The Management of a Shorthorn Herd. 
417 
contra, however, I must refer to the very common practice of 
letting the ewes for lambing take their place on the turnips with 
the rest of the flock, and the absence of abortion (except from 
ordinary casualties) in countless places where this is customary. 
The very day I last left West Dereham Abbey I went into the 
heart of the arable district between Cambridge and Newmarket, 
and there, as elsewhere, the breeding ewes have turnips regularly, 
and no such idea as that the ordinary use of turnips endangers 
the foetus is entertained by the principal flockmasters. Frosted 
turnips, no doubt, are injurious to cattle ; and such an over- 
proportion of turnips as will cause an undue distension of the 
rumen must necessarily be dangerous during pregnancy. 
AH the boxes for the cattle are well drained, and in those 
places which are not open-sided sheds, or with mere railing to 
keep the animals in, great attention is paid to the admission of 
plenty of air and light: The calves' mangers are high at the 
back and low in front, sectionally hot-house shaped, divided 
into three or sometimes four compartments, and placed back up 
to the gang%vays, so that they are easily replenished with food 
as the herdsman passes. To admit of this being done the more 
readily, the side of the box which forms the back of the manger 
is of convenient height to reach over from the outside ; and to 
prevent accident, a curved iron bar goes from the wall over the 
manger from one end, into the side of the box at the other 
end, and it is just high enough above the manger to allow the 
calf to feed, and not so high as to permit it to get its fore-legs 
into the manger and so make a step up for a leap over into the 
gangway. Wheat-straw is preferred to barley-straw for bedding. 
In some places, where the cows lie chiefly in byres, I have found 
the contrary, wheat-straw being unquestionably the right bedding 
for horses, but barley-straw considered better for cows, because 
softer and more easily and evenly spread in the stall. The 
objection to it is a belief entertained that it harbours parasites. 
The bulls (as a rule, which may have exceptions in the case 
of restless bulls, in the habit of pounding the walls and doors 
with their heads) are kept loose in their boxes and led out for 
exercise. Each bull has about half-a-bushel of roots in the day, 
and long hay in the winter, cut cabbages and tares, instead of 
hay, in the summer, until the mangolds come. The daily 
allowance of oilcake is about 1 lb. ; an aged bull in service will 
probably have 2 lbs. in winter, none in summer. 
Ireland. 
After seeing in succession the English and Scotch herds, 
I crossed to Ireland to compare the systems of management 
VOL. XVI. — S. S. ' 2 E 
