Book V CHOICE OF IMPLEMENTS. 785 



on that subject can only arise from want of proper discrimination. Fat meat is unquestionably more 

 nourishing than lean, though to digest this oily matter there are required, on account of its difficult 

 solubility, a good bile, much saliva, and a strong stomach ; consequently none, except those who are in 

 the most vigorous state of health, or who are employed in hard labour, can properly digest it. Though 

 fat meat, however, is unfit for general consumption, yet experiments in the art of fattening animals are 

 likely to promote useful discoveries ; and though, in the course of trying a number of experiments, errors 

 and excesses may be committed, yet on the whole advantage may be derived from the knowledge thus to 

 be obtained. As the bone also gains but little in the fatting animal, and the other offal becomes propor- 

 tionably less, as the animal becomes more fat, the public has not sustained much loss by over-fatted ani. 

 mals. To kill even hogs till they are thoroughly fat, is exceeding bad economy. An ox or cow, though 

 the little flesh it has may be of good quality, yet presents, when lean, little but skin and bone; and if 

 slaughtered in that state, would neither indemnify the owner for the expense of breeding and maintaining 

 it, nor benefit the public. A coarse and heav>;.fleshed ox, which would require a very long time and 

 much good food to fatten, may be slaughtered with most advantage while rather lean. It is not, however, 

 so much the extent of fat, as the want of a sufficient quantity of lean flesh, of which the consumer com- 

 plains ; for it cannot be doubted, that the lean flesh of a fat animal is better in quality, and contains 

 more nourishment, than the flesh of a lean animal 



4849. Handling well. The graziers and butchers in various parts of the kingdom have recourse to 

 feeling the skin, or cellular membrane, for ascertaining a disposition to fatten ; and since Bakewell 

 directed the public attention so much to breeding, that practice has become more generally known. 

 Handling cannot easily be defined, and can only be learned by experience. The skin and flesh of cattle, 

 when handled, should feel soft to the touch, somewhat resembling that of a mole, but with a little more 

 resistance to the finger. A soft and mellow skin must be more pliable, and more easily stretched out, to 

 receive any extraordinary quantity of fat and muscle, than a thick or tough one. The rigid-skinned 

 animal must, therefore, always be the most difficult to fatten. In a good sheep, the skin is not only soft 

 and mellow, but in some degree elastic. Neither cattle nor sheep can be reckoned good, whatever their 

 shapes may be, unless they are first-rate handlers. The improved short-horned breed, besides their mel- 

 lowness of skin, are likewise distinguished by softness and silkiness of hair. 



48.50. Lightness of offal. An animal solely bred for the shambles should have as little offal, or parts of 

 inferior value, as possible (consistently with the health of the animal), and consequently a greater propor- 

 tion of meat applicable as food for man. This, therefore, the skilful farmer will also keep in view in 

 selecting his species of stock. {Code, 8fc.) 



4851. The Rev. Henry Berry, who has paid much attention to the subject of breeding 

 and feeding cattle, and written several valuable papers on the subject in the British 

 Farmers Magazine, seems to prefer for general purposes the improved short-horns. 

 " These cattle," he says, " at three years old, are equal to Hereford cattle at four years 

 old ; and they are bred from cows which prove much more profitable for the dairy than 

 the Herefords." At the same time, he admits that the Hereford cattle are excellent to 

 purchase with a view to fattening, because in a lean state at four years old they will of 

 course not bear an increased price in proportion to the increased time required to 

 render one of them equal to a short-horn of three years. For breeders, therefore, 

 he decidedly recommends the short-horns; and he has given an interesting history 

 of this breed of cattle for the last eighty years, the period which has elapsed since 

 it attracted attention. It was imported from Holland to the banks of the Tees; 

 or, at least, it is the result of a cross between the breed so imported and the native 

 breed of that district. {Improved Short- Horns, &c. By the Rev. Henry Berry. 2d edit. 

 1830.) 



Sect. II. Choice of Agricultural Implements, Seeds, and Plants. 



4852. The variety and excellence of agricultural implements is so great, that the prudent 

 farmer, in regard to these, as well as in eveiy other branch of his art, must study economy. 

 He should not incur an unnecessary expense in buying them, or in purchasing more 

 than are essentially requisite, and can be profitably used. This maxim ought to be more 

 especially attended to by young improvers, who are often tempted, under the specious 

 idea of diminishing labour and saving expense, to buy a superfluous quantity of imple- 

 ments, which they afterwards find are of little use. {Coventry's Disc. p. 47.) It is 

 remarked by an intelligent author on matters of husbandry, that a great diversity of 

 implements, as they are more rarely used, prove in general a source of vexation and dis- 

 appointment, rather than of satisfaction, to the farmer. 



4853. The different implements required by the farmer are : those of tillage ; for drilling or sowing 

 corn ; for reaping corn ; for harvesting corn ; for threshing and cleaning corn ; for mowing and harvest- 

 ing hay ; of conveyance ; for draining ; for harnessing stock ; for rolling land ; for the dairy ; and, for 

 miscellaneous purposes. 



48.54. In purchasing implements, the following rules are to be observed : they should be simple in their 

 construction, both that their uses may be more easily understood, and that any common workman may 

 be able to repair them when they get out of order ; the materials should be of a durable nature, that the 

 labour may be less liable to interruption from their accidental failure ; their form should be firm and 

 compact, that they may not be injured by jolts and shaking; and that they may be more safely worked 

 by country labourers, who are but little accustomed to the use of delicate tools. In the larger machines, 

 symmetry and lightness of shape ought to be particularly attended to : for a heavy carriage, like a grea/ 

 horse, is worn out by its own weight, nearly as much as by what he carries. The wood should be cut up 

 and placed in a position the best calculated to resist pressure ; and mortises, so likely to weaken the 

 wood, should, as much as possible, be avoided ; at the same time, implements should be made as light as 

 is consistent with the strength that is necessary. Their price should be such, that farmers in moderate 

 circumstances can afford to buy them ; yet for the sake of a low price, the judicious farmer will not pur. 

 chase articles either of a flimsy fabric or a faulty form ; and implements ought to be suited to the nature 

 of the country, whether hilly or level, and more especially to the quality of the soil ; for those which are 

 calculated for light land will not answer equally well in soils that are heavy and adhesive. {Code.) 



4855. In the choice (f seed com, regard must be had to procure it from a suitable soil 

 and climate, and of a suitable variety. A change from one soil to another of a different 



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