NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY THDMAS \V. .SllKl'ARU, llOGEKi:-' BLILDliNGS^, CONGRESS bTRKET, (KOUllTH DOOR FROM STATE STREET.) 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1823. 



No. 40._ 



1 



FACTS AND OBSKRVATIONS RELATING TO 



laCULTURE & DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



ON MAKENG CATTLE VERY FAT. 

 We believe that farmers nnci others some- 

 les " miss the matter" as Hudibras snys, by 

 ing a great deal of pains, and wasting their 

 )duce in making cattle very fat. '• Some fam- 

 !S have given up butchers, who pride them- 

 ves on seliinij very fat meat, finding that it 

 de no way in teeding their familj', so much 

 it was rejected."* In Great Britain prize 

 tie were formerly fatted till they were 

 rcely lit to eat, and the meat had no more 

 rcr than hog's lard. Sheep were likewise 

 ffed with oil cake and gin till the poor things 

 lid not rise alone, and needed as much wait- 

 on as a superannuated Duchess. They were 

 quently stutiod and stimulated till it became 

 jessary to cut their throats to save their lives, 

 t is to say, nothing but a butcher's knife could 

 ivent them from dying of dropsy. A man to 

 lure such food need have the stomach of a 

 rk, and the digestive powers of an ostrich, 

 t can make a meal on ten penny nails. 

 VIeat, however, reasonabhj tat is more profit- 

 e, as well as more nourishing than lean meat, 

 t, " to digest this oily matter, there are re- 

 red, on account of its ditiicult solubilily, a 

 id bile, much saliva, and a vigorous stomath; 

 isequcntly none excepting those who a;e 

 he most vigorous state of health, or wfao 

 employed in bard labor can digest i\^ 

 the IJone also gains but little in the fatting 

 mal, and the other ofial become proportion- 

 y less, as the animal becomes more fat, 

 is best to have cattle well fatted, but not 

 iverted into a mass of matter as unpalat- 

 e and unwholesome as whale oil. " A 

 ■iFse and heavy-fleshed ox which would re- 

 te a very long time, and much good food to 

 ■■en, may be slaughtered rather lean. It is 

 , however, so much the extent of fat, as the 

 nt of a sufficient quantity of lean flesh of 

 ich the consumer complains ; for it cannot 

 doubted, that the lean flesh of a fat anmial 

 luperior in quality, and contains more nour- 

 iment than any other meat."J 



THE PROPER AGE OF CATTLE FOR FATTEXLNG. 



•* Animals arrived at their lull age, at least 

 1 size, are well known to be the most proper 

 dily to take on fat, since nature is not then 

 peded by a double process. Young animals 

 great substance, and well formed, will like- 

 98 fatten to good profit ; but they are gener- 

 y adapted to the gradual plan of grazing, 

 lich is prolonged eighteen months or two 

 ars. The grazier thus reaps the profits ol" 

 iir natural growth or increase in stature. 

 lere is another species of increase, technically 

 ■led gro~joth ; it is the spread or extension of 

 iscular flesh in full aged animals, of large 

 jae and capacious frame. § 



* Scotch Husbandry, voL 1, p. 109. 

 IVi'illich on Diet and Regimen. 

 If Code of Agriculture, p. 91. 

 i Lawrence oa Neat Cattle. 



" Tallow is formed from the surplus nourish- 

 ment given to animals, beyond what is necessary 

 for their more physical development ; whence 

 it follows that those which have not obtained 

 their full growth are fatted with difTicully, and 

 only by extraordinary mean'. Calves, for ex- 

 ample, can only be fatted by great quantities of 

 irilk, to which must often be added egg?., barley 

 o- oat meal, or the flour of beans or peas; and 

 vith all this abundance and selection of food, 

 taey yield little if any interior fat or tallow. 

 '\ hereas oxen, at six years of age, with corres- 

 pondent treatment, give large quantities of that 

 article. Old cattle are also, from loss of teeth, 

 debility of stomach, or other internal disorgani- 

 zation dilUcult to fat. These facts sufiiciently 

 indicate what, on this head, ought to be our prac- 

 tice ; lo fatten cattle as soon after they have obtain- 

 ed their grozath as possible. Oxen generally at- 

 tain their growth at five or six years, and sheep 

 and hogs at two."* 



FOOn FOR FATTING CATTLE. 



It has been often said, and we believe cor- 

 rectly, that it is not profitable, generally speak- 

 ing, to fatten cattle on any kind of grain. Law- 

 rence, on neat cattle, asserts that "Corn [by 

 which is meant oats, barley, rye, peas, beans, 

 wheat, tc] cannot be used in the fattening of 

 bullocks and sheep, except in seasons of super- 

 abundant plenty." Even Indian corn is often 

 loo costly a species of food to be used solely 

 or chiefly for the profitable fattening of cattle, 

 Tnd grass, hay or roots are said to be the mate- 

 vvils which true economy requires.! But we 

 h:we heard it asserted that beef fattened on oil 

 cate, raw potatoes, ttirnips, &c. will not be so 

 firm, nor of so good a quality, other things be- 

 ins equal, as that which is fattened on Indian 

 con. If that be true it might be well to com- 

 meice with turnips and potatoes, and give the 

 animals richer food as they increase in fatness. 

 Frequent changes of diet will prevent the ap- 

 pette from being palled, and accelerate the pro- 

 cess of fattening. An able writer observes that 

 " ^^ith respect to feeding, the first rule is, to 

 give little at a time and often ; because experi- 

 ence has shewn that animals that eat much in 

 a ^ort time do not fatten so well as those 

 whch eat less but more slowly and frequently. 

 The second rule is to begin the course with 

 calhages and turnips; then to employ carroL- 

 anc potatoes, and lastly, Indian, oat, or barle^ 

 meal, the marsh bean, or the grey pea. These 

 aliments ought to be varied five or six times a 

 day, and ol'tener if convenient ; and instead of 

 alvKiys reducing them to flour, there is an ad- 

 vantage in sometimes boiling them. A little 

 sail, given daily, is very useful."* It would 

 prcve very useful to try experiments on this 

 sulject, and publish their results. Let a num- 

 be: of cattle of similar or the same breed, age, 

 propensity to fatten, as ascertained by handling, 

 &c. &c. be fattened at the same time. Let one 

 be fed entirely on potatoes raw, a second on the 

 same root steamed or boiled, a third be made 



* Treatise on Agriculture, first published in the Al- 

 tany Argus. 



' \ t See a communicatiou for the N. E. Farmer, signed 

 ptiblishcd page 234. 



one half, or two thirds tat on potatoes, and his 

 fatting completed with Indian corn ; a fourth be 

 fatted on Indian corn, or corn meal; a fifth be 

 fed with a mixture of all these kinds of food, 

 given together in the sanle mess, or in different 

 messes. The first feed in the morning for the 

 last mentioned bollock, might be a small quanti- 

 ty of potatoes, or turnips, the second ruta baga, 

 or carrots, or mangel wurtzel, or parsnips, 

 which are highly recommended, 'i'hen as the 

 last course of the day's feast give Indian meal, 

 or other food the richest you have. It would 

 be well, likewise, to try the virtues of sweet 

 apples, which would probably prove a valuable 

 food for cattle. The most important objects of 

 such experiments, however, would be to ascer- 

 tain whether the beef of cattle faltencJ on po- 

 tatoes, or other roots raw or steameil is ecjual in 

 quality to that which is fattened on Indian corn. 

 If not, whether an ox may not be made nearly 

 fat enough for profit on roots, and his fatting 

 completed on corn, and the flesh be as good as 

 if he had been fattened zi'holUj on corn. And 

 if an ox partly fatted on roots, and his fattening' 

 completed on corn gives as good beef as one 

 wholly fed on corn, the question arises how 

 long a time will it require to give the beef its 

 good qualities arising I'rom the corn 1 We know 

 as respects swine that farmers will make them 

 partly tat on any thing which they will devour, 

 and then feed them for some time before they 

 are killed with Indian corn or meal to " harden 

 thcjlesh''' .IS they express it. And perhaps the 

 same process will answer as well for beef cat- 

 tle. Some farmers say that the red or La Plata 

 potatoe given raw to swine, makes as good pork 

 as that which is corn fed. Others say that any 

 kind of potatoe, if steamed or boiled, will make 

 as good pork as can be made of corn. If this 

 be true of pork, why not of beef? 



It is a truth which has been confirmed by re- 

 peated experiments that food for swine ferment- 

 ed and become a Utile acid will go farther and 

 fatten them faster than sweet food of the same 

 quality. But it is not, we believe, generally 

 known, that acid food is most valuable tor neat 

 cattle, in certain circumstances. Mr. Bordley, 

 however, asserts that " Oxen made half fat, or 

 in good plight, on grajs or turnips, are then ve- 

 ry highly and soon finished in France, upon a 

 so::r food thus prepared: rye meal, (buck wheat 

 or Indian corn meal may be tried) with water is 

 made into a paste, which in a few days ferments, 

 aud becomes sour ; this is then diluted with wa- 

 ter, and thickened laitk hay, cut into chafl', which 

 ihe oxen sometimes refuse the first day, but 

 when dry they drink and prefer it. All the 

 husbandmen are decidedly of opinion they 

 i'allen much better because of Xhn acidity. They 

 Xive it thrice a day and a large ox thus eats 22 

 lbs. a day. iMaize [Indian] meal, or maize steep- 

 ed till sour should be tried. I'his sour mess is 

 given duraig the last three weeks of their fat- 

 tening, and they eat about 74 bushels of meal, 

 value four dollars."* 



* Care should be taken that the process of fermOTta- 

 tion bf !K I carried too tar. Ihe paste should not . ,^er 

 come mouldy, nor the liquid food in the slightest de- 

 gree putrid. 



