"HUSBANDRY. 
524 
good manure that is produced, and probably that of the 
itock feeding with lefs interruption and inconvenience, 
in confequence of their being more effectually {haded 
from the heat of the fun, and better protected from the 
haraffmg attacks of flies. In all thefe points, this method 
.would leem to have a fuperiority over that of letting the 
cattle range in the paftures. It has however been object¬ 
ed again ft this fcheme of feeding, that the expence of 
conducting the bufinefs is too confiderable. The experi¬ 
ments of Mr. Mure, which were conducted upon a very 
extenfive fcale, as well as t'nofe of Mr. Young, (how that 
this, with the care of the cattle, may be performed at an 
expence in proportion to each, that can never afford any 
folid argument againft the practice. 
The fuperiority of the foiling method, in refpeCt to the 
economical confumption of the food, cannot be difputed. 
In various experiments that have been made in proof of 
the great faving in this way, it has been found to go from 
twice to four or five times as far as when fed on the land; 
and in fome trials it has been a great deal more. With 
grafs, clover, lucerne, and tares, in the trials of an able cul¬ 
tivator, three times as many cattle were found capable of 
being fupported in better condition, than in the palture 
mode of feeding. In the field it is obvious that great 
wafte mull b’e committed by the grafs being trampled 
down, dunged upon, and in many other ways, efpecially 
where a great number of cattle are paltured together, 
molt of which are avoided in the flail method; but it has 
been remarked, that it is an error to fuppole that all the 
wafte is in feeding in the field, and none in the Halls; 
there is on the contrary a wafte in foiling, as in cafes 
where the tares become podded, from the butt-ends of the 
plants being coarfe and in a ftate of decay, by lying on 
the ground, and of courfe rejected by the animals; the 
feme thing alfo occurs with lucerne when in bloffom. In 
the heating of the food by its remaining heaped together, 
lofs may likewife be fuftained. Proper management in 
refpeCt to the crops, and the manner of employing them, 
may, however, in a great meafure, prevent wafte in this 
method. But, whatever the wafte in thefe different ways 
maybe, the various trials recorded in the Annals of Agri¬ 
culture clearly demonftrate that a valtly-increafed Hock 
may be kept upon the fame extent of land in the method 
of foiling, over that of the common mode of grazing the 
cattle in the fields. 
In the winter-fattening of cattle, different methods are 
purfued in different diitrifts; in fome it is the practice to 
confume the food upon a dry piece of land, to which it 
is conveyed for the purpofe. It is evident, however, that 
tiffs mode can only be had recourfe to where the nature 
of the ground is fufficiently dry to prevent injury being 
done by poaching, which is the cafe only on very few 
foils in the winter feafon. In fome cafes, efpecially with 
turnips, the crop is eaten on the land where it grows, the 
cattle being turned upon it. This is a practice that takes 
place in Norfolk with the lefs perfeft managers. But it 
is a great objeftion to this mode, that the quantity of va¬ 
luable manure that might otherwife be produced by the 
oxen, is in a great meafure loft by being fpread about in 
the field ; and it is probable that the flock does not thrive 
fo well, from being more expo fed to the weather, and 
kept leTs warm and quiet, than in other methods. With 
iheep, this lmfbandry is lefs exceptionable, as great im¬ 
provement of the land may be effected without injury by 
poaching. 
There is another practice often adopted in fattening 
liorned-cattle in the winter, which is that of confining 
them to the yard, and letting them have their food in 
troughs in open fheds. This, though a better method 
than that above noticed, is probably, from the flock be¬ 
ing left-too much at liberty, lefs advantageous in the point 
of fattening than that of wholly confining them to the 
flails, or what is ufually termed flail-feeding ; for by this 
means they are kept more quiet, and free from interrup- 
3 
tion, and of courfe feed more quickly, and with greater 
regularity ; which are points of great importance in this 
fyltem of management. 
The food employed in winter-fattening of cattle, is 
principally of the fucculent kinds, as carrots, parfnips, 
potatoes, cabbages, turnips, grains, &c. and of the more 
dry forts, oil-cake, oats, barley-meal, rye-flower, bean- 
meal, and other fimilar materials, with various forts of 
ftraw and hay cut into chaff. 
The bufinefs of fattening in the flail, or the farm-yard, 
ufually commences on the decline of the pafture and 
after-graffes, towards the end of October, continuing 
through the whole of the winter, until the beginning of 
May. When fucculent food is made ufe of with cut dry 
meat, which is in general a more profitable method to the 
farmer than that of having recourfe to corn and oil-cake, 
carrots, parfnips, and potatoes, would feem to Hand the 
higheft as articles for this purpofe ; cabbages and turnips 
having been found inferior in their fattening qualities 
for large cattle. The moll general practice, is to ferve 
out thefe roots cut, fliced, or chopped, giving only a mo< 
derate proportion at once, three or four times in the courfe 
of the day, in cribs or mangers contrived for the purpofe; 
proper fupplies of chaff being provided and given in the 
intervals of fuch feeds. 
Of the dry kinds of food employed in ftall-feeding, 
there is, perhaps, none equal to oil-cake in the property 
of fattening. It is, however, linfeed-cake that mud be 
preferred. The late advances in the price of this article 
have probably rendered it incapable of being made ufe of 
with much profit, except in particular cafes, and where 
manure is a principal objeft. With the oil-cake it is 
alfo the praftice to give fome other fort of meat, fuch as 
hay, chaff, and other fubftances of a fimilar nature. In 
this mode of fattening, fome begin by giving, to a beaft 
of a hundred ftone, two cakes per day, of about iix 
pounds each, for fix or eight weeks, and then increafe 
them to three, till the animals become fat. In addition 
to the cake, from half a ftone to a ftone of hay is given 
each day; the whole confumption in cake being about 
21 cwt. and in hay 26 cwt. which, at the prices previous 
to the late advance on thefe articles, rendered the ex¬ 
pence of winter-fattening a large ox fomething more than 
feven guineas. Lean cattle of the fmaller kinds have been 
made perfectly fat in the courfe of eight or ten weeks by 
this fubftance. The cake, in this application, is broken 
dowm into Imall pieces, and frequently blended with the 
chaff or other fubftances that are made ufe of with it. 
On the continent, according to Mr. Young, linfeed-cake 
is fometimes exhibited in a liquid ftate, being diffufed in 
hot water and drunk by the cattle, hay and other fub¬ 
ftances being given at the fame time. In the Lincoln- 
flfire Report a method is fuggefled, of giving oil-cake to 
cattle while in the paftures, in a linall proportion, with 
great fuccefs ; a praftice which may be applicable where 
the cake-fed beafts are not fully fattened for fide in the 
early fpring months. It is an advantage in fattening 
with oil-cakes, that the cattle may be completed with them 
at much more advanced ages than in other modes. 
When Iheep are fattened with cake, they require it to 
be reduced into a much finer ftate than for beafts; and it 
may then be mixed with bran or chalf, and put in the 
troughs or cribs. Oats are excellent for ftall-fattening 
cattle, but the price has lately been too high for then- 
being made ufe of to any extent in this way. They are 
moftiy given in the ftraw when applied in the fattening 
of cattle. 
Belides thefe fubftances, Various others have been em¬ 
ployed in particular fituations for the purpofe of fatten¬ 
ing cattle. The wafli of malt-diftilleries, which has 
long been employed in the fattening of hogs, has of late 
been found applicable in the ftall-feeding of cattle. The 
method of uiing it is in conjunftion with fome farinace¬ 
ous fubftances, luch as thole that have been already men¬ 
tioned. 
