CHAP. xr. POTATOES AS FOOD FOR CATTLE. 177 



Among the various vegetable productions that have been appropriated 

 to the stall-feeding of cattle, none have occasioned greater discussion 

 than Potatoes. They furnish an excellent supply, particularly when 

 cut and steamed ; and, as will be seen from the subsequent facts, they 

 appear adequate to the fattening of neat cattle in combination with a 

 comparatively small portion of other food. Some practical men, how- 

 ever, are much opposed to the use of potatoes for cattle. 



In the eleventh volume of the " Annals of Agriculture " we meet with 

 the following statements relative to these tubers, from Mr. Campbell, of 

 Charlton. He observes, that " 100 bushels of potatoes and seven cwt. 

 of hay are generally sufficient to fatten any ox that thrives tolerably 

 well. The roots should at first be given in small quantities, and 

 gradually increased to one or two bushels per day ; dry food being always 

 intermixed, and the proportion of hay being uniformly regulated by the 

 effect which the potatoes produce on the bowels. There should be at 

 least^f e servings in the day; and, according to the quantity of roots which 

 a beast can be induced to eat with appetite, will be the rapidity of his 

 fattening, the diminution of expense, and the increase of profit. The 

 hay should be cut once or twice along the truss and three times across 

 it, so that it will be in square pieces of eight or ten inches, in which 

 state the cattle will eat and digest it more readily, while their fattening 

 is considerably expedited." The potatoes, however, according to Mr. 

 Campbell, need not be cut, except at first, in order to entice the beasts 

 to eat them ; but they should always be fresh and clean. No corn or 

 meal is necessary ; yet, if it can be procured at a moderate price, it 

 will contribute materially to facilitate, and of course to render more 

 profitable, the whole system of cattle-feeding. Should purging be 

 brought on by the use of raw potatoes, which frequently happens, the 

 quantity of meal or other dry food should be increased until the beasts 

 have become accustomed to the roots, when this inconvenience will 

 generally cease. 



Potatoes, however, being an article of constant consumption in our 

 markets, and having been of late years diminished by disease, are more 

 subject to variations of price than any of the other crops commonly 

 used in fattening cattle. The grazier must, therefore, be governed by 

 the consideration of their comparative cost, as well as quality. The 

 cultivation of potatoes is also expensive ; and there is no doubt that they 

 exhaust the land. In consequence of this they are seldom resorted to 

 as a fallow crop, even on soils best adapted to them, while in some of 

 the best grazing districts the ground is too strong and heavy for their 

 growth. It should further be remarked, that they have often been 

 found prejudicial to the health of cattle, when given for any length of 

 time in a raw state. 



In some districts where winter food is with difficulty procured, 

 heather may be advantageously resorted to. In a paper on this subject 

 communicated to the old Board of Agriculture by Mr James Hall, he 

 states that, in the course of numerous experiments on furze, broom, 

 rushes, bean-straw, and other neglected articles, he had discovered 

 that, if heather is cut when young and in bloom, and the finer parts 



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