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Tlic Country Gcnthinaiis Magarsinc 



readers the imi)ortance of making it an essen- 

 tial point to attend minutely to those small 

 matters which so often impart a marked char- 

 acter to their farms, whether favourable or 

 the reverse, according as these are attended 

 to or neglected, for the more closely the minute 

 details of their business are looked after, so 

 much the more satisfactory will the broader 

 features become. 



If we look, for instance, at the filthy con- 

 dition in which the stables on many farms are 

 kept, we shall find an illustration of what we 

 have stated. It may have been a quarter or 

 even half a century since the stables were 

 built, but ever since the last stroke of the 

 carpenter's hammer, not a hand has been 

 raised to sweep down the accumulated masses 

 of cobwebs, dust, and dirt of all kinds, which 

 hang from every rafter, and has lain un- 

 molested in every corner. To the white- 

 wash brush the place has been a perfect 

 stranger, and from the want of proper ventila- 

 tion the entire building reeks with the most 

 pungent odours. Is it to be wondered at 

 that disease has frequently prostrated the 

 unfortunate animals condemned to pass a 

 considerable part of their existence in such 

 holes, or that many of their number have 

 been swept away in what has doubtless ap- 

 peared a very unaccountable manner ? Yet, 

 how little might have prevented such a catas- 

 trophe. A little more fresh air, with the 

 frequent and regular use of the stable-broom 

 and white-wash brush, would have preserved 

 the lives of many animals, or kept them in 

 health, instead of labouring, as we often find 

 them in such cases, under certain forms 

 of disease, which, although not perhaps 

 immediately fatal, are of such a nature as to 

 lessen their value very materially. 



Then, again, look at the state of the imple- 

 nientson somefarms. Asinthecaseofthestud, 

 those indispensible requisites in farm manage- 



ment cost a deal of money, although from the 

 usage they get we should sometimesbe inclined 

 to imagine that such was not the case. We 

 find them lying about in all directions, rotting 

 and rusting," instead of being put carefully 

 aside under cover when not immediately re- 

 quired for use. Paint is cheap, but year after 

 year passes without anything of the kind being 

 applied to them. We strongly recommend 

 that every implement of the farm requiring 

 paint should be painted once a year, 

 after being put in proper repair, and 

 that no tool, not even a dung-fork, 

 should be allowed to lie knocking about 

 after the occasion for using it had passed, 

 without being put aside into its proper place. 

 And here we may remark, that sufficient shed 

 accommodation for the implements of the 

 farm, large and small, is frequently wanting, 

 even in some farmsteads of considerable pre- 

 tensions. When such is the case, it is of 

 course difficult to keep things in proper con- 

 dition; but whether such accommodation 

 exists or not, every efifort should be made to 

 do the best for the preservation of the im- 

 plements that circumstances will admit 

 of We might give other illustrations 

 of the fact that what some evidently con- 

 sider trivial points of management, are 

 in reality matters which deeply affect 

 the interests of the owner ; and if we 

 look at the consequences which arise from 

 them, it will easily be seen that in farming 

 there are really no small matters. Some 

 may, indeed, object that the close attention 

 to such matters which we recommend in- 

 volves expense ; but is the expense remunera- 

 tive? If so, then the objection vanishes; 

 and we should not forget that homely 

 illustration of the wisdom which saves 

 pennies while it sacrifices pounds — "for 

 want of a nail the shoe was los-t, and for 

 want of the shoe the mare was lost." 



