Domestic Animals Part 2

The very young animal requires large quant.i.ties 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 gra.s.ses, roots, and grain; from the former when fed alone, and from the two latter when mixed with hay or gra.s.s.

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 quant.i.ties 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, 15 per cent.; pollard, 24; boxings, 36; and bran, 33 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.

Water. Husk or Starch, Gluten, Fatty Saline woody gum, and alb.u.men, matter. matter fibre. sugar. legumen, &c.

Wheat, 16 15 55 10 to 15 2 to 4 J. 20 Barley, 15 15 60 12? 25 J. 20 Oats, 16 20 50 145? 56 J. 35 Rye, 12 10 60 145 30 10 Indian corn, 14 15? 50 120 5 to 9 D. 15 Buckwheat, 16? 25? 50 145 04? 15 Beans, 16 10 40 280 2 + 30 Peas, 13 8 50 240 28? 28

Potatoes, 75? 5? 12? 225 03 08 to 1 Turnips, 85 3 10 12 ? 08 to 1 Carrots, 85 3 10 20 04 10

Meadow hay, 14 30 40 71 2 to 5 D. 5 to 10 Clover hay, 14 25 40 93 30 9 Pea straw, 10 to 15 25 45 123 15 5 Oat do. 12 45 35 13 08 6 Wheat do. 12 to 15 50 30 13 05 5 Barley do. do. 50 30 13 08 5 Rye do. do. 45 38 13 05 3 Indian corn do. 12 25 52 30 17 4

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 a.s.sumed 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 circ.u.mstances. An approximate relative value is all that can be expected, and this we may hope ere long to obtain, from the spirit of a.n.a.lytical 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 a.n.a.lyses. 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 a.s.similation, 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 appet.i.te should be studied. They should be provided with whatever they most crave, if it be adapted to the secretion of fat. Cutting, crus.h.i.+ng, 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 carca.s.s, 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 quant.i.ty to three per cent., will enable him to perform his work, and still maintain his flesh. If to be fattened, he requires about 4 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 gra.s.s 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 a.s.sociation have become adapted to the food and circ.u.mstances 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 ent.i.tles 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 surpa.s.sed 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 Ma.s.sachusetts, nearly thirty years since, is especially to be mentioned, as resulting in decided benefit wherever they were disseminated. Some of the old Yorks.h.i.+re, 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 Ayrs.h.i.+res, but neither of these have been bred in the New England states in distinct herds, to any extent.

Their _native breed_ has. .h.i.therto, 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 G.o.ds; the cherished a.s.sociates 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 a.s.signed 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 surpa.s.s them for the quant.i.ty of b.u.t.ter 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 b.u.t.ter 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 compet.i.tor. 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 quant.i.ty 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 unsurpa.s.sed 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 carca.s.s. 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 quant.i.ty 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 surpa.s.s others in this quality. They are inferior to the Devons, in their value as working oxen, and in the richness of their milk.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Short-Horn Bull.]

The Short Horns are a.s.signed a high antiquity, by the oldest breeders in the counties of Durham and Yorks.h.i.+re, 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. c.o.x, in 1816; by Mr. Bullock, in 1822; by the late Hon. S. Van Rensselaer in 1823; and immediately after, by Mr. Charles Henry Hall, of Harlem. Some small importations were made into Ma.s.sachusetts 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.