38 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



afford meat of a finer and more delicate quality. This is a gen- 

 eral rule for New England ; although there are a few sections 

 in which large cattle have been a source of profit to the 

 producer. 



The same rule holds good with regard to sheep and horses ; 

 and not without compensation. For while the farmer in Massa- 

 chusetts is obliged to resign large mutton sheep, he receives 

 more than an equivalent in the heavier fleeces and sweeter mut- 

 ton of the smaller breeds, which thrive on his short pastures, 

 and on his coarse winter forage. And while he fails to produce 

 the heavy draft-horse of Ohio and Pennsylvania, he can boast of 

 the strength, and endurance, and sagacity, and rapid motion of 

 that horse of all work which grows nowhere so well as in New 

 England. 



It is especially important that cattle should be furnished with 

 warm and well-ventilated stables in winter. The cow has not a 

 rapid circulation, nor an excess of animal heat. She does not 

 require much exercise. Her muscular system is not largely 

 developed. And her whole system is better able to discharge 

 the duty of producing milk, while at rest, than under any other 

 circumstances. Her normal condition, in a domesticated state, 

 is repose. She only requires a luxuriant pasture and short 

 journeys in summer, and warmth, and repose, and good feed in 

 winter. Slie enjoys confinement ; and she does not enjoy 

 exposure to cold, nor does she thrive well under it. Animals 

 should be fed with regularity — three times a day being sufficient. 

 And they should be provided with some variety of food. Cattle 

 will thrive, it is true, upon an abundance of sweet, early cut 

 hay, and on that alone. But they can be more economically 

 wintered with a change now and then to hay of a poorer qual- 

 ity, combined with roots, especially if the farm has a supply of 

 poor hay, and is near a good market for the best. 



■For the bedding of cattle, refuse hay, straw, leaves, saw-dust, 

 sand, &c., can be used. For the health of the animals' skin, 

 the sweetness and cleanliness of the stable, and the benefit of 

 the manure, sand is undoubtedly the best material that can be 

 used for this purpose. A liberal supply of refuse hay, for bed- 

 •ding, very often produces a cutaneous eruption, which is very 

 uncomfortable, and injures the appearance of the animal ; and 

 when mixed with the manure, it requires great care lest it create 



