CATTLE. 



guessed by measuring his girth im- 

 mediately behind the fore legs, and 

 the length from the tip of the shoul- 

 der to the perpendicular line which 

 touches the hinder parts, or to a wall 

 against wiiich tlie animal is backed. 

 The square of the girth in inches and 

 decimals is multiplied by the length, 

 and the product multiplied by the de- 

 cimal -238. This gives the weight 

 of the four quarters in stones of four- 

 teen pounds. This rule is founded 

 on the supposition that there is a 

 certain proportion between the nett 

 weight of the quarters and that of a 

 cylinder, the circumference of which 

 is the girth, and the axis the length, 

 taken as above. The proportion has 

 been ascertained by observation and 

 repeated comparison. The measure- 

 ment will, at all events, indicate the 

 proportional increase during the pe- 

 riod of fattening. 



Cattle are not subject to many dis- 

 eases if they have plenty of food and 

 good water, and are kept clean. Air 

 is essential to them ; and although 

 cows will give more milk, and oxen 

 will fatten better when kept in warm 

 stalls in winter, they are both less 

 subject to diseases when they are 

 kept in open yards, with merely a 

 shelter from the snow and rain. 



The most economical mode of 

 feeding cattle is evidently by allow- 

 ing them to seek their food on com- 

 mons and uncultivated pastures, but 

 it is only in particular situations that 

 it is the most advantageous. Cattle 

 fed on commons add little to the 

 stock of manure, except when they 

 are kept in the yards or stalls in win- 

 ter ; even then tlieir dung is of little 

 value if they are merely kept alive 

 on straw or coarse hay, as is gener- 

 ally the case where the stock is kept 

 on commons or mountains in sum- 

 mer. When they feed in enclosed 

 and rich pastures, their dung falling 

 in heaps on the grass does more harm 

 than good. The urine fertilizes the 

 soil in wet weather when it is dilu- 

 ted, but in dry weather it only burns 

 up the grass. If we calculate what 

 would be the amount of dung collect- 

 ed if the cattle were kept in yards or 



stables, and fed with food cut for 

 them and brought there, and also the 

 loss of grass by treading on the pas- 

 tures, we shall have no doubt wheth- 

 er the additional labour of cutting the 

 grass and bringing it home daily is 

 not amply repaid by the saving ; but 

 if w-e also take into account tlie va- 

 riety of artificial grasses, pulse, and 

 roots which may be grown with ad- 

 vantage on land unfit for permanent 

 grass, and the quantity of arable land 

 which may thus be kept in the high- 

 est state of cultivation, we shall be 

 convinced that the practice of those 

 countries where the cattle are con- 

 stantly kept at home is well worthy 

 of imitation. It may be of use to the 

 health of the animals to be allowed 

 to take a few hours' air and exercise 

 in a pasture near the stable, but there 

 is no advantage in their having any 

 grass crop there ; on the contrary, 

 the barer of grass the surface is, the 

 better. Tliey will relish their food 

 better when they are taken in after a 

 few hours' fasting. A bite of fresh, 

 short grass might, on the contrary, 

 give them a dislike to their staler 

 food. "When cut grass is given to 

 cattle in the stalls, it is best to let it 

 lie in a heap for at least twelve hours 

 before it is given to them. It heats 

 slightly, and the peculiar odour of 

 some of the plants, which oxen and 

 cows are not fond of, being mixed 

 with that of the more fragrant, the 

 whole is eaten without waste. Ex- 

 perience has shown that many plants 

 which cattle refuse in the field, where 

 they have a choice, have nutritious 

 qualities when eaten mixed with oth- 

 ers in the form of hay. There are 

 few deleterious plants in good grass 

 land or meadows, and these are read- 

 ily distinguished and weeded out. 



The amount of hay, or its equiva- 

 lent, necessary to sustain o.xen is 

 about two per cent, of their weight 

 daily ; when fattening, four per cent. 

 is often given. The accumulation is 

 seldom more than two and a half 

 pounds daily in fattening. 



Tlie quantity and quality of the 

 dung of cattle which are stalled and 

 well fed are so remarkable, that its 



139 



