178 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK r. 



infused in hot water, it produces a liquid very grateful to the taste, 

 eagerly drunk, and extremely wholesome. 



Being anxious to know how far young heath might be useful to 

 cattle, he tried the experiment on a cow. When first tied up, she 

 refused to eat any of the heath, except the very finest part, nor did 

 she appear to relish an infusion of it when set before her ; hunger, 

 however, compelled her first to drink the infusion, and then to eat the 

 heath ; and on this food alone she lived for nearly a fortnight, during 

 which time her milk was reduced in quantity, although its quality was 

 much improved. 



Satisfied from these experiments that cattle may be long supported 

 by young heath, Mr. Hall proceeded to ascertain how far the plant was 

 capable of retaining its valuable qualities when dried and laid up. He 

 therefore cut some at the end of the summer, and dried it in the shade ; 

 and, at the end of two years, it produced an .infusion as strong and 

 well-flavoured as at first. The effect was the same at the end of three 

 years. 



Young heath may be procured by burning the old which remains on 

 the ground. The ashes afford an excellent manure, and generally 

 cause a fine young crop to spring up, that will afford nourishment for 

 the stock in the ensuing months of August and September. 



As food for sheep, it forms the chief portion of their sustenance on 

 mountain pastures during the latter part of autumn and the beginning 

 of winter. 



Furze, gorse, or whin (see p. 939), as a butter food for dairy cows, is 

 considered valuable by some farmers. Cows are fond of it, and it is 

 said to counteract the bad flavour given to milk by turnips. From an 

 account of a farm in Warwickshire, where furze is grown and used, we 

 gather the following particulars. The furze meadow consists of ten 

 acres. Its produce with a feed, every twenty-four hours, of turnips, 

 mangel-wurzel, potatoes or grains, given to counteract the richness of 

 the furze, and without any hay supported for the winter half-year 

 twenty-one head of milch cattle and six horses of the large German 

 breed, all of which were in high condition. The cows milked remark- 

 ably well, the milk and butter being of excellent flavour. The owner 

 had also sold off the same field 25 tons of furze, at 20s. per ton, and 

 having about as much more left he had it cut and burned, as it is 

 necessary to cut it every year. The saving of hay alone was calculated 

 at 100Z. per annum. The furze prickles require to be broken by a 

 furze breaker or machine, before being given to the cows. 



In an article which appeared in " The Dairy " (Oct. 1889) on gorse 

 as food for dairy cows it is stated that as a winter fodder for dairy 

 cattle the claims of furze have often been urged, and the fact that it is 

 available in winter is not one of the least of its merits. A vagrant, 

 found upon the poorest and lightest of soils, it is too often allowed to 

 waste its sweetnesss upon the desert air, when it might, with very 

 little trouble, be converted into milk and butter. The excellent 

 quality of gorse young growths, bruised and cut as a supplemental 

 food for dairy cows, has long been placed beyond the region of con- 



