NO. 



11. 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



167 



as a top-dressing for clovers, and the other 

 herbage legumes, because as their ashes af- 

 ford t1iat substance in considerable quanti- 

 ties, it appears to be a necessary ingredient 

 of their food. Dutch ashes have been strong- 

 ly recommended as a top-dressing for red 

 clover, and they also contain gy])sum ; but 

 where the soil is in good heart, and contains 

 calcareous matter, any description of top- 

 dressing, though it may be of advantage 

 when it does not interfere with the general 

 economy of the farm, cannot be considered 

 as necessary. 



The taking of the clover, or clover and 

 rye grass crop, is either by cutting green for 

 soiling, by making into hay, or by pasturing. 

 It is observed in The Code of .isricidture, 

 that it is a most important point to ascertain, 

 in what cases cutting, or feeding, is most 

 beneficial. If fed, the land has the advan- 

 tage of the dung and urine of the pasturing 

 stock ; but the dung being dropt in irregular 

 quantities, and in the heat of summer, when 

 it is devoured by insects, loses much of its 

 utility. If the dung arising from the herbage, 

 whether consumed in soiling, or as hay, were 

 applied to the land in one body, and at the 

 proper season, the operation would be more 

 etTectual. The smoother of a thick crop, 

 continued for any time upon the ground, 

 greatly tends to promote its fertility; and it 

 has been pretty uniformly found, after re- 

 peated trials, upon soils of almost every de- 

 scription, that oats taken after clover that 

 has been cut, either for soiling or hay, is su- 

 perior to the crop taken after clover pastured 

 by sheep. 



General Principles of Rearing, 

 jTIanaging, and Feeding Do- 

 mestic Animals. 



Aft^r the birth, the first interference on the 

 part of man should be that of supplying the 

 mother with food of a light and delicate 

 quality, compared to that which she had been 

 in the habit of using, and also of adminis- 

 tering the same description of food to the off- 

 spring, so far as it may by its nature be able 

 to use it. The gentlest treatment should 

 accompany these operations ; and the oppor- 

 tunity taken of familiarizing both parent and 

 offspring with man, by gently caressing 

 them, or at least, by familiar treatment on 

 the part of the attendant. 



As the animals increase in size and strength, 

 they should have abundance of air, exercise, 

 and food, according to their natures ; and 

 whatever is attempted by man in the way of 

 taming or teaching should be conducted on 

 mild and conciliating principles, rather than 

 on those of harshness and compulsion. 



Food. 



Food, though it must be supplied in abun- 

 dance, ought not to be given to satiety. In- 

 tervals of resting and exercise must be al- 

 lowed according to circumstances. Kven 

 animals grazing on a rich pasture have been 

 found to feed faster when removed from it 

 once a day, and either folded or put in an in- 

 ferior pasture for two or three hours. Stall- 

 fed cattle and swine will have their flesh im- 

 proved in flavour by being turned out into a 

 yard or field once a day ; and many find that 

 they feed better, and produce better flavour- 

 ed meat when kept loose under warm sheds 

 or hammels, one or two in a division, a prac- 

 tice now very general in Berwickshire. * 

 * * * * In general it may be 

 observed, that if the digestive powers of the 

 animal are in a sound state, the more food he 

 eats, the sooner will the desired result be ob- 

 tained ; a very moderate quantity beyond 

 sufficiency constitutes abundance ; but by- 

 withholding this additional quantity, an ani- 

 mal, especially if young, may go on eating 

 for several years, without ever attaining to 

 fatness. 



Gro\ving Animals. 



In young growing animals, the powers of 

 digestion are so great, that they require less 

 rich food than such as are of mature age ; 

 for the same reason also they require more 

 exercise. If rich food is supplied in liberal 

 quantities, and exercise withheld, diseases 

 are generated, the first of which may be ex- 

 cessive fatness. * * * * _ 

 Common sense will suggest the propriety 

 of preferring a medium course between very 

 rich and very poor nutriment. * * 



Salt, it appears, from various experiments, 

 may be advantageously given to most ani- 

 mals, in very small quantities ; it acts as a 

 whet to the appetite, promotes the secretion 

 of bile, and, in general, is favourable to 

 health and activity. In this way only can it 

 be considered as preventing or curing dis- 

 eases ; unless perhaps in the case of worms, 

 to which all saline and bitter substances are 

 known to be injurious. * * * 



Where a sufficient degree of warmth to 

 promote the ordinary circulation of the blood 

 is not produced by the natural climate, or by 

 exercise, it must be supplied by an artificial 

 climate. Houses and sheds are the obvious 

 resources hoth for this purpose, and for pro- 

 tection from extremes of weather. Cold rains 

 and northerly winds are highly injurious, by 

 depriving the external surface of the body of 

 caloric more rapidly than it can be supplied 

 from within by respiration, and the action of 

 the stomach ; and al."?o by contracting the 

 pores of the skin, so as to impede circulation. 

 When an animal happens to shed its cov- 

 ering, whether of hair, wool, or feathers, at 



