120 



Proper Form and Shape of Cattle. 



Vol. II. 



Apples for Fattening Animals. 



In the autumn of 18.33, if I do not misre- 

 member, I was first induced to try the expe- 

 riment-^— it was to me then an experiment. 

 Having more apples than we needed for other 

 uses, and fully convinced of the evil of 

 making them into cider for common use, ■! 

 suffered my Iwgs to run in the orchard and 

 take the apples as they fell from the trees. 

 Before the apples were fully ripened they be- 

 gan to fall ; contrary to my expectation, my 

 hogs began to gain flesh, and during the sea- 

 son they became fat with no other feed ex- 

 cept the wash of the kitchen. Several that 

 I had designed to keep, before I was aware of 

 it, became too fat for the object I designed. 

 This lot, if I mistake not, weighed as 1 

 butchered them from the orchard from 200 

 to 350 pounds each. The same season I suf- 

 fered some of my sheep to remain in the or- 

 chard, and with equal success. The next 

 season, our fruit was cut off. But the last 

 . two seasons, I have made my pork from my 

 orchard, and during these seasons I have con- 

 fined my hogs exclusively to soi^r apples ; and 

 still 1 have never killed lots uf pork that 

 were better fatted, more! solid, or of better 

 flavor. To carry the experiment farther, last 

 year I took from my stock an old cow tliat 

 had given milk through the summer, and fed 

 her exclusively on sour apples. She ate about 

 half a bushel, morning and evening. She 

 fattened well, and made a first rate beef It 

 is, therefore, no longer with me a question 

 whether apples are profitable for fnttenino- 

 domestic animals ; the fact is fully tested. 

 Harvey Balovvin. 



' niKK-on, O., August, 1837. 



Proper Form and Shape of Cattle* 



Whatever be the breed, there are certain 

 conformations which are indispensable to the 

 thriving and valuable ox or cow. When we 

 have a clear idea of these, we shall be able 

 more easily to form an accurate judgment of 

 the different breeds. If there is one part of 

 the frame, the form of which, more than of 

 any other, renders the animal valuable, it is 

 the chest. There must be room enough for 

 the heart to beat, and the lungs to play, or 

 sufficient blood for the purposes of nutriment 

 and of strength will not be circulated; nor 

 will it thoroughly undergo that vital change, 

 which is essential to the proper discharge of 

 every function. We look, therefore, first of 

 all to the wide and deep girth about the heart 

 and lungs. We must have both : the pro- 

 portion in which the one or the other may 

 preponderate, will depend on the service we 

 require from the animal; we cap excuse a 



slight degree of flatness of the sides, for he 

 will be lighter in the forehand, and more ac- 

 tive ; but the grazier must have width as well 

 as depth. And not only about the heart and 

 lungs, but over the whole of the ribs, must 

 we have both length and roundness; the 

 hooped, as well as the deep barrel is essen- 

 tial; there must be room for the capacious 

 paunch, room for the materials from which 

 the blood is to be provided. The beast should 

 also be ribbed home; there should be little 

 space between the ribs and the hips. This 

 seems to be indispensable in the ox, as it re- 

 gards a good healthy constitution, and a pro- 

 pensity to fatten ; but a largeness and droop- 

 ing of the belly is excusable in the cow, or 

 rather, notwithstanding it diminishes the 

 beauty of the animal, it leaves room for the 

 udder; andjif il is also accompanied by swell- 

 ing milk veins, it generally indicates her 

 value in the dairy.* 



This roundness and depth of the barrel, 

 however, is most advantageous in proportion 

 as it is found behind the point of the elbow, 

 more than between the shoulders and legs; 

 or low down between the legs, rather than 

 upwards towards the withers : for it dimin- 

 ishes the heaviness before, and the compara- 

 tive bulk of the coarser parts of the animal, 

 which is always a very great consideration. 



The loins should be wide: of this there 

 can be no doubt, for they are the prime parts; 

 they should seem to extend far along the 

 back : and although the belly should not hano- 

 down, the flanks should be round and deep. 

 Of the hips it is superfluous to say that, with- 

 out being ragged, they should be large; round 

 rather than wide, and presenting, when han- 

 dled, plenty of muscle and fat. The thighs 

 should be full and long, close together when 

 viewed from behind, and the farther down 

 they continue to be so the better. The legs 

 short, varying like other parts according to 

 the destination of the animal; but decidedly 

 short, for there is an almost inseparable con- 

 nexion between length of leg and lightness 

 of carcass, and shortness of leg and propen- 

 sity to fatten. The bones of the legs, and 

 they only being taken as a sample of the bony 

 structure of the frame generally, should be 

 small, but not too small — small enough for 

 the well known accompaniment, a propensity 

 to fatten — small enough to please the consu- 

 mer; but not so small as to indicate delicacy 

 of constitution, and liability to disease. 



Last of all the hide — the most important 

 thing of all — thin, but not so thin as to indi- 

 cate that the animal can endure no hardship; 

 moveable, mellow, but not too loose, and par- 

 ticularly well covered with fine and soft hair. 



* See Fanners' Caliinet, Vol. (., pnge 136— article 

 Choice or Live Stock. 



