THE CULTIVATOR. 
9? 
nutrition. Bake well strongly insisted on the advantage of small bones; 
and the celebrated John Hunter declared that small bones were gene¬ 
rally attended with corpulence in all the various subjects he had an op¬ 
portunity of examining. A small bone, however, being heavier and 
more substantial, requites hs much nourishment as a hollow one with a 
larger circumference. 
Among the qualities for which thorough-bred cattle and sheep are 
distinguished, that of being good growers, and having a good length of 
frame, is not the least essential. The meaning of which is, that the 
animal should not only be of a strong and healthy constitution, but 
speedily should grow to a proper size. As specimens of rapid growth, 
a steer of three years old, when well fed, will weigh from 80 to 90 or 
100 stone, 14 lb. to the stone; and a two year old Leicester wedder, 
from 21 to 28 lbs. per quarter, immediately after his second fleece is 
taken from him. Animals having the property of growing, are usually 
straight in their back and belly; their shoulders well thrown back, and 
their belly rather light than otherwise. At the same time, a gauntness 
and paucity of intestines should be guarded against, as a most material 
defect, indicating a very unthrifty animal. Being too light of bone, as 
it is termed, is also a great fault. A good grower, or hardy animal, 
has always a middling sized bone. A bull distinguished for getting 
good growers, is inestimable; but one whose progeny takes an unna¬ 
tural or gigantic size, ought to be avoided. 
Arriving soon at perfection , not only in point of growth or size, but 
in respect of fatness, is a material object for the farmer, as his profit 
must in a great measure depend upon it. Where animals, bred for the 
carcass merely, become fat at an early age, they not only return sooner 
the price of their food, with profit to the feeder, but in general also, a 
greater value for their consumption, than slow feeding animals. This 
desirable property greatly depends on a mild and docile disposition; 
and as this docility of temper is much owing to the manner in which 
the animal is brought up, attention to inure them early to be familiar, 
cannot be too much recommended. A tamed breed also has other ad¬ 
vantages. It is not so apt to injure fences, or to break into adjacent 
fields; consequently it is less liable to accidents, and can be reared, 
supported, and fattened, at less expense. The property of early ma¬ 
turity, in a populous country, where the consumption of meat is great, 
is extremely beneficial to the public, as it evidently tends to furnish 
greater supplies to the market; and this propensity to fatten at an 
early age, is a sure proof, that an animal will fatten speedily at a later 
period of his life. 
In the wilder and bleaker parts of a country, the possession of a hardy 
and healthy constitution , is a most valuable property in stock. Where 
the surface is barren, and the climate rigorous, it is essential that the 
stock bred and maintained there, should be able to endure the severi¬ 
ties and vicissitudes of the weather, as well as scarcity of food, hard 
work, or any other circumstance in its treatment, that might subject a 
more delicate breed to injury. In this respect, different kinds of stock 
greatly vary; and it is a matter of much consequence, to select, for dif¬ 
ferent situations, cattle with constitutions suitable to the place where 
they are to be kept. It is a popular belief, that dark colours are indi¬ 
cations of hardiness. In mountain breeds of cattle, a rough pile is 
reckoned a desirable property, more especially when they are to be 
kept out all winter. It enables them to face the storm, instead of 
shrinking from it. Hardy breeds are exempted from various diseases, 
such as having yellow fat, also being black fleshed, defects so injurious 
to stock. 
The prolific quality of a breed is a matter deserving attention. The 
females of some breeds both bear more frequently than usual, and also 
have frequently more than one at a birth. This property rims more 
strikingly in sub-varieties, or individual families; and though partly 
owing to something in the habits of animals, and partly to their pre¬ 
vious good or bad treatment, yet in some degree seems to depend upon 
the seasons, some years being more distinguished for twins than others. 
In breeding, not only the numbers, but the sex of the offspring, in some 
cases, seem to depend upon the female parent. Two cows produced 
fourteen females each in fifteen years, though the bull was changed 
every year. It is singular, that when they produced a bull calf, it was 
in the same year. Under similar circumstances, a great number of 
males have been produced by the same cow in succession, but not to 
the same extent. 
Breeds are likewise distinguished by the quality of their flesh . In 
some kinds it is coarse, hard, and fibrous; in others of a finer grain or 
texture. In some breeds also, the flavor of the meat is superior; the 
gravy they produce, instead of being white and insipid, is high coloured, 
well flavored, and rich; and the fat is intermixed among the fibres of 
the muscles, giving the meat a streaked, or marbled appearance. 
Breeds whose flesh have these properties, are peculiarly valuable. 
Hence two animals of nearly the same degree of fatness and weight, 
and who could be fed at nearly the same expense to the husbandman, 
will sell at different prices, merely from the known character of their 
meat. 
Vol. III. IS* 
A disposition to fatten is a great object in animals destined for the 
shambles. Some animals possess this property during the whole 
progress of their lives, while in others, it only takes place at a more 
advanced period, when they have attained their full growth, and are 
furnished at the same time with a suitable supply of food. There are 
in this respect other distinctions; most sorts of cattle and sheep, which 
have been bred in hilly countries, will become fat on low land pas¬ 
tures, on which the more refined breeds would barely live; some ani¬ 
mals take On fat very quickly, when the proper fbod has been sup¬ 
plied, and some individuals have been found, even in the same breed, 
which have, in a given time, consumed the least proportional weight 
of the same kind of food, yet have become fat at the quickest rate. 
Even in the humanrace, with little food, some will grow immoderately 
corpulent. It is probably from internal conformation, that this pro¬ 
perty of rapid fattening is derived. 
The advantages and disadvantages of fattening cattle and sheep, at 
least to the extent frequently practised at present, are points that have 
of late attracted much public attention. But any controversy on that 
subject can only arise from want of proper discrimination. Fat meat is 
unquestionably more nourishing than lean, though to digest this oily 
matter, there are required, on account of its difficult solubility, a good 
bile, much saliva, and a strong stomach; consequently none, excepting 
those who are in the most vigorous state of health, or who are em¬ 
ployed in hard labor, can properly digest it. Though fat meat, how¬ 
ever, is unfit for general consumption, yet experiments in the art of 
fattening animals, are likely to promote useful discoveries; and though, 
in the course of trying a number of experiments, errors and excesses 
may be committed, yet on the whole, advantage may he derived from 
the knowledge thus to be obtained. As the bone also gains but little 
in the fattening animal, and the other offal becomes proportionably 
less, as the animal becomes more fat, the public has not sustained 
much loss by over fatted animals. To kill even hogs till they are 
thoroughly fat, is exceeding bad economy. An ox or cow, though the 
little flesh it has may be of good quality, yet presents, when lean, little 
but skin and bone; and if slaughtered in that state would neither in¬ 
demnify the owner for the expense of breeding and maintaining it nor 
benefit the public. A coarse and heavy fleshed ox, which would re¬ 
quire a very long time, and much good food to fatten, may be slaugh¬ 
tered with most advantage while rather lean. It is not, however, so 
much the extent of fat, as the want of a sufficient quantity of lean flesh, 
of which the consumer complains; for it cannot be doubted, that the 
lean flesh of a fat animal is superior in quality, and contains more 
nourishment, than any other meat. 
Handling well. The graziers and butchers in various parts of the 
kingdom have recourse to the hand, and the feeling of the skin, or cel¬ 
lular membrane, for ascertaining a disposition to fatten; and since 
Bakewell directed the public attention so much to breeding, that prac¬ 
tice has become more generally known. Handling cannot easily be de¬ 
fined, and can only be learnt by experience. The skin and flesh of 
cattle, when handled, should feel soft to the touch, somewhat resem¬ 
bling that of a mole, but with a little more resistance to the finger. A 
soft and mellow skin must be more pliable, and more easily stretched 
out, to receive any extraordinary quantity of fat and muscle, than a 
thick or tough one. The rigid-skinned animal must therefore always 
he the most difficult to fatten. In a good sheep, the skin is not only 
soft and mellow, hut in some degree elastic. Neither cattle nor sheep 
can be reckoned good, whatever their shapes may be, unless they are 
first rate handlers. The improved short horned breed, besides their 
mellowness of skin, are likewise distinguished hy softness and silki¬ 
ness of hair. Too great a length, however, ought not to be aimed at, 
since it is not easy, in that case, to preserve a due proportion in the 
appearance of the animal, without which it cannot be considered per¬ 
fect. 
Lightness of offal. An animal solely bred for the shambles, should 
have as little offal, or parts of inferior value, as possible, (consistently 
with the health of the animal,) and consequently a greater proportion 
of meat applicable as food for man. This, therefore, the skilful farmer 
will also keep in view in selecting his species of stock.— Loudon's Hn- 
cylopadia of Agriculture. 
ON THE USE OF LIME AS A MANURE— By M. Puvis. 
Translated for the Farmers’ Register from the Armales de V Agriculture Fran- 
caise, of 1835.-—( Continued from page 84.) 
quantities applied. 
24. The quantities of first as of second dressings of lime, vary with 
the consistence of soils; they ought to be small on light and sandy 
soils—and may, without ill consequences, be heavy on clay soils. 
The dose ought to vary according as the soil is more or less pervious 
to water, or as drained well or ill by its texture. Small applications 
to soils from which the superfluous water does not pass easily, are but 
little felt; but if the dressing is heavy, and the ploughing deep, the 
lime aids the draining and adds to the healthy state of the soils. It 
