GERMANY. 



433 



fodder (the grain does not ripen), and lupines, vetches, and fodder beans 

 arc also largely planted. 



In my annual report for 1879 the number of hectares sown in grasses 

 and other fodder plants was given, and as the proportion does not prob- 

 ai)ly vary materially from year to year, except that a larger amount of 

 Indian corn stalks is now produced the figures are here reproduced. 



Root-feed. Prominent among the articles of food, alike for dairy and 

 for mea.t cattle, are the potato-mash "swill "produced by the 1,083 dis- 

 tilleries within the province, the " grains " from its 965 breweries, the 

 best residuum or pulp from its 50 sugar factories, and the offal of its 

 numerous potato-starch factories. I have before me a statement show- 

 ing the amount of arable land, of wood and meadow land, water, &c., 

 of an estate of 617 hectares in Lower Silesia, wherein, in the column 

 devoted to live stock, occurs the following : " Cattle fattening food pro- 

 cured from sugar factory and distillery." The exceptions to this method 

 of feeding are the cattle farms and stables in whose immediate neigh- 

 borhood the factory offal is not to be obtained. In such places potatoes, 

 beets, and turnips form a part of the winter food. 



HOUSING. 



As a general rule cattle are confined in stables the year round, the 

 land being considered too valuable for grazing, except for a few weeks 

 in the late summer and autumn, before the stubble is plowed under. 

 The stables are mostly warm and dry, and surrounded by the farm- 

 yard, into which the cattle are sometimes turned for a few hours 7 airing. 

 Exceptions to the rule of dry and warm stables are, however, not 

 wanting. In the mountain districts alone the cattle are pastured 

 throughout the summer, and stable-feeding is practiced only in winter. 

 The small farms in the lowlands, and such farm laborers and mechanics 

 as are able to keep a cow, let their cattle graze along the waysides and 

 ditches, feeding in the stables only night and morning. 



CATTLE-BREEDING IN SILESIA. 



As regards cattle breeding, this is systematically neglected by the 

 small farmer, while many owners of large estates view the matter solely 

 with an eye to present profit, without regard to the permanent improve- 

 ment of their stock. They pay little attention to blood or pedigree, 

 contenting themselves with the purchase of a few fine bulls selected 

 from some stock of good repute, either at home or abroad. 



DAIRY FARMING IN SILESIA. 



Mill:. More care has been bestowed upon the treatment of dairy 

 products in recent years than formerly, resulting partly from the estab- 

 lishment of a Government dairy school in Upper Silesia. Dairy asso- 

 ciations, disposing of 8,000 to 20,000 liters of milk each per day, are of 

 recent origin, but are already numerous. Dairy farms within easy dis- 

 H. Vs. 51 28 



