CATTLE. 



CATTLE 



quarts daily. This provender consists 

 of one-half oil-meal, one quarter oats and one 

 quarter corn ; the two last ground together 

 and the whole intermixed when given to the 

 cattle. 



" The oil-meal in this case cost forty dollars 

 per ton. It weighs about forty-five pounds to 

 a bushel. If ground very fine, it will not 

 weigh more than thirty-eight or forty pounds 

 to the bushel. It is best, therefore, to buy it 

 by weight. This farmer is of opinion that his 

 oxen, if now killed, would return him one 

 thousand pounds of beef each. 



" Meal made from the seed of broom-corn," 

 Mr. Colman says, "is occasionally used, mixed 

 with other provender, but for neat cattle it is not 

 approved by the best farmers. Flaxseed jelly, 

 that is, half a pint or a pint of fiaxseed formed 

 into a jelly by boiling, as an allowance for a 

 stall-fed animal per day, has been used for fat- 

 tening cattle by some farmers with remarkable 

 success. It does not supersede the use of meal, 

 but is best mixed with it. It is believed that 

 no article, according to cost, can be used with 

 more advantage than this for this object ; and 

 that none is known, which is more nutritious. 

 This jelly, which I have myself used with great 

 advantage, is prepared as follows: 'to seven 

 parts of water let one part of linseed be put for 

 forty-eight hours ; then boil it slowly for two 

 hours, gently stirring the whole lest it should 

 burn. Afterwards it ought to be cooled in 

 tubs ; and mixed with meal, bran, or cut chafF, 

 in the proportion of one bushel of hay to the 

 jelly produced by one quart of linseed well 

 mashed together. This quantity given daily 

 with other food will forward cattle rapidly, but 

 it must be increased when they are intended 

 to be completely fattened.'" 



The quantity of Indian corn meal required 

 to fatten cattle, usually varies a little. One 

 experienced feeder gives it as the result of his 

 observation that a yoke of good cattle, to be 

 well stall-fed, will take from twenty to twenty- 

 five bushels of meal, besides the usual allow- 

 ance of hay. 



Some farmers have ground their corn for 

 fattening cattle on the cob. In such cases it is 

 suggested that the miller has it in his power to 

 take advantage by drawing his measure of toll 

 from the lowermost portion of the grist to 

 which the corn usually settles. There can be 

 little doubt that corn cobs will serve the pur- 

 pose of coarse hay for distension, etc., since 

 cattle are often quickly fattened upon nubbins 

 or the smaller ears of corn. They will thus 

 often be found a useful auxiliary. 



The Massachusetts stall-feeders consulted 

 by Mr. Colman are almost universally agreed 

 upon one point namely, that a mixture of 

 provender is best. While Indian meal is to be 

 considered as the basis, certain proportions of 

 rye, or oats, or pease and oats, are always 

 deemed beat to be mixed with it. An excel- 

 lent farmer, whose fat cattle do him much 

 credit, is of opinion that the meal given should 

 always be scalded. Oxen from four to six 

 years old are generally selected for fattening, 

 though some prefer young stock of from three 

 to five years old. With regard to the particu- 

 lar breeds preferred, Mr. Colman says that the 

 296 



small-boned, medium-sized animals, of good 

 length, strongly marked with the Devon blood, 

 are those which are chosen. In considering 

 the capacities of cattle for fattening, a wide 

 chest has been regarded as an unerring sign 

 of a good and quick feeder. Bearing upon this 

 point, Dr. Jenner, the great benefactor of man- 

 kind, made an observation, the truth of which 

 appears to have been fully confirmed by fur- 

 ther examination namely, that no animal 

 whose chest was narrow could easily be made 

 fat. This observation applies not only to neat 

 cattle, but to sheep, goats, and hares. It even 

 holds good in the human species. The experi- 

 enced farmer is seldom at a loss to distinguish 

 the most thrifty cattle, in respect to which there 

 are great differences among individuals of the 

 same breed. To the assistance of the eye is 

 added the sense of touch by the operation tech- 

 nically called handling, the mode of conducting 

 which, according to the most approved English 

 authorities, has been already detailed. In re- 

 ference to the several breeds of cattle and their 

 distinguishing qualities, Mr. Colman makes the 

 following remarks as the result of his observa- 

 tions and inquiries : 



"The pastures in New England are short, 

 and the winters long and severe, and therefore 

 ill-adapted to a race of large size, of tender 

 habits, and requiring extraordinary keeping 

 and the most particular care to maintain their 

 condition. The most celebrated breeds in Eng- 

 land are the improved Durham short-horn, the 

 Hereford, the Ayrshire, and the North Devon. 

 Of these different races, highly improved ani- 

 mals of each sex, for the purposes of breeding, 

 have been introduced into the country and intc 

 the state ; and each race has found strong ad- 

 vocates, who have preferred it to every other. 

 For dairy purposes, as far as my own limited ex- 

 perience and observation go, I have no doubt that 

 the Ayrshire, or a first cross with the improved 

 Durham and the Devon, are to be preferred. 

 For early maturity and size as beef animals, 

 the improved Durham short-horn appears to me 

 to take the lead. But they are tender, and re- 

 quire extraordinary keeping and care to main- 

 tain their good qualities. They seem better adapt- 

 ed to the rich prairies and feeding grounds of 

 the Western States than to our scanty pastures. 

 The Hereford, of which some remarkably 

 beautiful animals have been imported into Al- 

 bany, have warm advocates both here and 

 abroad, and come in strong competition with the 

 improved Durhams. Those of the Herefords, 

 which I have had the pleasure of seeing 

 seemed to me considerably larger than th 

 Devons, but smaller than the Durhams. These 

 were choice specimens, and were remarkably 

 thrifty and beautiful animals, clean about the 

 limbs, not so straight on the back and square 

 behind as the Durhams, but exhibiting upon 

 the whole admirable constitution and symme- 

 try. Having had no farther personal observa- 

 tion or experience with this breed of animals, 

 I will not venture to spe^.k of them with any 

 confidence. Of their particular qualifications 

 for the dairy I know nothing. For our pur- 

 poses as working oxen and for stall-feeding, 

 the North Devon cattle are most generally ap- 

 proved. This undoubtedly is the prevalent 



