The Grazier.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 24, 24 December 1874, Page 3

The Grazier.

Corn bears a higher value as feed for fattening animals than either oats, barley, wheat, or rye, because it contains more oil. Oil is more rapidly changed into fat than starch is, and for tbis reason the more oil that is contained in the feed the better it is for fattening- animals. Hogs will fatten very readily upon barley and potatoes boiled together ; ani now that feed is scarce in the West, it would be a g-ood time to economise by cooking the food, as much as possible. For cattle it would be advisable to utilise the linseed oilcake that goes a-begging at the o-L mills, and instead of feeding wheat, to sell the wheat and buy oilGake Six pounds a day will quickly fatten a heavy animal, along with bran, ground oats, and straw or hay.

No farmer can afford to buy what are known as the fashionable strains of " Bates" blood at the present prices. Doubtless the wealthy breeders who deal in this class of stock make money, but some time these prices must come down to hard pan. As goed a bull for common use upon common farm stock for raising grade beef cattle as any of the Dukes may be bought for 250d015. The long pedigree goes for nothing in the butcher's market, but size and quality will overbalance the heaviest pedigree. The " Booth" stock just now sells for little more than beef prices, and by some is considered sur perior to the tl Bates."

A saddle put on loosely, with a slack girth, is very irritating to a horse, and soon produces a sore back. — A harness kept soft and pliable with good neatsfoot oil will last almost a lifetime. It is stronger, because slightly elastic, and will seldom wear off the hair. — A horse left uncovered when not in exercise will soon grow a heavy coat of coarse hair. This becomes a hindrance to rapid motion, and should be prevented by judicious blanketing.— Your horse's shoes will hold on longer if the clinches are not weakened by the file in finishing. Insist that the file does not touch the end of the nail wbere turned over.—--Some horses have a habit of stepping on one side of their feet, perhaps to avoid pressure on a hidden corn. That part of the shoe exposed to severe wear should be protected with steel. — All carriage shafts of right construction should allow the body of the animal perfect freedom, and only touch at the well-padded saddle, and full collar. — An ovor-reaching horse — one whose hind feet are frequently hitting the forward shoes — should wear heavy shoes forward and light ones behind. The theory is, that the heavier hoof will be thrown a little father ahead at each step than the lighter one.— N.E. Farmer.

A correspondent of 'The London Field ' objects to the present mania for highly bred short horn cattle kept and bred by millionaires to sell to each other at fancy prices. <l Pure" cattle, he says, are all very well for the few who can afford to run the long-con-tinued risks which pure breeding involves ; and for the fewer still who know how to turn to best account such cattle when they have got them.

It is impossible to say what is the cause of a discharge from the nose of a horse. It may be simple nasal gleet ; a common cold j nasal catarrh, and it may be the dangerous disease, glanders. The safest course would be to consult a veterinary surgeon, because if glander is present the horse ought to be de--stroyed lest he may communicate this deadly disease to persons who handle him.

The ' Mark Lane Express ' informs us that the Devon tenant farmers are " stealing a cross from the Shorthorn in their /native -herds, much to their satisfaction,, too.'' It also adds : '•" For increased, size, with elegant grace and aristocratic style, let them try a small red bull of the best descended Bates or Knightly ■ tribes." This is precisely what Mr Lewis F. Allen, of Buffalo, New York K has been doing with his Devons for 2&years past or more, producing one of the finest and most useful lot of combined dairy and beef animals 1 ever saw. The dairymen in his vicinity, however, did not properly appreciate them, and the whole herd of abont 70 head was sold last September to go to Colorado, where they will unquestionably add greatly to the improvement of the cattle of that fine grazing country. The price of cattle fattened for market depends on the symmetery of the animal as well as tbe fat '« style," as shippers term it. I want here to state that good blood is important, but not absolutoly necessary to make what is termed a good seller. In order to fatten a steer to bring the highest market price "he must be kept in a grow- ! ing condition from a calf, and in no case allowed to go hungry. It is the starving the first and second winters, which, wilts and shrivels up a steer, that causes him to be sold at a reduced price. No amount of feeding will make him a first-class seller, no difference what his color or blood. An animal well fed — I care not what the blood, Texas or not— from a calf until the Spring he is three years old, will be smooth, with bones well covered,

and will sell at a profit; while a halfstarved animal becomes crooked in the back, bone projecting, and shrivelled up, takes the best part of the Summer to get into condition to live, and will not be in condition for market until he is four years old, and then will bring a price that is unsatisfactory to the producer and to everyone that handles him. This is no theory, but a fact deduced from close observation, as I have tested the plan for several years. It will and does pay to feed corn to calves and to yearlings. They start out on grass in the Spring, strong and vigorous. You are then able to market your cattle the Spring they are three years old, weighing 14001b*., which is heavy enough to bring the first price. The best steer I sold in 1872 was a common native. He had all he could eat from a calf and was never hungry. He was a handsome animal, and was worth more per pound than any I shipped in 1872. He weighed in Chicago 1850 pounds, age three years. I now have a steer calf 1 1 months old from a very ordinary cow. The calf now (May 21) weighs 660 pounds. 1 think it will weigh, when three years old, 1500 pounds. I do not wish it understood that I am not in favor of improving* the blood as well as feed. 1 shipped two Texas steers this Spring which were three years old. They were smooth and nice, and I sold them with a lot of Durhams, four years old, at the same price, and they were worth as much ptir pound, and weighed better according to age. They were raised and fed by different parties. Mammoth, overtgrown steers have had their day, and we now come down to the neat, compact, Well-fattened animal, both in hogs and cattle. To accomplish this in cattle, good feeding from a calf is necessary. — ' Drovers' Journal.'