S5 



3^ ill-contrived, and so straitened in their dimensions, that the 

 cattle are constrained to lie down, in part in their own dung. 

 This dries and forms a thick coat on their hind quarter?, from 

 which they are not relieved till they shed their hair in the 

 spring. They are thus rendered unco mf or table : to be uncom,' 

 fortahle is to suffer some degree of pain ; and no one will sup- 

 pose that animals in pain can thrive, or preserve their plight^ with 

 the same food, equally with others perfectly at ease. Even hogs, 

 though prone to wallow in the mire, in warm weather, are al- 

 ivays pleased with a diy bed, and thrive best when kept clean. 

 I have somewhere read an account of an experiment made with 

 two, confined in separate pens, and fed exactly alike : one was 

 suffered to be constantly foul with the mire of his sty ; the 

 other, washed every day, and kept clean, far outstripped the 

 former in thriving. 



It may be useful to add some further information on Live Stocky 

 from the writings of Sir John Sinclair, President of the British 

 Board of Agriculture. He proposed to a gentleman in England,* 

 who is eminent for his knowledge and accurate observations re-* 

 lative to plants and animals, some questions concerning Live 

 Stock. In one of his answers, he says — '' I have found the food 

 animals generally require, to keep them in proper condition, is 

 much more nearly proportioned to their height and length, than 

 to their weight. " In confirmation of this opinion, he adds, that 

 one of his neighbours made a comparative experiment with the 

 Devon and Hereford cows; and though fond of the former for 

 their neatness, he gave them up, because '' they would not near- 

 ly live upon the same food which supplied animals stouter and 

 more compact^ of the same weight." 



To the question, " What is the best shape for feeding well 

 with little food?" Mr. Knight answers — '"The more deep and 

 capacious the chest, and the shorter and lower any animal is, 

 relative to its weight, the better adapted it will be to live and 

 fatten upon little food ; the more labour it will also go through ; 

 and 1 have always found the most short legged oxen to be the 

 best labourers. Mr. Marshall also observes, in his Rural Econo- 



* Thomas A. Knight, Esqp. 



