WATER IN AGRICULTURE. 169 



not furnish the liquid in proper condition, and as 

 milch cows are generally very fastidious regarding 

 the sweetness and purity of water, they will re- 

 main for hours parched with thirst before drinking 

 at such sources of supply. This protracted thirst 

 is fatal to the formation of milk, inasmuch as the 

 animal is rendered nervous and fretful, and water 

 is actually needed to enter into the secretion. 



It is a curious fact that cows are often too lazy 

 to go far from feeding grounds to drink, even when 

 the water is pure and fresh. My pasture borders 

 for a half mile upon the beautiful Kenoza Lake, a 

 body of water of unsurpassed purity and excellence, 

 but notwithstanding this, my herd will frequently 

 come to the yard at night in midsummer, actually 

 suffering from thirst. To reach the lake it is nec- 

 essary to go a few rods through a wooded portion 

 of the pasture, and rather than travel that distance, 

 they are willing to suffer the inconvenience of 

 thirst. The annoyance is so serious that I have 

 determined to open a spring directly in the path 

 leading to the yard. 



The location of farmers' wells upon their prem- 

 ises is an important point. How often do we see 

 them located within or upon the margin of the 

 barn-yard, near huge manure heaps, reeking with 

 ammoniacal and other gases, the prolific source of 

 soluble salts which find access to the water, and 



