 of my statements, I avail myself of an extract 

 from a letter from Mr. Alton, on the subject of 

 vealing calves, which appeared in the 23d or 24th 

 nutnber of the British Farmer's Magazine, in 

 which he mentions an extraordinary calf whose 

 hve weight was 4 cwt. 3 qrs., or 532, its dead 

 weiijht 308 lbs. — rather less than 12 in 20. 



You will perceive by the following accounts of 

 the beasts which I have selected to support my 

 Btatements, that they were fully fit for any market; 

 indeed, with one or two exceptions, they were 

 much fatter than I should wish for my own use, 

 as the weights of their rough fat, which I have 

 purposely given, will show, ajid most of them be- 



ing young, they were as likely to ' have as little 

 offal as any beasts that could have been selected 

 for the purpose; several of them were either short- 

 horns, or a cross of that breed and tlie Devon, and 

 were allowed, particularly the two year old,) by 

 all who saw them, to be the best they had ever 

 seen of their ages. 



No. 1. A three j^ears old short-horn heifer, of 

 my own feeding, slaughtered in May, 1830, by 

 Mr. Warren, butcher, of Taunton; live weight 

 1584, dead weight 942, rough fat 116 lbs.; her 

 dead weight was as nearly as possible 12 in 20. . - 



No. 2. A two years old half short-hom steer, 

 also of my own feeding, slaughtered by Mr. War- 

 ren, of Taunton, in June, 1830; live weight 1568 

 lbs., dead weight 924, rough iiat 112 lbs.; his dead 

 weight bore the proportion of 11| to 20 live. 



No. 3. A three years old heifer, of my own 

 feeding, slaughtered in 1830; live weight 1092, 

 dead 648, rough fat 83 lbs.; her dead weight was 

 about 11| to 20. 



No. 4. An aged cow, slaughtered in 1832; live 

 weight 952, dead 531, rough fat 79 lbs.; her dead 

 weight as 11 to 20. 



No. 5. A two years old Durham and Devon 

 steer, of my own breeding and feeding, slaughter- 

 ed in March, 1833, by Mr. William Dannicl, of 

 Abergavenny; live weight 1428, dead 876, rough 

 lilt 140 lbs.; liis dead weight as nearly as possible 

 12 to 20 live. 



No. 6. A two years old Durham and Devon 

 heifer, also my own breedii5g and feechng, slaugh- 

 tered by JNIr. Danniel, of Abergavenny, 10th 

 June, 1833; her live weight 1232, dead weight 

 708 lbs. rough fat 98 lbs.; her dead weight was 

 about llf to 20 live. She had been fed on the 

 morning of the 17th of January, when she Avas 

 dried, and, consequently, was ted on the morning 

 of the 8th of June, the day on which she was 

 weighed before being slaughtered; had she not 

 been fed in the morning, her dead weight would 

 have borne a higher proportion than it did. 



These last two beasts were allowed by all who 

 saw them, to be, ahve and dead, the two fattest 

 and best beasts of their age ever killed in Aber- 

 gavenny. 



No. 7. A small cow; live weight 630 lbs., dead 

 356, rough fat 55; about 11^ dead to 20 hve 

 weight. 



These being all very fat, bore a higher propor- 

 tion than the average of beasts will do. 



Calves, most of them bred, and all Jed by me. 



No. 1. Calf out of a Durham and Devon heifer, 

 twelve weeks and five days old; live weight 335 

 lbs., dead 208, or about 12i to 20. 



No. 2. Calf out of a Durham and Devon heifer^ 

 twelve weeks and two days old; live Aveight 332, 

 dead 214, or about 13 to 20. 



Live weight, the 5th of Januaiy, 1833, Avas 332 

 Ditto 16th of October, 1832, 86 



Increase in 81 days, 246 



No. 3. Calf out of a Durham and Dutch heifer, 

 ten Aveeks and five days old; IIa'c weight 302, 

 dead 181, or about 12 to 20. 



No. 4. Calf out of a two years old Durham and 

 Devon heiler, eight weeks and five days old; Uve 

 weight 242, dead 147, or about 12 to 20. 



