270 MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS. 



not diminished 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 hest kind of manure is 

 usually lime, or composts of earth and lime, marl, &c. These 

 should invariably be applied as a top dressing, that is, simply 

 spread upon the surface, where vegetation has become inert at 

 the fall of the year, or before it has become vigorous in the 

 spring. 



IV. WINTER STALL FEEDING. 



THIS practice is very nearly allied to that of summer soiling 

 it is in fact one and the same the difference being produced 

 by a change of food, rendered necessary by the change of sea- 

 son. Two methods are adopted, they may be either confined 

 to the stalls, or kept in small yards with open sheds attached. 

 Great numbers of cattle fed and fattened in these open sheds 

 are invariably termed stall fed. It has been found by some 

 farmers more profitable to confine cattle, designed for the 

 shambles, in stalls but still much diversity of opinion pre- 

 vails. 



Under the yard system of feeding the animals have more 

 freedom than when fed in close stalls, and that moderate exer- 

 cise, which, without impeding their fattening, tends to keep 

 them in health. They receive the benefit of the sun and air, 

 and have always the shelter shed to retire to; and their food, 

 being in the open air, is kept always fresh. The management 

 of the cattle is easy. The yards should be small. Each shed 

 with its yard should be of a size to contain easily two oxen, or 

 if it be made of a size to hold four, there should be a division 

 between each pair, so that more than two shall not be together. 

 In the open yard, and close to the wall which should be well 

 built the troughs for holding the provender are to be fixed. 



In some instances, where the animals to be fattened or kept 

 through the winter are confined to the house, they are merely 

 tied by the neck to upright posts, and fed from a trough or 

 manger. But the more general practice is, for each animal to 

 have its own stall; and there are various modes of fastening 

 the beasts; those generally preferred, are represented in the 

 annexed diagrams. For a full account of the various modes 

 of fastening, the reader is referred to the Farmer's Cabinet, 

 vol. iii. page 354. When the cattle are for the first time to 

 be fixed to their stakes, or the fastenings in the stalls, great 



