52(3 
Gorse as Food for Cattle. 
not used to it will at first refuse, but after a little starving will 
prefer it to any other food. 
5. The Mode of Feeding with Gorse, and the Quantity of other 
Food given. 
Horses eat it with great avidity and thrive well on it. I give 
each working horse a bucket of prepared gorse in the morning 
before going out ; at dinner time a feed of boiled potatoes, and 
at night two buckets of gorse ; neither hay nor oats. Cow feeding 
is different ; at daylight in the morning the cattle are driven from 
their stalls to w ater, if possible a running stream ; gorse, if 
crushed over night and allowed to lie in a heap, would ferment 
l)efore morning ; the cattle are therefore supplied with a feed of 
mangold-wurzel while the gorse is undergoing preparation ; after 
breakfast (ten o'clock) they get a feed of gorse, as much as they 
will eat (should any remain in the trough it is taken away) ; 
another feed at two o'clock ; at four are again driven to water; 
and at six get a large feed to last all night. Cattle will not eat 
as large a bulk of gorse as of other food, it being so rich that a 
less quantity suffices. A square perch of ground (Irish measure 
7 yards) planted with gorse, as previously mentioned, gives my 
eight head of cattle their daily food, the cutting and preparation 
of which will occupy the time of a man, a boy, and a donkey for 
three hours ; one hour to cut, carry home, and pass through the - 
chaffing-machine, and two hours to crush under the stones. 
Gorse after being once established requires neither tillage, 
manuring, nor weeding, producing the most nutritious food without 
imparting any unj)leasant flavour to the milk, which is rich and 
creamy. Twenty statute acres of gorse should support 100 head 
of cattle for the winter six months, without any other food save 
the morning feed of mangold- wurzel, turnips, or potatoes : the 
saving of hay for 100 cows would be at least "200/. per annum. 
Concerning the construction of machinery for preparing the 
food much is to be said. Mr. Greysbroke's machine consisted 
of two melal rollers of great weight, turning on a bed of metal, 
worked by a horse with the same description of machinery asjhat 
used for turning threshing-mills; the cost is about 60/. The 
only objection is the expense; which a needy farmer cannot 
afford. 
Mr. Whitney of Old Ross, in the county of \Ve.\ford, makes 
use of a machine having cylinders and knives, on the principle of 
a chaffing-machine, and attached to the machinery by which his 
threshing- mill is worked. This concern stands in 70/., is worked 
by a pair of horses, and does its business right well. 
Mr. Cliffe, of PjcUvue, in the same county, uses a macLine 
