54 
Report on the Agriculture of Belgium. 
will then consist of two meals ])er day of pulp and rape-cake (or 
rye-meal), generally about GO lbs. of pulp and from 2 to 4 lbs. of 
meal each per diem, and in the middle of the day a drink 
of water mixed with 1 lb. of meal per head. Generally, at 
night, they get a little long straw, which Ave have seen them eat 
with great avidity. The tops and leaves of beet-roots are given 
them on the pastures. Whatever the system of feeding adopted 
by a farmer, he always recognises the importance of carrying it 
out with perfect regularity. A steer or heifer bought in, say, in 
February, at from 8Z. to lOZ., will fetch 24/. to 28Z. when sold at 
Christmas, or early in the year, if in good condition. 
The number of beasts which can be fed off every year, on a 
given area, under the pulp system, must vary, of course, with 
the quality of the land, and especially with the supply of grass 
and clover. It is extremely difficult to estimate what the land 
will carry, because many of the best feeders are also sugar- 
manufacturers, and they may retain the pulp of two or three 
times the quantity of beet-roots which they grow themselves. 
But supposing that no sheep are fed (they are not often bred by 
beet-root growers), that no other stock is kept, and that a farmer 
gets 15 per cent, of the weight of his roots back in pulp, he will, 
with the addition of cake or meal as we have described, fatten 
from 18 to 25 beasts per 100 acres, according to the quantity 
and the quality of his grass and clover ; but such farmers, as 
already stated, generally farm on a four or five-course system. 
(I)) Feeding loith distillery refuse.- — Heifers and cows are gene- 
rally preferred for this and other descriptions of feeding, because, 
amongst other reasons, oxen are somewhat dearer owing to their 
employment instead of horses. On every feeding farm there is a 
certain proportion of oxen, which are worked for two or three 
years and then fed off ; but in the large-farm districts, where 
there is not much demand for milk and butter, heifers from 2 to 
3 years old, and some cows of 6 or 7 years old, constitute the 
bulk of the feeding beasts. An animal weighing from 7 to 
8 cwt. live-weight will get about 15 gallons per day of distillery 
refuse with straw and cut hay, and, when being finished off, an 
allowance of about 2 lbs. of rape-cake per diem. Some farmers 
prefer, or are obliged, to give more cake and little or no hay, in 
which case the quantity given will be gradually increased until, 
for a short time at the finish, the daily allowance will be as 
much as 7 lbs. per head. Heifers are supposed to be ready for 
the butcher in about 100 days after they are put up ; but oxen 
Avill take from 4^ to G months, making more meat but not so 
much fat. Under proper management a distiller will, therefore, 
feed off two lots of beasts per annum, the number varying 
chiefly according to the magnitude of his distillery. Other 
