128 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



and diluted witli pcrliaps one-half of its quantity in water. It may be 

 expected that a substance like bacon, from which nitrogenized and 

 phosphoric matter may be expected to be dissolved by the action of 

 boiling, will be of use ; but, to make it alimentary, it is necessary to mix 

 it with a considerable proportion of mJlk. However unnatural this 

 mixture may appear; how contrary soever to all theories of natural 

 history it may be to give carnivorous matter to herbivorous animals, we 

 may find in it an analogy by no means unimportant, in the disposition 

 evinced by mature animals of this description to select and chew, for 

 hours together, a piece of bone, which they will search for with instinctive 

 pertinacity, and relinquish with reluctance. Is it not because she finds 

 in it the nitrogen or the phosphates denied her in the food upon which 

 she is confined ? And if this be so — if she is guided by her instinct to 

 select and choose animal matter, why may not a decoction of animal 

 substance be useful to the calves, in their younger stages, as an auxiliary, 

 and, to a certain extent, a substitute for the beverage which nature has 

 given them, but which man denies them. 



Solid Food for calves will soon, however, displace much of the liquid. 

 At five or six weeks old they ought to be trained to eat sliced roots. 

 To do this it is only necessary to supply them in convenient forms in a 

 trough within their reach. Their moments of leisure will be employed 

 in playing with and sucking these pieces, until they begin to masticate 

 them. The roots should, for this purpose, be cut into oblong pieces, ono 

 inch broad, half an inch deep, and two inches long; these shapes are 

 better than either slices or squares, being more adapted to their conforma- 

 tion, and better calculated to make them learn to eat of their own 

 accord. Calves should be reared from the months of September to 

 March. We do not approve of late-bred calves ; if they are reared late, 

 they become tender and require nursing the following winter. In the 

 months we have named, however, turnips are always plentiful ; or, if 

 mangel-wurzel is cultivated, it will be found a very successful substitute; 

 although we prefer Swedes. These appear not only to agree with the 

 palate of the animal and to make it thrive, but they exercise a very 

 beneficial influence on its subsequent development. Is it because they 

 contain a large share of the phosphates ? Sprengel makes the relative 

 proportions of the phosphates in the Swedes to be nearly six times as 

 great as in the common turnips, and sulphate ten times. 



Pbos. acid. Sulph acid. 



Common turnips 13 -^U ner 1000 lbs. 



Swedes 408 890 [ P^^ ^^'"" ^^^ 



Other auxiliaries are sometimes adopted, such as bean-meal, pea-meal, 

 oatmeal, cattle sago, and Indian meal ; all these being very material 

 aids in rearing calves. 



CATTLE-FEEDIi\G. — This question is one of economy simply: how can 

 the largest number of jwunds of beef be produced at the least poasible 

 cost? This is the real question still unsettled, and on this we will pro- 

 ceed to show the present extent of our knowledge. 



First. The grazier must select such animals as will lay on fat rapidly; 

 and, by a physiological law, as we have seen, there are those which will 



