No. 17. 



Injury from destroying Birds. 



329 



which is generally the result of experience, 

 will affjrd the surest guide. Instances are 

 recorded in English works, of fifteen large 

 bullocks and one hundred and fifteen sheep 

 having heen fattened on fifteen acres. The 

 subdivisions of land, kept for the sole purpose 

 of pasturing, should depend as well upon its 

 fertilit}', as upon the number of ditferent 

 kinds of cattle to be fed upon it.* To render 

 the grazing of cattle profitable it is necessary 

 to change them from one pasture to another, 

 beginaing with tlie most inferior grass and 

 gradually removing them into the best. By 

 this expedient, as cattle delight in variety, 

 they will cull the uppermost or choicest 

 parts of the grass, and by filling themselves 

 quickly, as well as by lying down much, 

 they will rapidly advance towards a proper 

 state of fatness. By this process, inclosures 

 are rendered necessary, but great difference 

 exists as to the most suitable size. 



John Nicholson, Esq. in his valuable work, 

 the Farmers' Assistant, says, " If a farmer 

 has but three cows, and has three acres of 

 the best pasture land, he ought to divide this 

 into at least two parts, so that the one can 

 be growing while the other is feeding. Again, 

 if he keeps twenty cows, and has twenty 

 acres of the best pasture, he will find his 

 reward in having it divided into four parts, 

 and pasturing each inclosure three or four 

 days alternately. In this way pasture land 

 will keep at least one-fourth more of cattle, 

 and will keep them better, than if the pas- 

 ture were in one field. Not only a change of 

 pasture is beneficial, but a change of difi^erent 

 kind^ of cattle, in the same pasture, should be 

 attended to. Thus let the milch cows take I 

 the first cropping of each field in rotation, [ 

 then the horses and oxen, and the sheep | 

 next. In this way the last feeder will eat' 

 much grass that has been rejected by the for- j 

 mer." Pastures should never be overstocked ; \ 

 that is, there should always be a sufficient! 

 quantity of food for the animals. It is also j 

 desirable that the large and strong cattle be i 

 separated from the weaker ones, as it fre- 

 quently happens that where they are indis- 

 criminately mingled together, the more pow- 

 erful beasts will master the others, driving 

 them from place to place, and trampling upon 

 and destroying more food than they can eat. 



To prevent these inconveniences, and also 

 to stock the land to the greatest advantage 

 the Complete Grazier recommends the fol- 

 lowing method of feeding and fattening 

 cattle. "Suppose there are four inclosures, 

 one ought to be kept perfe-itly free from 

 stock till the grass is in its full growth, 

 when the prime or fattening cattle should 

 be put into it, that they may get the best 



" See Farmer's Assistant. 



food — the second best should then follow, and 

 the young stock alter all, making the whole 

 feed over the four inclosures in the following 

 succession : — 



I. Free from' stock, till ready for the best 

 cattle. 



II. For the reception of the best cattle, till 

 sent to No. 1. 



III. For the second best cattle, till sent to 

 No. 2. 



IV. For the young cattle till sent to No. 3, 

 Thus the fourth inclosure is kept free from 



stock till the grass is got up, and it is ready 

 for the prime cattle. To which we will add 

 that 'he inclosures should be finally gone over 

 by sheep, by which, they will be eaten down 

 to a close and even sward, to the great bene- 

 fit of the after growth." 



In the managementof land kept in pasture, 

 no manuring is required to maintain its fer- 

 tility, which will be increased and not di- 

 minished by the effects of pasturing. Any 

 species of manure, however, will add to the 

 productiveness of land in grass, and when 

 from any peculiar cause, it is thought expe- 

 dient to manure land in grass, the best kind 

 of manure is usually lime, or composts of v 

 earth and lime, marl, &c. These should in- 

 variably be applied as a top dressing, that is, 

 simply spread upon the surfoce, where vege- 

 tation has become inert at the fall of the year, 

 or belbre it has become vigorous in the 

 spring.l 



The above remarks are gathered mainly 

 from agricultural writers of deservedly high 

 reputation, and, you will oblige one deeply 

 interested in the prosperity of agriculture, by 

 inserting them in the Cabinet. J. P. B. 



P.urlington, N. J. May30. 



For llie Farmers Cabiiitt. 

 Injury from Destroyius Birdso 



The culture of the earth is the most prim- 

 itive, natural and extensive employment of 

 civilized life. It brings v/ith it cheerfulness 

 and affluence, and fosters them under its 

 broad wing; never deserting nor weaning 

 them from its parent protection. Every wise 

 observer of cause and effect can tell that its 

 increase in honor as an employment, and in 

 profit as a support and source of individual 

 and national prosperity, is a great result and 

 criterion of refinement. A vagrant life anu 

 subsistence, like beasts of prey, by the uncer- 

 tain toils of the chase, are the untaught evi- 

 dences of ignorance and barbarity ; hunting 

 and fishing, but the instinctive resorts of hu- 

 man nature in its wildness. 



The teeming dust from which Omnipo- 

 tence framed the wonders of our animal econ- 

 omy is a fitting and proximate source, whence 

 we might hope to derive its nourishment — 

 The savage of the wilderness permits the 



t I'rufcbsor Low's Klcrai;iiU of Husbandry. 



