1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



105 



I 



have done; after tliat, however, a very pcrcepfible 

 improvement took place, and by adding a little to 

 their daily allowance of ground beans, their value 

 when killed, as it appears by the tlcsher's return, 

 was very ditl'erent li'oin what it had been when 

 valued comparatively with the other lots at the 

 April show. This untoward circumstance, caused 

 a greater expense in the keeping of this lot than 

 would have been otherwise necessary. 



In the charge against lot No. 4, it will be ob- 

 served that keeping upon distillery ofTal is more 

 expensive than the keeping of lots No. 2 and 

 3 with their half allowance of turnips. The tur- 

 nips, however, were the produce ol the farm, and 

 the prices were fi.\ed by the Committee, and high 

 as they are, I could not have purchased turnips to 

 carry here, unless by giving four or five shillings 

 advance upon the ton weight; therefore a part of 

 the charge against the distillery ofial, will require 

 to be set down for manure, and the same ought 

 also to be deducted li-om the beans, which are 

 charged at rather a full price.* 



Upon the whole, it is evident by these experi- 

 ments, that feeding with turnips as an auxiliary, 

 has been the most advantageous mode of using 

 turnips, as by ihe state it is apparent that if the 

 cattle of lot No. 1 had only been allowed half the 

 quantity of turnips which they consumed, and had 

 got oil-cakes in lieu of the other half^ as was 

 given to lot No. 2, the expense of their keeping 

 would have been lersened £4, 13s., and from su- 

 perior quality thoir value would have been in- 

 creased £10, making together £14, 13s.; there- 

 fore, by bestowing the remainder of the turnips, 

 with the addition oi oil-cakee, upon other five cat- 

 tle, the realization upon the turnips eaten by lot 



No. 1, would have been £29, Gs. additional to 

 what it has been. 



These experiments were carried on for two 

 months after the valuation was made at the show 

 in April; as from an over supply in the market, 

 caused by a scarcity of turnip.s, the cattle would 

 not then have paid for their keep; but by continu- 

 ing till June, I have been amply remunerated for 

 air my outlay and trouble, without taking into ac- 

 count the great advantage of the additional and 

 enriched manure of twenty cattle fiutening upon 

 the farm, where ten only could have been kept, 

 had turnips alone been used for that purpose; and 

 to any person at all acquainted with agriculture, it 

 must be evident that one cart-load of manure 

 made by cattle thus fed, will be at least equal to 

 two, if the cattle had got only straw and water. 



The above experiments, which are corroborated 

 by those conducted last season by Messrs. An- 

 drew Howden and Alexander Brodie, junior, tend 

 to show that the winter feeding of cattle is more 

 capable of successful extension by those who have 

 a sufficiency of straw, but who have not such 

 abundance of turnips, as to be able to make all 

 their straw into manure by cattle upon full feed- 

 ing, than was formerly imagined. 



Vrom the cattle having travelled to Glasgow, 

 their weight has not turned out in the manner it 

 would have done had they beeri slaughtered near- 

 er home; besides, from a very great dulness ta- 

 king place in the butcher market there, Mr. Wil- 

 liam Thomson, who purchased the cattle, found 

 great difficulty in disposing of the beef so quickly 

 as the time of lifting required, therefore lot No. i, 

 which was first slaughtered, had an advantage by 

 not being allowed to fall off from being kept after 

 beinij driven such a distance. 



Live Weiqhl of Cattle before being travelled to Glasgow. 



Lot 1. 



Fed on turnips alone. 



Stones. 

 No. 1 weighed 118 

 " 2 " 104 



" 3 " 111 



" 4 " 107 



" 5 " 96 



536 



Flesherh Statement of the fVeighl of Beef Tallow, and Hides. 

 The Carceisses in Imperial Stones , Tallow and Hides in lbs. 



* We think that in all such calculations, the value 



of any produce consumed on the farm ought to be 



taken at what it really costs the farmer to raise it, and 



not at its market price, for that includes the profit on 



Vol. VI— 14 



it; and it is surely unreasonable to attempt to superadd 

 a profit above the profit included in its market price. — 

 Editor. 



