Extracts IVoin the last edition (1833) of the "Complete Grazier." 

 ON THE BREEDING, REARING, FATTENING, 

 AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF NEAT CAT- 

 TLE. 



[Continued from page 336 Vol. II.] 



Of soiling neat cattle. 



The advocates of this S3'steni support it by the 

 roIlowin;u; arguments, which certainly merit the 

 closest attention ol' the grazier. That: 



I. By introducing the practice of soiling, a very 

 considerable saving of land will be effected; one 

 acre of cut grass soiled being equal to three acres 

 used as pasture; and one acre of cut clover being- 

 equal to two acres pastured, even of the same 

 field, and sown with the same grass, the clover 

 not being trampled upon, and growing so much 

 Hister than if it were often corroded ^vith the teeth 

 of an animal, or the young leaves nibbled off before 

 the}' are sufficiently formed. It has even been af- 

 firmed that sixteen acres of cut clover and tares 

 will jeed as many horses and cattle as thirty-six 

 acres of the same kind of grass would do, if used 

 in pasturage;* and that as all plants draw much of 

 their food ti'om the atmosphere by means of th-eir 

 foliage, they arc deprived of their chief support 

 and never attain perfection, if the herbage be 

 trodden before it has arrived at maturity. 



II. There is also a very considerable saving in 

 the quantity of food consumed, as well as a greater 

 variety of plants eaten, and consequently prevent- 

 ed from running to waste: for when animals are 

 suffered to go upon the field, many plants are ne- 

 cessarily trodden under foot and bruised, or partly 

 buried in the earth; in which state they are greatl}' 

 disrelished by cattle, and arc sufferecl to run to 

 waste; a circumstance which never could occur, il 

 the practice of cutting Avere adopted. 



And if the consumption of plants be the object 

 principally regarded, it is obvious that the benefits 

 thence to be derived will be very great; ibr expe- 

 rience has clearly proved, that cattle will eat with 

 avidity many plants, if cut and given to them in 

 the house, which they never would touch while 

 growing in the field: such are the dock, cow-pars- 

 ley, thisdes, nettles, and numerous other plants; 

 yet, on the other hand, it is known that they will 

 eat food, lohen throivn to them on the gi'ound, 

 which they will reject when given in the stall. 

 We confess, we know not lo what circumstance 

 this can be attributed; hut the fact is, that the ani- 

 mals will eat them without exhibiting any marks 

 of dislike or reluctance, even when they are not 

 pressed by hunger; and they often greedily devour 



* Sinclair, vol. II p. 19. An experiment is recorded 

 in "the American Farmer," (vol. II.) frona which it 

 appears, that sevent-jen acres of land, under the soil- 

 ing system, supported a? raucli stock as had previous- 

 ly required fifty; and Sir Jolin Sinclair mentions a sin- 

 gular coincidence in another trial, in which thirty-three 

 head of cattle were soiled, from the 20th of May to 

 the 1st of October, 1815, on seventeen acres and a half, 

 of which fifty were necessary in pasture. Code of 

 Agriculture, p. 487. 



Vol. II.— 30 



these plants as soon as they are brought in from 

 (he field, and before they can have jiossibly had 

 time to become hungry. It is also well known 

 that many of our best and finest grasses, which, 

 when young, form a most palatable food to cattle, 

 are, if once suflered to get into ear, so much dis- 

 liked by them, that the beasts will never taste 

 them unless compelled by extreme hunger. And 

 as, in most pastures, many of these grasses ripen 

 through delay, their produce is, of course, inevita- 

 bly lost to the grazier; whereas, if cut down hv 

 the scythe in proper time, not one plant will be 

 suffered to get into that nauseating state, and con- 

 sequently no waste can be sustained Irom this 

 cause. 



In addition to the preceding observations, it may 

 be remarked, that those few plants which are to- 

 tally disregarded by one class of animals, so as to 

 be rejected by them, even in the house, will not, 

 on that account, become less acceptable to others, 

 but greatly the reverse. Thus grass, or other 

 food, that has been bloion or breathed upon by any 

 animal tor a considerable time, becomes unpleasant 

 to other beasts of the same species, but not so to 

 stock of another class or variety; for them, indeed, 

 it appears to acquire a higher relish. Even great- 

 er defilement by one animal seems to render food 

 more acceptable to others; for straw, which in a 

 clean state has been refused by cattle, acquires 

 such a relish, if employed as a fitter for horses, 

 that they seek tor it with avidity. Hence it hap- 

 pens, that the sweepings of the stalls from one 

 animal supi)ly a pleasing repast for those of ano- 

 ther kind, which can be easily removed from one 

 to the other, if the plants are consumed in the 

 house, but which must otherwise have been lost 

 in the field. And this peculiarity may, as we 

 shall shortly liave occasion to show, be employed 

 to answer another useful purpose. 



III. With regard to the influence produced by 

 soiling on the health and comfort of cattle, the ba- 

 lance is conceived to be clearly in favor of the cut- 

 ting system, v/hen compared with that of pas- 

 turing. Thus, they are not liable to be blown or 

 hoven, or to be staked or otherwise injured by 

 breaking fences: and it is well known that when 

 animals are exposed to the sun, in the open air, 

 they are not only greatly incommoded on many 

 occasions by the heat, but are also annoyed by 

 swarms of flies, gnats, and hornets, which, as well 

 as the terrible gad-fly,* drive them into a state of 

 perturbation little short of madness, that obvious- 

 ly tends to impede their thriving. At other times 

 (hey are hurt by chilling blasts, or drenched by 

 cheerless rains, which retard their feeding. Un- 

 der proper management, in well constructed stalls, 

 all these evils Avould be alike removed, and they 

 would be kept in a uniform state of coolness, tran- 

 quillity, and ease, so as to make (ho .^amc quantity 

 of food go fiirther in nourishing them than it other- 

 wise would have done. Lastl}', by judiciously 

 mingling green and succulent vegetables with dry 



* Th2 CEstrus bovis of Linnaeus, sometimes called 

 I the breeze. 



