The Rural Magazine, and Literary Evening Fire-Side, Vol. 1 No. 08 (1820)Various
Science
The Rural Magazine, and Literary Evening Fire-Side, Vol. 1 No. 08 (1820)
Various
Agriculture; Agriculture -- Periodicals
It may be useful to add some further information on Live Stock,
from the writings of Sir John Sinclair, President of the British
Board of Agriculture. He proposed to a gentleman in England,[10]
who is eminent for his knowledge and accurate observations relative
to plants and animals, some questions concerning Live Stock.
In one of his answers, he says--"I have found the food animals
generally require, to keep them in proper condition, is much more
nearly proportioned to their _height_ and _length_, than to their
_weight_." In confirmation of this opinion, he adds, that one of his
neighbours made a comparative experiment with the Devon and Hereford
cows; and though fond of the former for their neatness, he gave
them up, because "they would not nearly live upon the same food
which supplied animals _stouter_ and _more compact_, of the same
weight."
[10] Thomas A. Knight, Esq.
To the question, "What is the best shape for feeding with little
food?" Mr. Knight answers--"The more deep and capacious the chest,
and the shorter and lower any animal is, relative to its weight,
the better adapted it will be to live and fatten upon little food;
the more labour it will also go through; and I have always found
the short legged oxen to be the best labourers. Mr. Marshall also
observes, in his Rural Economy of Gloucestershire, that the best
labouring ox he ever saw, had the shortest legs."
I will detain the Society no longer than to make a few observations.
_V. On Orchards._
I advert to this subject for the purpose of suggesting the utility
of propagating Sweet Apples.
After providing a due proportion of apples for the table, and the
ordinary purposes of cookery, I do not hesitate to express my
opinion, that for all other uses, sweet apples are entitled to the
preference. The best cider I ever tasted in this country, was made
wholly of sweet apples. They afford also a nourishing food to man
and all domestic animals. What furnishes a more delicate repast
than a rich sweet apple baked and eaten with milk? I recollect the
observation made to me by an observing farmer, before the American
revolution, that nothing would fatten cattle faster than sweet
apples. Mentioning this, a few years since, to a gentleman of my
acquaintance in an adjoining state, he informed me, that he was once
advised to give sweet apples to a sick horse. Happening then to have
them in plenty, the horse was served with them, and he soon got
well: and continuing to be fed with them, he fattened faster than
any other horse he had ever owned (and he had owned many) that was
fed with any other food.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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