18 



Present State of the Science of 



this respect, or how far it may be capable of such improvement^ 

 and of thus combining rapid maturity with its own superior hardi- 

 hood. There can be no doubt, however, that in many of our 

 agricultural districts the pure improved blood, whether of sheep 

 or cattle, is little known ; and the extension of the advantages 

 secured by the stage of perfection to which these animals have 

 already been carried into such districts will arise, it may be 

 hoped, from the Society's cattle- shows. 



There is another point connected with cattle, on which the exten- 

 sion of our present knowledge, as practised in the northern dis- 

 tricts, and inquiry as to the possibility of further improvement upon 

 those practices, appears extremely desirable : this is the feeding of 

 stock. In our southern counties the arable farm is kept in heart 

 chiefly by the manure of the sheep-flocks, such flocks indeed as 

 no arable farms can produce but in this country. The beasts 

 kept during winter in the yard, sometimes poorly fed, and only 

 not losing condition, trample the straw until it has the appearance, 

 though it often possesses little of the virtues, of dung. On well- 

 managed northern arable-farms, on the contrary, the cattle are 

 tied up in the yard to be fattened, and are fed not only on turnips, 

 but on large quantities of oil-cake, purchased at the expense 

 often of many hundred pounds by the farmer. Now it is well 

 known that the better the beast is fed, the more valuable is the 

 manure produced, and that by oil-cake in particular its fertilising 

 power is almost doubled. Interesting experiments have been 

 made, at the instance of the Highland Society, with a view to 

 ascertain the relative value of food in the stall-feeding of cattle ; 

 but much remains doubtless to be cleared up by experiments yet 

 to be made. It may even be worth inquiry whether, on farms 

 where fattening of stock is largely carried on, a somewhat harder 

 course of cropping might not be permitted, without fear of impo- 

 verishment to the land. Pease, for example, and, on some ground, 

 potatoes, are a scourging crop ; but, if the pease, instead of being 

 carried to market, are given to the farmer's stock, it may be a 

 question whether the superiority of the manure may not more 

 than compensate to the farm the previous loss of condition which 

 the crop has occasioned. On this subject of feeding, it is impos- 

 sible to pass over that heavy article of the farmer's expenses — the 

 keep of farm-horses. Here, however, it will be sufiicient to 

 make a short extract from the printed Report of a club of practical 

 farmers, who have for some time met at Harleston, in Suffolk, for 

 the excellent purpose of discussing doubtful points of agricultural 

 science. It will not be useless, however, first to give a list of the 

 subjects which they had selected for the last year's inquiry, since it 

 shows the spirit of improvement which is at work in the agricul- 

 tural body. 



