No. 9. 



Soiling of Cattle. 



289 



the fall the produce was great: several hills 

 yielded more than half-a-peck each. 



I do not introduce these facts with a view 

 to astonish the readers of the Cabinet ; though 

 the produce of rye was certainly very extra- 

 ordinary, and much greater than any crop of 

 the kind 1 haye ever heard of. But 1 men- 

 tion them to show my belief in the great 

 power of productiveness possessed by our 

 mother earth. My astonishment at General 

 Barnuin's crop would be much diminished 

 should we learn that it was only from a small 

 piece of ground that this wonderful produce 

 was gathered. And yet, I am aware we may 

 be told, if 4 or 5 square rods may so yield, 

 why not a whole acre ■? 



Suffer me to close this article with an en- 

 dorsement upon the following opinion of a 

 living agricultural lecturer, of great celebrity. 

 '' Nothing repays the labours of the husband- 

 man more fully than the willing soil — nothing 

 is more grateful for his attention or offers 

 surer rewards to patient industry, or to re- 

 newed attempts at improvement." — John- 

 ston's Ag. Chem., p. 6. Z. Y. 



Gloucester co., N. J., 3(1 mo. 23d, t842. 



For the Fanners' Cabinet. 

 Spoiling of Cattle. 



Being called upon in the last number of the 

 Ciibinet by J. Godson, for an account of my 

 experiment in soiling cattle last year, I copy 

 from my memorandum-book as follows. 4th 

 mo. 1st. — Chained up under airy sheds 16 

 steers, a yoke of working-oxen, and 3 cows — 

 a young man employed whose business is to 

 be exclusively, attention to the cattle and the 

 manure, 5th mo. 1st. — During the past 

 month fed at noons with 4 quarts fine-ground 

 Indian meal, mixed in a bushel of cut hay 

 wet, to each beast, morning and evening with 

 long hay — looi^ed from their stands once a 

 day, and 3 at a time driven to the water- 

 trough and immediately back to their places 

 — throve well. At this date commenced 4 

 feeds per day, as near 4 hours between as 

 possible, two with 3 quarts meal to a bushel 

 of cut-hay, and two feeds of long hay. 5th 

 ino. 15th. — Thrive remarkably well — have 

 been regularly bedded with straw twice per 

 day, the manure harrowed away, and cattle 

 curried. 2lst. — Several steers contracted the 

 foul-claw, in consequence, as I suppose, of 

 walking through some wet manure in going 

 to water; turned all out on a grass lot the 

 last four days — much improved — slacked two 

 bushels lime near the water-trough and drove 

 them through it previous to being turned out, 

 which appears to have cured them. This day 

 commencf'd cutting grass (orchard and clover 

 well mixed), two feeds of grass, one of long 

 hay, and one of the cut-feed daily. 26th. — 

 The cut-feed discontinued, eating the long 



hay in preference. 28th. — One of the day 

 feeds left off", substituted by grass, which ia 

 and has been eaten voraciously, but producing 

 a lank appearance and loose bowels. 3Uth. — 

 Eat the dry feed with increased appetite. 

 31st. — Increase of grass seems to have given 

 a desire for more dry feed ; again thrive and 

 improve in appearance. 6th mo. 3d. — Left 

 oft" the dry feed altogether. 15th. — Removed 

 the cutting to timothy and clover. 16th. — 

 The best of the bteers thrive tolerably well, 

 but not so fast I think as my tenant's cattle 

 on good old green grass pasture. 20th.^ 

 Cows have milked well until within the last 

 week, now fail in milk considerably from some 

 cause unknown, although eating voraciously 

 — the stale urine running back and softening 

 the earth, the hind feet work it into holes — a 

 pavement wide enough to catch the urine and 

 convey it into the gutter behind would be 

 better. It is estimated that 2^ acres have 

 been cut over once, for the whole herd, up to 

 this time. 26th. — Wet, warm, muggy weath- 

 er, cattle difficult to keep clean and fiee from 

 smell of the manure, look worse — concluded 

 to turn out the cows and seven of the roughest 

 steers to make more room for the remainder, 

 consisting of 12 steers and the yoke of large 

 oxen, and that they should have all the atten- 

 tion of the feeder, allowing new room for a 

 steer to swing himself around at his pleasure, 

 the stands being widened from 5 to 10 feet. 

 7th mo. 1st. — Under this management again 

 improve. 10th. — Feeding on old timothy, 

 green oats, and occasionally green grass; 

 appetites good, eat all the kinds well with 

 gradual improvement in flesh ; but it having 

 been 100 days since they were tied up, the 

 grass become too old for further cutting, which 

 is the point at v^hich I had originally contem- 

 plated terminating the experiment — and the 

 cattle not sufficiently fat for market, as I had 

 hoped they would be, turned them all out on 

 good meadow-pasture. 18th. — No apparent 

 improvement in the condition of the cattle 

 since turned on pasture. 25th. — Very little 

 if any perceptible improvement in flesh since 

 turned on pasture, with an abundance before 

 them in the said meadow. 10th mo. — These 

 cattle are fit for market, but not remarka- 

 bly fat. 



Above, I have given the history of my experi- 

 ment in soiling, at least in the management of 

 the cattle, which so far as they were concerned 

 did not, as will be perceived, result to my satis- 

 faction ; but there are other circumstances yet 

 to be brought into view; these cattle were 

 young and rough, being the refuse of a drove 

 purchased the previous autumn ; and therefore 

 not a fair comparison with my tenant's cattle 

 on pasture, which were choice animals. I ob- 

 tained as an extra contribution, 50 cart-lords of 

 the best manure I ever had ; it was covered with 



