214 



Rules for Selecting Cattle. 



Vol. XII. 



of beef, was beginning to attract general at- 

 tention; but before he entered upon the few 

 points which he meant to notice in connexion 

 with this question, perhaps it would be ne- 

 cessary to explain shortly the general com- 

 position of food. In all kinds of bread there 

 were contained three different kinds of mat- 

 ter. First of all, there was a certain quan- 

 tity of fat, which the butter they ate repre- 

 sented ; secondly, there was a certain amount 

 of sugar ; and then there was besides, the 

 third constituent, which was represented by 

 the white of an egg. Now it was of the 

 very greatest importance what description 

 of food was used, and what proportion it con- 

 tained of these three kinds of matter, as 

 bearing upon the purpose it was mtended to 

 serve. Cattle had in their bodies different 

 kinds of matter, also, but particularly flesh 

 and fat; and the farmer should be sufficiently 

 acquainted with the nature of food, to be able 

 to distinguish what he should use when he 

 wished to produce fat, or when he wished to 

 produce fat and lean both together; and the 

 food which was given would effect the one 

 or the other of these purposes, according to 

 its composition. The white of an egg or 

 albumen would supply nothing, or nearly so, 

 to the animal but muscle. The fat went di- 

 rectly to form fat. The starch in food kept 

 the body warm, and when fat was wanted 

 served the purpose of making the oily mat- 

 ter more readily become fat in the body of 

 the animal. 



Now, in fattening cattle, as in everything 

 else, using the proper means produced the 

 proper effects; and after the explanation 

 which he had given, they would see at once 

 that a mixture of food was better than the 

 use of one kind alone. If they wanted to 

 lay on muscle, they would feed with food 

 containing the largest amount of gluten ; and 

 if they wanted to lay on the fat, they would 

 give starch and oily substances, and only a 

 small proportion of the other ingredient. Se- 

 lecting food in any other way would not 

 serve the purpose they had in view in the 

 most economical way. He had a table re- 

 presenting the different proportions of fat in 

 the food which they were in the habit of 

 using; but he would illustrate what he had 

 to say by a few simple illustrations. Wheat 

 contained two per cent, of fat, and sometimes 

 a little more; but oats contained sometimes 

 from four to five per cent., or about double 

 the amount which was to be found in wheat. 

 •Oats were next to Indian corn in this re- 

 spect, the latter of which they were aware 

 contained a large amount of fat. Gluten 

 .was the matter out of which the muscle was 

 produced, and there was more of that sub- 

 stance in the bean or the pea, than in the 



oat; but the oat was better than wheat. But 

 there was another kind of food used for fat- 

 tening cattle, namely, oil-cake, which con- 

 tained a greater amount of fat than the same 

 weight of any other kind of grain. Linseed, 

 from which oil-cake is made, differed from 

 other descriptions of grain, in containing a 

 greater amount of fat, and a larger amount 

 of gluten likewise, with the exception of 

 the bean. Now, practical men have derived 

 great advantage from feeding their cattle 

 on oil seeds; that food, from the peculiarity 

 of its composition, laying on fat and muscle 

 at the same time. Oil-cake, however, was 

 the best food only when the greatest amount 

 of fat was required; and according to the 

 purpose which they had in view, farmers 

 would give their cattle other descriptions of 

 food. It was u remarkable circumstance, 

 that the bean and pea contained very little 

 fat, and as the wheels of the animal system 

 required to be greased, these kinds of grain 

 would not serve for that purpose, although 

 they contained what made muscle. Al- 

 though be^ns and peas were good food, there- 

 fore, they were not good as the sole food of 

 animals. Besides, they would observe, that 

 from their different constituents, plenty of 

 oil seeds, and plenty of beans and peas, would 

 be far more profitable than if they were to 

 give either of them singly. That was the 

 principle upon which the use of mixed food 

 was founded — to give all the substances the 

 animal required, and to give them at the 

 cheapest rate ; and the researches of the 

 scientific man were directed to discovering 

 the means by which these objects could be 

 best accomplished. He had selected oil 

 seeds, but he might have taken potatoes or 

 turnips for his illustration. — Amer. Jour, of 

 Agriculture and Science. 



Rules for Selecting Cattle. 



In selecting cattle for feeding, their quali- 

 ties may be in some measure known by ex- 

 amining the hide, horns, &c. "It is well 

 known that the grazier and the butcher 

 judge of the aptitude that any aaimal has 

 to fatten from the touch of the skin. When 

 the hide feels soft and silky, it strongly in- 

 dicates a tendency in the animal to take on 

 meat; and it is evident that a fine and sofl 

 skin must be more pliable, and more easily 

 stretched out to receive any extraordinary 

 quantity of flesh, than a thick or tough one. 

 At the same time, thick hides are of great 

 importance in various manufactures. Indeed, 

 they are necessary in cold countries, where 

 cattle are much exposed to the inclemency 

 of the seasons; and, in the best breeds of 

 Highland cattle, the skin is thick in propor- 



