No. 16. 



Feeding Cattle, ^'c. 



295 



the spirit of improvement which it engenders, 

 the difference is incalcuLible. In France the 

 beet is a fallow crop; it might be grown for 

 many j'ears in succession without'impover- 

 ishing the soil, nay, it is found to be melio- 

 rating, especially in dry, burning soils, which 

 are kept moist and cool by the shade of the 

 large and spreading foliage. 



With best wishes for the success of an un- 

 dertaking which must have cost you much 

 labor, time, and I fear I may add money,hi\l 

 which could never have been brought about 

 by any other means, I trust the time is not 

 distant when you " shall look on the labor 

 of your hands and he satisfied.'''' I am, dear 

 sir, most truly yours, 



James Pedher. 



Foi- the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Feeding Cattle, &c. 



It is important to a farmer to know not on- 

 ly how to render the soil the most producti\e 

 of grass or grain, but also to know how they 

 can be fed to animals so as to keep them iii 

 good condition at tlie least possible expense, 

 or how the greatest possible quantity of m°at 

 can be laid on them, in the shortest period of 

 time, and mdst economically, 



Tlie process of nutrition is now so well un- 

 derstood that it is admitted by all, that in or- 

 der to obtain the greatest advantage from food 

 of any kind, it should be so prepared that tlie 

 organs of digestion may obtain complete con- 

 trol over it, so that alfthc nutricious parts of 

 it may be absorbed and carried into the circu- 

 lating system and deposited in the form of 

 flesh or fat. Besides having the food of a pro- 

 per kind and duly prepr)red,'^and the animal in 

 good health, it is essential to keep him quiet, 

 both mentally and bodily, so as to be perfectly 

 at ease, without any internal or external irri- 

 tation that can possibly be avoided. Nume- 

 rous cises might be produced which show 

 conclusively the ditficulty of fattening ani- 

 mals when under the influence of much ex- 

 citement. The familiar one of sheep, which 

 have been chased or worried by dogs, is well 

 known to most farmers ; as they never fatten 

 kindly or do well afterwards ; vvhich is suppo- 

 sed to arise from continual apprehension of 

 danger, so that they neither feed well or sleep 

 soundly, and the latter is as necessary to the 

 taking on fat kindly as the former. The same 

 laws govern the human race, as the brute 

 creation in taking on flesh, for we never see 

 fat persons who are not good and sound sleep- 

 ers. A good farmer and grazier, vrhose land 

 is passed throngh by a rail-road, stated that 

 his stock did not feed or fatten well when in 

 the fields adjacent to it, in consequence of the 

 excitement and alarm produced by the pas- 

 sage of the locomotives and the trains in their 

 Irequent transits over it. 



This to some may appear ridiculous, but 

 those who have carefully investigated the 

 causes which retard the fattening process 

 will be inclined to admit, tliat it may exer- 

 cise a very important influence, particularly 

 with very wild or very timid animals. A 

 circumstance having a very important bear- 

 ing on this subject, was related to me witliin 

 a few days, by a worthy and excellent farmer 

 of Montgomery county. He stated, that he 

 had a shed in his barn-yard adjoining a pub- 

 lic road, under which he had for two years 

 past undertaken to stall teed some cattle, but 

 Without success, although the plan of feeding- 

 was according to the most approved rules.— 

 It was finally supposed that sometJiing perni- 

 cious was given to them from malicious views 

 which retarded their increase in flesh; in 

 consequence of this, one of them was put into 

 a stable and kept closely confined and fed as 

 usual, when he did well and soon became ex- 

 cellent beef On further examination and 

 reflection respecting the cause of the failu^a 

 under the shed, it was noticed that the poul- 

 try roosted there, and that the vermin from 

 them had been communicated to the cattle, 

 which kept them in a continual state of un- 

 easiness and irritation, and this was no doubt 

 the reason of the failure to fatten them in 

 that location. An adjoining neighbor fed 

 an ox nearly all the past winter, contiguous 

 to the hen roost with tlie same result, liaving 

 lost all the winters' feed before he discovered 

 the cause of his want of success. ■ The same 

 person experienced a similar result in the 

 case of a hog last autumn, and the cause was 

 not discovered till he was killed, thoutrh he 

 was very thin, when it was ascertained that 

 he was lousy. In tlie case of lice, on domes- 

 tic animals, tobacco juice it is believed would 

 destroy them ; but every precaution should be 

 used to prevent animals from being brought 

 into a situation where they would be likely 

 to become infested with them. Keep all your 

 animals clean, and they will thrive and do 

 better. In a state of nature, all animals pre- 

 serve themselves clean ; it is only wlien 

 brought under the dominion of man and their 

 habits are changed, and it becomes impossi- 

 ble for them in compliance with their natu- 

 ral instincts to preserve themselves free from 

 filth, that they suffer much by it. Don't per- 

 mit poultry to frequent or roost in your s;a- 

 bles, or near your cattle or hQs:s, or vow will 

 soon sustain a greater loss by ix than "they are 

 all worth. A suitable hen-roost should be 

 provided by every farmer, remote rrom other 

 animals, and a proper place allotted for them 

 to rub and dnst themselves, to free them from 

 vermin at all seasons of the year — of course it 

 should be under cover. 



A. B 



