128 
DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
and diluted with perhaps one-half of its quantity in water. It may be 
expected that a substance like bacon, from which nitrogenized and 
phosphoric matter may be expected to be dissolved by the action ot 
boiling, will be of use ; but, to make it alimentary, it is necessary to mix 
it with a considerable proportion of milk. However unnatural this 
mixture may appear ; how contrary soever to all theories of natural 
history it may be to give carnivorous matter to herbivorous animals, we 
may find in it an analogy by no means unimportant, in the disposition 
evinced by mature animals of this description to select and chew, for 
hours together, a piece of bone, which they will search for with instinctive 
pertinacity, and relinquish with reluctance. Is it not because she finds 
in it the nitrogen or the phosphates denied her in the food upon which 
'she is confined ? And if this be so — if she is guided by her instinct to 
select and choose animal matter, why may not a decoction of animal 
substance be useful to the calves, in their younger stages, as an auxiliary, 
and, to a certain extent, a substitute for the beverage which nature has 
given them, but which man denies them. 
Solid Food for calves will soon, however, displace much of the liquid. 
At five or six weeks old they ought to be trained to eat sliced roots. 
To do this it is only necessary to supply them in convenient forms in a 
trough within their reach. Their moments of leisure will be employed 
in playing with and sucking these pieces, until they begin to masticate 
them. The roots should, for this purpose, be cut into oblong pieces, Oil# 
inch broad, half an inch deep, and two inches long; these shapes are 
better than either slices or squares, being more adapted to their conforma- 
tion, and better calculated to make them learn to eat of their own 
accord. Calves should be reared from the months of September to 
March. We do not approve of late-bred calves ; if they are reared late, 
they become tender and require nursing the following winter. In the 
months we have named, however, turnips are always plentiful; or, if 
mangel-wurzel is cultivated, it will be found a very successful substitute; 
although we prefer Swedes. These appear not only to agree with the 
palate of the animal and to make it thrive, but they exercise a very 
beneficial influence on its subsequent development. Is it because they 
contain a large share of the phosphates ? Sprengel makes the relative 
proportions of the phosphates in the Swedes to be nearly six times as 
great as in the common turnips, and sulphate ten times. 
Phos. acid. 
Common turnips 73 
Swedes 408 
Sulph. acid. 
890 \ p6r 1000 lbs ' 
Other auxiliaries are sometimes adopted, such as bean-meal, pea-meal, 
oatmeal, cattle sago, and Indian meal ; all these being very material 
aids in rearing calves. 
CATTLE-FEEDING. — This question is one of economy simply: how can 
the largest number of pounds of beef be produced at the least possible 
cost ? This is the real question still unsettled, and on this we will pro- 
ceed to show the present extent of our knowledge. 
First. The grazier must select such animals as will lay on fat rapidly; 
and, by a physiological law, as we have seen, there are those which will 
