to the Rearing and Feeding of Cattle. 
241 
object beinj to explain principles, and not to recommend changes 
in practice of which I may be ignorant. I therefore distinctly 
protest against such a construction of my statements. If the 
farmer be obliged to find some substitute for his milk, I only 
recommend so far, that he will carefully examine the composition 
of milk, as already given, and the composition of the various kinds 
of food, and in his substitute arrange the materials of which it is 
composed as nearly as possible after the great type which nature 
has given to us. It ought not to be forgotten that the casein of 
milk and beans differs from the albumen found in other kinds of 
food, by its solubility in water. This solubility must serve some 
purpose in the nutrition of the young animal. Milk, peas, and 
beans, all containing casein, are found to be highly favourable in 
the early stages of fattening pigs, as it is said to keep a young 
hog growing ; while meal is preferred toAvards the end, being, as 
it is termed, more "forcing," or, in other words, because it con- 
tains more ingredients fitted for the production of tallow. These 
facts show a similarity in the action of milk and of leguminous 
food which should not be lost sight of by farmers. 
As the growth of an animal depends upon the activity of its 
vital powers, it must be obvious that every care should be taken 
to sustain and increase these. Exposure to cold diminishes the 
energy of vitality (the cause of increase), and elevates that of the 
chemical powers (the cause of waste). And this view is con- 
sonant with experience ; for it is well known that young stock do 
not thrive well unless protected from cold. The state of liealth 
consists in an ascendancy of vitality over chemical affinity. Young 
stock should not be treated in a manner similar to fattening cattle ; 
because, as we shall afterwards show, fattening consists in pro- 
ducing an unnatural condition. The great object, then, in rearing 
young stock is to obtain a proper development of all the organs 
of the body, and this can only be done by furnishing them with a 
rich, generous diet, with a proper degree of exercise, and by 
keeping them warm and dry. If every endeavour be not made 
to cherish the vital powers in youth, the chemical forces, ever 
ready to destroy the parts insufficiently protected by vitality, 
will prevent or retard the proper development of the body. 
Vitality must therefore be furnished with the proper materials 
(casein, albumen, &c.) to rear the structure of the body. Its 
powers must be sustained by keeping the body of a proper tem- 
perature by means of food adapted for the support of respira- 
tion, aided by external warmth ; and the organs in which it 
resides must be rendered more fit for its habitation by their proper 
exercise. 
The great point, then, in the rearing of stock is to take care 
that the vital powers are always predominant over the chemical. 
VOL. IV. R 
