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Of the kind of stock to be selected for fatting, oxen from 

 four to six years old are generally preferred. One of the most 

 experienced and successful farmers in the county says he prefers 

 young cattle from three to five years old. He would prefer to 

 raise them himself; but otherwise, he chooses to buy them in 

 the fall or spring ; feed them well in the spring with some meal ; 

 let them run in a good pasture through the summer ; and put 

 them into the stall in the autumn, to be sold the ensuing spring. 

 He always sells his stall-fed cattle before pasturing. 



Others, as I have already stated, purchase steers of two to 

 three years old in the autumn. These are kept upon hay only 

 until spring ; they have then an allowance of meal, of perhaps 

 four quarts per day each ; and are turned early to pasture, from 

 whence they are taken to market in June or July. The prac- 

 tice of others is to give them no meal, but plenty of good hay 

 in winter and spring, and good pasturage in summer; and sell 

 them in the fall without coming to the barn. 



Others purchase oxen in the last of the winter ; feed them 

 well in the spring upon hay and a reasonable allowance of meal ; 

 and they are then turned into a good pasture, and driven to mar- 

 ket through the fall months. 



S. W. says that oxen about six years old have always 

 proved best for him. D. B. states that he has always been 

 most successful with steers. A. R. chooses steers from three 

 to four years old, or oxen six years old. He does not select 

 large cattle, but prefers cattle of small stature, small-boned, 

 and thick-set, as being most profitable in the stall. Another 

 farmer, of good judgment and skill, prefers oxen at six to eight 

 years old, if they can be purchased at a low rate ; and says he 

 has often " doubled his money." In this case he keeps them 

 well on hay and meal ; and reckons only the gross result, with- 

 out keeping any detailed or exact account of the amount of 

 hay and meal consumed. 



Where the farmers mainly depend on pasturing, as in some 

 of the hill-towns, farrow cows are purchased in the spring, 

 and sold to advantage in the autumn. One farmer states, that 



