66 agricuIvTure: of maine. 



of the dairy animal to keep her warm without direct expense. 

 We do not feed our cows to keep them warm ; we feed them to 

 produce milk, and in the production of that milk they liberate 

 heat as a by-product which keeps them warm. But if we expose 

 that animal by letting her out into the barnyard for exercise, as 

 quite often is the practice of farmers, and leaving her out for 

 several hours a day, we chill her, and in that case food may be 

 burned directly to furn^h heat and keep the cow warm, and as a 

 result she shrinks in her milk flow. The dairy animal is different 

 from the beef animal, which is a smooth, plump animal with a 

 coating of fat around the body. Most farmers are better care 

 takers of beef animals than dairy animals. The beef animal 

 suffers no inconvenience when you turn it out in zero weather. 

 The experience of feeders, and the results of carefully con- 

 ducted experiments would seem to indicate that the fat steer 

 will enjoy a temperature of 50 or even below. It is the fat 

 which is around the body and the internal organs which acts 

 as a blanket and keeps that animal warm. Such treatment will 

 not do for the dairy animal. She has no fat on her body and 

 suffers and shrinks in milk when exposed. Prof. Plumb has 

 shown this very well in an experiment where he kept a few cows 

 in the barn carefully protected and others exposed for a few 

 hours each day. The experiment was continued 48 days and 

 the cows exposed shrank an amount equivalent to six cents a 

 day per cow. But when we attempt to keep animals warm we 

 do not want to make the mistake of confining them in too close 

 and improperly ventilated stables. The dairy cow breathes in 

 about 2,800 cubic feet of air in a day. She breathes out in an 

 hour 116 cubic f^et of air. Of course we realize that air which 

 has been once breathed is unfit for being taken into the lungs 

 again, and in the human family, at least, the physician tells us 

 that when air contains 3.3 per cent of expired air, it is impure 

 and unwholesome. If compelled to breathe such air day after 

 day you suffer from lowered vitality, have a headache, or feel 

 languid. This comes from an insufficient supply of oxygen. 

 It may not make any great difference this year, perhaps, whether 

 you have a properly ventilated stable or not, but take it year 

 after year and improper ventilation will tell on the vitality and 

 health of the animal and in time upon its productive capability. 



