CHAP. i. CATTLE CALENDAR. 1031 



and those under a year old should be placed in the warmest quarters. 

 It is necessary to divide them into as many lots as possible, as they 

 never do so well when lying too thickly ; a good allowance of crib-room 

 should be provided, or the stronger will get more than their share 

 of the food. Heifers should be kept apart from steers wherever prac- 

 ticable. Give clean and sweet bedding both in shed and yard, and 

 whitewash the walls of both inside and out. See to the condition of 

 the bowels of the animals, and be careful to keep their bodies clean and 

 free from matted dung, &c. (We have reason to believe that young 

 stock will be healthier, and less liable to " black-leg," out of doors 

 during the first winter, providing they are on dry land, well sheltered, 

 or if they have a shed to run to, and a liberal supply of nutritious 

 food.) 



Store Cattle. With the exception of Hunts and Highland cattle, 

 which by the hardiness of their constitution are able to withstand 

 severe weather and exposure, and are therefore adapted for feeding off 

 rough grass, all store stock should be brought into the yards, unless 

 there are warm shelter-hovels for them to go into at will, where they 

 can receive additional food. Whenever fresh purchases are made the 

 cattle should be placed in quarantine in some outlying place for a short 

 time, so that if any infectious or contagious disease has been communi- 

 cated in the markets they will show signs of it, and the rest of the 

 stock may be protected. Give beasts approaching the fattening period 

 a daily allowance of oil-cake or home-made meals, the quantity increas- 

 ing from two to six and eight pounds daily in proportion as they 

 fatten. Slice roots and cut all straw fed to them, and see to the 

 general state of their health, the condition and supply of water, and 

 the cleanliness of bedding in shelter sheds, and also of the bodies and 

 coats of the animals. 



Fattening Stock. Give a variety of foods such as home-made 

 meals, beans, peas, seeds of tares or vetches, &c., &c., and of bought 

 or foreign produce, as linseed and decorticated cotton-cake, lentils, 

 carobs, or locust beans, ground down into meal, as well as of turnips 

 and parsnips. In severe frosty weather allow at least one warm 

 mash daily ; this will be best if given before making up for the 

 night. Keep roots in the house for some time to raise their tempera- 

 ture before giving them to stock ; frozen or half-frozen roots affect 

 fattening stock prejudicially. Cut, slice, or pulp them, and cut the 

 straw, mixing the whole before feeding. Rub down daily, morning and 

 evening, with clean dry straw, all the animals, so as to free their 

 coats from adhering dung, and currycomb at least twice a week 

 to free their skins from dust. Keep all feeding vessels scrupulously 

 clean, and bed liberally with straw. When animals are in boxes it is 

 most economical to use straw cut in lengths of about eight inches. 

 When they are tied up, whole straw is best ; it is economical to bed 

 them down, so that the straw is first placed under the fore part of the 

 animals ; at the next bedding- down to draw it back under the belly to 

 catch the urine ; and, finally, to place it behind to catch the droppings : 

 in this way the dung will be more evenly made, and the litter 



