OP SCOTLAND.
ys
With regal’d, then, to the price of the food on which cat-tle are fattened, it will be sufficient to attend to that of feed-ing pastures and turnips. As the former are commonly letby auction for the season, it would seem possible to give theaverage per acre, by comparing the rents for several years ofland of different qualities. But the result is affected both bylocal circumstances, and by the state of the cattle market.The renter of these pastures must take into account the priceper stone of the lean cattle which he must purchase, and theprobable price of fat when he may send them to the shambles.Many breeders, too, in a dull market, are in use to hold onin hopes of a rise, and in a late spring have scarcely any otherchoice, to prevent their stocks from perishing. Still, how-ever, on an average of years, the beef produced from suchpastures must be equal in value to the rent and the commonprofits of trade. It is probable, that good feeding pasturesthroughout Scotland may average about L. 4 per English acre, to which must be added, on the principles of the pro-perty-tax, a profit of L. 2 to the tenant. Such land musttherefore produce beef and offals to the value of L. 6 per acre.
Turnips as well as grass are often sold for fattening, butmore commonly for being consumed by sheep than by cattle;and as they are eaten by the former where they grow, whichgreatly ameliorates light soils for the ensuing crops, the priceis not so high for sheep as for cattle feeding. In many in-stances, turnips have been sold for feeding cattle at L. 10 andupwards per Scotch acre, or L. 8 the English , and this yearL. 7 an acre is given for sheep-feeding. It will not there-fore be too high to estimate an acre of turnips of thirty tonsfor feeding cattle, at L. 8, to which L. 4 must be added, as inthe former case, for the profit of the feeder. The owner of theturnips indeed usually gives straw along with them, and pro-vides a feeding-house and victuals for the person who attendscattle, but these are compensated by their manure. An:iC! 'e of good turnips should therefore produce beef and offalst° the value of L. 12.