On the FccdiiKj of Stock icitli prepared Fvud. 399 
answer a question which has already been frequently put to me, viz.: 
What are the peculiar advantages attendant upon this system, which 
should induce farmers to incur an expense of oO/. (price of apparatus 
and cost of fixing) for the salve of introducing it ? One of the principal 
advantages is, that the animals make greater progress at the same cost. 
In all the instances that I have heard of or seen, the cattle treated in this 
way have fed nmisually fast. In my own case this was very striking. 
The twelve bullocks mentioned above, were, in March, taken lean from 
the straw-yard ; quite unfit, in fact, for tying up to feed, except by way 
of experiment : yet, they made such rajiid progress that some of them 
were sold to the butchers at I*. 3rf. per stone, at the end of May ; and 
tlie last were sold the third week in June, in good killing condition. 
One of the main causes of this rajiid progress is, 1 conceive, the perf ct 
state of health the animals enjoy. Linseed oil is a mild purgative, and 
when combined with meal, especially bean-meal, the bowels and skin 
are kept unif irmly in a state of health, which, I think, cannot be sur- 
passed, and which I never before saw equalled. 
Another reason whicli aj)pears to conduce much to their thriving, is, 
that the food prepared in this way approaches so much more nearly to 
the natural food of the animal. In grass, and other green food, we find 
a very snia'l per centage of nourishing ingredients combined with a large 
proportion of woody fibre, water, and other matters which arc not fitted 
for assimilation by the anima', and are rejected as useless after the 
nourishing parts have been extracted by digestion. These apparently 
superfluous matters have, however, very important uses; one of the most 
striking of wliich is to •:ive bulk to the food, and, therefore, distension 
to the stomach. If the stomach is not moderately filled by a meal, 
those muscles are not called into active exercise which tend so much to 
promote healthy digestion, by keeping the food in constant motion ; and 
accordingly, Ave find, that if we snpjjly a feeding bullock with cake or 
meal, which, though highly nourishing, lies in a small bulk, the animal 
will, if not sujjplied with a sufficiency of other food, eat a portion of his 
litter, old thatch, or almost any other vegetable matter, however unpa- 
latable, to satisfy that craving which an empty stomach is sure to produce. 
Tiiough, however, an an'mal will swallow a certain portion of food for 
which he has no relish, rather than lie down with an em])ty stomach, he 
w ill not fill himself ])roperly unless he likes his food ; and, on the other 
hand, if an unlimited supply of favourite food be furnished to him, he 
will take it in quantities injurious to his health. The following is a case 
in point : — 
Before tying up the twelve bullocks, mentioned in a former part of 
this letter, I desired that they might have a fair allowance of swede 
turnips given them for a short time, lest a too sudden change of diet 
should disagree. They, accordingly, had four or five stone of swede 
turnips per head, daily, and with this they did well ; consuming, at the 
same time, a considerable quantity of straw. After having this quantity 
for a week or two, I increased their allowance of turnips ; and, finding 
their appetites kept pace with their increased allowance, I ordered them 
as much as they would eat. At the end of about a month, I found that 
they were each consuming about fourteen or fifteen stone of turnips daily, 
and that they ate no ftraw. This was continued fur a short time, in 
