THE IMPROVED ARl OF FARRIERS. 353 



and several other kinds. There are likewise many 

 plants of the root and top sorts that might be em- 

 ployed in the same way with great economy and bene- 

 fit, as there would be little or no waste, while the 

 beasts would be supported in the best manner, such as 

 those of the carrot and parsnip kind, the several sorts 

 of beets, and perhaps some of the cabbage-plant tribe, 

 as Vv^ell as others. Less attention has, however, been 

 bestowed upon this practice of giving such cattle stock 

 their keep in the hotter months of the year than its 

 superiority in economy and utility appears to demand. 

 For without attending sufficiently to these points, it 

 has been the common and usual practice in almost 

 every part of the country, to suffer all kinds of this 

 sort of stock to be grazed or fed in the pasture-fields 

 or enclosures, never supposing that there was any 

 other way in which they could be better and more 

 cheaply kept under many circumstances. 



Advantages which Recommend the Practice, and 

 Grounds on which it has been Objected to, 

 AND Disregarded. 



The chief points and circumstances which recom- 

 mend and enforce this mode of practice, in preference 

 to that which has been in more general use, in many 

 cases, are those of a larger number of what have 

 hitherto been considered useless plants and grasses, as 

 well as such as are well known to be useful, being em- 

 ployed ; such food being made use of and consumed 

 with far less destruction and waste ; which, of course, 

 makes it go very considerably further in keeping the 

 stock, than when it is eaten off on the land ; the sup- 

 port of the cattle being more regular, being attended 



2 z 



