WITH PREPARED FOOD. 53 



"Anotliei- advantage of your system is, the g-reat saving- 

 of turnips. To keep a farm in a high state of fertihty, it is, 

 on ahnost all descriptions of land, necessary to fatten cattle 

 in yards during winter ; and as turnips and other root crops 

 are indispensable for this purpose, any system which econo- 

 mizes their use is equally important to strong- and light land 

 farms ; as, in the latter case, it leaves a greater proportion 

 of the turnip crop to be consumed on the land by sheep, and 

 on the former, a larger number of cattle can be fed on the 

 same breadth of fallow crop ; which, to those who know the 

 difficulty of catching a season for even a few acres of such 

 crops on really stiff land, will be felt to be a point of mate- 

 rial importance. 



" Allow me, in conclusion, briefly to point out the many 

 points of resemblance between your pi-epared food and that 

 obtained by a grazing bullock in a pasture. The grass is in 

 short lengths, end requiring little mastication before swal- 

 lowing ; it contains much water, and nourishing ingredients 

 are mixed with a large ]U'oportion of what may be called 

 neutral matters, to give distension to the stomach. In the 

 artificial food, by using chaff or chopped straw, you also 

 save the labour of long mastication, and furnish the neutral 

 ingredients which give the required bulk. The boiled lin- 

 seed and meal, intimately mixed with the straw, furnish the 

 nutritive matter, and give an agreeable flavour to the whole; 

 a sufficient quantity of water is also thus supplied, and the 

 warmth is artificially furnished, which, in summer grazing, 

 the temperature of the air supplies. The parallel is very 

 complete, and its success is such as a close imitation of na- 

 ture usually ensures. 



"I beg to state, that as I intend (D. v.) to have your sys- 

 tem in full operation during the whole winter, any brother 

 farmer who may wish to see it at work will be heartily wel- 

 come to do so at my farm, whether he wishes to take' a hint, 

 or merely to examine and criticize. I am, dear sir, yours 

 truly, II. S. Thompson." 



" Moat Hall, York, Sept. 14th, 1846." 



We have only to add, that the system recommended by 

 Mr. Marshall is the same that we have adopted for the last 

 two seasons ; and that our practice, which consists in mix- 

 ing linseed-meal and bean-meal with hay and straw chaff, 

 and roots, given to cattle and sheep in " boxes," was copied 

 from Mr. Warnes, of Trimingham, in Norfolk, and Mr. 



