SECRETARY'S REPORT. IQg 



REPORT ON BARNS. 



Maine Board of Agriculture, ) 

 January Session, 1857. ) 



The Standing Committee appointed to report after the close of the 

 session to the Secretary of this Board, "plans and suggestions 

 rescardino' the best mode of constructing; barns and barn cellars," 

 have given such attention to the important subjects assigned them, 

 as to present the following views and suggestions as their report : 



The anxious interest with which the people of Maine are now 

 looking for agricultural improvement, the zeal and intense desire in 

 many, manifested in practical agriculture, by the use of improved 

 implements, better breeds of animals, imported seeds, skilful culture, 

 increased attention to fertilizers, drainage, growth of green crops, 

 feeding of stock, and improvement in other forms — the general 

 desire to advance the condition of husbandry, seconded and fostered 

 by recent liberal legislative enactments, — these cheer and encourage 

 us to press onward, leading the way, or pointing to general or 

 particular achievements. 



Our farmers complain that winter interferes with, and diminishes 

 their profits. To what extent it does so, is an important subject of 

 inquiry. It may be another's privilege to teach and show the 

 ameliorating effects of winter or arable cultivation, and its benefi- 

 cial influence on the hay crop and grazing. 



We cannot possibly shorten the period in which our stock must 

 wholly be fed at the barn ; and it is only left us to adapt our system 

 of husbandry to the production of the largest amount of feed to the 

 s-mallest area, and learn to appreciate the truth, that ^'' shelter is 

 cheaper than fodder ^ 



An improvement on our present practice of shelter, and care of our 

 animals, would be equivalent to an actual shortening of winter. It 

 can hardly be questioned that exposure of cattle to extreme cold 

 injures their health, and thus interferes with the owner's profit. 

 Chemical physiology teaches us that warmth is equivalent to a certain 

 portion of food, and that an animal exposed to more cold will eat 

 more, and one better housed, and warmer kept, will eat less. To keep 

 an animal comfortable, therefore, is to save food ; and this alone is a 

 sufficient inducement to provide that comfort to the full extent. (1.) 



(1 ) It; is asserted on good authority, that exposed animals will cunsunie a third 

 more food, and come out in the spring in woise condition. 



