ON BOX-FEEDING CATTLE- 23 



the meal of peas, beans, &c. The size most preferable are 

 those to contain from 30 to 40 g-allons. The stirrer is an. 

 iron spoon fastened to a shaft of wood 4 feet long. The 

 rammer is 3 feet long", about 5 inches scpiare at the bottom^ 

 and 2^ inches at the top, throug-h which a pin 14 inches 

 long- is passed, for the convenience of being- raised with both 

 hands. The compounds are made as follows : — Upon every" 

 six pails (a pail is supposed to contain six g-allons) of boiling- 

 w^ater, one of line crushed linseed is sprinkled by the hand 

 of one person, while another rajjidly stirs it roimd. In five 

 minutes, the mucilag-e being- formed, a half hog-sheadis placed 

 close to the cauldron, and one bushel of turnips or tops and cut 

 straw are put in. Two or three hand-cupfuls of the mucilage 

 are then poured upon it and stirred. Another bushel of the 

 cut turnips, chaff, &c. is next added, and two or three cups 

 of the jelly as before, all of which is expeditiously stirred 

 and Avorked together with the stirrer and the rammer. It 

 is pressed down as firmly as the nature of the mixture will 

 allow witlx the rammer, which completes the first layer. 

 Another bushel of the cut straw, chaff', etc. is thrown into 

 the tub, the mucilage poured upon it as before, and so on 

 imtil the cauldron is emptied. The contents of the tub are, 

 lastly, smoothed over with a trowel, covered down, and in 

 two or three hours the straw, having absorbed the mucilao-e, 

 will also, with the turnips, have become partially cooked. 

 The compound is then usually given to the cattle, but some- 

 times allowed to remain till cold. The cattle, however, 

 prefer it warm; but whether hot or cold, they devour it 

 with avidity. Either potatoes, carrots, turnips, or mano-el- 

 wurzel, boiled and incorporated with linseed meal, form a 

 compound upon which cattle fatten with great rapidity. To 

 make it, nothing- more is required than to fill the cauldron 

 wdth washed potatoes, or carrots, etc. sliced. Supposing the 

 cauldron would contain eight or nine pails of water, let only 

 (jne be added. In a few minutes the water will boil, and the 

 steam will speedily cook the roots, then a convenient portion 

 should be put into the half hogshead, with a little linseed 

 meal, and smashed with the rammer. The remainder must 

 be prepared in the same way. As the mass increases in the 

 tub, it should be pressed firmly down, in order that it may 

 retain the heat as long as possible. 



In the spring- and summer months, germinated barley 

 may be made into a compound with great advantage, mixed 

 ■with linseed, cut clover, grass, or lucerne ; cattle eat it with. 



