THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



23 



from cold winds is secured by planting a 

 tree belt along the northern exposure, but 

 it is not always easy to combine with a 

 location of this nature the proper water 

 supply which is a very essential feature. 

 Generally speaking the elevation also 

 assists in providing a water supply as the 

 pumping should be done by wind power, a 

 rise of ground naturally gives an uninter- 

 rupted wind approach as the derrick may 

 be high enough to lift the wind above the 

 tree wind break. In no case should the 

 water supply be poor, limited or incon- 

 venient. 



In addition to the tree belt a high board 

 fence should enclose a breathing space; 

 this fence should be well constructed and 

 the joints between the boards battened 

 tight. If. in additiod to this, a shed roof 

 is provided opening to the south, winter 

 yard conditions will be about as good as 

 they can be made, provided, of course, 

 that the ground is supplied with proper 

 drainage. The filthy, miry condition of 

 so many barn yards is sufficient excuse for 

 laying so much stress on the importance 

 of this feature. The abomination that is 

 permitted to exist year after year in con- 

 nection with farm barns and stables is 

 little short of criminal. Ideas in this re- 

 spect, however, are fast changing, domes- 

 tic animals are recognized as possessing 

 certain inalienable natural rights that 

 owners are bound to respect. The old 

 fashion notion that any kind of an old 

 shed planted in any sort of a mud hole, in 

 any haphazard location, is good enough 

 for cattle has given way before recent 

 scientific investigations. This is particu- 

 larly true in the older states of the East 

 and Middle West, as well as throughout 

 the better dairy sections of Canada. 



Boards of Health and State Boards of 

 Agriculture have inaugurated a system of 

 inspection that has exerted a salutary in- 

 fluence especially in milk shipping dis- 

 tricts. Humane considerations have had 

 a good deal to do in bettering conditions 



in this respect, but mercenary interests 

 and the general health of humanity have 

 combined to bring the subject home to 

 many interested people in a very forceful 

 manner. The fact is now recognized that 

 it pays to take good intelligent care of 

 domestic animals, which is simply produc- 

 ing at all times natural favorable condi- 

 tions which are always the most economi- 

 cal in the end. Dairy cows return divi- 

 dends, the ratio of which increases in di- 

 rect proportion to the care and intelligent 

 consideration bestowed upon them. 



So little attention is now being paid to 

 pasture that the fence and long lanes 

 leading from the stable to the fields, 

 which were formerly such an all-impotant 

 adjunct to a well regulated farm, does not 

 enter into the consideration. Pasturing is 

 too expensive in these days of keen com- 

 petition. 



North of parallel forty-two there is an 

 average of only six weeks of good pastur- 

 age. Summer droughts sandwiched in be- 

 tween late spring and early fall rains are 

 responsible for this condition. A run- 

 way consisting of about one-fourth of an 

 acre per cow is a better and more satisfac- 

 tory arrangement. It should be enclosed 

 with a good movable fence and shifted oc- 

 casionally for the benefit of the land; this, 

 however, is largely a matter of personal 

 opinion as well as convenience. A per- 

 manent pasture that has never felt the 

 plow offers advantages that no artificial 

 production can equal. Where a running 

 stream of good water exists within a rea- 

 sonable distance of the stable the question 

 of a pasture run will settle itself. On the 

 great majority of farms, artificial water 

 supply must be depended on; a condition 

 that should be met by a never failing well 

 with a windmill sufficiently powerful to 

 carry the water not only to the stable but 

 to the pasture lot. A drinking trough 

 should be placed in a shady spot and 

 water conducted to it by pipes placed un- 

 der ground sufficiently deep to be cool in 



