tained, the more manure will be made. If there be one breed of cattle which will, with less consumption of food, gain more than another, that is the stock every farmer would wish to have. Though no proposition can be more self-evident than this, nor calculated to command a more general and ready assent, yet, strange as it may appear, nothing hitherto has been less attended to. There is not one valuable experiment extant upon the subject; such as have been made are given in so vague and crude a form, as to preclude any practical information being drawn from them. Amongst the many causes of regret for the loss of that valuable friend to the public, and to the agricul ture of the country, the late Duke of Bedford, this may be reckoned one. His ardent and indefatigable mind was actively employed on this important subject; and had he lived he would have ascertained the matter, and by a series of judicious experiments, would have left no doubt on a point of such moment, Experiments to be useful, require the whole detail to be given. The consumption of food lessens as the animal increases in fatness; it is therefore impossible to form any just calculation from a portion only of the time of feeding-repeated statements of weight are necessary to determine the progressive advancement, and to mark the period when there is no longer a gain adequate to the food consumed. Advance of markets may counterbalance, and make up the loss on this head; no particular rule therefore can be fixed, as to the time of selling; but every one must judge from the It is of great the particular circumstances of the case. consequence to the farmer to know the relative worth of his respective crops, and what advance he can make upon each, in order to decide upon their value. These subjects were first suggested to me by that spirited and intelligent farmer, Mr. Bates of HaltonCastle; and the importance of them appears in my view to increase, from the little I have done in the course of this summer, with a view of determining the comparative increase of weight that may be obtained by soiling and grazing. The little I have learnt augments my desire of proceeding and I flatter myself the experiment I have undertaken, and of which you have seen the commencement, will tend to throw some light upon the subject. In the mean-time I beg leave to lay before the Society, the result of the trial in soiling and grazing for fat. In all experiments there is much attention requisite not to suffer oneself to be deceived; for whether the public be misled intentionally, or for want of proper caution and care, the effects are the same, though the motives may be widely different; the strongest reprehension is due to error, from whatever cause it proceeds. The experiment was made between two Kyloes: the one was ten or twelve years old, and had had a number of calves; the other grazed was four years old, having had no calves. The advantage was supposed to be wholly in favour of the younger animal. It appears reasonable that the period most favourable for fattening should be as soon as the animal had arrived to its full growth. Experiment Experiment made to determine the respective increase made by Soiling and Grazing, commencing the 14th of May, and concluding the 1st of October, 1808, ' being a period of 140 days. Soiled Kylo weighed (first weight) 66st. 57. KYLO SOILED. Date. No. 123456 May 14 June 27 | Aug. 4 | Aug. 23 66st. eh. weighg. between No. of days ch. period. Increase in per day. of the whl. Avrg. 44 9 29 19 14 st. lb. oz. 1212 25 140 16 Food consumed. 0 0 74st. 77sť. Sept. 6 | Oct. 1 78 st. 82st. A considerable deduction must be made from the apparent gain of the second period of weighing; I should suppose one might strike off all above what appeared to be the average gain upon the third period of weighing, when the animal may be conceived to have taken fairly to feeding. There appears the strongest grounds for believing that it is weight of entrails, not of carcass ; as 1 1 the gain of the first fortnight hears no proportion to any subsequent one. When confined, the animal digests his food less rápidly: upon this principle I 193 strike off 3st. 13lb. in valuing the soiled kylo; and after the same rate in the estimate of the long-horned and other soiled kyloes. 14 18 1 2 All the animals soiled drank about two gallons of water per day, except when the clover was cut and brought in wet. KYLO The kylo grazed consumed the 5th of a moderate acre of clover, but not more than the 7th of land worth 4l. per acre. The soiled kylo pays nearly 3d. per stone for the clover consumed, or after the rate of 331. 12s. 6d. for an acre of 23 tons; the grazed kyło pays 81. 8s. 10d. per acre. The manure in soiling is supposed equal, at least to the labour: what allowance, if any, should be made for the manure scattered by grazing, I am not prepared to say. The grazed kylo was thrown considerably back by the red water: the soiled kylo lost nine days by being removed into too warm a shed. It seldom happens dissimilar objects can be brought into perfect comparison. I shall fairly state the facts, drawing the conclusions that strike me; leaving every one to exercise his own judgment, and either to receive or reject them. Result of slaughtering the two Kyloes. SOILED. When taken from food, | 24 h. fasting, 72 h. fasting, total loss bef. killing, Weighed.. 82st. 75st. 8lb. 69st. 9lb. 12st. 5lb. st. lb. 7 d. This Kylo leaves a profit, per day, of 101d. GRAZED. Weight on food, | After being fasted, | Total loss, 66st. 94lb. Carcass... 55st. 9lb. 11st. lb. A further experiment was made with a long-horned Cow, eight or nine years old, which had had several calves. Date-July 11, | August 3, Sept. 7, | Oct. 1, Weight. July 11, August 3, 75'st. 84 st. 86 st. 7 lb. Oct. 17, 88 st. 89 st. 5lb. 14 eh. weighing between No. of days each period. Increase in day.. the whole per Avrg, gain of Statement of the Expense and Gain. Increased weight (de st. lb. lb. oz. ducting 7st 1lb.) 5st. £ s. d. 9 0 5 7 27 7 102d. per lb. between lean value and fat...... 8 15 0 £ s. d. |