160 THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 



cattle or cattle for fattening. When oats are given they 

 should be always bruised, as they are very difficult of digestion, 

 and often produce serious mischief, remaining unchanged in 

 the alimentary canal 



Previously to stall-feeding cattle, it is advisable to keep 

 them for a short time on a bare pasture. By this plan the 

 stomach acquires tone and vigour, the appetite is healthily 

 increased, and the animals feed with a greater relish, and 

 fatten more rapidly. During their feeding the healthy tone of 

 the stomach should be maintained, and the diet in proportion 

 to the ease of good digestion, which should always " wait on 

 appetite." 



In the treatment of cattle, whether in the field or in the 

 stall, good clean water is essential. Where no good water is 

 otherwise accessible, it is better to sink wells, and pump the 

 water into stone troughs, than to allow the animals to drink 

 from a muddy, filthy pond, full of putrescent animal and 

 vegetable matters, which generate many diseases. Such 

 water injures the quality of the milk, and disorders the di- 

 gestive organs. These evil effects are often attributed to the 

 grass, whereas the cause is in the water and not in the pastur- 

 age. It is notorious that cows pastured in districts where 

 marshes and stagnant pools abound, into which the drainage 

 of the land is carried, are subject to that scourge of cattle 

 known as " Red Water," and also to severe diarrhoea. 



Cattle in their pastures drink at will, and usually take from 

 12 to 18 or 20 gallons in the course of twenty-four hours ; 

 but when stall-fed, it is necessary to supply them twice or 

 three times a day, according to the nature of their food. If 

 fed on dry provender, they require water more frequently 

 than when eating succulent herbage or juicy roots ; and 

 neglect in this point is one of the causes of various inflamma- 

 tory diseases, which often make their appearance to the loss 

 of the feeder. With a due supply of pure water, cleanliness, 

 the free application of the currycomb, ventilation, and a little 

 gentle exercise daily in a bare inclosure, are very important 

 concomitants. A hot, close, undrained cow-house, into which 

 pigs, fowls, ducks, &c., have free access, is a disgraceful 

 spectacle. 



The management of milch cows, and of the dairy, is a 

 simple affair. It is on good old natural pastures that they 

 maintain the best health, return the most milk, and select the 

 herbage best suited to their appetite ; but when housed or 



