THE UNITED KINGDOM. 155 



Mr. Griffith Lewis says : 



I give my calves a month's new milk ; in fact, let them suck the cow. I then 

 wean them, and give them, for two months, skim milk-scalded, and as soon as they 

 will eat it a little hay and oats. I then turn the mout in to grass about the first week 

 in June, and leave them out till the first week in October, when I bring them in at 

 night into an open shed and give them hay and mangels or swedes. I never rear a 

 calf after the 1st of April, as I find the milk becomes too rich and scours them, and 

 also they are not strong enough to be turned out the first week in June. You can 

 make any use of this you like^ 



Mr. John Richards says : 



The way I rear my calves is : I leave them three weeks on the cow ; after that 

 they have milk twice a day, and oats, oil-cake, hay, and roots till they are four 

 months old; then they are turned out on grass, but if they are Christmas calves they 

 are kept in till June. 



Mr. Richard Thomas says : 



Have been busy at the hay yesterday and the day before, or I would have 

 answered your letter sooner. My system of rearing calves is to give them new milk 

 for three weeks, then I give them skim-milk for about three months, with hay, man- 

 gels, and crushed oats. The calves I rear from November to March are turned out to 

 grass, the oldest ones in May and the others in June. About the middle of August I 

 give them a drench for the murrain. In October I commence giving them some 

 crushed oats daily. I keep this lot out all the winter in a dry, sheltered field, and 

 in November I begin giving them hay twice a day. The calves that are calved after 

 March I keep in till the following spring, in a yard and an open shed. They have 

 the same quantity of new milk, and about two months skim-milk, and give them 

 hay, mangels, vetches, and oats. In winter they have swedes, hay, and fetraw. I 

 give them a drench the same time as the others, and have not lost one calf from the 

 murrain this twelve years. I shall be most happy to give you any further informa- 

 tion should you require it. 



The Black cattle, which were more conspicuously placed before the public in 1874, 

 when the first Herd-Book was published, have improved very much by the exertions 

 of the farmers and by the noblemen who are interested in the result. The breed is 

 now recognized by the Royal Agricultural Society in its exhibition of stock, and will 

 soon attain the perfection of form and weight of the most improved breeds. This 

 arises in a measure from tho greater care taken with the stock whilst quite young, 

 to which attention was drawn in the first Herd-Book. 



The question of early maturity has been solved satisfactorily where the Blacks have 

 the same treatment as the Shorthorn and Herefords, and Mr. Harvey says he has seen 

 cattle killed for the butcher's stall at two years old which made admirable beef. 



Tho Black cattle flourish on a variety of soils, the limestone, the red sandstone, 

 and the clay-slate formation making no appreciable difference in the size of the ani- 

 mals. A damp and moist atmosphere suits them very well indeed, at an average tem- 

 perature of about 52. I may add that they are very hardy and do well as outlyers, 

 if tolerably well kept ; they improve most rapidly when the spring comes on and the 

 early grass begins to grow. I entertain the idea that the Black cattle are the most 

 paying breed now under a farmer's care. The grasses on the permanent pasture are 

 principally clovers, trefoil, cock-grass, the different fescues, timothy, and foxtail. 

 The grasses used in farming rotation are red clover, Dutch clover, rye grass, trefoil, 

 and cock-grass. 



The Earl of Cawdor, who is the principal exhibitor of Black cattle 

 in England, and whose animals generally reach 22 to 23 cwt. at Smith- 

 field, says: 



Their prevailing color is black, with long thick hair, long yellow horns, body even 

 and well shaped. They are hardy in constitution, strong, docile, useful for labor, 

 when necessary, and subsisting on scanty herbage. Their flesh is of excellent qual- 

 ity, lino grain, well mixed, and the extra fat more inside than immediately under the 

 skin. The mi Iking properties of this breed are on an average extremely good, each cow 

 givingf rom 1 2 to 14 quarts daily. The quantity, quality, color, and flavor of their bnt- 

 ter cannot be surpassed. They get to maturity at an early age, but, like every other 

 brood, that depends entirely upon the feeding. Live weight of bulls, 24 cwt. ; oxen, 

 22 cv. L ; cows, 18 cwt. The hardiness of the breed renders them suitable as outlyers, 

 and they rapidly gain flesh. There is a very satisfactory improvement noticeable in 

 the l)vood of this cattle, and in a few years more they will claim an honorable posi- 

 tion among the varied breeds of Great Britain. The soil here is brownish, light, dry 



