474 



On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds. 



grass without linseed, it being necessary to bring them gradually 

 to a richer description of food. A constant succession is' thus 

 maintained, lean beasts coming in as the fattened animals are 

 taken off, generally within six months of their being first put up ; 

 and thus the boxes are never empty. 



Nothing can be more comfortable in appearance than the 

 animals which had been up some time. They had become ac- 

 customed to their boxes, were protected from every annoyance 

 arising from heat or cold, the weather or insects, were kindly 

 treated, and appeared the very pictures of animal enjoyment. 

 On entering the boxes, instead of being shy or alarmed, they 

 approached and solicited attention, and seemed pleased at being 

 scratched and handled. Their eyes were bright and clear, their 

 coats sleek and glossy, scarcely a speck of dirt or soil could be 

 seen on any of them, although each moved about unrestrainedly 

 in its box. Some v/ere eating the compound of cut grass and 

 linseed, some were lying down ruminating their food, some 

 sleeping, but all evidently in thriving condition, and partaking of 

 a joyous existence. 



The contrast between these animals, and a number of feeding 

 beasts which I afterwards saw in a large field adjoining part of 

 Mr. Warnes's farm, was most striking. The weather was hot and 

 the gadfly troublesome, and these poor beasts were running and 

 racing about to escape from the enemy, worried and heated, and 

 in a state of great irritation and discomfort. In the boxes the ani- 

 mals were screened from the sun, protected from flies, and in the 

 enjoyment of perfect quiet and repose, so essential for fattening ; 

 whereas in the field the cattle were in a constant state of effort 

 and excitement, preventing the development of flesh or fat. In 

 . the boxes the dung and urine are preserved, mingling with the 

 bedding, and forming a most valuable manure, always available 

 for application to the land. In the field the dung and urine are 

 for the most part lost, the fin^r particles being washed away by 

 rain, or carried off by the atmosphere. How widely different 

 must the results be to the farmer in these two cases, especially 

 when tested on a large scale ! 



If such be the advantages of box-feeding over feeding in the 

 open field, it possesses advantages similar in kind, if not equal 

 in degree, as contrasted with the fold-yard, where the stronger 

 animals tyrannize over the weaker, driving them about and 

 preventing their eating. Hence the inequality so frequently 

 observed in the fattening of folded cattle ; and hence, likewise, it 

 is often seen, when some of the animals have been removed, that 

 the others which did not thrive before, will fatten apace after 

 being relieved from their oppressors. 



All these evils are avoided in box-feeding. The animals are 



