Transcriber's Notes

Changes to the text (correction of typographical errors) are listed [at the end of the book].

[INTRODUCTION.]
[INDEX.]
[CHAPTER I.] Introductory Remarks—General Principles Of Breeding, Nutrition, Management, &c.
[CHAPTER II.] Neat or Horned Cattle.
[CHAPTER III.] The Dairy
[CHAPTER IV.] Sheep.
[CHAPTER V.] The Horse.
[CHAPTER VI.] The Ass.
[CHAPTER VII.] Swine.
[CHAPTER VIII.] Farm-Dogs.
[CHAPTER IX.] Poultry.

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION

OF THE

HORSE, MULE, CATTLE, SHEEP, SWINE,
POULTRY, AND FARM DOGS.

WITH DIRECTIONS FOR
THEIR MANAGEMENT, BREEDING, CROSSING, REARING,
FEEDING, AND PREPARATION FOR A
PROFITABLE MARKET

ALSO,
THEIR DISEASES, AND REMEDIES.

TOGETHER WITH
FULL DIRECTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE DAIRY.

By R. L. ALLEN,
AUTHOR OF "COMPEND OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE," ETC.

NEW-YORK:
ORANGE JUDD, 41 PARK ROW.
AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER.
1865.

Entered according to an Act of Congress in the year 1847
By RICHARD L. ALLEN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.

INTRODUCTION.

The object of the following work, on the History, Breeding, Management, Diseases, &c., of Domestic Animals, is to afford the Stock-breeder and Grazier a connected view of the entire subject in which he has so deep an interest. The writer has endeavored to compress within the limited space assumed as necessary to secure a general circulation and perusal, such principles and practice, and give to each that relative prominence, which it becomes the practical man to observe, to realize the greatest amount of value for the labor and capital devoted to his pursuits.

Their history is essential, as it shows their introduction into the United States, their progress during the various stages of their improvement, and the comparative value of the improved and ordinary breeds. A knowledge of the best mode of breeding and management is of still higher importance. The first will enable the breeder to preserve the high character of the animals in his hands, or perhaps still farther to advance them; while proper management and feeding will prevent that deterioration and loss from disease, which frequently subtract so much from his profits.

A larger space has been purposely devoted to the last topics, in preference to the subject of diseases, as prevention is not only less troublesome than cure, but much more economical. Feeding and management, after breeding, are really the important objects in view to the Stock-breeder and Grazier, for if these be judiciously attended to, disease among the herds will rarely be known.

The subject of animal diseases is complicated and little understood; and to be properly comprehended, requires years close, intelligent study, under every advantage for obtaining the necessary information. Nearly every disorder assumes various shades of difference, and to remove it effectually a corresponding change of treatment is required. How absurd then the idea, that a compilation of formal remedies, administered by an unskilful or inexperienced manager, will be of material service in rescuing his herds or flocks from the ravages of disease. All that can consistently be done, is to give a few simple remedies for the most common and well-known ailments, and leave to nature or a professional farrier, such as are more complex or unusual.

This work (with many subsequent and important additions) constitutes a small part of the "Compend of American Agriculture," the favorable reception of which, though but recently given to the public, has induced the writer to offer this important division of the subject in its present detached form.

New York, November, 1847

INDEX.

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS—GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING, NUTRITION, MANAGEMENT, &c.

The principal domestic animals reared for economical purposes in the United States, are Horned or neat cattle, the Horse, the Mule, Sheep, and Swine. A few Asses are bred, but for no other object than to keep up the supply of jacks for propagating mules. We have also goats, rabbits, and the house domestics, the dog and cat; the two former, only in very limited numbers, but both the latter much beyond our legitimate wants. There have been a few specimens of the Alpaca imported, and an arrangement is now in progress for the introduction of a flock of several hundred, which, if distributed among intelligent and wealthy agriculturists, as proposed, will test their value for increasing our agricultural resources. We shall confine ourselves to some general considerations, connected with the first-mentioned and most important of our domestic animals.

Their number as shown by the agricultural statistics collected in 1839, by order of our General Government, was 15,000,000 neat cattle; 4,335,000 horses and mules, (the number of each not being specified;) 19,311,000 sheep; and 26,300,000 swine. There is much reason to question the entire accuracy of these returns, yet there is doubtless an approximation to the truth. Sheep have greatly increased since that period, and would probably number, the present year, (1848,) not less than 30,000,000; and if our own manufactures continue to thrive, and we should moreover become wool exporters, of which there is now a reasonable prospect, an accurate return for 1850, will undoubtedly give us not less than 33,000,000 for the entire Union. There has been a great increase in the

value of the other animals enumerated, but not in a ratio corresponding with that of sheep. This is not only manifest in their augmented numbers, but in the gradual and steady improvement of the species.

It may be safely predicted, that this improvement will not only be sustained, but largely increased; for there are some intelligent and spirited breeders to be found in every section of the country, whose liberal exertions and successful examples are doing much for this object. Wherever intelligence and sound judgment are to be found, it will be impossible long to resist the effects of a comparison between animals, which, on an equal quantity of the same food, with the same attention and in the same time, will return 50, 20, or even 10 per cent. more in their intrinsic value or marketable product, than the ordinary class. This improvement has been, relatively, most conspicuous in the Western and Southern states; not that the present average of excellence in their animals surpasses, or even reaches that of the North and East; but the latter have long been pursuing this object, with more or less energy, and they have for many years had large numbers of excellent specimens of each variety; while with few exceptions, if we exclude the blood-horse or racing nag, the former have, till recently, paid comparatively little attention to the improvement of their domestic animals. The spirit for improvement through extensive sections, is now awakened, and the older settled portions of the country may hereafter expect competitors, whose success will be fully commensurate with their own. Before going into the management of the different varieties, we will give some general principles and remarks applicable to the treatment of all.

The purpose for which animals are required, should be first determined, before selecting such as may be necessary either for breeding or use. Throughout the Northeastern states, cows for the dairy, oxen for the yoke, and both for the butcher, are wanted. In much of the West and South, beef alone is the principal object; while the dairy is neglected, and the work of the ox is seldom relied on, except for occasional drudgery.

Sheep may be wanted almost exclusively for the fleece, or for the fleece and heavy mutton, or in the neighborhood of markets, for large early lambs. The pastures and winter food, climate, and other conditions, present additional circumstances, which should be well considered before determining on the particular breed, either of cattle or sheep, that will best promote the interest of the farmer.

The kind of work for which the horse may be wanted, whether as a roadster, for the saddle, as a heavy team horse, or the horse of all work, must be first decided, before selecting the form or character of the animal.

The range of pig excellence is more circumscribed, as it is only necessary to breed such as will yield the greatest amount of valuable carcass, within the shortest time, and with the least expense.

PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING.

All breeding is founded on the principle, that like begets like. This is, however, liable to some exceptions, and is much more generally true when breeding down than when breeding up. If two animals (which can never be exactly similar in all respects) are requisite to the perpetuation of the species, it necessarily results, that the progeny must differ in a more or less degree from each parent. With wild animals, and such of the domestic as are allowed to propagate without the interference of art, and whose habits, treatment, and food are nearly similar to their natural condition, the change through successive generations is scarcely perceptible. It is only when we attempt to improve their good qualities, that it is essential carefully to determine, and rigidly to apply, what are adopted as the present scientific principles of breeding. We cannot believe that we have penetrated beyond the mere threshold of this art. Unless, then, we launch into experiments, which are necessarily attended with uncertainty, our duty will be, to take for our guide the most successful practice of modern times, until further discoveries enable us to modify or add to such as are already known and adopted. We may assume, then, as the present rules for this art,

1st. That the animals selected for breed, should unite in themselves all the good qualities we wish to perpetuate in the offspring.

2d. These qualities, technically called points, should be inbred in the animals as far as practicable, by a long line of descent from parents similarly constituted. The necessity for this rule is evident from the fact, that in mixing different species, and especially mongrels, with a long-established breed, the latter will most strongly stamp the issue with its own peculiarities. This is forcibly illustrated in the case of the Devon cattle, an ancient race, whose color, form, and characteristics are strikingly perpetuated, sometimes to the sixth or

even a later generation. So far is this principle carried by many experienced breeders, that they will use an animal of indifferent external appearance, but of approved descent, (blood,) in preference to a decidedly superior one, whose pedigree is imperfect.

3d. All the conditions of soil, situation, climate, treatment, and food, should be favorable to the object sought.

4th. As a general rule, the female should be relatively larger than the male. This gives ample room for the perfect development of the fœtus, easy parturition, and a large supply of milk for the offspring, at a period in its existence, when food has a greater influence in perfecting character and form, than at any subsequent time.

5th. Exceptions to this rule may be made, when greater size is required than can be obtained from the female, and especially when more vigor and hardiness of constitution are desirable. For this purpose, strong masculine development in the sire is proper, and if otherwise unattainable, something of coarseness may be admitted, as this may be afterwards corrected, and nothing will atone for want of constitution and strength.

6th. Pairing should be with a strict reference to correcting the imperfections of one animal, by a corresponding excellence in the other.

7th. Breeding in-and-in, or propagating from animals nearly allied, may be tolerated under certain circumstances, though seldom; and only in extreme cases between those of the same generation, as brother and sister. When the animal possesses much stamina and peculiar merit, which it is desired to perpetuate in the breed, it may be done either in the ascending or descending line, as in breeding the son to the parent, or the parent to his own progeny. This has been practised with decided advantage, and in some cases has even been continued successively, as low as the sixth generation.

8th. It is always better to avoid close relationship, by the selection of equally meritorious stock-getters of the same breed, from other sources.

9th. Wholesome, nutritious food, at all times sufficient to keep the animals steadily advancing, should be provided, but they must never be allowed to get fat. Of the two evils, starving is preferable to surfeit. Careful treatment, and the absence of disease, must be always fully considered.

10th. Animals should never be allowed to breed either too early or too late in life. These periods cannot be arbitrarily

laid down, but must depend on their time of maturity, the longevity of the breed, and the stamina of the individual.

11th. No violent cross, or mixing of distinct breeds, should ever be admitted for the purposes of perpetuation, as of cattle of diverse sizes; horses of unlike characters; the Merino and the long-wools, or even the long, or short, and the middle-wools. For carcass and constitution, these crosses are unexceptionable; and it is a practice very common in this country, and judicious enough where the whole produce is early destined for the shambles. But when the progeny are designed for breeders, the practice should be branded with unqualified reprehension.

GENERAL FORM AND CHARACTERISTICS.

Within certain limits, these may be reduced to a common standard. All animals should have a good head, well set up; a clean fine muzzle, and a blight, clear and full, yet perfectly placid eye. With the exception of the dog and cat, whose original nature is ferocity, and whose whole life, unless diverted from their natural instincts, is plunder and prey; and the jockey racehorse, which is required to take the purse, at any hazard of life or limb to the groom; a mild, quiet eye is indispensable to the profitable use of the domestic brute. The neck should be well formed, not too long, tapering to its junction with the head, and gradually enlarging to a firm, well-expanded attachment to the back, shoulders, and breast. The back or chine should be short, straight, and broad; the ribs springing out from the backbone nearly at right angles, giving a rounded appearance to the carcass, and reaching well behind to a close proximity to the hip; tail well set on, and full at its junction with the body, yet gradually tapering to fineness; thighs, fore-arms, and crops well developed; projecting breast or brisket; the fore-legs straight, and hind ones properly bent, strong and full where attached to the carcass, but small and tapering below; good and sound joints; dense, strong bones, but not large; plenty of fine muscle in the right places; and hair or wool, fine and soft. The chest in all animals should be full, for it will be invariably found, that only such will do the most work, or fatten easiest on the least food.

The Lungs.

From the last-mentioned principle, founded on long experience and observation, Cline inferred, and he has laid it down as an incontrovertible position, that the lungs should always be large; and Youatt expresses the same opinion. This is undoubtedly correct as to working beasts, the horse and the ox, which require full and free respiration, to enable them to sustain great muscular efforts. But later physiologists have assumed, perhaps from closer and more accurate observations, that the fattening propensity is in the ratio of the smallness of the lungs. Earl Spencer has observed, that this is fully shown in the pig, the sheep, the ox, and the horse, whose aptitude to fatten and smallness of lungs, are in the order enumerated.

This position is further illustrated by the different breeds of the same classes of animals. The Leicester sheep have smaller lungs than the South Down; and it has been found, that a number of the former, on a given quantity of food, and in the same time, reached 28 lbs. a quarter, while the South Downs with a greater consumption of food, attained in the same period, only 18 lbs. The Chinese pigs have much smaller lungs than the Irish, and the former will fatten to a given weight, on a much less quantity of food than the latter. (Playfair.) The principle would seem to be corroborated by the fact, that animals generally fatten faster in proportion to the quantity of food they consume, as they advance towards a certain stage of maturity; during all which time, the secretion of internal fat is gradually compressing the size, by reducing the room for the action of the lungs. Hence, the advantage of carrying the fattening beast to an advanced point, by which not only the quality of carcass is improved, but the quantity is relatively greater for the amount of food consumed. These views are intimately connected, and fully correspond, with the principles of

RESPIRATION IN ANIMALS.

From careful experiments, it has been found that all animals daily consume a much larger quantity of food than the aggregate of what may have been retained in the system, added to what has been expelled in the fœces and urine, and

what has escaped by perspiration. Boussingault, who combines the characteristics of an ingenious chemist, a vigilant observer, and a practical agriculturist, made an experiment with a "milch-cow and a full-grown horse, which were placed in stalls so contrived that the droppings and the urine could be collected without loss. Before being made the subjects of experiment, the animals were ballasted or fed for a month with the same ration that was furnished to them, during the three days and three nights which they passed in the experimental stalls. During the month, the weight of the animals did not vary sensibly, a circumstance which happily enables us to assume that neither did the weight vary during the seventy-two hours when they were under especial observation.

The cow was foddered with after-math, hay, and potatoes; the horse with the same hay and oats. The quantities of forage were accurately weighed, and their precise degree of moistness and their composition were determined from average samples. The water drunk was measured, its saline and earthy constituents having been previously ascertained. The excrementitious matters passed, were of course collected with the greatest care; the excrements, the urine, and the milk were weighed, and the constitution of the whole estimated from elementary analyses of average specimens of each. The results of the two experiments are given in the table on the next page.

The oxygen and hydrogen that are not accounted for in the sum of the products have not disappeared in the precise proportions requisite to form water; the excess of hydrogen amounts to as many as from 13 to 15 dwts. It is probable that this hydrogen of the food became changed into water by combining during respiration with the oxygen of the air."

FOOD CONSUMED BY THE HORSE IN 24 HOURS.

PRODUCTS VOIDED BY THE HORSE IN 24 HOURS.

FOOD CONSUMED BY THE COW IN 24 HOURS.

PRODUCTS VOIDED BY THE COW IN 24 HOURS.

We here perceive a large loss of water, carbon, hydrogen, &c. Nearly all this loss of carbon and hydrogen escaped by respiration, while most of the water, oxygen, nitrogen, and salts, passed off in perspiration. In further illustration of the subject of respiration, Liebig says, "from the accurate determination of the quantity of carbon daily taken into the system in the food, as well as of that proportion of it which passes out of the body in the fœces and urine, unburned, that is, in some form uncombined with oxygen, it appears that an adult taking moderate exercise, consumes 13.9 oz. of carbon daily." The foregoing are facts in the animal economy, capable of vast practical bearing in the management of our domestic animals. But before following out these principles to their application, let us briefly examine

The Effects of Respiration.

We have seen from the experiment of Boussingault, that there is a loss of 6 lbs. 6 oz. of carbon, and 8 oz. 3 dwt. of hydrogen in the food of the horse, and something less in that of the cow, every 24 hours, which has not been left in the system, nor has it escaped by the evacuations. What has become of so large an amount of solid matter? It has escaped through the lungs and been converted into air. The carbon and hydrogen of the food have undergone those various transformations which are peculiar to the animal economy, digestion, assimilation, &c., which it is not necessary, nor will our limits permit us here to explain; and they appear at last in the veinous blood, which in the course of its circulation is brought into the cells of the lungs. The air inhaled is sent through every part of their innumerable meshes, and is there separated from the blood, only by the delicate tissues or membranes which enclose it. A portion of the carbon and hydrogen escapes from the blood into the air-cells, and at the instant of their contact with the air, they affect a chemical union with its oxygen, forming carbonic acid and the vapor of water, which is then expired, and a fresh supply of oxygen is inhaled. This operation is again repeated, through every successive moment of animal existence.

Besides other purposes which it is probably designed to subserve, but which have hitherto eluded the keenest research of chemical physiology, one obvious result of respiration is, the elevation of the temperature of the animal system. By the ever-operating laws of nature, this chemical union of two

bodies in the formation of a third, disengages latent heat, which taking place in contact with the blood, is by it diffused throughout the whole frame. The effect is precisely analogous to the combustion of fuel, oils, &c., in the open air.

Perspiration

Is the counteracting agent which modifies this result, and prevents the injurious effects, which, under exposure to great external heat, would ensure certain destruction. And this too, it will have been seen, is provided at the expense of the animal food. When from excessive heat, caused by violent exercise or otherwise, by which respiration is accelerated and the animal temperature becomes elevated, the papillæ of the skin pour the limpid fluid through their innumerable ducts, which in its conversion into vapor, seize upon the animal heat and remove it from the system, producing that delicious coolness so grateful to the laboring man and beast in a sultry summer's day. These two opposing principles, like the antagonistic operations of the regulator in mechanics, keep up a perfect balance in the vital machine, and enable that entire division of the animal creation, distinguished as warm-blooded, including man and the brute, all the feathered tribes, the whale, the seal, the walrus, &c., to maintain an equilibrium of temperature, whether under the equator or the poles; on the peaks of Chimborazo, the burning sands of Zahara, or plunged in the depths of the Arctic Ocean.

The connection between the size of the lungs, and the aptitude of animals to fatten, will be more apparent from the fact, that the carbon and hydrogen which are abstracted, constitute two of the only three elements of fat. The larger size, the fuller play, and the greater activity of the lungs, by exhausting more of the materials of fat, must necessarily diminish its formation in the animal system; unless it can be shown, which has never yet been done, that the removal of a portion of the fat-forming principles accelerates the assimilation of the remainder.

The Food which supplies Respiration.

This, in the herbivorous animals, after they are deprived of the milk, which furnishes it in abundance, is the starch, gum, sugar, vegetable fats, and oils that exist in the vegetables, grain, and roots which they consume; and in certain cases

where there is a deficiency of other food, it is sparingly furnished in woody and cellular fibre. All these substances constitute the principal part of dry vegetable food, and are made up of three elements, which in starch, gum, cane-sugar, and cellular fibre, exist in precisely the same proportions, viz: 44 per cent. of carbon, 6.2 of hydrogen, and 40.8 of oxygen.

Grape sugar, woody fibre, and vegetable and animal fats and oils are made up of the same elements, but in different proportions, the last containing much more carbon and hydrogen than those above specified. In the fattening animals, it is supposed the vegetable fats and oils are immediately transferred to the fat cells, undergoing only such slight modification as perfectly adapts them to the animal economy, while respiration is supplied by the other enumerated vegetable matters. If these last are taken into the stomach beyond the necessary demand for its object, they too are converted by the animal functions into fat, and are stored up in the system for future use. But if the supply of the latter is insufficient for respiration, it first appropriates the vegetable fat contained in the food; if this is deficient, it draws on the accumulated stores of animal fat already secreted in the system, and when these too are exhausted, it seizes upon what is contained in the tissues and muscle. When the animal commences drawing upon its own resources for the support of its vital functions, deterioration begins; and if long continued, great emaciation succeeds, which is soon followed by starvation and death.

The carnivorous animals are furnished with their respiratory excretions, from the animal fat and fibre which exist in their food, and which the herbivoræ had previously abstracted from the vegetable creation.

Circumstances which augment Respiration.

These are, exercise, cold, and an abundant supply of food. Exercise, besides exhausting the materials of fat, produces a waste of fibre and tissue, the muscular and nitrogenized parts of the animal system; and it is obvious from the foregoing principles, that cold requires a corresponding demand for carbon and hydrogen to keep up the vital warmth. The consumption of food to the fullest extent required for invigorating the frame, creates a desire for activity, and it insensibly induces full respiration. The well-fed, active man, unconsciously draws a full, strong breath; while the abstemious and the feeble, unwittingly use it daintily, as if it were a choice com

modity not to be lavishly expended. If the first be observed when sleep has effectually arrested volition, the expanded chest will be seen, heaving with the long-drawn, sonorous breath; while that of the latter will exhibit the gentle repose of the infant on its mother's breast.

The difference between the food of the inhabitants of the polar and equatorial regions, is strikingly illustrative of the demands both for breathing and perspiration. The latter are almost destitute of clothing, and subsist on their light, juicy, tropical fruits, which contain scarcely 12 per cent. of carbon, yet furnish all the elements for abundant perspiration; while the former are imbedded in furs, and devour gallons of train oil or its equivalent of fat, which contains nearly 80 per cent. of carbon, that is burnt up in respiration to maintain a necessary warmth.

The bear retires to his den in the beginning of winter, loaded with fat, which he has accumulated from the rich, oily mast abounding in the woods in autumn. There he lies for months, snugly coiled and perfectly dormant; the thickness of his shaggy coat, his dry bed of leaves, and well-protected den, effectually guarding him from cold, which in addition to his want of exercise, draw slightly upon respiration to keep up the vital heat. When the stores of carbon and hydrogen contained in the fat are expended, his hunger and cold compel him to leave his winter-quarters, again to wander in pursuit of food.

Many of the swallow tribes, in like manner, hybernate in large hollow trees, and for months eke out a torpid, scarcely perceptible existence, independent of food. Activity and full respiration, on the return of spring, demand a support, which is furnished in the myriads of flies they daily consume. The toad and frog have repeatedly been found in a torpid state, imbedded in limestones, sandstones, and the breccias, where they were probably imprisoned for thousands of years without a morsel of food; yet when exposed to the warmth of the vital air and the stimulus of its oxygen, they have manifested all the activity of their species. This they are enabled to sustain only by an enormous consumption of insects.

Dr. Playfair states, that in an experiment made by Lord Ducie, 100 sheep were placed in a shed, and ate 20 pounds of Swedes turnips each per day; another 100 were placed in the open air, and ate 25 pounds per day; yet the former, which had one-fifth less food, weighed, after a few weeks, three pounds more per head than the latter. He then fed five sheep

in the open air, between the 21st November and 1st December. They consumed 90 pounds of food per day, the temperature being at 44°, and at the end of this time, they weighed two pounds less than when first exposed. Five sheep were then placed under a shed, and allowed to run about in a temperature of 49°. At first they consumed 82 pounds per day; then 70 pounds, and at the end of the time they had gained 23 pounds. Again, five sheep were placed under a shed as before, and not allowed to take any exercise. They ate at first, 64 pounds of food per day, then 58 pounds, and increased in weight 30 pounds. Lastly, five sheep were kept quiet and covered, and in the dark. They ate 35 pounds per day, and increased eight pounds.

Mr. Childers states, that 80 Leicester sheep in the open field, consumed 50 baskets of cut turnips per day, besides oil-cake. On putting them in a shed, they were immediately able to consume only 30 baskets, and soon after but 25, being only half the quantity required before, and yet they fattened as rapidly as when eating the largest quantity. The minimum of food, then, required for the support of animals, is attained when closely confined in a warm, dark shelter; and the maximum, when running at large, exposed to all weathers.

THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

This should be regulated by a variety of considerations. The young which may be destined for maturity, should be supplied with milk from the dam until weaning-time. No food can be substituted for the well-filled udder of the parent, which is so safe, healthful, and nutritious. If from any cause there is deficiency or total privation, it must be made up by that kind of food, meal-gruel, &c., which, in its composition, approaches nearest in quality to the milk. At a more advanced age, or the time for weaning, grass, hay, roots, or grain, may be substituted, in quantities sufficient to maintain a steady but not a forced growth. Stuffing can only be tolerated in animals which are speedily destined for the slaughter. Alternately improving and falling back, is injurious to all stock. An animal should never be fat but once. Especially is high feeding bad for breeding animals. Much as starving is to be deprecated, the prejudicial effects of repletion are still greater. The calf or lamb intended for the butcher, may be pushed forward with all possible rapidity. Horses or colts should never exceed a good working or breeding condition.

Purposes fulfilled by different Kinds of Food.

The objects designed to be answered by food, are to a certain extent the same. All food is intended to meet the demands of respiration and nutrition, and fattening to a greater or less degree. But some are better suited to one object than others, and it is for the intelligent farmer to select such as will most effectually accomplish his particular purposes.

The very young animal requires large quantities of the phosphate of lime for the formation of bone; and this is yielded in the milk in larger proportions than from any other food. The growing animal wants bone, muscle, and a certain amount of fat, and these are procured from the grasses, roots, and grain; from the former when fed alone, and from the two latter when mixed with hay or grass.

Horses, cattle, and sheep need hay to qualify the too watery nature of the roots, and the too condensed nutritiveness of the grain. Animals that are preparing for the shambles, require vegetable oils or fat, starch, sugar, or gum. The first is contained in great abundance in flax and cotton-seed, the sun-flower, and many other of the mucilaginous seeds. Indian corn is the most fattening grain. The potato contains the greatest proportion of starch, and the sugar-beet has large quantities of sugar, and both consequently are good for stall-feeding. The ripe sugar-cane is perhaps the most fattening of vegetables, if we except the oily seeds and grain. The Swedes turnip is a good food to commence with fattening cattle and sheep; but where great ripeness in animals is desired, they should be followed with beets, carrots or potatoes, and grain.

The table of the average composition of the different crops, which we subjoin from Johnston, shows the comparative qualities of various kinds of food, and it will be found a valuable reference for their nutritive and fattening qualities. He says, "In drawing up this table, I have adopted the proportions of gluten, for the most part, from Boussingault. Some of them, however, appear to be very doubtful. The proportions of fatty matter are also very uncertain. With a few exceptions, those above given have been taken from Sprengel, and they are, in general, stated considerably too low. It is an interesting fact, that the proportion of fatty matter in and immediately under the husk of the grains of corn, is generally much greater than in the substance of the corn itself. Thus I have found the pollard of wheat to yield more than twice as much oil as the

fine flour obtained from the same sample of grain. The four portions separated by the miller from a superior sample of wheat grown in the neighborhood of Durham, gave of oil respectively: fine flour, 1·5 per cent.; pollard, 2·4; boxings, 3·6; and bran, 3·3 per cent. Dumas states that the husk of oats sometimes yields as much as five or six per cent. of oil." The columns under starch, &c., and fatty matter, denote the value for respiration or sustaining life, and the fattening qualities; that under gluten, the capacity for yielding muscle and supporting labor; and saline matter indicates something of the proportions which are capable of being converted into bones.

This table, it will be perceived, is far from settling the precise relative value of the different enumerated articles. An absolute, unchanging value can never be assumed of any one substance, as the quality of each must differ with the particular variety, the soil upon which it is grown, the character of the season, the manner of curing, and other circumstances. An approximate relative value is all that can be expected, and this we may hope ere long to obtain, from the spirit of analytical research, which is now developed and in successful progress. More especially do we need these investigations with American products, some of which are but partially cultivated in Europe, whence we derive most of our analyses. And many which are there reared, differ widely

from those produced here, as these also differ from each other. What, for instance, is the character of meadow hay? We know that this varies as four to one, according to the particular kinds grown; and our Indian corn has certainly a less range than from five to nine.

The Changes in the Food of Animals.

Potatoes, when first ripe, are estimated to be worth, for feeding purposes, nearly twice as much as when old; and the relative value of the different kinds, varies greatly at the same age and under similar conditions of growth. Perrault ascertained by careful experiment, that hay, clover, and lucerne lost much of their nutritive qualities by drying, and in lucerne this loss amounted to about thirty-five per cent. This is an important consideration in the feeding of green and dry forage. Oats are among the best feed, both for young and working animals; but it has been found that they are greatly improved for the latter, and perhaps for both, by allowing the new crop to remain till the latter part of winter, before feeding.

The improvement by steaming and cooking food, is seldom sufficiently appreciated. Food properly managed, can never be made worse by cooking for any stock; although it has not been considered so essential for working, and generally, for ruminating animals, as for swine, and such as were stall-feeding. But the alteration produced in cooking, by fitting it for a more ready assimilation, must, as a general rule, add much to the value of the food, and the rapid improvement of the animal.

The effect of slight fermentation, or souring the food, produces the same result. Animals accustomed to this acid food, will reject what is unprepared when they can get at the former; and we have no doubt, from our own experience, that there is a saving in thus preparing it, from 20 to 40 per cent. A mixture of food should be supplied to all animals. Like man, they tire of any constant aliment. For such, especially, as are fattening, and which it is desirable to mature with the greatest rapidity, a careful indulgence of their appetite should be studied. They should be provided with whatever they most crave, if it be adapted to the secretion of fat. Cutting, crushing, and grinding the food; cooking, souring, and mixing it, are each by themselves an improvement for feeding;

and frequently two or more of these preparations combined, are of great utility in effecting the object proposed.

The Profit of Feeding.

It is evident, that this consists in a valuable return from the animal of the food consumed. In the horse, this can only be received in labor or breeding; in the ox, from labor and flesh; in the cow, from the milk, the flesh, and her young. In the sheep, it may be returned in its fleece, its carcass, or its progeny; and in the swine only by its progeny and flesh. The manure we expect from all; and if this be not secured and judiciously used, few animals about the farm will be found to yield a satisfactory profit for their food and attention; though it is evident, it should form but a small part of the return looked for.

Animals are only profitable to the farmer, when they yield a daily income, as in their milk or labor; or annually, by their young or fleece; unless it be in a course of regular improvement, either in their ordinary growth or preparation for the butcher. The animal must consume a certain amount of food merely to keep up its stationary condition, and to supply the materials for waste, respiration, perspiration, and the evacuations. These must first be provided for in all cases, before the farmer can expect any thing for the food.

Frequent observation has shown, that an ox will consume about two per cent, of his weight of hay per day, to maintain his condition. If put to moderate labor, an increase of this quantity to three per cent., will enable him to perform his work, and still maintain his flesh. If to be fattened, he requires about 4½ per cent. of his weight daily, in nutritious food. A cow to remain stationary and give no milk, eats two per cent. of her weight daily; and if in milk, she will consume three per cent. If these statements are correct, which it is certain they are in principle, though they may not be entirely in degree, it will require the same food to keep three yoke of cattle in idleness, as two at work; and the food of every two that are idle, will nearly support one under the most rapid condition of fatting. Two cows may be kept in milk, with the same feed that will keep three without.

No practice is more impolitic, than barely to sustain the stock through the winter, or a part of the year, as is the case in too many instances, and allow them to improve only when turned on grass in summer. Besides subjecting them to the

risk of disease, consequent upon their privation of food, nearly half the year is lost in their use, or in maturing them for profitable disposal; when if one-third of the stock had been sold, the remainder would have been kept in a rapidly improving condition, and at three years of age, they would probably be of equal value, as otherwise at five or six. It is true that breed has much to do with this rapid advancement, but breed is useless without food to develop and mature it.

CHAPTER II.
NEAT OR HORNED CATTLE.

The value of our neat cattle exceeds that of any other of the domestic animals in the United States. They are as widely disseminated, and more generally useful. Like sheep and all our domestic brutes, they have been so long and so entirely subject to the control of man, that their original type is unknown. They have been allowed entire freedom from all human direction or restraint for hundreds of years, on the boundless pampas of South America, California, and elsewhere; but when permitted to resume that natural condition, by which both plants and animals approximate to the character of their original head, they have scarcely deviated in any respect, from the domestic herds from which they are descended. From this it may be inferred, that our present races do not differ, in any of their essential features and characteristics, from the original stock.

Various Domestic Breeds.

Cultivation, feed, and climate, have much to do in determining the form, size, and character of cattle. In Lithuania, cattle attain an immense size, with but moderate pretensions to general excellence, while the Irish Kerry and Scotch Grampian cows but little exceed the largest sheep; yet the last are compact and well-made, and yield a good return for the food consumed. Every country, and almost every district, has its peculiar breeds, which by long association have become adapted to the food and circumstances of its position, and

when found profitable, they should be exchanged for others, only after the most thorough trial of superior fitness for the particular location, in those proposed to be introduced.

More attention has been paid to the improvement of the various breeds of cattle in England, than in any other country; and it is there they have attained the greatest perfection in form and character for the various purposes to which they are devoted. We have derived, directly from Great Britain, not only the parent stock from which nearly all our cattle are descended, but also most of those fresh importations, to which we have looked for improvement on the present race of animals.

A few choice Dutch cattle, generally black and white, and of large size, good forms, and good milkers, with a decided tendency to fatten, have been occasionally introduced among us, but not in numbers sufficient to keep up a distinct breed; and in the hands of their importers, or immediate successors, their peculiar characteristics have soon become merged in those herds by which they were surrounded. Some few French and Spanish cattle, the descendants of those remote importations, made when the colonies of those kingdoms held possession of our northern, western, and southern frontiers, still exist in those sections; and although possessing no claims to particular superiority, at least in any that have come within our notice, yet they are so well acclimated, and adapted to their various localities, as to render it inexpedient to attempt supplanting them, except with such as are particularly meritorious.

Native Cattle.

This is a favorite term with Americans, and comprehends every thing in the country, excepting such as are of a pure and distinct breed. It embraces some of the best, some of the worst, and some of almost every variety, shape, color, and character of the bovine race. The designation has no farther meaning, than that they are indigenous to the soil, and do not belong to any well-defined or distinct variety.

The best native cattle of the Union are undoubtedly to be found in the Northeastern states. Most of the early emigrant cattle in that section were from the southern part of England, where the Devon cattle abound; and though not at the present time bearing a close resemblance to that breed, unless it has been impressed upon them by more recent importations, yet a large number have that general approximation in character, features, and color, which entitles them to claim a near

kindred with one of the choicest cultivated breeds. They have the same symmetry, but not in general the excessive delicacy of form, which characterizes the Devons; the same intelligence, activity, and vigor in the working cattle, and the same tendency to fattening; but they are usually better for the dairy than their imported ancestors. Some valuable intermixtures have occasionally been made among them. Among these, there have been many brindled cattle widely disseminated, of great merit as workers, and not often surpassed for the dairy and shambles.

The Herefords have in a few instances been introduced among the eastern cattle, and apparently with great improvement. The importation made by Admiral Coffin, of four choice Hereford bulls and cows, which were presented to the State Agricultural Society of Massachusetts, nearly thirty years since, is especially to be mentioned, as resulting in decided benefit wherever they were disseminated. Some of the old Yorkshire, or as they are sometimes styled, the long-horned Durhams, have been introduced, though these have been isolated individuals and never perpetuated as a separate breed. A few small importations have been made of the Short Horns and Ayrshires, but neither of these have been bred in the New England states in distinct herds, to any extent.

Their native breed has hitherto, and generally with good reason, possessed claims on the attention of their owners, which, with some slight exceptions, it has not been in the power of any rivals to supplant. With entire adaptedness to the soil, climate, and wants of the farmer, an originally good stock has, in frequent instances, been carefully fostered, and the breeding animals selected with a strict reference to their fitness for perpetuating the most desirable qualities. As a consequence of this intelligent and persevering policy, widely, but not universally pursued, they have a race of cattle, though possessing considerable diversity of size and color, yet coinciding in a remarkable degree in the possession of those utilitarian features, which so justly commend them to our admiration.

In proceeding southwestwardly through New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere, we shall find in this branch of stock, a greater diversity and less uniform excellence; though they have extensive numbers of valuable animals. Here and there will be found a choice collection of some favorite foreign breed, which emigrants have brought from their native home, as did the Pagan colonists their penates or household gods; the cherished associates of early days, and the only relics of their

father-land. Such are an occasional small herd of polled or hornless cattle, originally derived from Suffolk or Galloway, excellent both for the dairy and shambles; the Kyloe, or West Highland, (Scottish,) a hardy animal, unrivalled for beef; the Welsh runt; the Irish cattle; the crumpled-horn Alderney, and some others.

The Devon

Is among the oldest distinctly cultivated breeds in this country, as it undoubtedly is of England, and probably it is the most universal favorite. This popularity is well deserved, and it is based upon several substantial considerations. They are beautifully formed, possessing excessive fineness and symmetry of frame, yet with sufficient bone and muscle to render them perfectly hardy; and they are among the most vigorous and active of working cattle. They have great uniformity of appearance in every feature, size, shape, horns, and color. The cows and bulls appear small, but the ox is much larger; and both he and the dam, on cutting up, are found to weigh much beyond the estimates which an eye accustomed only to ordinary breeds, would have assigned to them. The flesh is finely marbled or interspersed with alternate fat and lean, and is of superior quality and flavor.

The cows invariably yield milk of great richness, and when appropriately bred, none surpass them for the quantity of butter and cheese it yields. Mr. Bloomfield, the manager of the late Lord Leicester's estate at Holkham, has, by careful attention, somewhat increased the size, without impairing the beauty of their form, and so successful has he been in developing their milking properties, that his average product of butter from each cow, is 4 lbs. per week for the whole year. He has challenged England to milk an equal number of cows of any breed, against 40 pure Devons, to be selected out of his own herd, without as yet having found a competitor. Although this is not a test of their merits, and by no means decides their superiority, yet it shows the great confidence reposed in them by their owner. The Devon ox, under six years old, has come up to a nett dead weight of 1,593 lbs.; and at three years and seven months, to 1,316 lbs., with 160 lbs. of rough tallow.

Description. The Devon is of medium size, and so symmetrical, as to appear small. The color is invariably a deep mahogany red, with usually a white udder and strip under the

belly; and the tuft at the end of the tail is red while they are calves, but white in the older animal. The head is small, broad in the forehead, and somewhat indented. The muzzle is delicate, and both the nose and the rings around the eye, in the pure breed, are invariably of a bright, clear orange. The cheeks and face are thin and fleshless; the horns clear, smooth, and of a yellowish white, handsomely curved upward. The neck is small and delicate at its junction with the head, but is well expanded in its attachment to the breast and shoulders. The last has the true slant for activity and strength, in which it excels all other breeds of equal weight. The barrel is round and deep, with a projecting brisket. The back is broad and level; the flank full; hips wide; the rumps long; the quarters well developed, and capable of holding a great quantity of the most valuable meat. The tail is on a level with the back, and gracefully tapers like a drum-stick, to the tuft on the end. The legs are of peculiar delicacy and fineness, yet possess great strength. The skin is of medium thickness, of a rich orange hue, pliable to the touch, and covered with a thick coating of fine, soft, curly hair. The Devon is intelligent, gentle, and tractable; is good for milk, and unsurpassed for the yoke and for fattening. No animal is better suited to our scanty or luxuriant hill pastures than the Devon, and none make a better return for the attention and food received. They ensure a rapid improvement when mixed with other cattle, imparting their color and characteristics in an eminent degree. Several importations have been made into this country within the last 30 years, of the choicest animals, and though not yet numerous in the United States, we possess some of the best specimens that exist.

The Short Horns, or Durhams.

Are decidedly the most showy among the cattle species. They are of all colors between a full, deep red, and a pure creamy white; but generally have both intermixed in larger or smaller patches, or intimately blended in a beautiful roan. Black, brown, or brindled, are colors not recognised among pure-bred Short Horns. Their form is well-spread, symmetrical, and imposing, and capable of sustaining a large weight of valuable carcass. The horn was originally branching and turned upward, but now frequently has a downward tendency, with the tips pointing towards each other. They are light, and comparatively short; clear, highly polished, and waxy.

The head is finely formed, with a longer face but not so fine a muzzle as the Devon. The neck is delicately formed without dewlap, the brisket projecting; and the great depth and width of the chest giving short, well-spread fore-legs. The crops are good; back and loin broad and flat; ribs projecting;

deep flank and twist; tail well set up, strong at the roots and tapering. They have a thick covering of soft hair, and are mellow to the touch, technically termed, handling well. They mature early and rapidly for the quantity of food consumed, yielding largely of good beef with little offal. As a breed, they are excellent milkers; though some families of the Short Horns surpass others in this quality. They are inferior to the Devons, in their value as working oxen, and in the richness of their milk.

The Short Horns are assigned a high antiquity, by the oldest breeders in the counties of Durham and Yorkshire, England, the place of their origin, and for a long time, of their almost exclusive breeding. From the marked and decided improvement which they stamp upon other animals, they are evidently an ancient breed, though much the juniors of the Devon and Hereford. Their highly artificial style, form, and character, are unquestionably the work of deeply studied and long-continued art; and to the same degree that they have been moulded in unresisting compliance with the dictation of their intelligent breeders, have they departed from that light and more agile form of the Devon, which conclusively and beyond the possibility of contradiction, marks the more primitive race.

THE IMPORTATION OF SHORT HORNS INTO THIS COUNTRY.

This is claimed to have been previous to 1783. They are the reputed ancestors of many choice animals existing in Virginia, in the latter part of the last century, and which were known as the milk breed; and some of these, with others termed the beef breed, were taken into Kentucky by Mr. Patton, as early as 1797, and their descendants, a valuable race of animals, were much disseminated in the West, and known as the Patton stock.

The first authentic importations we have recorded, are those of Mr. Heaton, into Westchester, N. Y., in 1791 and '96, from the valuable herds of Messrs. Culley and Colling, which consisted of several choice bulls and cows. These were for many years bred pure, and their progeny was widely scattered. (American Herd Book.) They were also imparted into New York, by Mr. Cox, in 1816; by Mr. Bullock, in 1822; by the late Hon. S. Van Rensselaer in 1823; and im

mediately after, by Mr. Charles Henry Hall, of Harlem. Some small importations were made into Massachusetts between 1817 and '25, by several enterprising agriculturists, Messrs. Coolidge, Williams, and others; into Connecticut by Mr. Hall and others; into Pennsylvania by Mr. Powell; and into Ohio and some other states, by various individuals early in the present century.

Since the first importations, larger accessions from the best English herds have been frequently made; and with the nice regard for pedigrees which the introduction of the herd book, and careful purity in breeding has produced, the Short Horns have become the most extensive pure-bred family of cattle in the United States.

During the speculative times of 1835 to 1840, they brought high prices, frequently from $500 to $1000, and sometimes more. The following years of financial embarrassment, reduced their market price below their intrinsic value; but the tide is again turning, and they are now in demand, but still at prices far below their utility and merits. They have from the first, been favorites in the rich, corn valleys of the West, their early maturity and great weight giving them a preference over any other breed. The only drawback to this partiality, is their inability, from their form and weight, to reach remote eastern markets in good condition; an objection now in a great measure remedied, by the recent remission of duties on foreign beef in the English market, which makes them of nearly equal value where fed, to pack for exportation. On light lands and scanty pastures, they will probably never be largely introduced. All heavy animals require full forage within a limited compass, so as to fill their stomachs at once, and quietly compose themselves to their digestion.

The weights reached by the Short Horns in England, as given by Mr. Berry, have been enormous. Two oxen, six years old, weighed nett, 1820 lbs. each. A heifer of three years, and fed on grass and hay alone, weighed 1260 lbs. A four-year-old steer, fed on hay and turnips only, dressed 1890 lbs. A cow reached the prodigious weight of 1778 lbs. A heifer, running with her dam, and on pasture alone, weighed at seven months, 476 lbs. An ox, seven years old, weighed 2362 lbs. From their comparatively small numbers in this country, most of them have been retained for breeders; few, as yet, have been fattened, and such only as were decidedly inferior. Such animals as have been extensively produced by crossing this breed upon our former stocks, have given evidence of great and decided improvement; and the Short Horns, and their grade descendants are destined, at no distant day, to occupy a large portion of the richest feeding grounds in the United States.

Herefords.

This is the only remaining pure breed, which has hitherto occupied the attention of graziers in this country. Like the Devons, they are supposed to be one of the most ancient races of British cattle. Marshall gives the following description. "The countenance pleasant, cheerful, open; the forehead broad; eye full and lively; horns bright, taper, and spreading; head small; chap lean; neck long and tapering; chest deep; bosom broad, and projecting forward; shoulder-bone thin, flat, no way protuberant in bone (?) but full and mellow in flesh; chest full; loin broad; hips standing wide, and level with the chine; quarters long, and wide at the neck; rump even with the level of the back, and not drooping, nor standing high and sharp above the quarters; tail slender and neatly haired; barrel round and roomy; the carcass throughout deep and well spread; ribs broad, standing flat and close on the outer surface, forming a smooth, even barrel, the hindmost large and full of length; round-bone small, snug, and not prominent; thigh clean, and regularly tapering; legs upright and short; bone below the knee and hock small; feet

of middle size; flank large: flesh everywhere mellow, soft, and yielding pleasantly to the touch, especially on the chine, the shoulder, and the ribs; hide mellow, supple, of a middle thickness, and loose on the neck and huckle; coat neatly haired, bright and silky; color, a middle red, with a bald face characteristic of the true Herefordshire breed."

Youatt further describes them as follows: "They are usually of a darker red; some of them are brown, and even yellow, and a few are brindled; but they are principally distinguished by their white faces, throats, and bellies. In a few the white extends to the shoulders. The old Herefords were brown or red-brown, with not a spot of white about them. It is only within the last fifty or sixty years that it has been the fashion to breed for white faces. Whatever may be thought of the change of color, the present breed is certainly far superior to the old one. The hide is considerably thicker than that of the Devon, and the beasts are more hardy. Compared with the Devons, they are shorter in the leg, and also in the carcass; higher, and broader, and heavier in the chine; rounder and wider across the hips, and better covered with fat; the thigh fuller and more muscular, and the shoulders larger and coarser.

They are not now much used for husbandry, although their form adapts them for the heavier work; and they have all the honesty and docility of the Devon ox, and greater strength, if not his activity. The Herefordshire ox fattens speedily at a very early age, and it is therefore more advantageous to the farmer, and perhaps to the country, that he should go to market at three years old, than be kept longer as a beast of draught.

They are not as good milkers as the Devons. This is so generally acknowledged, that while there are many dairies of Devon cows in various parts of the country, a dairy of Herefords is rarely to be found. To compensate for this, they are even more kindly feeders than the Devons. Their beef may be objected to by some as being occasionally a little too large in the bone, and the fore-quarters being coarse and heavy; but the meat of the best pieces is often very fine-grained and beautifully marbled. There are few cattle more prized in the market than the genuine Herefords."

There have been several importations of the Herefords into the United States, which by crossing with our native cattle, have done great good; but with the exception of a few fine animals at the South, we are not aware of their being kept in a state of purity, till the importation of the splendid herd.

within the last six years, by Messrs. Corning and Sotham of Albany, N. Y. These Herefords are among the very best which England can produce, and come up fully to the description of the choicest of the breed. Mr. Sotham, after an experience of several years, is satisfied with the cows for the dairy; and he has given very favorable published statements of the results of their milking qualities, from which it may be properly inferred, that Youatt drew his estimates from some herds which were quite indifferent in this property. They are peculiarly the grazier's animal, as they improve rapidly and mature early on medium feed. They are excelled for the yoke, if at all, only by the Devons, which, in some features, they strongly resemble. Both are probably divergent branches of the same original stock.

The Ayrshire

Is a breed that has been much sought after of late years, from their reputation for fine dairy qualities. The milk is good both in quantity and quality, yielding, according to a recent statement of Mr. Tennant, of Scotland, who owns a large herd, fifteen quarts per day during the best of the season, twelve of which made a pound of butter. The product of the latter averages about 170 pounds per annum to each cow. Another authority says, on the best low-land pasture, a good cow yields nearly 4000 quarts per year. This is a large quantity, and implies good cows and extra feed.

Mr. Cushing, of Massachusetts, who imported several select animals, without regard to their cost, informed us, after three or four years' trial, that he did not perceive any superiority in them, over the good native cows of that state, for dairy purposes. A large number have been imported in detached parcels, and scattered through the country. They are good animals, but seem to combine no valuable properties in a higher degree than are to be found in our own good cattle, and especially such as are produced from a cross of the Short Horn bull of a good milking family, on our native cows. They are evidently a recent breed, and do not therefore possess that uniformity of appearance and quality, which attaches to one of long cultivation.

Mr. Aiton, of Scotland, gives the following account of them. "The dairy breed of Scotland have been formed chiefly by skilful management, within the last 50 years; and they are still improving and extending to other countries. Till after

1770, the cows in Cunningham were small, ill-fed, ill-shaped, and gave but little milk. Some cows of a larger breed and of a brown and white color, were about that time brought to Ayrshire from Teeswater, and from Holland, by some of the patriotic noblemen of Ayrshire; and these being put on good pasture, yielded more milk than the native breed, and their calves were much sought after by the farmers."

We may fairly infer from the foregoing, which is deemed indisputable authority; from the locality of their origin, in the neighborhood of the Short Horns; and from their general resemblance, both externally and in their general characteristics to the grade animals, that they owe their principal excellence to this long-established breed.

MANAGEMENT OF CALVES.

The safest and least troublesome manner of raising calves, is at the udder of the dam; and whenever the milk is converted into butter and cheese, we believe this to be the most economical. The milk of one good cow is sufficient, with a run of fresh, sweet pasture, to the feeding of two calves at the same time; and if we allow the calves to arrive at three or four months of age before weaning, we may safely estimate, that one good cow will yield a quantity of milk in one season, fully equivalent to bringing up four calves to a weaning age.

By keeping the calf on the fresh milk, whether he take it directly from the udder, or warm from the pail, all risk of disordered bowels is avoided. The milk is precisely adapted to the perfect health and thrift of the young, and whenever we substitute for it any other food, we must watch carefully that not the slightest mismanagement produces disorder, lest more is lost by disease or want of improvement, than is gained by the milk of which they are robbed.

The first milk of the cow after calving, is slightly purgative, which is essential to cleanse the stomach of the calf. It is, moreover, perfectly worthless for two or three days, for any other purpose except for swine. The calf will seldom take all the milk at first, and whatever is left in the bag should be thoroughly removed by the hand. If the calf is destined for the butcher, he must have all the milk he wants for at least six weeks, and eight or ten is better; and if the cow does not furnish enough, he ought to be fed gruel or linseed tea. He must be closely confined in a snug, but clean and airy stable,

and the darker this is, and the more quiet he is kept, the more readily he will fatten.

If designed to be reared, the safest and least troublesome method, is to keep the calf on new milk. If saving the milk be an object, it is still doubtful whether it is not better that he should have a part of it fresh from the cow, and depend for his remaining food on a good grass or clover pasture, meal, or roots.

Some farmers never allow the calf to approach the dam, but take it when first dropped, and put a handful of salt in its mouth, which is daily repeated till he is put to grass. This has a purgative effect, similar to the first milk. Flaxseed is then prepared, by boiling a pint in four to six quarts of water, and diluted with hay tea till it is rather thicker than milk, and fed at blood heat.

Hay tea is made, by boiling a pound of sweet, well-cured clover, in one and a half gallons of clean water.

As the calf becomes older, oat, barley, rye, or Indian meal may be scalded and added to the flaxseed.

When the skim-milk is of little consequence, a better way is to withdraw him from the cow after three or four days, then scald the milk, adding a little oat meal, and cool to the natural temperature of the milk, and feed it. Oats, either crushed or ground, is the best and safest grain for all young stock. The milk should not stand more than half a day before feeding to young calves. As they advance in age, it may be fed rather older, but should never be allowed to become sour; nor should it ever be fed cold. Connected with this feed, should be a good range of short, sweet pasture, and shelter against both sun and storms. If expedient, at about 10 weeks old, he may be safely weaned, but four months' nursing is better for the calf.

If allowed too much milk for several months, it is injurious to the future development of the young. It does not distend the stomach properly, nor call into use its ruminating habits. Calves thus brought up, have often proved light-bellied, indifferent feeders, and decidedly inferior animals. When the calf is removed from the cow, they should be effectually separated from sight and hearing, as recognition creates uneasiness, and is an impediment to thrift in both.

If there be any deficiency of suitable pasture for the calf, a small rack and trough should be placed under the shed in his range, and fine hay put in the former, and wheat bran or oat meal with a little salt in the latter.

Diseases and Remedies.

For disordered bowels, mix 2 dr. rhubarb, 2 oz. castor oil, and ½ dr. ginger, with a little warm milk or gruel; or give 2 oz. castor oil alone; or 3 oz. of Epsom salts.

For scours and diarrhœa, a homely remedy is, to administer half a pint of cider, with an equal quantity of blood drawn from the calf's neck.

Or, add a little rennet to its food.

A good remedy is, 1 oz. powdered canella bark; 1 oz. laudanum; 4 oz. prepared chalk; and one pint water. Mix together, and give a wine-glass full or more, according to the size of the calf, three times a day.

Costiveness is removed by giving pork broth.

Or, give 3 to 4 oz. Epsom salts, dissolved in 3 pints of water, injected into the stomach; and repeat part of this dose every 3 or 4 hours, till the desired effect is produced.

Calves, like all young stock, should be allowed to change their feed gradually, from new milk to skimmed, or from the latter to other food. Their stomachs are delicate, and need gentle, moderate changes, when necessary to make them at all. Much depends on the care and attention they receive. It is well to have a little resin within its reach.

A comfortable shelter, with a dry, warm bed, suitable food, regularly given three times a day, at blood heat, and keeping the stomach in proper order, will do much to bring them forward rapidly, and with a small expenditure of food.

The calf requires to be supplied through the winter with an abundance of fine, sweet hay and roots, the latter either chopped or mashed by a roller, with the addition of a trifle of meal or oats, and a full supply of salt and pure water.

When there are larger animals on the premises, the calves ought to be kept by themselves. They should be sustained on their winter feed through the following spring, until the grass furnishes a good bite on a well-compacted sod. The change from hay to grass must be gradual, unless the latter is considerably matured. The extreme relaxation of the bowels from the sudden change, frequently produces excessive purging. A slight and temporary relax from the early spring grass, is not objectionable.

Breeding.

The young animals should never be put to breeding under 15 months old, so as to bring their first calf at two years old

nor then, unless they have large size and good feed. Much depends on the progress towards maturity, and the supply of food in selecting the proper time for breeding. Some are as ready for this at a year and a half as others are at three. Early breeding gives delicacy and symmetry to the form of the heifer, but it checks its growth; and when it is found to put her back too much, she may be allowed to rest for a few months, or even a year, to brings her up to the desired standard. These remarks apply principally to choice breeders, or as they are sometimes termed, fancy stock. For ordinary milch cows which have been moderately fed, three years is a proper age to come in, after which they must be milked as regularly, and as late before drying as possible.

Breaking Steers

Should be commenced when two or three years old. Some begin with the calf, accustoming him to a light yoke and occasional training. This practice will do as a pastime for trustworthy boys, as it makes them gentle and manageable afterwards, but is hardly worth a man's time. If always carefully handled when young, they will be found tractable.

They should at first be placed behind a pair of well-broke cattle, nor should they be put to hard labor until quite grown, strong, and perfectly accustomed to the yoke. If properly managed, cattle may be trained with all the docility, intelligence, and much of the activity of the horse. That they are not, is more frequently the fault of their masters.

Management of Oxen.

To procure perfect working cattle, it is necessary to begin with the proper breed. Many parts of the country furnish such as are well suited to this purpose. A strong dash of Devon or Hereford blood is desirable, when it needs to be improved. A well-formed, compact, muscular body; clean, sinewy limbs; strong, dense bones; large, well-formed joints, with a mild expressive eye, are essential for good working oxen.

After breaking, they must be led along gently, and taught before they are required to perform their task; and never put to a load which they cannot readily move, nor dulled by prolonging exertion beyond that period when it becomes irksome. A generous diet is necessary, to keep up the spirit and ability of cattle, when there is hard work to be done. The horse and mule are fed with their daily rations of grain when at hard

service, and if the spirit of the ox is to be maintained, he should be equally well fed, when as fully employed. Great and permanent injury is the result of niggardly feeding and severe toil, exacted from the uncomplaining animal. His strength declines, his spirit flags, and if this treatment be continued, he rapidly becomes the stupid, moping brute, which is shown off in degrading contrast with the more spirited horse, that performs, it may be, one half the labor, on twice his rations.

The ox should be as little abused by threats and whipping, as by stinted feed and overtasked labor. Loud and repeated hallooing, or the severe use of the lash, is as impolitic as it is cruel and disgraceful. We never witness this barbarity without wishing the brutes could change places, long enough at least to teach the biped that humanity by his own sufferings which his reason and sensibility have failed to inspire. Clear and intelligible, yet low and gentle words are all that are necessary to guide the well-trained, spirited ox. The stick, or whip, is needed rather to indicate the precise movement desired, than as a stimulant or means of punishment. The ox understands a moderate tone more perfectly than a boisterous one, for all sounds become indistinct as they increase.

It is of great advantage to have oxen well trained to backing. They may soon be taught, by beginning with an empty cart on a descent; then on a level; then with an increasing load, or uphill, till the cattle will back nearly the same load they will draw.

Some oxen have a bad trick of hauling or crowding. Changing to opposite sides, longer or shorter yokes, and more than all, gentle treatment, are the only remedies, and those not unfrequently fail. Cattle will seldom contract this habit, in the hands of a judicious, careful driver. The yokes should be carefully made, and set easy, and the bows fitted to the necks and properly attached to the yoke. Cattle are liable to sore necks if used in a storm; and when subject to this exposure, they must be well rubbed with grease, where the yoke chafes them, and respite from work should be allowed till the necks heal.

Management of Bulls or Vicious Animals.

If inclined to be vicious, the bulls should have rings thrust through the cartilage of their nose when young. They are to be found at the agricultural warehouses; and are made of round iron, three-eighths of an inch diameter, with a joint in one side to open, and when thrust through the nose, are fastened in a moment, by a rivet previously prepared.

[Fig. 5] is a cattle-handler, consisting of a bar of iron A, eight inches long, with a ring for a man's hand, which turns on a swivel at B, and at the other end is a pair of calliper-shaped legs, one stationary, and the other opening on a joint. The fixed leg is inserted against one side of the nostril, and the other is pressed upon the opposite side, and there fastened by a slide, C, when the animal is firmly held for administering medicine or performing any operation.

[Figs. 6 and 7], for taming a bull; b, in [Fig. 6], is a cap screwed on to the tip of the horn; a c, an iron rod hanging on a pivot in the cap, with a chain reaching to the ring in

the nose. The effect of his attempting to hook, is illustrated by the various positions of the chain in [Fig. 7]. If the rod at a, is pushed in either direction, it jerks up the nose in a manner that cures him of his inclination.

[Fig. 8], shows a cattle-tie.—This is a much more convenient and comfortable mode of fastening cattle in the stable, than the common stanchions.

The proper time for turning off Cattle.

This must depend on their previous feeding and management, the breed, and the purposes required. The improved breeds and many of their crosses, will mature for the butcher as fully at three or four, as inferior cattle at five to seven years old. If pushed rapidly with proper food, they will of course be ripe much sooner than if stinted. When cattle have to be purchased for work, or cows for the dairy, it becomes an object to keep them as long as they can be made profitable, and yet be turned off for fattening at a fair price. We have seen active and spirited oxen in the yoke at 16 or 17; but they seldom do as well after 12 or even 10 years. Old cattle are liable to more diseases than young; are less hardy; and they recover more slowly when exposed to scanty feed or hard usage. They also fatten with more difficulty, and their meat is inferior. When they can be sold advantageously to the feeder, and replaced without inconvenience, it is found to be most profitable to turn them off at seven or eight years. They will by that time have attained full maturity; they will feed rapidly, and make the largest amount of good beef. If there are extraordinary milkers among the cows, or superior workers among the oxen, it is better to keep them as long as they maintain their full vigor.

Fattening Cattle.

Such as are designed for the shambles the ensuing fall or winter, may be allowed to do their spring's labor; or if cows, they may be milked into summer after calving, or go farrow during the previous year. They should early be put on the best summer feed, and it is better to be occasionally changed, to give variety and freshness, and keep the animal in good

appetite. Let the fattening animals have the best, and after they have cropped it a while, give them a fresh field; and the other animals or sheep can follow and clear off the remaining herbage, preparatory to shutting it up for a new growth. Some prefer an extensive range of rich feed, which is unchanged throughout the season; and when it is not necessary to divide the pasture with the other animals, this is a good practice.

Fig. 9.

Fig. 10.

Fig. 11.

Three cuts of improved forms, Nos. 9, 10, and 11. The above cuts illustrate the forms which the most improved beef-cattle should possess.

The selection of Animals for Stall Fattening.

This is a nice point, and none without a practised eye and touch, can choose such as will make the best return for the food consumed. The characteristics of choice animals, heretofore enumerated, are particularly essential in those intended for profitable fattening. But the most important of all, is that firm mellowness, and quick elasticity of touch, which unerringly mark the kindly feeder and profitable bullock. When other means for ascertaining fail, it is a safe rule to select the best-conditioned animals, out of a herd of grass

-fed; for if all were of equal flesh and health, when turned out, those which have thriven most on their summer pasture, will generally fatten quickest on their fall and winter keep. Only the best should be selected. The remainder, after consuming the coarser forage, may be at once disposed of for early use. From repeated trials, it is found that the carcass of stall-fed animals will barely return the value of the materials consumed, and their manure is generally the only compensation for the time and attention bestowed. None but choice, thrifty beasts will pay for their food and attention, and all others will make their best returns, by an immediate disposal, after the surplus fodder is gone.

Explanation.—A, forehead; B, face; C, cheek; D, muzzle; E, neck; F, neck vein; G, shoulder point; H, arm; I, shank; J, gambril, or hock; K, elbow; L, brisket, bosom, or breast; M, shoulder; N, crops; O, loin; P, hip, hucks, hocks, or huckles; Q, crupper bone, or sacrum; R, rump, or pin-bone; S, round bone, thurl, or whirl; T, buttock; U, thigh, or gaskit; V, flank; W, plates; X, back, or chine; Y, throat; Z, chest.

Stall-Feeding.

This ought to be commenced early in the season. An ox may be fed in a box-stall, or if accustomed to a mate, they do better by tying together with sufficient room, yet not so near as to allow of injuring each other. The building should be warm, but not hot; well ventilated, yet having no current of

cold air passing through; and as dark as possible. The stall ought to be kept clean and dry, and a deep bed of clean straw is of decided advantage.

The ox should be first fed the inferior and most perishable roots with his grain and dry forage, and his food should be gradually increased in richness, as he advances towards maturity. The food and water should be given three times a day, from thoroughly cleaned mangers or troughs. The animal likes a change of food, in which he should be indulged as often as may be necessary. If he refuses his food, a temporary privation, or variety is essential. When the food is changed, he should be moderately fed at first, till he becomes accustomed to it, as there is otherwise danger of cloying, which is always injurious. The moment the animal has done feeding, the remainder of the food ought to be at once removed. He then lies down, and if undisturbed, rests quietly till the proper hour induces him again to look for his accustomed rations. Regularity in the time of feeding, is of the utmost consequence. An animal soon becomes habituated to a certain hour, and if it be delayed beyond this, he is restless and impatient, which are serious obstacles to speedy fattening.

Fig. 13—Shows the London method of cutting up the carcass—Fig. 1, is the loin; 2, rump; 3, aitch or adz-bone; 4, buttock; 5, hock; 6, thick flank; 7, thin flank; 8, fore-rib; 9, middle rib; 10, cuck-rib; 11, brisket; 12, leg of mutton piece; 13, clod or neck; 14, brisket.

1. Temporal bone.—2. Frontal bone, or bone of the forehead.—3. Orbit of the eye.—4. Lachrymal bone.—5. Malar, or cheek bone.—6. Upper jaw bone.—7. Nasal bone, or bone of the nose.—8. Nippers, found on the lower jaw alone.—9. Eight true ribs.—10. Humerus, or lower bone of the shoulder.—11. Sternum.—12. Ulna, its upper part forming the elbow.—13. Ulna.—14. Radius, or principal bone of the arm.—15. Small bones of the knee.—16. Large metacarpal, or shank bone.—17. Bifurcation at the pasterns, and the two larger pasterns to each foot.—18. Sesamoid bones.—19. Bifurcation of the pasterns.—20. Lower jaw and the grinders.—21. Vertebræ, or bones of the neck.—22. Navicular bones.—23. Two coffin bones to each foot.—24. Two smaller pasterns to each foot.—25. Smaller or splint-bone.—26. False ribs, with their cartilages.—27. Patella, or bone of the knee.—28. Small bones of the hock.—29. Metatarsals, or larger bones of the hind leg.—30. Pasterns and feet.—31. Small bones of the hock.—32. Point of the hock.—33. Tibia, or proper leg-bone.—34. Thigh-bone.—35. Bones of the tail.—36, 37. Haunch and pelvis.—38. Sacrum.—39. Bones of the loins.—40. Bones of the back—41. Ligament of the neck and its attachments.—42. Scapula, or shoulder-blade.—43. Bones of the back.—44. Ligament of the neck.—45. Dentata.—46. Atlas.—47. Occipital bone, deeply depressed below the crest or ridge of the head—48. Parietal bone, low in the temporal fossa.—49. Horns, being processes or continuations of the frontal bone.

DISEASES IN CATTLE.

Hoven, or Swelling of the Paunch,

Is a temporary ailment, caused by eating too freely of fresh and generally wet clover, or other succulent food. The animal gorges the first stomach with so much food, that its contents cannot be expelled. Inflammation of the membrane takes place, and decomposition of the food soon follows. This is known by the distension of the paunch, and difficulty of breathing, and unless speedily relieved, suffocation and death will ensue. Both sheep and cattle are subject to it.

Remedies.[1]—In its early stages, when not too severe, it has been removed by administering some one of the following remedies.

A pint of gin poured down the throat.

From one to two pints of lamp or other oil.

Strong brine.

New milk with one-fifth its bulk of tar mixed.

An egg-shell full of tar forced down the throat, followed by a second, if the first fails.

A tablespoonful of volatile spirit of ammonia, diluted with water.

A wine-glass full of powder, mixed with cold lard and forced in balls into the stomach.

A teaspoonful of unslaked lime dissolved in a pint of warm water, shaken and given immediately.

A pint of tolerably strong lye.

[1] Besides his own experience, the writer has drawn from the N. E. Farmer, the Albany Cultivator, the American Agriculturist, and other reliable American and English works, some of the remedies for diseases herein mentioned.

The Proper Mode of giving the above Remedies

Is for a person to hold the horn and cartilage of the nose, while another seizes and draws out the tongue as far as possible, when the medicine is thrust below the root of the tongue. If liquid, it must be inserted by the use of a bottle.

The probang is used when the former remedies are ineffectual. This consists of a tarred rope, or a flexible whip-stalk, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, with a swab or bulbous end. Two persons hold the head of the animal, so as to keep the mouth in a line with the throat, while a third forces it into the stomach, when the gas finds a passage out. A stiff leather tube with a lead nozzle pierced with holes, is best for insertion, through which the gas will readily escape.

Some one of the above purgatives should be given after the bloat has subsided, and careful feeding for some days must be observed.

Light gruels are best for allaying inflammation, and restoring the tone of the stomach.

When no other means are available, the paunch may be tapped with a sharp penknife, plunging it 1½ inches forward of the hip bone, towards the last rib in the left side. If the hole fills up, put in a large goose-quill tube, which to prevent slipping into the wound, may remain attached to the feather, and the air can escape through a large hole in the upper end.

Prevention is vastly better than cure, and may be always secured, by not allowing hungry cattle to fill themselves with clover, roots, apples, &c. When first put upon such feed, it should be when the dew and rain are off, and their stomachs are already partially filled; and they should then be withdrawn before they have gorged themselves.

This is a convenient instrument for extracting poisonous substances from the stomach. It is also highly useful for administering medicines and injections, and if fitted with several tubes, one may suffice for animals of any size. It consists of a syringe, a, with a side opening at b, and another at the bottom d, as shown in [Fig. 16]. For injections, [Fig. 15] is used, and

the end of the syringe is placed in a vessel containing the fluid, when a probang or injection-tube is screwed on to the side opening at b, through which the fluid is forced into the stomach or rectum, as may be required. The probang should be a tube of thick but elastic leather, and it may be passed into the mouth, through an aperture in a block, placed on edge between the teeth, which is easily done while a person holds the head of the animal firmly.

Choking

Is frequently relieved by some of the following expedients.

The use of the probang or whip-stock, mentioned under the head of remedies for Hoven, by which the root is forced into the stomach.

A soft root may be crushed so as to allow of swallowing, by holding a smooth block against it, and striking with a mallet on the opposite side.

If within arms-length, the root may be removed by hand.