166 
Early Fattening of Cattle, 
trary, those who understand the process have found that the risk 
of loss is reduced to a minimum under the rapid system of treat- 
ment. Mr. Stanford's losses in some years have been nil; and 
he has found the risk of life less generally in proportion to the 
shorter existence of the animal. As a rule, and mainly for want 
of proper buildings, skill, and capital, cattle are not brought to 
the same early maturity as sheep. It is not generally recognised 
that cattle should weigh five times as much as sheep at from 
twelve to twenty-four months old, when they have been fed as 
well, and sheltered. Skilful feeders are aware that " beef makes 
beef," and they never allow their cattle to become poor. The feeder 
of young cattle has them always ready for the butcher from three 
months old. It is true, no doubt, that animals which are cheaply 
fed at little cost of food or labour may improve but slowly, and 
yet prove remunerative ; but in artificial feeding the process 
must be quick. The body must be built up rapidly by an 
excess of food beyond that required to support the wear and 
tear of life ; and the greater the supply beyond that quantity the 
smaller the waste. In theory, therefore, an animal could not be 
over-fed. Mr. Loudon remarked that the process of fattening 
was analogous to the filling of a cask with a hole in the bottom, 
since the faster you pour in the liquor the sooner will the tub 
be full, and the business concluded. The feeder, however, must 
exercise his skill in regard to the limited powers of assimila- 
tion, the age, and the state of the animal. Young beasts, fat- 
tened from birth, will grow and make flesh more rapidlv before 
than after two years old, and they yield the best profit when 
slaughtered at eighteen or twenty months old. Cattle which are 
not to be killed until after the age of two years would, perhaps, 
be more profitably summered on pastures, provided that they 
exist and are sufficiently good for fattening cattle, which is 
rarely the case in Surrey and Sussex. 
Another point Avhich must be mentioned is the superiority of 
old mutton and mature beef. The quality of all meat, however, 
depends greatly upon management and the mode of feeding. 
English bacon, fed chiefly on barley-meal, is superior to that 
fed on beans or on maize. American bacon, fed entirely on 
maize, shrinks in boiling, and the rasher is oily and indifferent. 
Beef is also affected by the feeding, and it is not the fact that 
young beef is always poor. INIr. Port, the butcher, of Ship 
Street, Brighton, who supplies a superior class of customers, 
writes of some bullocks from Charlton Court, purchased Jan. 
12th, 1874, at 19^ months old, and weighing 100 stone 4 lbs., 
94 stone, 92 stone, and 90 stone : " These bullocks when 
slaughtered were most complete bodies of beef, and the meat 
gave every satisfaction to the consumer, being very tender, and 
