Barn Construction and Sanitation. 



H. E. Cook, Denmark. 



Wo have approached a time in animal husbandry when stable 

 conditions must be carefully considered. Animal diseases are 

 coming to be troublesome. Tuberculosis has agitated our minds; 

 much of the time the scare has been unwarranted. At the same 

 time the disease must not be ignored. 



In dairy sections cows are bred for performance at the pail 

 and not always the equivalent in constitution is bred with it. 



Demand for winter milk has increased the feeding of concen- 

 trates so that cows are milked from 10 to 12 months, coupled 

 with the reproduction, annually causes a heavy drain upon vitality. 

 This artificial cow must have surroundings suitable to her de- 

 mands. 



I have come to believe that many of the, so-called modern 

 stables are not ideal. 



We have talked and written much about warm stables, until 

 farmers built solid walls — in fact, a room unfit for animal life. 



Then came a rage, and it is on yet, in order to overcome this 

 close feeling — of building large, roomy stables, giving each cow 

 1,000 cubic feet air space, ceilings were tight and 12 to 16 feet 

 from the floor. The moisture could not escape, nor could an 

 animal warm 1,000 cubic feet, producing that damp, clammy 

 feeling so disagreeable to man or beast. Many of our city 

 brethren who build cattle barns indexed their ability to spend 

 money by the height of the ceiling. 



Heteradox though it is, I am of the opinion that the old-fash- 

 ioned stable, a lean-to on the barn, may have been as safe a place as 

 this so-called modern box, without sunlight or ventilation. It 

 is so easy to think that anything new is an improvement. ISTot 

 always! 



In my opinion this question of tuberculosis will never be solved 

 by legislative enactment. 



The cow is subject to the disease, always has been, and always 

 will be, when conditions are favorable. If we slaughter and do 

 not change environments, we must slaughter again. Then, why 



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