Both cows and _oxen_ love wine, vinegar, and salt, and they will devour with avidity a seasoned salad. In Spain, and some other countries, they place near the young calf one of those stones, called salegres, which are found in salt mines; they lick this salt stone all the time the mother is at pasture, which excites the appetite, or creates thirst so much, that the moment the cow returns, the young calf sucks with great eagerness; and this makes them grow fatter and faster than those to whom no salt is given. For the same reason, when _oxen_ loath their food, they give them grass soaked in vinegar, or strewed with salt; salt may also be given to them, as it excites their appetites in order to fatten them in a short time. It is usual to put them to fatten when ten years old; if we stay longer, there is less certainty of success, and their flesh is not so good. They may be fattened in all seasons, but summer is generally preferred, because it is attended with less expence; and by beginning in May or June, we are almost certain of having them fat before the end of October. When we begin to fatten them they must not be suffered to work any longer. They should drink much oftener, and have succulent food in abundance, sometimes mixed with a little salt, and be left to chew the cud at leisure, and to sleep in the cow-house during the heat of the day. In four or five months, if thus attended to, they will become so fat that it will be difficult for them to walk, or be conducted to any distance but by small journeys. Cows and bulls, whose testicles are twisted, may also be fattened; but the flesh of the cow is drier, and that of the bull is redder and harder than that of the ox, and the latter has always a strong disagreeable taste. Bulls, cows, and _oxen_, are very apt to lick themselves, especially when quiet and at rest; and as this is supposed to prevent their fattening, it is usual to rub all parts of their bodies which they can reach with their own dung. When this precaution is not taken, they raise up the hair of their coats with their tongue, and swallow it in large quantities. As this substance cannot digest, it remains in the stomach, and forms round smooth balls, of so considerable a size, as to incommode and prevent digestion. These balls in time get covered with a brown crust, which, though nothing but a thick mucilage, becomes hard and shining; they are only found in the paunch, and if any of the hairs get into the other stomachs, they do not remain, but seem to pass off with the aliments.