LIVE STOCK. 
239 
mits of many exceptions. It is of great importance, in taking a farm, 
to calculate the extent of the arable land, so that it can be properly 
cultivated by a certain number of pairs of horses or oxen. It is an old 
measure of land to divide it into so many plows, that is, so many por- 
tions which can be tilled with one plow each. AVken there are sev- 
eral of these, it is useful to have an odd horse over the usual number 
required for two or three plows, to relieve the others occasionally. 
The work is thus done more regularly and with greater ease. Where 
there are two plows with two horses each, a fifth horse should be 
kept, and so in proportion for a greater number. The odd horse will 
always be found extremely useful, if not indispensable, and the expense 
of his keep will be amply repaid by the regularity and ease with which 
the whole work ot the farm will be done, and the relief which occasional 
rest will give to the other horses. 
The other part of the live-stock kept on a farm must depend on va- 
rious circumstances. Where there is good grazing land, the profit on 
the improvement of the live-stock, or their produce, is evident and easily 
ascertained. But where animals are kept upon artificial food or fatted 
in stalls, it is often a difficult question to answer, whether there is a 
profit on their keep or not. In most cases the manure which their duno- 
and litter afford is the chief object for which they are kept. If manure 
could be obtained in sufficient quantities to recruit the land, at a rea- 
sonable price, it might often be more advantageous to sell off all the 
hay and straw of a farm, and to keep only the cattle necessary to till 
the ground or supply the farmer’s family. But this can only be the 
case in the immediate neighborhood of large towns. In the country at 
a greater distance no manure can be purchased ; it must consequently 
be produced on the farm; and for this purpose live-stock must be kept, 
even at a loss. The management and feeding of live-stock is therefore 
an important part of husbandry. The object of the farmer is princi- 
pally to obtain manure for his land, and if he can do this, and at the 
same time gain something on the stock by which it is obtained, he 
greatly increases his profits, lienee much more skill has been dis- 
played in the selection of profitable stock than in the improvement of 
tillage. Some men have made great profits by improving the breed of 
cattle and sheep, by selecting the animals which will fatten most readi- 
•y. by feeding them economically. It requires much experience and 
nice calculations to ascertain what stock is most profitable on different 
kinds of land and in various situations. Unless very minute accounts 
be kept, the result can never bo exactly known. It is not always the 
beast which brings most money in the market that has been most profit- 
able ; and many an animal which has been praised and admired has 
caused a heavy loss to the feeder. Unless a man breeds the animals 
""ich arc to be fatted, he must frequently buy and sell; and an accu- 
rate knowledge of the qualities of live-stock and their value, both lean 
and tat, is indispensable. However honest may be the salesman he 
may employ, he cannot expect him to feel the same interest in a pur- 
c lase or sale, for which he is paid his commission, as the person whose 
profit or loss depends on a judicious selection and a good bargain. 
''Very farmer therefore should endeavor to acquire a thorough knowl- 
