90 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
FATTENING ANIMAES. 
There are certain principles which apply to the feeding 
of all animal?, which we will briefly notice. 
1. The breed is of great importance. A well bred ani- 
mal not only affords less waste, but has the meat in the 
right places, the fibre is tender and juicy, and the fat is 
put on just where it is wanted. Compare the hind leg of 
a full-btood Durham ox, and a common one. The bone 
at the base of the tail extends much further in the former, 
affording more room for flesh, and the thigh swells out, of 
convex or circular shape; while in the common ox it falls 
in, dishing and hollow. Now the “ round” is the most 
valuable cut, and is only found in perfection in high-bred 
stock. The same is the case over the whole body. So 
well do eastern butchers understand this, that their prices 
are regulated by the breed, even where two animals are 
equally fat. They know that m a Durham or Hereford 
ox, not only will there be less offal in proportion to weight, 
but the greatest quantity of meat will be where it brings 
the highest price when retailed, and will be of a richer 
flavor, and more fibre. The same is the case with hogs. 
A large hog may chance to make more meat on a given 
quantity of food than a small one, but the meat of ihe first 
will be coarse and tasteless compared with the other ; 
and in the east, flavor and tenderness greatly regulate 
prices. Consequently, moderate sized, short-legged, small- 
headed hogs, always, in the long run, beat large breeds 
out of favor. In preparing for a market, “fashion and 
taste” must be as much considered by the farmer as by 
the tailor. This one fact is at present revolutionizing the 
English breed of sheep. The aristocracy always paid 
high for small Welch and Scotch mutton ; but the great 
consumers, the mechanics, preferred large fat joints. The 
taste is now changed. In Manchester and other such 
cities, these large joints have become unsaleable ; and all 
the efforts of the breeder are now turned towards small 
breeds maturing early, with comparatively little fat. Ac- 
cording to late writers, the large Leicester and Cotswold 
are going quite out of fashion. When we give ^3,000 for 
a Durham bull, it is not that his progeny are “ intrinsi- 
cally” more valuable to that amount, but the increased 
value and the fashion together, make up the difference. 
And it is thus, that while Durhams and Herefords are 
preferred for ships and packing, Devons are high in repute 
for private families. The joints are smaller, but the 
meat has a peculiar richness, probably found in no other 
kind of stock : and the proportionate waste is said to be 
less than in any other breed. Thus in the London mar- 
ket, the Scotch Kyloes, and then the Devons, (the former 
even smaller than the latter,) bring the highest price, 
because preferred by the aristocracy. So in Dublin, 
spayed heifers are sought for. But the breed also regu- 
lates the profit. There is nothing more certain than that 
one kind of animal will fatten to a given point on much 
less food than another, and as fattening our stock is only 
rarother mode of selling our grain and grass, those ani 
mals are to be preferred which come to maturity soonest, 
and fatten on the least food. The difference in hogs is 
very great and important. While some breeds must be 
fed fjr two, or even three winters, others are full grown 
and laitened at ten months old ; and the difference in pro- 
fit is enormous. We cannot go into particulars, but the 
Ibhowing rules may be considered as applying to all : An 
animal may be expected to fatten easily when it has fine, 
soft, elastic skin, with thin or silky hair; the head and 
legs short, the “ barrel” large, but chest and lungs small; 
and w’hen it is quiet, sleepy and easy in temper. An un- 
quiet, restless, quick-tempered animal, is generally a bad 
feeder, and unprofitable. 
2. Much depends in fattening, on outward and mechan- 
ical management. Fat is carbon, or the coal which sup- 
plies the body with heat. If we are exposed to cold, it is 
burnt up in our lungs are fast as it is deposited by the 
blood ; but if we are kept warm, by shelter or clothing, 
it is deposited throughout the body, as a supply on hand 
when needed. Warm stables and pens are a great assist- 
ance in fattening, and should never be neglected. So, also 
quiet and peacefulness are important. Every exeited ac- 
tion consumes some part of the body which has to be 
suplied by the food, and detracts from the fat. In the 
climate of Michigan, warm stables, regular feeding at 
fixed hours, and kind treatment, with perfect cleanliness, 
save many a bushel of grain. Animals fed at irregular 
tihies are always uneasy and fretting. 
3. Ground and cooked food fatten more profitably than 
raw food. Mr Ellsworth found that hogs made as much 
flesh on one pound of corn ground and boiled to mush, as 
two pounds raw unground corn ; though the first did not 
fatten quite as rapidly, as they could not consume as 
much food in the twenty-four hours. By grinding and 
soaking, ten hogs will each gain 100 pounds in weight, 
on the same food that five would do if it were raw. 
4. A change of food helps in fattening. Thus an ox 
fed entirely on corn and hay, will not fatten as fast, or as 
well, as one which has roots, pumpkins, ground oats or 
buckwheat, &c , fed to it at regular periods. The latter 
may contain intrinsically less nourishing matter than the 
corn, but the change produces some unknown effect on 
the stomach and system, that adds to the capability of 
depositing fat. The best feeders change the food very 
frequently, and find that they make a decided profit by so 
doing. Salt should be given with every meal to cattle — 
say an ounce a day. It preserves the appetite and pre- 
vents torpor of the liver to which all fattening animals 
are subject. This torpor, or disease, is to a certain extent 
conducive to fat; but carried too far, the animal sinks 
under it. 
5. In cattle the skin should be particularly attended to. 
A fat animal is in an unnatural state, and consequently 
subject to disease. Taking no exercise, it has not its 
usual power of throwing off poisons out of the system, 
and if the skin is foul, the whole labor is thrown on the 
kidneys. It is round by experience that oxen, regularly 
curried and cleaned daily, fatten better and faster than 
when left to themselves ; and if the legs are pasted with 
dung, as is too often the case, it seriously injures the 
animal, 
6. Too much rich food is injurious. The stomach can 
only assimilate a certain quantity at once. Thus an ox 
will prosper better on thirty pounds of corn and thirty 
pounds of cob ground together daily, than on forty pounds 
of ground corn. These mixtures are also valuable and 
saving of cost for hogs when first put in the pen. If an 
animal loses its appetite, the food should at once be 
changed, and if possible roots, pumpkins or steamed hay 
may be given, 
7. Oxen will fatten better if the hay or stalks are cut 
for them, but care must be taken not to cut too short. An 
inch in length is about the right size for oxen, half or 
three-quarters of an inch for horses. — Farmers' Com-, 
and HorticuUural Gazette. 
Cotton in Cuba. — Cotton is now growm in Cuba with 
excellent success, A Havana correspondent of the Sa- 
vannah Republican speaks of a cotton field on the island, 
that this year yielded 900 pounds to the acre, and a sec- 
ond crop of bolls are now on the plants. He says : 
“Proper gins, &c , have been sent for to Charleston, 
and Georgia ; South Carolina and Louisiana will have to 
look to their honors as cotton producing States. Cuba 
will ere long deprive them of that grand position they 
now occupy in the cotton market of the world.” 
