NEW EWCJEiAMD FAKl 



Published by JoHiT B. RussELt, »t JVo. 52 JVorth Market Street, (at the AgricuUiiral Warehouse).— ThokaTg. Fe 



SSENDEN, Editor. 



VOL. VII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1829. 



No. 36. 



AGRICULTURE. 



FOR THK NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ON STALL FEEDING CATTLE. 



■ Mr Editor — Most persons are willing to com- 

 municate the result of those experiments only, in 

 which they have been successful. Those in which 

 we fail may be made equally u.seful, as pointing 

 out to others the rocks on which we have been 

 wrecked, and giving fair and seasonable warning 

 of the dangers of the navigation. Under pecuni- 

 ary loss and disappointment, we ought, at least, to 

 be allowed the consolation and relief of making 



liave been less, but still it would have been a 

 losing concern, as may be seen by a calculation. 



Cost of the o.\en, 

 Hay, 



J bushel of corn per day, for 88 days, is 

 44 bushels, at 60 cts. 



65,00 

 11,00 



26,40 



Proceeds of the sale, 

 Loss by this feeding, 



102,40 

 92,30 



$10,10 

 But it is by no means certain. that by this mode 

 our mistakes adn>onilory an.l beneficial to those, °/ ''•'"^'"" ^^'^^ would have gaiwed as much as by 

 who might be otherwise in danger of suflW ''lTi!...".'^°'!'''^-:„.®'^ 'b ' 

 from the same causes with ourselves. 



1 have • been curious to know, since the great 

 articles of agricultural produce this year have been 

 as cheap with us in this vicinity as they ordinari- 

 ly are far back in- the country, why we could not 

 stall-feed cattle 7iere to advantage, if it is true that 

 the farmers in the country find it for their advan- 

 tage to fatten beef by stall feeding for the market .' 

 I exchanged a yoke of oxen in low condition in 

 the fall, for a yoke of larger cattle, in such a tliriv- 

 ing condition as several good judges pronounced 

 most favorable to success in the experiment. 



My own cattle were sold again by the pur- 

 chaser, in the way of trade for sixty dollars ; but 

 lie estimated the cash value at fifty-five. 1 give 

 in exchange for the cattle to be fatted, ten dollar.?, 

 which made the cost of the oxen stall-fed, sixty- 

 five dollar.s, when their C?eding began. This wii* 

 tlie first of Di'cemher, and they were slaughtered 

 the 26th of February. They were kept clean , 

 daily carded, and fed at regular hour.s witli as 

 much care and fidelity as possible. They w'eie 

 eighty-eight days in the stall, being turned iStit 

 tfiice or twice a day for watering; and the feod 

 consumed, and the result, arc as subjoined. 

 73 bushels of turnips, or mangel wurt- 



zel, at 10 cents per bushel. 

 lCfe4 qts of Indian, or oil meal (at 28 

 ; qts to a bushel, deducting the toll,) 

 ': ■ equal to 36i bushels, at 60 cents per 



bushel, 

 65^ bushels of potatoes, at 25 cents per 



bushel. 

 Hay not ascertained, but estimated for 



both, at 25 lbs. per day, at 50 cts per 



10^Ub4y2200 lbs. 



'€ost of feed, 

 Value of the oxen when jiut up. 



,30 



21,95 



16,31.1 



,11,00 



Weight when killed lB46Jbs. for which 

 the butcher allowed mc 5 cts per lb. 



56,56^ 

 65,00 



121,561 



92,30 



Loss on the oxen, $29,20.^ 



Such is the result of the experiment, conducted 

 for aught I see, as fairly as possible. Some id my 

 neighbors, upon seeing the issue, told me thai the 

 mistake was in using so many vegetables, and that 

 I should have given them only hay anil Indlim 

 meal ; — say as much hay as they would eat, and a 

 peck of meal each per day. The loss then would 



lowever, I am not 

 able to form an opinion. The cattle fed as well 

 as possible from the beginning. 



This result, though by no means agreeable, cor- 

 responds perfectly with the statement on the same 

 subject, of a " Gentleman of Columbia," in vol. ii. 

 p-. 221, of the New York Memoirs of Agriculture, 

 which I should be glad to see republished, in part, 

 in your useful paper. 



I have been solicitous, in the next ])lace, to as- 

 eijjtain as near as practicable, what are the ordi- 

 nary profits of the butcher in such cases. Sev- 

 eral have admitted that the advance which they 

 receive is from one to two cents jier lb. Tlie 

 butcher, to whom my cattle were sold, an honor- 

 able and fair man, said that he should be satisfied 

 with the hides and tallow for his profit. The 

 hides at 5 cents per lb. and the tallow 5J, (the 



Ciirrent pricies) would have given him $18"77. 



Or rating his profits at one cent and a half per 

 11). he receives $27,69. This seems to me a large 

 commission, and very disproportionate to the re- 

 sult with the farmer, who loses above 29 dollars, 

 while the butcher gains, probably above 27 dol- 

 lars, with comparatively little trouble. 



I leave all remarks in this case to others, and 



am, Mr Editor, Yours respectfully, 



March 7, 1829. S. X. 



Remarks by the Edilor—Thc following is a part 

 of the article alluded to above by our correspon- 

 dent, and which he would « be glad to see re[)ub- 

 lished," &c. « We all know that selhng lean cat- 

 tle, either in spring or fidl, is a poor business at 

 best, even when they can be sold at all ; and the 

 only way to obtain anything like a fair price, is to 

 get them ready for the butch(!r as early as possi- 

 ble. If they are in good pasture trom the middle 

 of May to the middle of August, they will sell, as 

 there is generally a demand by those who retail 

 them in the country villages and towns ; poor 

 enough to be sure is the meat, but it goes by the 

 name of beef. To keep on hand this kind of 

 stock for three months longer, that is to the mid- 

 dle of November, when the markets are so fully 

 supplied, they will seldom pay for their keeping. 

 As an article of agricultural profit, it will never 

 do ; as a matter of convenience and necessity, we 

 must make use of it. If then, in a domestic way, 

 this turns to so little profit, let us next examine 

 whether, on a large scale, it can be made better. 

 In the sining, lean cattle, as steers and oxen, may 

 generally be purchased low, and in six months, 

 being kept in good pasture all that time, they will in."- ' 



he far, or at least in good order. Now what hav» 

 they cost.' An ox, on the 15lh of May of mod- 

 erate size, will cost, on an average, $25 ; keeping 

 till the 15th of November, will not be less than $1 

 per month, that is $6 ; expense of sending to mar- 

 ket, 100 miles di.staiit, $2,50 ; interest on the pur- 

 ciiase money, including risk, at 10 jier cent, is 

 §2,50 — then your ox has cost .S36. He will not 

 sell at that season for more than $40— a poor 

 profit indeed of^i. This article will then seldom 

 answer, unless where land is at a low price, and 

 very distant from market. I have known several 

 trials made, and by attentive experienced farmers, 

 who hare, after a year or two given it up. 



Let us next examine whether winter stall feed- 

 ing will do better. If cattle are in very good 

 order, or half fat, the 1st of December, they may 

 be made lit for market in three months, and feed- 

 ing for that time will cost $25. If they are in or- 

 dinary store order, it will require six months, feed- 

 ing, which will cost at least $30. Now it is easy 

 to calculate whether the price you will then ob- 

 tain for them will pay the first cost, risk, interest, 

 and expenses ; if so stall feeding will do, other- 

 wise not. My own experience has taught me that 

 it will not do — others will judge for themselves. 

 » * « * * 



" When the firmer or grazier itndertalces to 

 make the fattening of cattle his business, the first 

 prerequisite is, that he be a judge, and a good one 

 too, of the worth of cattle in all their tliflerent 

 stages, of which he judges by the eye, and hand ; 

 next be must have at command a capital in cash, 

 to enable him to buy with most advantage ; and 

 then he must have provided food in sufficient 

 quantity for whatever mode of feeding he under- 

 takes. Fattening on grass, or in the stall, are the 

 two modes of managing this business ; on grass 

 tlie best way is to buy young cattle, particulvirly 

 three or four year old steers, in the month of No- 

 vember ; to keep them in the yard all winter, fed 

 partly with straw and jiartly with hay, but so as 

 to have them in good order in the spring ; and 

 these cattle should not be of the largest sizes, 

 rather midilling, such as will come to about six 

 luindred weight the four quarters when fattened. 



Such may generally be bought fw $20 or $25 



They must have good pasture for four months, for 

 if tliat fails, the profit is gone. But as we cannot 

 control the seasons, in case a severe drought takes 

 place, the only remedy is a little grain, or rather 

 meal, given daily. Provided they are thus fci3, 

 they will be ready for sale by the middle of Sep- 

 tember, and generally at this time cattle of the 

 above size are in good demand ; if kept later, the 

 market* are glutted, and the price always lower. 



" The middle of September, such cattle, weigh- 

 ing 600 lbs. the quarters, will not sell for more 

 than $36, or $6 per 100. They have cost, firsi 

 120, next, winter keeping, hay $2,50, .straw $2,50, 

 four and an half month's grass $4,50, interest for 

 ten months on $20, at 7 per, cent. $1,16 — then 

 the [uufit is about $5,— besides the risk. This is 

 no great encouragement, yet I can make no more 

 of it, and have often made less. 



'• In pursuing this subject, we now inquire what 



is the most economical and profitable v.inti'r feed- 



We must first know what an ox requires to, 



