114 Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



Question. — At what temperature should a stable he kept in 

 winter? 



Mr. Goodrich. — Opinions differ among dairymen on that point. 

 I heard a man say recently that he never allows his stables to get 

 below 70 degrees. But I think that too high, as, when the stable 

 door is throvm open, when the mercury is below zero, the change 

 is too great. My plan is to keep an even temperature and above 

 freezing, not allowing it to go below 40. Don't crowd the stables 

 with too many cattle, and have plenty of pure air. Make the 

 stables as comfortable as possible. 



Alson Cook. — I should make the temperature of the stable 

 from 45 to 55 degrees. When you reduce the temperature below 

 45, I think you make a mistake, if you are making milk, which 

 we are trving to do in winter. 



Mr. Richardson. — I am in favor of having the stables kept 

 above the freezing point, and I should not turn a cow out when 

 the thermometer is below zero. When you do that, she will 

 shiver nearly all day when she is again put in the stable. I know 

 that the average cow will give more than 1,000 pounds more milk 

 in a year, when she drops her calf in the fall, if she is kept in 

 a comfortable stable and well and properly fed. 



Question. — How may a farmer utilize all the old bones lying 

 around on his farm without a machine for crrindinsr them ? 



Mr. Woodward. — If he has good hard-w T ood ashes, and will 

 break up the bones finely, then put in a layer of ashes, then one 

 of bones, and alternating, into an old kettle, and will keep the 

 mass moist enough to extract the lye from the ashes, in three 

 months the bones will be nearly dissolved. At that stage, sift the 

 mixture. There will be a few pieces left; break these and go 

 over the process again. You will then have a very good fertilizer. 



Question. — How many Canada peas should be sown on an acre? 



Mr. Woodward. — As a rule, a bushel will be enough. 



Question. — How can we exterminate the sparrows? 



Prof. Lowe. — I don't know. They might be poisoned, but such, 

 a course would endanger other birds. 



Mr. Fenner. — I fed a flock of sparrows poisoned grain, but I 

 don't know how many I killed. The poison blew on to adjacent 

 land and poisoned a lot of valuable chickens. 



Prof. Lowe. — In some places in the West a bounty is offered 

 for dead sparrows, and some boys earn considerable money by 

 shooting them; but, in some way, the number does not seem to 

 decrease to any great extent. 



