270 
TJlc Agriculture of StafforJsliin 
famous long-liorn, once the pride of the midland counties, is 
almost extinct. At the county show the number of animals 
exhibited dwindled till they were not worth the amount of the 
prizes offered, and the class was therefore discontinued. There 
are few remainino; specimens ; the only representatives I met 
with were at Fradley and at Thorpe Hall, where there are four or 
five survivors of a herd formerly noted. 
Dairy farmers breed their own stock and keep up their herds 
by drafting in the young animals in succession. They sell all 
old, barren, or draft cows in the autumn clearing fairs. In 
ordinary seasons, when the root-crop is good, these cast cows, in 
fair order, fetch about 14/., to fatten in other districts, where 
provender is abundant ; and it is more profitable to sell than to 
finish them at home. But on farms where the quantity of 
ploughed land is considerable, or where there is some good feeding 
turf, the practice is different. Cows from a superior dairy are 
brought to market sufficiently fat for summer beef about July, 
and in late years they have sold at 24/. or 25/. Heavy high-bred 
cows are seldom sacrificed in this way, their owners preferring 
to keep them on till December, when the little mountain of beef, 
called by courtesy a Jieifer, is generally worth 40/. or 45/. Cast 
cows, condemned to become beef on next summer's pasture, are 
wintered moderately on about 3 lbs. to 5 lbs. of cake, with roots 
and " chop" (straw chaff), and in the neighbourhood of Burton-on- 
Trent three-quarters of a bushel of grains instead of roots, which 
are reserved for the milking-stock. Store animals are wintered 
on "chop" and roots (or grains), and are turned out to grass 
hardy, and with the rough hair of their coats unshed. ' 
Milking-cows are tied up in sheds during the winter months, 
from November till early in May, when the grass-fields are again 
ready for them. A dairy farmer regards his ploughed land as 
merely subordinate to the requirements of the dairy — yielding food 
and litter for the winter months. By tying the cows in sheds, 
one-half the litter that would be required in open yards is saved. 
In the neighbourhood of Burton, spent hops are used for litter, at 
3s. 4c?. a ton. Hops absorb the urine, and are fit for immediate 
use ; they have the best effect when applied fresh. The long 
straw from horse stables is picked over lor littering calves. 
Large herds — fifty or sixty — should be divided into two lots, 
as they do better and do not trample the pastures so much on 
coming up to be milked ; a weak cow is less driven, and the 
danger of infection reduced. The usual time 6f calving is early 
in April ; for breeding purposes February would be preferred, as 
early calves get strong, and are more easily wintered ; but April 
is the period most desirable on cheese-farms, because the cows 
are then in full profit at the best time of year, when the best 
