AND MANAGEMENT. 15 



to fill the fatting pens, some more may be taken for 

 the paddock, where they can be taken special care of 

 during the winter, and have the advantage of the 

 better pasturage the paddock may afford in the spring, 

 most parks having more or less bad land in them. In 

 cold poor land parks there will be little grass before 

 June, unless artificial means are resorted to, and the 

 bucks won't be fit before August, whereas the paddock 

 deer will be ready at the commencement of the season. 

 In stall-feeding there are many plans, and the bucks 

 generally feed remarkably well ; the writer has found 

 from experience that a brace of bucks in a small con- 

 venient shed to do as well or better than in any other 

 way, and probably the most convenient sheds are under 

 a span roof with a passage through the centre of the 

 building, the doors opening into the passage on either 

 side. This is convenient when it is wished to move a 

 buck from one shed to another without handling him ; 

 the feeding troughs also pull out into the passage, which 

 has a door at each end under lock and key ; sufficient 

 light is admitted by glass tiles in the roof, so that the 

 bucks cannot be seen or their food trifled with by any 

 one who has no authority to do so. There is a close iron 

 window on the outside secured by a padlock to admit 

 of the shed being cleaned out, and through which the 

 buck may be shot. When deer are put into sheds the 

 horns should always be sawn off close to the "burr." 

 Swede turnips with hay is the best food to begin with, 

 unless the bucks are very poor, and it may then be 

 advisable to give them some beans, maize, or oats, but 

 I have found them generally thrive well on turnips and 

 hay. After January you can begin to force them with 

 corn ; nothing fattens faster than beans and peas, but 

 I am inclined to think that beans harden the meat ; it 

 certainly does if sheep are fed much on them. The 

 locust bean with maize and oats is indeed excellent 

 feeding, and as cheap as anything I have found. Oil- 

 cake is used by some people with success, others recom- 

 mend Thorley's food; but the truth is, if the animal 



