HISTORY OF HEEEFOED CIATTLE 



57 



in and to cover the end soon when they are 

 taken out; they keei^ quite good till grass 

 comes in. 



Query 3d. — Does JVIr. Campbell give any 

 stated quantity of hay, or as much as the ox 

 will eat? 



This is answered by what is said above. 



Query 4th. — Is any corn or meal necessary, 

 and at what expense, if so? 



None necessary. An ox may be as complete- 

 ly, and to as high a degree, fattened on pota- 

 toes and hay, as it is possible he should be on 

 any food; and beef so fed remarkably good. 

 But a variety of any such sort of food as men- 

 tioned in this query, given in addition, does, 

 in Mr. C.'s opinion, bring the ox on yet faster, 

 and therefore when such food is to be had at 

 a moderate price he should always incline for 

 using it as, according to his way of thinking, 

 it would tend to make the whole of the feed- 

 ing come more profitable, and that is 

 cheaper. Mr. Campbell, in his present sit- 

 uation, gets some brewers grains, and to as 

 many of his feeding oxen as the quantity he 

 gets will serve he gives, to two about a bushel, 

 among which is mixed about a peck of pollard 

 or sometimes pea or bean-meal coarsely 

 ground, whichever of these or such like matters 

 happen at the time to be cheapest (he means 

 a price cheapest in proportion to the feeding 

 quality of the particular article). 



Query 5th. — Is there anything particular in 

 the management of the cattle thus fattened 

 which the above queries do not include? 



The greatest difficulty that Mr. C. finds in 

 bringing the people who have the care of the 

 cattle to the trying of his directions, is to break 

 them of the practice of giving too much at a 

 time. If this is done, it disgusts the beast, puts 

 him off his appetite and wastes the food. If, 

 when an ox has eaten up what was put before 

 him, he craves, he should have more given him, 

 but as near as may be, no more should be given 

 than he will clear; some will, however, remain, 

 and before they are served again, whatever is 

 left should be taken away; and that never 

 should be wasted. Mr. C. has always some milk- 

 ing cows or some other cattle tied near, to which 

 such leavings of the feeding cattle are given. 



Mr. C. places much dependence for the thriv- 

 ing of feeding cattle on their being kept clean. 

 The part of their mangers in which the hay is 

 given them, is (whenever fresh is put in) 

 cleaned from dirt and dust, and the division 

 for potatoes, or (if any) meal, or such like feed, 

 cleaned up with a blunt-pointed trowel every 

 morning after they have been served, and whilst 

 they are feeding on their potatoes, their stalls 



are cleaned, all dung and wet litter taken away, 

 and what tolerably dry, shaken up, and sutfi- 

 cient fresh litter strewed over; that invites them 

 (as soon as they have satisfied their inclination 

 for eating) to lie down; they seem to enjoy the 

 clean bed much, and their resting, much. Mr. 

 C. presumes it must promote their fattening. 

 Mr. C. thinks that combing and carding their 

 hides promotes their thriving more than equal 

 to the very small portion of time it takes up, 

 and orders that it be done now and then, when- 

 ever time for it may be spared from the other 

 business of the attendants. 



The following account of an ox fed bv J. H. 

 Campbell is dated 7th April, 1789: 



An ox of the true Herefordshire breed fed at 

 Charlton, near Greenwich, in Kent, was ex- 



VERN HOUSE. HEREFORDSHIRE. PROPERTY OF JOHN 

 HEWER. 1S55-1875. 



hibited at Greenwich, on account of his size and 

 beauty. The above-named ox came in a lean 

 state to Charlton, the beginning of July, 1787. 

 That summer he was kept on coarse grass. In 

 the latter end of the autumn, lattermath, but 

 of very indifferent quality; first of December, 

 put in the stall and had potatoes and hay; 

 about Christmas had some grains, also; some 

 time after that, pollard mixed with grass, think- 

 ing at that time to have -sold him in the spring, 

 1788, but afterwards determined to keep him 

 over to another season (expecting a good in- 

 crease of weight on him, as he was then only 

 six years old); I turned him out to grass the lat- 

 ' ter end of April, and he continued out until the 

 latter end of October, generally in grass of a 

 middling quality that many people thought he 

 must fall away and said I should spoil him. 

 The two last weeks of that time he had some 

 coarse hay in the morning. At the end of Oc- 

 tober he was taken to the stall, and had pota- 

 toes and hay as before, and then grains after 



