46 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



though remaining in the house for weeks at a 

 time. It was for th° same reason that Dr. Rrsn 

 was accustomed to advise families in the summer 

 time, not being able to leave the city, to cause 

 their younger children especially, to spend their 

 time above stairs. We have spent a lifetime 

 ourselves in the West and extreme South, and 

 know in our own person, and as to those who 

 had firmness to follow our recommendation, that 

 whole families will escape all the forms of fall 

 levers who will have bright fires kindred at sun- 

 rise and sunset in the family room. But it is 

 too plain a prescription to secure observance in 

 more than one family in one thousand. After 

 the third frost, and until the fall of the next year, 

 it is an important means of health for persons 

 to sleep with an outer door or window partly 

 open, having the bed in such a position, as to be 

 protected from a draught of air. We advise 

 that no person should go to work or take exer- 

 cise in the morning on an empty stomach ; but 

 if it is stimulated to action by a cup or a crust 

 of bread, or apple, or orange, exercise can be 

 taken, not only with impunity, but to high ad- 

 vantage in all chill and fever localities. — Hall's 

 Journal of IleaUlt. 



FATTENING ANIMALS. 



There are certain principles which apply to the 

 feeding of all animals which we will shortly no- 

 tice. 



1. The breed is of great importance. A well 

 bred animal not only affords less waste, but lias 

 the meat in the right places, the fibre is tender 

 and juicy, and the fat is put on just Avhere it is 

 wanted. Compare the hind leg of a full-blood 

 Durham ox, and a common one. The bone at 

 the base of the tail extends much further in the 

 former, afibrding more room for flesh, and the 

 thigh swells out, of convex or circular shape ; 

 while in the common ox it falls in, dishing and 

 hollow. Now the "round" is the most valuat)le 

 cut, and is only found in perfection in high-bred 

 stock. The same is the case over ttie whole body. 

 So well do eastern butchers understand this, 

 ths"!; their prices are regulated by the breed, even 

 where two animals are equally fat. They know 

 that in a Durham or Hereford ox, not only will 

 there be less offal in proportion to weight, but the 

 greatest quantity of meat will be where it brings 

 the highest price when retailed, and will be of a 

 richer flavor, and more tender fibre. The same 

 is the case with hogs. A large hog may chance 

 to make more meat on a given quantity of f')()d 

 than a small one, but the meat of the first will be 

 coarse and tasteless compared with the other ; 

 and in the east, flavor and tenderness greatly 

 regulate prices. Consequently, moderate sized, 

 short-legged, small-headed hogs, always, in the 

 long run, beat large breeds out of favor. In pre- 

 paring for a market, "fashion and taste" must be 

 as much considered by the farmer as by the tail- 

 or. This one fact is at present revolutionizing 

 the English breed of sheep. The aristocracy al- 

 ways paid high for small Welch and Scotch mut- 

 ton ; but the great consumers, the mechanics, 

 preferred large fat joints. The taste is now 

 changed. In Manchester and other such cities, 

 these large joints have become unsaleable ; and 

 all the efforts of the breeder are now turned 



towards small breeds maturing early, with com- 

 paratively little fat. According to late writers, 

 the large Leicester and Cotswold are going quite 

 out of fashion. When we give .$3,000 for a Dur- 

 ham bull, it is not that his progeny are "intrinsi- 

 cally" more valuable to that amount, but the in- 

 creased value and the fashion together, make up 

 the difference. And it is thus, that while Dur- 

 hams and Herefords are preferred for ships and 

 packing, Devons are high in repute for private 

 families. The joints are smaller, but the meat 

 has a peculiar richness, probably found in no oth- 

 er kind of stock : and the proportionate waste is 

 said to be less than in any other breed. Thus in 

 the London market, the Scotch Kyloes, and then 

 the Devons, (the former even smaller than the 

 latter,) bring the highest price, because preferred 

 by the aristoci-acy. So in Dublin, spayed heifers 

 are sought for. But the i)reed also regulates the 

 profit. There is nothing more certain than that 

 one kind of animal will fatten to a given point 

 on much less food than another, and as fattening 

 our stock is only another mode of selling our 

 grain and grass, those animals are to be preferred 

 which come to maturity soonest, and fatten on 

 jthe least food. The difference in hogs is very 

 I great and important. While some breeds must 

 jbe fed for two, or even three winters, others are 

 full grown and fattened at ten months old ; and 

 the difference in profit is enormous. We cannot 

 go into particulars, but the following rules may 

 be considered as applying to all : An animai 

 may be expected to fatten easily when it has fine, 

 soft, elastic skin, Avith thin or silky hair ; the head 

 and legs short, the "barrel" large, but chest and 

 lungs small; and when it is quiet, sleepy and 

 easy in temper. An unquiet, restless, quick-tem- 

 pered animal, is generally a bad feeder, and un- 

 profitable. 



; 2. Much depends in fattening, on outward and 

 mechanical management. Fat is carbon, or the 

 coal which supplies the body with heat. If we 

 are exposed to cold, it is burnt up in our lungs as 

 fast as it is dep sited by the blood ; l)ut if we are 

 kept warm, by shelter or clothing, it is deposited 

 throughout the body, as a supply on hand when 

 needed. Warm stables and pens are a great as- 

 sistance in fattening, and should never be neg- 

 lected. So, also, quiet and peacefulness are im- 

 portant. Every excited action consumes some 

 part of the body which has to be supplied by the 

 food, and detracts from the fat. In the climate 

 of Michigan, warm stables, regular feeding at 

 fixed hours, and kind treatment, with perfect 

 cleanliness, save many a bushel of grain. Ani- 

 mals fed at irregular times are always uneasy and 

 \ fretting. 



3. Ground and cooked food fatten more prof- 

 itably than raw food. Mr. Ellsworth found that 

 hogs made as much flesh on one pound of corn 



I ground and boiled to mush, as two pounds raw 

 unground corn ; though the first did not fatten 

 quite as rapidly, as they could not consume as 

 much food in the twenty-four hours. By grind- 

 ing and smoking, ten hogs will each gain 100 

 pounds in weight, on the same food that five 

 would do if it were raw. 



4. A change of food helps in fattening. Thus 

 an ox fed entirely on corn and hay, will not fat- 

 ten as fast, or as well, as one which has roots, 

 pumpkins, ground oats or buckwheat, &c.. fed to 



