188 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



from which decline they but partially recover, when turned into 

 the mowing fields in September and October, upon the after 

 math, or rowen. Now, although they may not, at any time, in 

 the stall, give as much rnilk as when turned into the pasture 

 at the very height of the feed, yet, their keep being equal 

 throughout the season, the yield of milk will be longer kept up ; 

 and the whole amount given throughout the year will probably 

 be more than that obtained from animals which are wholly 

 grazed, and left to encounter the vicissitudes of the seasons. 



In any system of soiling, it would seem most important that 

 the animals should be occasionally turned out into an open yard 

 for some portion of the day. as essential to their health, rather 

 than to remain tied in the same position, as they are compelled 

 to be in many of the large dairy establishments in the cities, not 

 only from one week or one month to another, but from the be 

 ginning to the end of the year. &quot; It is known,&quot; say the com 

 missioners on the state of health in large towns, &quot; that tubercular 

 consumption is very prevalent among the cows which supply 

 milk to the inhabitants of some large towns, where they are 

 immured during part of every year in dairies perfectly closed j 

 and which, being too small for the number of animals which 

 they contain, soon become filled with heated, vitiated air, for 

 the removal of which no provision is made. This is remarkably 

 the case with the cows belonging to the milkmen of Paris, 

 which are annually carried off by consumption in considerable 

 numbers. A confirmation of the influence of this cause is afford 

 ed by the exemption of the horse from consumption, although 

 frequently placed in the same circumstances with the cows, but 

 with intervals of exposure to fresh air, and the enjoyment of ex 

 ercise. Where a number of horses, however, are collected together 

 in ill-ventilated stables, they may become consumptive. A dis 

 covery of this kind was only lately made, as to the effect of 

 defective ventilation on the cavalry horses in some of the gov 

 ernment barracks in England ; and it is stated that a saving of 

 several thousand pounds per annum was effected by an easy 

 improvement of the ventilation of the barracks near the metrop 

 olis.&quot; These statements seem to me to have a very important 

 bearing upon the construction of our stables and barns, and the 

 general treatment of our live stock. The health of our live stock 

 is, I fear, not sufficiently regarded. I have already alluded to 



