376 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
{ November 14, 1878. 
way. We never recollect having ill health or accident overtake 
them whilst confined to the yard and shed ; the principal objects 
in view were the feeding the animals entirely upon the produce 
of arable land, and the treading a large quantity of straw into 
manure, which was allowed to accumulate under the animals. 
The mode of feeding in the yards, &c., should be a moderate 
allowance of decorticated cotton cake, say 2 Ibs. per day each, 
with not exceeding 30 tbs. of mangold or Swedes per day, the 
cake being given in a fine or meal state mixed with the roots. 
Sweet straw or inferior hay ad libitum. The kay should not be 
mouldy, but may be the produce of inferior pastures. It is there- 
fore a question of convenience which fodder should be used, seeing 
that straw and such hay are about the same in money and feeding 
value. Upon this combination of food the heifers ought to be, in 
the absence of disease, in blooming condition when they leave the 
yards and enter upon grass feeding. It will depend upon the 
quality of the herbage in the pastures whether they should con- 
tinue to receive the 2 Ibs. per day of cotton cake, for unless the 
grass land should be very poor the cake may be dispensed with 
until they leave the pastures and enter upon yard and shed feed- 
ing in the succeeding winter. 
The next point to be considered is the lying of the pastures, 
because if it is low moist meadow land, and below the fog level, 
the animals should be removed to higher ground, either pasture or 
old lea, upon the arable land at night time. This matter is of espe- 
cial importance in securing the health of the animals and freedom 
from blackleg or quarter-ill ; other ailments are soon discovered and 
easily treated. The best and highest conditioned animals of any 
breed being most disposed to quarter-ill, it is advisable to bleed 
them from the neck vein, and take about a quart of blood from 
them about midsummer, so as to ascertain whether the blood is 
unusually defibrinated, if the animals have not previously been 
setoned in the brisket or dewlap. [See the article upon the 
quarter-ill in this Journal, new series, vol. xxxiy., page 418. | 
The next question is as to the best time of the year for the 
heifers to bring their first calf. We recommend the month of 
May for that purpose ; therefore, a well-bred yearling bull should 
be allowed to run with them from the 1st of August until they 
have all been served. The bull should then be removed, and they 
will then drop their calves at about twenty-seven months old. 
‘We recommend this age as being the best period for bringing out 
dairy stock, and as being the best calculated to insure their 
milking capacity. Sometimes heifers are allowed to go on to 
three years of age before yeaning their first calf. This is advis- 
able only in the case of stock intended for exhibition, so that the 
stock may arrive at greater size and perfection as show animals. 
We have no doubt from our own experience that heifers which 
drop their first calf at from twenty-four to twenty-seven months 
_ old will not only make the best dairy cows but the most regular 
breeders and less subject to barrenness. It is further advisable 
that heifers should suckle their calyes up to a good age, say ten 
or more weeks, and then have other calves in succession put to 
them for the whole milking period, which it is calculated to ex- 
tend and prolong. This will be most beneficial to them as milch 
cows ever after, seeing that the calves are better milkers than 
the milker or dairyman. It is also extremely desirable that the 
pastures whereon the heifers are grazed should be well fenced, 
otherwise when young stock are allowed to break their bounds 
they may become riggers in the future, which scarcely any fence 
will stop. It being also likely to cause abortion and other serious 
damage to them, it is recommended that they should have only 
pure water for drinking, either from a running stream or a well- 
supplied pond of pure water. Such as we often see on farms— 
ponds highly coloured with the drainage from the farm yard—is a 
fruitful source of blood-poisoning. It is, however, sometimes 
argued by farmers that the cattle like it best, but this can only 
be an acquired taste, for it is impossible to admit that it is best 
for them that their drink should be composed of diluted urine and 
other fcecal matters. 
The pastures being always fed close care should be taken that 
the bunches of grass be cut before seeding, in order to prevent 
the formation of ergot in the seed heads, which is baneful to the 
breeding stock and likely to produce abortion. It is also requisite 
that particular attention should be paid to their removal to and 
from the pastures, yards, and sheds, so that no injury may occur 
to the animals in passing through gateways, &c., by hurried 
driving. If possible each kind of stock should be kept in sepa- 
rate herds, otherwise the stronger breeds, such as Shorthorns, will 
often seriously injure smaller stock like Alderneys, and when the 
stronger ill-use the weaker it often leads to abortion. Whatever 
may be the cause of abortion the stock should be watched with a 
vigilant eye, for when one case occurs it is sure to spread to other 
animals if the affected one is not instantly removed on the 
symptoms peculiar to abortion being first discovered. 
hen the period of summer grazing is well advanced, and the 
grass begins to become stale on the pastures, the heifers should 
have cabbages on the pastures. These, when large heads, have 
very strong and hard stumps, and sometimes these stumps when 
not split with a hook are apt to choke the young animals whilst 
endeayouring to masticate them. When the animals are removed 
] from the pastures to winter quarters they should be treated in 
the yards and sheds as in the previous winter, but no more than 
two should be allowed to feed in the same apartment. As the 
time of calving approaches they should be alone in a box or pen, 
and receive the uttention required from the dairyman. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour must still be applied to the preparation of land 
for wheat, and seeding the same if not already completed ; for 
although we recommended only a short time ago that it would be 
well to defer the seed time until the end of November or first 
week of December on account of the slugs being so very numerous 
upon the clover leas, we have, however, now a decided change 
ot weather, and instead of genial south-west winds and growing 
atmosphere we have north winds, night frosts, and an atmosphere 
the reverse of growing, for the vegetating of plants, grass, or seed 
corn respectively. The sooner the wheat is all sown the better, 
for should the like weather prevail for some little time the wheat 
plant will be quite safe from the depredation of slugs. In those 
cases where the wheat land is all seeded, the work will now be 
finishing the autumn cultivation of land which was partially done 
before the wheatseason. In those instances where the land might 
have been worked down, and the grass and weeds cleared away ; 
yet since that has been done where there is couch left in the land, 
any small bunches will by this time have vegetated sufficiently 
to show their position, and may be easily forked out and carted 
away before the final or fallow ploughing. It is through the 
disregard of the little lumps of couch that the succession 1s kept 
up, causing immense and costly horse labour in the future, and 
which might have been prevented at small cost by judicious hand 
labour. 
The feeding of horses at this time, now that green fodder is not 
available, should be regarded as important, for we certainly have 
no right to expect that the animals can be as healthy and as 
capable of severe labour when placed suddenly upon corn and dry 
fodder diet only. We again advise that some roots either of 
carrots or Swedes should be given in addition with corn and hay. 
Wheat is so low in price that it is now a valuable auxiliary in 
horse-feeding, one-third of wheat to two-thirds of oats, both being 
cracked or crushed before feeding—those cold samples which are 
disregarded by the miller, and if sold at all must be sold at a lower 
rate than any feeding stuff in the market, except, perhaps, maize, 
will be very useful. 
Hand Labour is now required in completing the storage of 
root crops, both of mangold, carrots and Swedes, and where 
it can be obtained seaweed is the best of all coverings for roots 
in heap, requiring but little else either of straw, or earth. Upon 
the heayy-land farms the wheat land as well as all the fal- 
lows will require to be carefully water-furrowed. Some men 
will also be required to cut and make hedges and clear out 
ditches upon those farms where it is not customary to keep 
them closely trimmed.in the summer months. All the horned 
cattle on the farm will now require dry fodder either of hay or 
sweet straw, as well as a moderate allowance of roots, except the 
fatting cattle. These will require straw only when fed with the 
usual quantities of cake, meal, and roots, which should be given 
without being cut into chaff, as ruminating animals require the 
long fodder to distend the stomach and enable them to digest the 
other kinds of food. Sheep, both store and breeding flocks, as 
well as those feeding for the butcher, will now require minute 
attention by the shepherd. The breeding ewes ought especially, 
to be kept as long as possible without eating roots. They should 
however, have a run upon the pastures where the grass is old, and 
some of this should always be reserved for them. en the grass 
becomes short, cabbages, either White-hearts or the Thousand- 
headed, are capital food for in-lamb ewes, but they should have 
them strewed over the pastures, or upon old lea grass in a very 
moderate quantity at a time, certainly not as much as they can 
eat. We object also to their having hay before lambing, as being 
injurious and likely to produce abortion. We prefer straw cut 
into chaff, and made damp to receive cotton cake in meal in 
admixture or otherwise; we have known molasses mixed with 
straw chaff do as well as any mixture to induce them to eat straw. 
The early lambing homed Dorset and Somerset ewes have now 
dropped two-thirds of their lambs, and will therefore require great 
care in their management, for the lambs never entirely recover a 
serious check, whether it arises from want of proper care in feed- 
ing or mismanagement of the ewes, as short supplies of milk lead 
to a check in the condition of the lambs. Foot rot, too, is often 
the cause of a serious check to both ewes and lambs unless 
properly treated. 
THE CRYSTAL PALACE POULTRY SHOW. 
THE great poultry “ Derby ” has once more come round like, and 
yet unlike, all its predecessors. We see the same faces year after 
year, the same pens—in fact, the same arrangement of classes, 
and yet there are every year special features which prevent any 
real sameness in the shows. Some particular class contains some 
special wonder, the year has been exceptionally good for one breed, 
ee ee 
