196 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
man’s yard* which are* alternately in high condition, and as thin as 
greyhounds. He ought to recollect, that whenever he suffers them 
to lose flesh, he has thrown away the greater part of that provision 
which was the cause of their improvement. 
The golden rule respecting quantity, is, as much as a beast can eat 
with a vigorous appetite; all beyond that important criterion, is so 
much lost to the proprietor, and not improbably an impediment to 
thrift in the animal. Here is the foundation of a good argument in 
favor of the removal of that which the animal leaves, that it may 
not remain to be contaminated by his breath, to disgust him, and to 
pall his appetite.— lb. 
“ Cattle well summered are half wintered.” So says Lisle. And 
Lawrence adds, “ cattle well wintered are half summered.” 
Cattle left out late in the fall, should be foddered early in the 
morning, and not be compelled to eat grass with the hoar frost upon it, 
which indeed they dislike.— Lisle. —This caution is of particular 
importance in the north, where vast numbers of cattle and sheep 
perish annually from disorders occasioned by receiving congealed 
water into their stomachs.— Lawrence. 
When a beast is fat, he will show himself so to the eye, by a roll 
of fat as big as one’s fist, which, when he walks, moves itself for¬ 
ward, before his shoulder ; such a roll of fat may likewise be seen 
in his flanks.— Virgil. 
Cow to be dried within two months of her calving, as, to milk her 
longer, most certainly impoverishes both cow and calf, to a far 
greater amount than the value of the milk. All young animals, well 
kept, are the better for it ever after; heifers come to the pail earlier 
for it, and bullocks fatten earlier.— Lisle. 
The first calf of an heifer best for rearing; the reason alleged, 
that the cow could not be reduced by milk during gestation. Late 
fallen calves, in May and June, never so hardy when grown up, or 
bear the winters so well, as those dropped in March ; the chief rea¬ 
son of this is, because late fallen calves must be weaned late, and 
as they always pitch, or fall away a little on weaning, the approach 
of winter prevents their recovery; and nothing afterwards makes 
amends.— Lisle. 
Fir branches. “ I was so pinched last spring for provender to 
cattle, that I had not a stone of straw or hay from the middle of 
March; nothing but whins and oats for horses, and fir tops (that is, 
tender shoots of firs) for cattle; and I had 430 horned cattle, and 
about 120 horses, small and great, of which I lost but four or five; 
but there were numbers of cattle that died in this country for want. 
Some lost one half, and some almost the whole. As many branches 
were lopped off as would suffice for a day. Lord Townsend applied 
plantation thinnings (boughs and leaves of trees) to like purpose, 
and with equal success. Some of the sheep which scoured, were 
recovered by the use of the trimmings and the bark. Sheep, cows 
and bullocks eat the leaves and small twigs. They prefer the trees 
in the following order,—ash, Scotch fir, oak.”— Annals of Ag. a. v. 
There is no doubt but cattle will subsist upon browse, and that 
evergreens are particularly congenial to the wants of sheep in the 
winter. 
Stall feeding cows in summer. John Collet, in a communication 
to the British Board of Agriculture, states that he stall fed 30 cows, 
1 bull, 4 calves and 5 horses, in the summer, from 15 acres of clo¬ 
ver, sown the preceding year. Two men and two maids sufficed to 
tend them. The nett produce of the season, in butter, from June to 
October, was £19 10s. each cow (nearly 90 dollars.) 
Tables of experiments made at the Earl of Chesterfield’s Dairy. 
TABLE I. 
Shewing the produce of three milkings from one cow of each of the 
stated breeds and crosses. 
Produce of three milkings. 
BREEDS & CROSSES. 
Milk. 
Cream. 
Butter 
Cheese Curd. 
qt jpt 
qts. 
pt. 
ounces 
lbs. 
ounces. 
Holderness,. 
29j.. 
2 
^2 
m 
8 
5 
Long Horn,. 
19 h 
2 
26 
7 
Devonshire,. 
16: 1 
1 
i 
28 
5 
91 
Alderney,. 
19 0i 
1 
1 
25 
8 
8* 
Devon & Holderness cross 
25 .. 
2 
32 
8 
3| 
Devon and Longhorn “ 
28'.. 
2 
1 
29 
9 
Devon and Alderney “ 
12 '. 
1 
0i 
21 J 
5 
• • 
TABLE n. 
Shewing the produce of five quarts of milk, taken from the milkings 
of five different cows of each of the stated breeds and crosses. 
Butter. I Pressed Cheese Curd. 
BREEDS OF COWS. 
Ounces. 
lbs. 
oz. 
Holderness,. 
7 
2 
4 
Longhorn,. 
2 
6 
Devonshire. 
81 
2 
91 
Alderney,. 
9 i 
2 
4 
Devon and Holderness cross,.... 
84 
2 
10 
Devon and Longhorn cross,. 
8 
2 
9J 
Devon and Alderney cross,. 
9 
2 
4 
The breeds and crosses placed in rotation, according to the quantity 
of food they eat: —1. Holderness; 2. Devon and Holderness cross; 
3. Long horns ; 4. Devon and Long horns ; 5. Devonshire ; 6. De¬ 
von and Alderney cross ; 7. Alderney. 
The Devon and Holderness crossed, produce a valuable stock, 
(very much resembling the Herefordshire cattle) of a large size, 
hardy, kind feeders, and the meat of an excellent quality. 
The Devon and Long horn cross are not so large as the former, 
but very hardy, are kind feeders, and the meat of a good quality. 
The Devon and Alderney crossed, produces a very valuable stock, 
of a moderate size, much improved in symmetry, hardy, have a great 
propensity to fatten at an early age, even upon indifferent food, and 
the meat very rich. 
Lord Somerville remarks on the above experiments,—“ By this 
it appears, that the Devon and Alderney cross maintain the high 
reputation, for butter and good feeding, which it has long had. The 
Devon breed itself stands next in rank.”— Lawrence on Cattle. 
Warranty. Salisbury assizes, July 1808. S. v. D. 84 ewes 
were sold, warranted sound. Proved by the plaintiff, that defendant 
had water-meadow, which was accustomed to rot sheep, and that 
his own grounds were sound. Plaintiff recovered £67 11s. 8d. 
loss sustained by the sheep.— lb. 
Cattle medicine. Hoven cattle perforated with the trochar and 
canula, in use for the dropsy, introduced by Mr. Mason. Gunpow¬ 
der in gin, or milk, successfully given in the case, also tether. One 
ounce of gunpowder to a pint of milk. An egg-shell full of tar is 
an old remedy— lb. 
Heifers are superior to oxen in early ripening, i. e. in becoming fit 
for the butcher. Spayed heifers are known to fatten more speedily 
than are oxen of the same breed, but do not attain an equal weight; 
they are also considered as of so much finer quality that, although 
four or five stone lighter than steers, they have fetched a higher 
price. On the continent they are often spayed, and afterwards 
worked as oxen, in which case they are said to be peculiarly apt 
to fatten, and to produce beef of a very superior quality .—Von 
Thaer, <$-c. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
STABLING CATTLE. 
Judge Buel,—Sir, —In the neighborhood where I reside, farmers 
say that housing stock is injurious; and most of them are in the ha¬ 
bit of letting their cattle run out during the winter season, with no 
shelter from the storm but the lee side of a fence, or a hay stack,— 
and their food is thrown to them, upon the ground, where a part is 
trodden under foot, and a part scattered by the winds, over the ad¬ 
jacent fields. Is this economy 1 And is it a fact, that animals do 
better thus, than where they are carefully housed, and fed from 
mangers or racks 1 I am young in farming, but my experience al¬ 
ready tells me that the excuse for this practice is founded in error, 
and is the natural effect of an idle habit. I have no doubt, that our 
farmers lose enough in five years, in feed and in the diminished va¬ 
lue of their stock, to build good and convenient barns, for all their 
animals and produce. There is no pleasure, even if there should be 
some profit, in keeping stock in a continual fast, exposed to dreary 
storms, and piercing cold. ’Tis abusing the free gifts of heaven, 
and shows a perverse and thankless heart, not to provide for the 
comfort of our domestic animals, which are dependent upon us, and 
through life, and in death, are made subservient to our wants and 
pleasures. My plan is to shelter all my stock, and feed nothing out 
