Tfie  Cost  of  Winter  Grazing  iw  East  NorfoUh.  9T 
the  perfectly  true  statement  that  they  could  not  farm  without 
manure,  and  that  they  must  have  bullocks  to  tread  down  their 
straw.  To  them  my  answer  was,  “ Quite  right,  but  see  that 
you  do  not  keep  them  too  long.” 
I was  then  met  with  the  objection,  “ We  cannot  send  our 
bullocks  to  market  when  they  are  what  the  butchers  would 
call  ‘about  three  parts  fat,’  because  we  cannot  replace  them 
with  similar  stores.  Small  stores  won’t  pay,  or  won’t  do  on 
my  farm,  and  I must  consume  my  roots  and  convert  my  straw 
into  manure,  and  so  I spin  out  the  time  for  grazing  my 
bullocks  accordingly.”  There  may,  in  some  seasons  especially, 
be  some  truth  in  the  statement  that  it  is  not  possible  to  pro- 
duce suitable  stores  after  Christmas,  but  supply  is  generally 
ruled  by  demand.  It  is  the  fashion  now  for  all  our  local 
graziers  to  buy  the  bulk  of  the  bullocks  they  require  at  the 
same  place  and  about  the  same  time,  meeting  together  on 
Norwich  Hill  and  bidding  practically  one  against  the  other. 
The  dealers  know  this,  and  prices  are  thus  inflated.  Surely 
co-operation  is  needed  here. 
The  average  price  paid  by  forty  graziers  for  their  stores, 
totalling  altogether  4,060  bullocks,  was  13Z.  Is.  2d.,  giving  a 
total  of  52,983Z.  Taking  now  the  averages  concerning  these 
beasts,  we  find  that  they  were  kept  for  21 1^5  weeks  at  a cost 
of  11.  Is.  2d.  per  head,  for  which  they  each  were  supplied 
throughout  the  whole  time  with  7|  lb.  of  artificial  food  daily, 
together  with  133  lb.  of  roots,  6 lb.  of  long  hay,  hay  chafi;,  or 
cut  straw,  and  sold  for  an  average  sale  gain  of  11.  11s.  Id. 
apiece,  or  a net  gain  of  10s.  bd.  each.  The  total  average  daily 
consumption  of  food  was  thus  147^  lb.,  and  their  daily  main- 
tenance amounted  to  ll\d.,  which  includes  &d.  per  week  per 
Table  III.- — General  Summary  of  Forty  Tabulated  Returns. 
Cost  of 
stores 
1 
No.  of 
weeks 
fatten- 
ing 
2 
Gain  per 
head 
on  sale 
3 
Total 
cost  of 
fattening 
4 
Net  gain 
or  loss 
per 
beast 
5 
Weight 
of 
roots 
given 
per  day 
6 
Weight 
of  arti- 
ficial 
food 
given 
per  day 
7 
Weight 
of 
chaff 
given 
per  day 
8 
Total 
cost 
per  day 
-i-6d.  per 
week  for 
labour 
9 
Maximum* 
£ s.  d. 
£ s.  (i. 
£ s.  d. 
lb. 
lb. 
lb. 
d. 
£ s.  d. 
16  0 0 
Minimum* 
30 
11  0 0 
11  16  0 
3 19  4 
(gain) 
189 
14 
28 
18i 
8 0 0 
12 
5 5 0 
5 4 9 
2 10  9 
(loss) 
90 
3 
3 
6i 
Average 
13  1 2 
2H 
7 11  8 
7 1 2 
0 10  6 
(gain) 
133 
73 
• 4 
6 
Hi 
The  figures  in  each  line  do  not  refer  to  the  same  animals  throughout. 
Note.— Food  weights  in  all  tables  represent  average  daily  consumption  during  the 
whole  period  of  grazing. 
VOL.  70. 
H 
