219 
MR KARKEEK, AT ST. AUSTELL FARMRS’ CLUB. 
quantity of food consumed by the sheep fed in No. 4, where 
they were placed under a close shed in the dark ; proving to a 
demonstration that a want of warmth and shelter is equivalent to 
a waste of food, and if we apply this to the want of shelter to our 
sheep while feeding upon turnips during the four winter months, 
when in some places the temperature of the nights is frequently 
below the freezing point of water, we shall find the loss very con- 
siderable. 
In the course of making this calculation, it was shewn that, sup- 
posing the stock of sheep in Great Britain to be according to 
M'Culloch’s estimate, 32,000,000, and taking the difference in the 
consumption of turnips and the increase of mutton to be as much 
as is represented in this experiment of Lord Ducie, between No. 1 
and No. 4, during the four winter months, it would amount to the 
enormous sum of £9,333,000. 
With respect to the other lots, Nos. 3 and 5, according to Pro- 
fessor Playfair’s opinion, in consequence of the sheep being sepa- 
rated their usual placid disposition was disturbed, and they were 
observed to fret and lose their appetites when thus separated, which 
also proves the truth of Liebig’s theory, that every thought, every 
conception, is accompanied by changes in the animal economy. 
At the conclusion, some conversation arose on subjects treated 
of in the lecture. In reply to the chairman, Mr. Karkeek said, it 
would be economical, with respect to milch cows, to carry their 
fodder to them, particularly in winter ; and in summer, if they 
were taken into the straw yard, and there fed on roots and grass, 
they would yield a greater quantity of milk than if turned out 
to search for food themselves. In reply to Mr. Drew, he said that 
he certainly wished farmers to understand that protection from cold 
was equivalent to food. Mr. Wheeler asked if the quality of the 
meat was equally good ] and Mr. Karkeek replied “ there could be 
no doubt of it,” and proceeded to observe, that his remarks on the 
economy of stall feeding were only intended to apply to stock in- 
tended for the butcher. He had always endeavoured to shew the 
mischievous consequences of fattening breeding cattle. Mr. Kar- 
keek spoke further of the necessity of young animals having a 
proper amount of exercise for the development of their muscle. 
Mr. Prater wished it were possible to impress on the Cornish 
farmer the necessity of obtaining an improved breed of horses, 
and spoke in approval of the Yorkshire mode of breeding. The 
breeders there bred from fillies of two years old ; and thus got two 
colts from them before they were brought into work at four years 
old. A fine breed of horses was thus obtained, the produce of 
mares when young, and before broken by work. In Cornwall, 
and not in Cornwall only, the young animals were crippled by in- 
