Cattle breeding definition by history. What is cattle breeding. New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova

already in ancient Greek. traditions of the herds count. sign of great wealth. From chalk. horned. livestock most intensively developed in Greece. sheep breeding; besides beings. breeding large. horned. livestock, goat and pig breeding. Thessaly Specialist. on horse breeding, and Attica praised. highly developed sheep breeding. In with. x-ve Italy S. also occupied an important place. Intelligence. cows, horses (especially in Puglia), sheep and pigs was one of the main. source Roman income. landowner Among the Roman pasture farming was valued higher than agriculture by the aristocracy. Until the emergence money treatment of cattle was of particular importance. for simple trade. The word peculium (property of a slave) has the same root, originally. designation consisting of cattle property of the son or household. slave.

Great Definition

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CATTLE HISTORY

the branch of agriculture concerned with livestock rearing. The Russian peasant was characterized by a careful attitude to the natural world, its skillful use, taking into account local characteristics and the tasks of reproducing what was spent. The spiritual basis for the development of animal husbandry was the concept deeply rooted in the people that every animal is a creation of God and, in this capacity, deserves a good attitude. It is well known that they have a warm, loving attitude towards Burenushka and Sivka-Burka - the main cattle of every peasant household. In the life of the bulk of Russians, a desire was noticeably manifested in one form or another to attach domestic animals to shrines, to sanctify them and, thus, cleanse and protect them from enemy attacks.

Everywhere it was customary to consecrate horses at least once a year. This event was timed, according to local tradition, to various holidays: on the first Savior (August 1: The origin of the honest trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord - the feast of the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos); on the day of St. Flora and Lavra (August 18), who were considered the patrons of horses; on the first Sunday after the day of the first supreme ann. Peter and Paul and some other days.

In Zaraisk Ryazan province. "On the first of August, on the feast of the Origin of the tree of the Holy Cross, popularly known under the name of the first Savior, or the Wet Savior, there is a procession to the water. To the stream or river, where this procession is made and where the water is consecrated, they are brought down and driven to the near meadow horses from all over the parish. This business is usually entrusted to the boys, who, as elsewhere, are great lovers of horseback riding. They usually drive and gallop in full horse spirit, and therefore this congress is accompanied by great noise and shouting. But when from the church at the bell tower ringing with banners and icons, the procession will begin, then everything comes into order and silence sets in: the horses, riding on them, the horse-breeding boys stand in two or three lines, leaving a fairly wide passage between them. the clerk with a water-blessing cup, or candea, and, passing through the rows of horses, sprinkles them with holy water, sprinkles the horses harnessed to the carts of the parishioners who have come to Mass, sprinkles the horses harnessed to the carriages of the gentlemen who have arrived. Then the images and banners return to the church, the worshipers disperse and drive away, and the boys, with the same noise and screaming and without fail galloping, drive them home. In other places where there is a decent river, the priest does not sprinkle water on the horses, but simply drives them swimming through the consecrated waters of the river.

In other areas, the consecration of horses took place not near water bodies, but right next to the church. In Velsky Vologda province., For example, on Sunday after Peter's Day, the peasants, long before matins, gathered in the village from all over the parish. It was supposed to bring from each yard to the graveyard, if not all the horses, then at least one. They rode in tarantasses, mostly drawn by troikas; sometimes horses belonging to different people were harnessed in one trio. You could also come on horseback. Peasants also came from neighboring (nearby) parishes. The congress continued during matins and mass. After the prayer service, the participants in the ceremony “almost running” rushed to untie the horses and rode up to the church porch, where there was a tub of blessed water, and the priest splashed the horses in the first row with a ladle. The audience hurried to step aside. The riders tried to wash the horse's head, especially the eyes, ears and nostrils. Then everyone drove around the church and stopped again opposite the porch, in the last row, waiting for the turn to reach him again. When the water in the tub ran out, all the participants left the church fence and rushed to the buevo - a large square not far from the church. There began a kind of riding - a horse riding competition.

In Biryuchinsky Voronezh province. at St. Flora and Lavra, the priest served a prayer service and sprinkled the horses of St. water. Unlike the previous options, here on this day "not only work, but also ride horses is considered a sin."

All domestic animals together - from horses and cows to birds - it was customary to sprinkle Epiphany water on Epiphany. Each host did this separately, in his yard, immediately after returning from early mass. The consecration of the flock of the community as a whole was timed to coincide with the day of St. George - April 23, in connection with the first pasture for grazing. (For the first time, it was impossible to drive the herd into the meadow without the decision of the meeting.) At the same time, they drove the cattle with willow branches consecrated on Palm Sunday.

The last sheaf of spring oats was kept in the house in a place of honor, under the icons: they were placed in the front corner of the laptop. On the day of the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, the owner or hostess distributed this sheaf to all the cattle. In the hot time of June - midlife, low water - which was considered dangerous from the side of evil spirits, releasing cattle to pasture, they painted crosses on each animal with resin, "in order to rid it of the influence of evil spirits."

We have by no means exhausted the list of pious customs associated with cattle breeding, but enough have already been named to imagine the desire to sanctify and purify domestic animals. Treating cattle as a creature of God and committing one's pastoral activity (as well as any other) to the will of God did not exclude, but, on the contrary, assumed the use of a wide range of knowledge accumulated in practice in caring for animals. At the same time, the economic benefits of breeding a particular breed, the use of one or another method of keeping livestock were also taken into account.

The peasant family, which had to know a lot about nature, in order to successfully carry out the entire cycle of work from sowing to harvest in various crops, at the same time took care of the cattle, without which the Russian plowman could not imagine his farm. In the views of the Russians, agriculture was closely connected with cattle breeding, and the peasants saw the "first benefit" from keeping livestock in obtaining manure to fertilize the fields.

Knowledge in cattle breeding is already evidenced by the abundance and diversity in the Russian folk language of names referring to various stages of growth and biological behavior of calves and cows. Here are just a few of them, according to V.I. Dal. Up to a year they called - calf, heifer, bull, calf, heifer, heifer; a young cow that has not yet calved is a barn; dry cow - without a calf, milkless; calf (body) - a cow that should calve on time; milking - giving milk; a cow walks inter-milk (inter-milk) - in front of a new body, when they are not milked; the adapter is not a pregnant cow, it remained bare this year; heifer - always barren; a cow with two (or more) calves is a definition of age (with an addition of three years to the number of calves, that is, in this case, a five-year-old cow). weaning - a calf weaned from its mother; two-year-olds, one-herbs, bushman, etc. - a calf of two years; three-year-olds, gunak, etc. - a three-year-old calf; calf - a young bull from two to three years old; heifer, youth - a young cow from two to three years old, etc.

The methods of caring for livestock, which differed by species, breed and age, had, in addition, noticeable local differences and were based on a detailed knowledge of the developmental characteristics of domestic animals and birds. In the formation, for example, of the famous Kholmogory breed of cattle, the technique of breeding, maintenance and care, taking into account the specifics of natural conditions, played a role. Here it should be noted: the first calving at the age of about three years (ie, when the animal is fully formed); peasants taking into account the meaning of "launch" - the rest of cows from milking before the last lactation; a special "bull" trade - the allocation of bulls-producers into a separate herd; careful selection of calves for breeding - according to several indicators; feeding calves with "drinking", i.e. weaning from the mother and abundant long-term feeding with milk. Adult cattle were fed with hay from water meadows, with its preparation by "steaming" (sometimes even a special room was made in the lower part of the peasant house for preparing warm livestock feed - "parevnya") and with salt top dressing. The winter stall keeping of cattle in warm barns, which were built in the north under the same roof as a residential building, was accompanied by regular careful inspection.

The methods of keeping livestock in winter differed among Russian peasants in a great variety - depending on the geographical conditions and tasks of a particular type of cattle breeding. In Tver province. the barnyard was covered with a thatched roof for the winter. Animals, especially those in need of warmth, were placed in separate swindlers (omshaniki) or taken to a residential hut. In Vladimir Gubernia, as in Tver Gubernia, during the cold, cattle were kept "in yards fenced with fences and wattle fences, covered with straw." At the same time, one-year-old calves, sheep, and pigs were placed separately - in insulated sacks. Cows for heating and for the time of milking were taken to the hut. In the Ryazan region, as an observer reported in the 2nd half. XVIII century, "every peasant keeps cattle in the winter under sheds. Where there are forested places, these sheds are fenced, and in treeless ones - with wattle and from wind and snow, the wells are plugged with moss and straw." For Russian peasant sheep breeding, the use of covered insulated sheep pens was typical, which made it possible to shear sheep twice a year - in autumn and spring. This gave better quality wool.

A variety of sources testify that for regions that are very dissimilar in nature and for groups of the Russian peasantry with different levels of wealth, the thoroughness of caring for livestock and the ability to take into account many, sometimes quite unexpected influences, and adapt to difficult conditions were common.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

Plant growing and animal husbandry. Our article tells about what these industries do, what types they are divided into.

Historical reference

The emergence of animal husbandry goes back to ancient times, when a person, living next to wild animals, decided to tame them for use in the household. Through hard work over a long period of time, people have managed to change the nature of certain species living in the wild. After domestication, their productivity increased many times over. Animals have become for man:

• Source of food: they gave meat, milk, eggs.
• From them they received raw materials (skins), from which they sewed clothes, built huts.
• Animals were used for transportation, as a labor force and for the protection of property (for example, dogs).

Animals suitable for domestication were cows, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, camels and some others. Scientists were able to establish that most of the species of these animals intersected in the Middle East. For the peoples living here, this served as a great advantage in development, as a result of which the first civilizations arose.

What is animal husbandry?

There are various industries: chemical, woodworking, engineering, food, light. Animal husbandry is an industry that belongs to its main task is the breeding and maintenance of animals in order to produce and sell the products that are obtained from them.

Importance of animal husbandry

Human life cannot be imagined without agricultural products. Animal husbandry is the main element in the agro-industrial complex. This industry is one of the main ones. Thanks to it, the population is provided with meat and lard, milk and eggs, and light industry with leather, wool, bristles and many others. In addition, animal husbandry is a supplier of live draft power. The industry is engaged in breeding horses, camels, oxen, deer, mules, donkeys. Animal husbandry is of great importance as a supplier of organic fertilizer.

Products and waste of the industry are used to obtain feed: meat and bone meal, skim milk and much more. They go to the manufacture of hormonal preparations, therapeutic serums and other medicines. So, the manifestation of the foundations of animal husbandry is carried out through the elements of the agro-industrial complex, interconnected.

In economically developed countries, animal husbandry is the leading branch of the economy, not by chance, because the products of this area make up 60% of the diet.

Analysis in animal husbandry

For the proper management of the economy and profit, analysis is of great importance, which is carried out according to various indicators. On the example of cows, it looks like this:

• Determine the number of livestock and the structure of the herd. It takes into account what type of animals are kept, how many of them, including young animals.
• Find out the volume of products received for the accounting period. It is determined what type of product, how much (in tons) of milk and meat was received, what is the offspring of calves.
• Clarify They analyze the indicators of annual milk yield per cow, the number of calves from 100 cows and the average daily (meaning meat) weight gain in grams.

Types of animal husbandry

This industry is very broad. Animal husbandry is a direction that is engaged in breeding cattle and small cattle and pigs, horses and camels, sheep and goats, mules and donkeys, rabbits and dogs, birds and fish, bees, fur animals and many others. The direction of the industry depends on the locality to which certain animal species are adapted. For example, llamas and camels are not bred in the northern regions, and arctic foxes and minks are not bred in the southern regions. However, there are animals that can be found in the agro-industrial complex of almost every country. These are chickens, cows, pigs, rabbits, horses and others.

Cattle breeding

Currently, this direction is the main branch of animal husbandry. The main task is to breed large and Animals are divided into meat and dairy. The level of provision of consumers with milk and meat depends on the development of cattle breeding. The indicators of this industry affect the work of light industry enterprises that produce woolen clothes and household items.

Pig breeding

This branch of the industry supplies the population with livestock products such as meat, lard. In Russia, it is developed in the regions of the Central Black Earth Region, in the Caucasus, in the Volga region. Meat, tallow, bacon, ham pigs are grown here.

horse breeding

This industry is engaged in breeding animals of this species. In addition, horses in the national economy are of productive and sporting importance. Horse breeding has been developed in the North Caucasus and Altai, the south of Siberia and the Urals, in Yakutia and Buryatia.

Sheep breeding

This direction is engaged in breeding sheep and goats. Animals provide man with meat, milk, wool, down. Their skin goes to the production of chrome, husky, chevro. From the sheep of the karakul breed, valuable fur is obtained - karakul. Milk is used to make feta cheese and other types of cheese.

poultry farming

This branch of the industry is common in any country. It provides consumers with meat, eggs, feathers, down. Since the main food of the bird is grain, it is bred in areas where it grows: in the North Caucasus, the Volga region, the Black Earth region. Poultry farming is also developed in densely populated regions (North-Western, Central), located near large cities.

Beekeeping

An equally popular direction in agriculture is the breeding of bees. Thanks to its development, the population is provided with honey, royal jelly, and wax. The areas of use of these products are very diverse, but the main ones are the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Fur farming

The industry is engaged in the breeding of such fur-bearing animals as nutrias, arctic foxes, minks and others. The main products are skins, from which hats, outerwear, accessories and much more are sewn.

crop production

Its basis is grain farming, which occupies half of all areas in the world. Grains, like potatoes, form the basis of the human diet. It is a raw material base for such an industry as the food industry. Grain uses cereal, flour-grinding, mixed fodder alcohol. The most important crops in the world are wheat, corn and rice.

Wheat is grown in 70 countries of the world, but most of it is in Canada, America, Australia, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. These states are the main breadbaskets of the world.

We owe the appearance of rice on our tables to China and India, from where the culture spread widely to other regions. Currently, rice is grown in 100 countries of the world, but 9/10 of the total grain harvest comes from Asian countries such as China, Japan, India, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

The country where corn originated is Mexico, from where it quickly spread throughout the world. Corn is used as a fodder crop and as a food crop. The leading country in the cultivation of corn is the United States. In addition to cereals, a person uses for various purposes such crops as vegetables (potatoes), sugar-bearing crops (sugarcane), oilseeds (sunflower), and fruit crops.

Types of crop production

Crop production is divided into the following types:

• Cereals. These crops for humans and animals are the main ones in the diet.
• They are raw materials for the production of vegetable oil.
• Potato growing. All tubers belong to this direction.
• Viticulture. The task of this direction is the cultivation of grapes for the production of wine. To this end, breeders develop many new varieties that are of high quality.
• Gardening. This direction is multifaceted. They also grow fruit trees of various types, and berry bushes.
• Melon growing. The crops of this branch include melons and watermelons.
• Floriculture. Flowers are grown not only for pleasure, but also for profit. To make the business profitable all year round, they build greenhouses where flowers grow in winter.
• Cotton growing. Without the products of this industry, weaving production will not work. Cotton does not grow everywhere. His plantations are located in Uzbekistan.

Crop production is a very important industry for the national economy, as it provides people and animals not only with food, but also with raw materials for the manufacture of clothing, medicines, and cosmetics.

God's and in its quality deserves good. It is well known warm, loving attitude towards Burenushka and Sivka-Burka - the main cattle of every peasant a. In life, it manifested itself in one form or another as domestic animals to shrines, them and, thus, also from enemy attacks. Everywhere horses were adopted would be once a year. This was timed, local, to different am: on (1: honest trees of the Life-Giving Lord - the All-Merciful Savior and the Mother of God); at St. and (August 18), which were considered the covers of horses; in the first after the day of the first supreme ann. and Paul and some other days. In Zaraisk Ryazan province. "On the first of August, on the feast of the Origin of the tree of the Holy Cross, popularly known under the name of the first Savior, or the Wet Savior, there is a journey to the water. A journey is made to a stream or river and where it is consecrated, horses from the parish are brought and driven to the meadow. this entrusted to the boys, who, like those, are great lovers of riding. They usually drive and jump into the spirit themselves, and this congress is accompanied by great noise and shouting. But when the religious procession moves from the church with bells ringing with banners and icons, everyone comes to and is installed: the boys sitting on them stand in two or three lines, leaving. the parishioners harnessed to the carts who arrived at mass, sprinkles the horses harnessed to the carriages of the arrived gentlemen, and the banners return to, the prayers disperse and disperse, and the horses with the same noise and screaming and the boys are dispersed to their homes. In other places, where there is a decent one, the priest does not sprinkle the horses with water, but they are distilled, the consecrated waters of the river. before matins, they gathered in from all over the parish. Relied from each yard on not all the horses, at least one. They rode on tarantasses, harnessed for the most part by threes; horses belonging to different people were harnessed to one three. (near) parishes continued in matins and mass. The prayer service participants of the rite "almost running" threw their horses and rode up to the church porch, where he stood with consecrated water, and the priest splashed the horses in the front row with a ladle. Spectators hurried to the side. tried the head of a horse, especially the ears and nostrils, went around the churches and stopped at the porch, in the last row, waiting for it to reach him. the water in the tub ran out, all the participants left the church fence and rushed to - a large one not from the church. There began a kind of horse riding competition. In Biryuchinsky Voronezh province. at St. Flora and Lavra the priest served and sprinkled the horses of St. water. In from previous options, here on this day "not, but riding on horseback is considered a sin." All homemade - from horses and cows to - was taken with baptismal water on. Each did this separately, in his own yard, after returning from early mass. in timed to coincide with the day of St. George - April 23, with the first pasture on. (For the first time, it was without a decision of the meeting to go to the meadow.) At the same time, cattle were driven out with willow branches consecrated on Palm Sunday. spring oats were kept in the house in a place of honor, under the icons: they put a ladle in it. On the day of the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, the owner or distributed this sheaf to all the cattle. In the time of June - the middle age - which was considered dangerous from the unclean side, releasing cattle on, painted on each animal with resin, "so that it would be from the influence of evil spirits." We have far from exhausted the pious customs associated with cattle breeding, but enough have already been named, to sanctify and purify domestic animals. to cattle as a creature of God and his pastoral activity (as well as any) to the will of God did not exclude, but assumed the use of a wide range of knowledge accumulated in practice in caring for animals. At the same time, the economic breeding of a particular breed, the use or other method of keeping livestock was also taken into account. , which should take care of nature, so that all the work from harvesting to various crops is successful, and at the same time take care of livestock, without which they could not imagine their own. In the views of the Russians, it was associated with cattle breeding, and the peasants saw the "first benefit" from keeping livestock in obtaining manure for. Knowledge in cattle breeding is already evidenced by the abundance, in the Russian folk language, of names relating to various stages and biological behavior of calves and cows. Here are some of them, according to V.I. Dal. Up to a year they called -, tel,; a young cow, not yet calved, -; barren - without a calf, milkless; (body) - a cow that should be fed; milking - giving; a cow walks inter-milk (inter-milk) - in front of a new body, when they are not milked; the adapter is not a pregnant cow, it remained bare this year; - barren; a cow about (and) calves is the age (with an addition of three years to the number of calves, that is, in this case, a five-year-old cow). - from a calf; two-year-olds, one-herbs, bushman, etc. - a calf of two years; , etc. - a calf of three years; - a bull-calf from two to three years; , - a cow from two to three years old, etc. The methods of caring for livestock, which differed in m, breed and age, had, in addition, noticeable local differences and were based on a detailed knowledge of the developmental characteristics of domestic animals and birds. In the formation of, for example, the famous Kholmogory cattle breed, breeding, maintenance and care, taking into account the specifics of natural conditions, played. follows: first calving at the age of three years (i.e. when the animal has formed); peasants taking into account the meaning of "launch" - the rest of cows from milking before the last lactation; "bull" - in a separate herd of bulls-producers; selection of calves for breeding - according to several indicators; feeding calves with "drinking", i.e. weaning from the mother and abundant long-term feeding with milk. cattle were fed with hay from water meadows, with its preparation by "steaming" (sometimes a special one was made in the lower part of the peasant house for preparing warm cattle - "parevnya") and with top dressing. The winter stalling of cattle in barns, which were built in the north under the same roof as a residential building, was accompanied by regular careful inspection. The methods of keeping livestock in winter differed among Russian peasants in a great variety - depending on the geographical conditions and tasks of a particular type of cattle breeding. In lips. the yard was covered with a thatched roof for the winter. Animals, especially those in need of warmth, were placed in separate swindlers (omshaniki) or taken to a residential hut. In Vladimir Gubernia, as well as in Tver Gubernia, cattle were kept "in yards fenced with fences and wattle fences, covered with straw." At the same time, one-year-old calves, sheep, and pigs were placed separately - in insulated sacks. Cows for heating and for a while were taken to the hut. In the Ryazan region, as reported in the 2nd half. XVIII century, "everyone keeps cattle in the winter under sheds. Where there are forested places, these sheds are fenced, and in treeless ones - with wattle and from the wind and snow, the wells are plugged with straw." For Russian peasant sheep breeding, the use of covered insulated sheep pens was characteristic, which allowed shearing sheep in the year - and. This gave better quality. A variety of evidence shows that for regions that are not similar in terms of nature and for groups of the Russian peasantry with different degrees of well-being, thoroughness in caring for livestock and many, sometimes unexpected effects, in difficult conditions were common. MM.

Cattle breeding

branch of agriculture concerned with domestic livestock a. The Russian Kyrgyz was characterized by a careful attitude to the natural world, its skillful use, taking into account local features and the tasks of reproducing what was spent. The spiritual basis for the development of animal husbandry was the concept deeply rooted in the people that every animal is a creation of God and, in this capacity, deserves a good attitude. It is well known warm, loving attitude towards Burenushka and Sivka-Burka - the main cattle of every peasant household. In the life of the bulk of Russians, a desire was noticeably manifested in one form or another to attach domestic animals to shrines, to sanctify them and, thus, cleanse and protect them from enemy attacks. Everywhere it was customary to consecrate horses at least once a year. This event was timed, according to local tradition, to various holidays: on the first Savior (August 1: The origin of the honest trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord - the feast of the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos); on the day of St. Flora and Lavra (August 18), who were considered the patrons of horses; on the first Sunday after the day of the first supreme ann. Peter and Paul and some other days. In Zaraisk Ryazan province. "On the first of August, on the feast of the Origin of the tree of the Holy Cross, popularly known under the name of the first Savior, or the Wet Savior, there is a procession to the water. To the stream or river, where this procession is made and where the water is consecrated, they are brought down and driven to the near meadow horses from all over the parish. This business is usually entrusted to the boys, who, as elsewhere, are great lovers of horseback riding. They usually drive and gallop in full horse spirit, and therefore this congress is accompanied by great noise and shouting. But when from the church at the bell tower ringing with banners and icons, the procession will begin, then everything comes into order and silence sets in: the horses sitting on horseback horse-breeders stand in two or three lines, leaving a fairly wide passage between them. accompanied by a clerk with a water-blessed bowl, or candea, and, passing through the rows of horses, sprinkles them with holy water, sprinkles horses harnessed to the carts of the parishioners who have come to Mass, sprinkles horses harnessed to the carriages of the gentlemen who have arrived. Then the images and banners return to the church, the worshipers disperse and drive away, and the boys, with the same noise and screaming and without fail galloping, drive them home. In other places, where there is a decent river, the priest does not sprinkle the horses with water, but simply drives them swimming through the blessed waters of the river. In other areas, the consecration of horses took place not near water bodies, but right next to the church. In Velsky Vologda province., For example, on Sunday after Peter's Day, the peasants, long before matins, gathered in the village from all over the parish. It was supposed to bring from each yard to the graveyard, if not all the horses, then at least one. They rode in tarantasses, mostly drawn by troikas; sometimes horses belonging to different people were harnessed in one trio. You could also come on horseback. Peasants also came from neighboring (nearby) parishes. The congress continued during matins and mass. After the prayer service, the participants in the ceremony “almost running” rushed to untie the horses and rode up to the church porch, where there was a tub of blessed water, and the priest splashed the horses in the first row with a ladle. The audience hurried to step aside. The riders tried to wash the horse's head, especially the eyes, ears and nostrils. Then everyone drove around the church and stopped again opposite the porch, in the last row, waiting for the turn to reach him again. When the water in the tub ran out, all the participants left the church fence and rushed to the buevo - a large square not far from the church. There began a kind of riding - a horse riding competition. In Biryuchinsky Voronezh province. at St. Flora and Lavra, the priest served a prayer service and sprinkled the horses of St. water. Unlike the previous options, here on this day "not only work, but also ride horses is considered a sin." All domestic animals together - from horses and cows to birds - it was customary to sprinkle Epiphany water on Epiphany. Each host did this separately, in his yard, immediately after returning from early mass. The consecration of the flock of the community as a whole was timed to coincide with the day of St. George - April 23, in connection with the first pasture for grazing. (For the first time, it was impossible to drive the herd into the meadow without the decision of the meeting.) At the same time, they drove the cattle with willow branches consecrated on Palm Sunday. The last sheaf of spring oats was kept in the house in a place of honor, under the icons: it was placed in the front corner of the ladle. On the day of the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, the owner or hostess distributed this sheaf to all the cattle. In the hot time of June - midlife, low water - which was considered dangerous from the side of evil spirits, releasing cattle to pasture, they painted crosses on each animal with resin, "in order to rid it of the influence of evil spirits." We have by no means exhausted the list of pious customs associated with cattle breeding, but enough have already been named to imagine the desire to sanctify and purify domestic animals. Treating cattle as a creature of God and committing one's pastoral activity (as well as any other) to the will of God did not exclude, but, on the contrary, assumed the use of a wide range of knowledge accumulated in practice in caring for animals. At the same time, the economic benefits of breeding a particular breed, the use of one or another method of keeping livestock were also taken into account. The peasant family, which had to know a lot about nature, in order to successfully carry out the entire cycle of work from sowing to harvest in various crops, at the same time took care of the cattle, without which the Russian plowman could not imagine his farm. In the views of the Russians, agriculture was closely connected with cattle breeding, and the peasants saw the "first benefit" from keeping livestock in obtaining manure to fertilize the fields. Knowledge in cattle breeding is already evidenced by the abundance and diversity in the Russian folk language of names referring to various stages of growth and biological behavior of calves and cows. Here are just a few of them, according to V.I. Dal. Up to a year they called - calf, heifer, bull, calf, heifer, heifer; a young cow that has not yet calved is a barn; dry cow - without a calf, milkless; calving (calf) - a cow that should calve on time; milking - giving milk; a cow walks inter-milk (inter-milk) - in front of a new body, when they are not milked; the adapter is not a pregnant cow, it remained bare this year; heifer - always barren; a cow with two (or more) calves is a definition of age (with an addition of three years to the number of calves, that is, in this case, a five-year-old cow). weaning - a calf weaned from its mother; two-year-olds, one-herbs, bushman, etc. - a calf of two years; three-year-olds, gunak, etc. - a three-year-old calf; calf - a young bull from two to three years old; a heifer, a youth - a young cow from two to three years old, etc. The methods of caring for livestock, which differed in type, breed and age, also had noticeable local differences and were based on a detailed knowledge of the developmental features of domestic animals and birds. In the formation, for example, of the famous Kholmogory breed of cattle, the technique of breeding, maintenance and care, taking into account the specifics of natural conditions, played a role. Here it should be noted: the first calving at the age of about three years (ie, when the animal is fully formed); peasants taking into account the meaning of "launch" - the rest of cows from milking before the last lactation; a special "bull" trade - the allocation of bulls-producers into a separate herd; careful selection of calves for breeding - according to several indicators; feeding calves with "drinking", i.e. weaning from the mother and abundant long-term feeding with milk. Adult cattle were fed with hay from water meadows, with its preparation by "steaming" (sometimes even a special room was made in the lower part of the peasant house for preparing warm livestock feed - "parevnya") and with salt top dressing. The winter stall keeping of cattle in warm barns, which were built in the north under the same roof as a residential building, was accompanied by regular careful inspection. The methods of keeping livestock in winter differed among Russian peasants in a great variety - depending on the geographical conditions and tasks of a particular type of cattle breeding. In Tver province. the barnyard was covered with a thatched roof for the winter. Animals, especially those in need of warmth, were placed in separate swindlers (omshaniki) or taken to a residential hut. In Vladimir Gubernia, as in Tver Gubernia, during the cold, cattle were kept "in yards fenced with fences and wattle fences, covered with straw." At the same time, one-year-old calves, sheep, and pigs were placed separately - in insulated sacks. Cows for heating and for the time of milking were taken to the hut. In the Ryazan region, as an observer reported in the 2nd half. XVIII century, "every peasant keeps cattle in the winter under sheds. Where there are forested places, these sheds are fenced, and in treeless ones - with wattle and from wind and snow, the wells are plugged with moss and straw." For Russian peasant sheep breeding, the use of covered insulated sheep pens was typical, which made it possible to shear sheep twice a year - in autumn and spring. This gave better quality wool. A variety of sources testify that for regions that are very dissimilar in nature and for groups of the Russian peasantry with different levels of wealth, the thoroughness of caring for livestock and the ability to take into account many, sometimes quite unexpected influences, and adapt to difficult conditions were common. MM. Gromyko

CATTLE, industry animal husbandry breeding cattle to obtain milk, beef and hides; in some countries livestock is used as draft power. Of the total amount of dairy products consumed by the world's population, approx. 90% are products made from cow's milk. World livestock kr. horn. livestock in 1961-65 amounted to 992.0 million, in 1974 - 1178.8 million. Milk was produced 324.4 million. T in 1961-65, 386.9 million T in 1974; meat 30,988 thous. T in 1961-65, 42,045 thousand T in 1974.

The person began to be engaged in S. from prehistoric. times when he began to tame and domesticate kr. horn. cattle. Initially, cattle were bred for meat and for use in labor; domesticated animals, like their wild relatives, gave little milk. As people began to use milk for food and acquired the skills to make various products from it (butter, cheese, etc.), the importance of dairy cattle increased. Manure was used as fertilizer, and in the steppe areas as fuel.

In Russia, the development of capitalism contributed to the concentration of S. around large cities and industry. centers, as well as in the areas of commercial butter-making (the Baltic states, the northern and central regions of the non-chernozem zone, Western Siberia and the Urals), which, however, did not have a significant impact on the development of the industry as a whole in the country. In most areas, livestock remained outbred, small, late maturing, and unproductive.

Livestock kr. horn. livestock (million heads): in Russia in 1916 - 58.4, including cows 28.8; in the USSR in all categories x-in as of 1 Jan. 1928 - 66.8, including cows 33.8; in 1961-75.8, including 34.5 cows; in 1974 - 106.3, including cows 42.2; in 1975-109.1, including cows 41.9.

On collective farms, state farms and other state. x-wah in 1941 there were 43% of the total livestock, including 25% of cows, by 1975 it increased to 77.5% (of the total livestock), including cows to 66.1%.

Systematic work on the qualitative improvement of livestock began from the first years of the Soviet Union. authorities. On July 19, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree on tribes. animal husbandry, which laid the foundation for planned measures to improve S., the organization of breeding farms and breeding nurseries.

A large role in increasing the milk productivity of cows was played by the system of dairy cooperation - the creation of control partnerships in different regions. The study of tribes. resources made it possible to develop a scientifically based plan for the qualitative improvement of local low-productive livestock by crossing it with producers of highly productive breeds. Basics were determined. tribal organization activities. affairs. In the USSR, approx. 50 breeds and breed groups kr. horn. cattle, of which the most widespread are: Simmental, red steppe, black-and-white, Swiss, Kholmogory, Bestuzhev, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, brown Latvian and Kazakh white-headed. Percentage of breed cr. horn. livestock in collective farms and state farms from 1932 to 1974 increased from 10% to 99% of its total number. As a result of the qualitative transformation of livestock, improved feeding and maintenance, its productivity has significantly increased. From 1950 to 1974 cf. annual milk yield per cow on collective farms and state farms increased from 1137 kg up to 2418 kg milk; in many breeding farms it is 4500-5000 kg milk per year or more. In terms of the growth rate of gross milk production and the increase in its production per capita, the USSR was ahead of many others. developed capitalist. countries. Milk production in the USSR in 1950 amounted to 35.3 million tons. T, in 1974 - 91.8 million. T; beef - 2.3 and 6.4 million hectares.

Depending on the ratio of the production of milk and beef, there are areas of S. - dairy (the Baltic states, Belarus, the Central regions of the European part of the USSR), dairy and meat (Ukraine, Moldova, the Central Chernozem regions, the Urals, Northern Caucasus, Western Siberia, Far East), meat and dairy and meat (Middle Asia, East Siberia, the Volga region).

S.'s development follows the path of intensification and concentration of production. In the USSR, the intensification of farming (the mechanization and electrification of labor-intensive processes, the introduction of more efficient methods of keeping livestock, the accelerated reproduction of herds, and so on) is combined with an increase in the number of livestock. S.'s concentration causes the need for intra-industry specialization: the organization of specialized x-in and farms for the production of milk, rearing of replacement young animals, reproduction, rearing and fattening of livestock for meat production. Along with specialized farms, there are farms with a completed herd turnover, in which specialized farms are being created. In large specialized farms and on farms, machines are used more efficiently, the organization of feeding and keeping animals of various industries is simplified. groups, increasing productivity. Large complexes are being created for the production of milk and beef, as well as specialized farms for the intensive cultivation and fattening of young animals of the kr. horn. livestock with prom. production technology, providing for complex mechanization and partial automation of production. processes.

N.-i. work on S. in the USSR is carried out by: All-Union N.-and. in-t of animal husbandry, republican and zonal n.-and. in-you with. x-va and animal husbandry, experimental stations. As an academic discipline, C. is taught in agricultural, zootechnical, veterinary, and zoovets. universities and technical schools that train specialists in S. The state of the industry is reflected in monthly journals. ‘‘Cattle breeding’’ (since 1939) and ‘‘Dairy and beef cattle breeding’ (since 1956). Monographs, textbooks and productions are published in mass editions. lit-pa according to S.

Number of cattle, milk and beef production in some capitalist and socialist countries

Cr. horn. livestock, thousand heads

Milk, thous. T

Beef, thous. T

Australia

Argentina

Bulgaria

Brazil

Great Britain

Netherlands

N. Zealand

Czechoslovakia

Yugoslavia

* On average per year.

S. abroad. Dairy S. is most developed in the countries of the West. Europe, USA and Canada; specialized meat S. - in the USA, Canada, the countries of South. America, a number of countries Zap. Europe (Great Britain, France, etc.), Australia and New Zealand. Livestock kr. horn. livestock and production of C. products, see table. Milk production per capita (in kg; in 1974): in New Zealand -1872, Denmark - 949, the Netherlands -731, France - 563, Switzerland - 505, Poland - 502, East Germany - 459, Germany - 346, Canada - 347, USA - 247. Beef production per capita (in kg; in 1974): in Argentina - 87.5, Uruguay - 116.5, Australia - 112, USA - 50, Canada - 41, France - 37 , 1, Czechoslovakia-28.2, Germany - 20. In all countries with developed animal husbandry, specialization occurs in S. For example, in the north-east. In the United States, where large cities are concentrated, dairy farming is most developed; meat farming is mainly concentrated in the regions of the Great Plains (meat belt); and southwest. states in large numbers are fattening livestock. A characteristic feature of S. in many countries is its intensification, as evidenced by the increased productivity of livestock. Wed milk yield per cow for the year was (kg): in the USA in 1961-65 - 3519, in 1974 - 4666; in the Netherlands - 4183 and 4500; in Sweden - 3376 and 4105; in Denmark - 3739 and 4042; in the GDR - 2662 and 3660; in Czechoslovakia - 1900 and 2619; in Poland - 2144 and 2500.

In some countries (USA, Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, etc.), the intensification of dairy farming is accompanied by a reduction in the number of cows and a concentration of milk production in large farms due to the liquidation of small farms. Concentration occurs in meat S. In 1974, per head cr. horn. livestock produced beef (kg): in the USA - 83, Czechoslovakia - 90.4, Germany - 86.9, Canada - 69.1, Sweden - 78, France - 85.3, Argentina - 38.8, Uruguay - 32, 7, Mexico-20.2. In the USA, Canada, Argentina and Uruguay the amount of beef is obtained from beef cattle, in Europe. countries - from cattle of dairy and milk-meat breeds.

In this regard, in the selection of dairy breeds, much attention is paid to increasing their meat productivity, and they also carry out industrial production. crossbreeding with meat breeds.

Lit.: Cattle breeding. Cattle, vol. 1 - 2, M., 1961; Animal Breeding Manual, [transl. from German], v. 3, book 1, M., 1965; D at d and N S. Ya., Meat cattle breeding, A.-A., 1967; Tulupnikov A.I., Technical progress and livestock economics in the USA, M., 1969: Cattle breeding, ed. E. A. Arzumanyan. Moscow, 1970. Beguchev A.P., Formation of dairy productivity of cattle, M., 1969; Ernst L.K., Ulanov B.P., Technology of milk production on industrial-type farms, M., 1973. A. P. Beguchev.