CATTLE. 



CATTLE. 



tening cattle for market any thing but profita- 

 ble, and that if extensivsty and exclusively 

 carried on by individuals, the result must 

 generally be embarrasment and ruin. "From 

 the best observation which I have been able to 

 make, I have," he says, " found very few in- 

 tances in which a pair of cattle or a single 

 ox kept for any length of time in the stall have 

 ever made compensation for the produce which 

 they or he consume, even at prices consider- 

 ably below the current prices in the market. 

 There are occasional and accidental excep- 

 tions, but they are very seldom to be met 

 with." In the estimates presented to Mr. Col- 

 man, Indian corn-meal is reckoned at from 

 60 to 75 cts. per bushel, potatoes 25 cts. per 

 bushel, a mixture of peas and oats at 50 cts. 

 per bushel, and hay at $10 per ton. 



"It has been supposed that farmers by going 

 extensively into the cultivation of esculent 

 roots, such as carrots, ruta-baga, parsnips, or 

 mangel-wurtzel, could fatten cattle to much 

 more advantage, or rather at much less ex- 

 pense than on hay or corn. This deserves 

 great consideration. On this subject we want 

 light, and that which springs from actual and 

 intelligent experience. My belief is, that for 

 the fatting of cattle, where the coarse fodder is 

 well saved, few crops are more profitable to the 

 farmer than a crop of Indian corn at the rate 

 of seventy bushels to the acre. Next to corn, 

 potatoes at the rate of four hundred bushels 

 to the acre would be a profitable crop. In 

 number of bushels to the acre, there is no 

 doubt that more can be produced and at a less 

 expense of cultivation and harvesting of 

 common turnips, of ruta-baga, and of mangel- 

 wurtzel, than of potatoes. But it is believed 

 that more nutritive matter can be obtained 

 from one hundred bushels of potatoes than 

 from two hundred of common turnips. Ruta- 

 baga and mangel-wurtzel have undoubtedly a 

 great superiority over the common white tur- 

 nip, but these are much inferior to the best and 

 most farinaceous potatoes. Hay is without 

 question one of the best articles which can be 

 given to fattening animals; but where an 

 abundance of meal or of esculent vegetables 

 is given, the nature of the long feed to be given 

 them seems of much less importance. Rye, 

 wheat, or oat straw, in such case, is found to 

 be given with an almost equal advantage as 

 the best hay. Many of the best beasts in 

 England are fatted upon straw and turnips. 

 In En-land, it is considered as doing well, if 

 an acre of turnips will fatten an ox for market. 

 An experienced farmer here is of opinion, that 



ne hundred bushels of potatoes with a small 

 amount of hay will fatten an ox. Another 

 says, that he allows twenty-five bushels of 

 corn to fatten an ox, and but little hay will be 

 required. 



"It is curious to compare the gain of fattening 

 cattle with the actual cost of keeping. Two 

 pounds live weight per day in an ox are con- 

 sidered a large gain. The largest gain men- 

 tioned in this report is a little more than three 

 pounds per day. At seven dollars per hundred, 

 this would be equal to twenty-seven cents. To 

 make this, we suppose the animal to receive 

 one peck of Indian meal, which, at 66f cents 

 298 



per bushel, would be 16$ cents, and 28 Ibs. oi 

 hay, which, at 8 dollars per 2000 Ibs., would 

 be 11 cents and 2 mills, or both about 28 cents, 

 Or suppose him to gain only 2 Ibs. per day, 

 which would be 14 cents ; and his daiiy al- 

 lowance of meal be reduced to 4 quarts, and 

 hay the same as befo/e, the daily cost of keep- 

 ing would be about 20 cents ; in which case, 

 if we place the manure as an offset for the 

 attendance, interest, and commissions on sale, 

 &c., there will be a loss of about six cents per 

 day. I believe the result is often much worse 

 than this ; and it is much to be regretted that 

 farmers are not willing to look these facts in 

 the face. I do not mean to deny that there are 

 instances of success in this department of 

 husbandry, instances in which the farmer is 

 well paid for his trouble and attendance, and 

 receives a full compensation for the feed sup- 

 plied to them ; but these instances are compa- 

 ratively rare, and so much matter of contin- 

 gency, that even the most skilful farmers cannot 

 always rely upon their best judgment. The 

 farmer always feels satisfied, if he can, as he 

 terms it, double his money; that is, if he re- 

 ceives for his cattle in the market twice as 

 much as they cost him when he first put them 

 into the stall. This is sometimes done. It is 

 seldom exceeded ; and fatteners often fall 

 short of it." 



At Mr. Colman's request, a careful farmer 

 made experiments for the purpose of ascertain- 

 ing the actual quantity of hay ordinarily con- 

 sumed by a fatting ox. In conducting these, 

 the hay was first weighed, and then the weight 

 of the leavings deducted. Five oxen consumed 

 150 Ibs. hay per day. Two of these oxen had 

 at the same time 20 quarts of provender half 

 Indian corn and half broom-seed meal; two of 

 them 24.quarts of the some provender per day; 

 and one of them eight quarts per day. Upon a 

 second experiment with the same cattle, fed as 

 just stated, the consumption of hay by each 

 ox averaged 25 Ibs. per day. 



It is stated in the Complete Grazier, that an 

 unworked ox for several days together consumed 

 33 Ibs. of hay per day. In the New York Me- 

 moirs of Agriculture, it is stated that an ox will 

 eat every twenty-four hours 14 Ibs. of hay, half 

 a bushel of potatoes, and 8 quarts of Indian 

 meal. It hence appears that the capacities 

 of cattle for the consumption of food vary 

 according to circumstances of size, age, con- 

 dition, &c. Many farmers who engage in 

 fattening cattle only expect to get paid in the 

 operation for their grain, without taking into 

 account the hay consumed. They, however, 

 derive the great advantage of consuming their 

 crops upon the ground, and reserving the ma- 

 nure to keep up the productiveness of the soiL 

 The farmer who annually sells off the produce 

 of his land in the form of grain, hay, &c., soon 

 finds the necessity of making a considerable 

 outlay for manure, to compensate for certain 

 and often rapid deterioration. It is freely ad- 

 mitted that with respect to hay, straw, and all 

 kinds of what is called " long feed," it is always 

 better to consume the produce on the farm, 

 even at a nominal loss of twenty-five per cent^ 

 than to carry it off any distance to market; 

 that is to say, a farmer had best feed his hay 



