154 LIVE STOCK MANAGEMENT. 



be secured at a nominal cost, and which will strengthen the- 

 fence greatly. 



The sheds should be extremely simple. The only re- 

 quirement is that they shall protect the cattle from rain, 

 sleet or wet snows, for the cold rarely becomes intense 

 enough to make any provision for warmth necessary. For 

 this reason, sheds that have a wind proof north wall, similar 

 east and west ends, and a good roof, but that are entirely 

 open on the south, are usually sufficient for all practical pur- 

 poses, and the farmer's pocketbook will be far heavier than 

 if expensive stables were built. Summed up in a nutshell 

 the matter of fences and sheds is merely a matter of pro- 

 tection from wind and wet; the cold is usually no more than 

 sufficient to give a fattening steer a good appetite. 



Water must be available to the steers at all times, and 

 dependence should never be placed on streams or ponds. In 

 the winter these are frozen, and by the time the owner or 

 hired man goes twice a day all winter to chop the ice and 

 drive the cattle to the freezing water, where they never 

 drink half what they ought to, patience will be a minus 

 quantity, and the steers will be short many pounds of gain. 

 In the spring, when freezing weather is past, the steers will 

 lose a pound or two by expending energy in pulling their 

 legs out of the mud. A tank in the feed lot so arranged that 

 it cannot freeze, and supplied from a cistern situated on 

 some height of ground, is the ideal arrangement, for this 

 water will be comparatively warm. Where the lay of the 

 land is such that a cistern cannot be arranged for, an ele- 

 vated tank must take its place, and this can best be put 

 up and arranged by some of the regular tank companies so 

 as to be free from frost. The piping should be well pro- 

 tected, and should be not less than 4% feet under ground. 

 For a tank in the feed lot, we have as yet seen no better 

 arrangement than that now in use at the Iowa Experiment 

 Station. These tanks are round bottomed, wooden tanks, 

 from ten to twelve feet long, similar to the wagon tanks in 

 use by many threshing companies. They are securely placed 

 on a rock foundation. The piping enters at the center of the 

 bottom and is controlled by a valve and a float. Around the 

 tank a cheap, strong frame was built, and this was packed 

 with sawdust. Hinged covers protect the top. The 

 frame is made of two inch planks and the cover of 



