176 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK i. 



peculiarly moist nature, they require to be associated with cut hay, to 

 which a little barley or oatmeal may occasionally be added. 



When the fattening process commences, the white turnip will perhaps 

 be preferred. It is cooling and slightly aperient. The quantity allowed 

 for each beast should be, on the average, a bushel and a half per day. 

 To this should be added twenty-four pounds of cut hay, and about two 

 quarts of meal mixed with the hay. The white turnip, however, must 

 soon be changed for the swede, one of the most useful plants that was 

 ever brought into our country. 



The old Norfolk farmers used to give these turnips whole, and with 

 more freedom from accidental choking than would be thought possible. 

 It sometimes, however, happened that the turnips would stick in the 

 throat and threaten to suffocate, or actually destroy the animal. In 

 this event a probang should be gently pushed down the throat, with 

 the object of pushing the turnip into the stomach ; or half-a-pint of 

 olive oil should be poured down, to make the turnip slip either up or 

 down, pressure being used externally. 



Should the turnip still obstinately stick in the gullet, a veterinary 

 surgeon must be summoned, who will cut down upon the obstruction, 

 and remove it without difficulty. Turnips are now commonly sliced for 

 stall-feeding, though some of the best and most extensive feeders in 

 Scotland still give whole turnips to the cattle. Many others give the 

 roots a single stroke with a four-bladed chopper, after they have been 

 thrown in the stall. This has the effect of cutting the turnip into four 

 pieces. On this point it is important to notice that in the great 

 feeding districts in the north-east of Scotland, whence come so many 

 of the fat cattle for the London Christmas market, the practice of 

 pulping the turnips is rarely if ever adopted, as the butchers and 

 dealers in that quarter who send the great stocks to Smithfield, 

 manifest a most decided objection to cattle that have been fed on 

 pulped roots. They hold that the cattle which have " broken their 

 neeps themsels " come out much fresher after the long and fatiguing 

 journey to London than animals which have had their roots pulped for 

 them. 



If the beasts do not thrive, oil-cake may be added to their food with 

 advantage. When cake is thus given, the practice of skilful feeders is 

 to reduce the allowance of turnips and to give more fodder. 



Linseed has been given by some graziers instead of the oil-cake ; on 

 account of its oleaginous nature, however, it requires to be mixed with 

 other and less nutritious substances. Some bruise and steep it four or 

 five days in cold water, or two days in hot water, until it becomes a 



jelly- ' 



The Swedish turnips, or swedes, may be. continued until after 

 Christmas, and then, as they will have lost much of their nutritive 

 power, whilst the mangel will have improved, the latter should be 

 given chiefly or entirety. In Scotland, however, where veiy little 

 mangel is grown, the white or yellow turnips are generally used first, 

 and after Christmas the swedes are the staple article of winter feed 

 until the grass comes round again. 



