24 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



Watering Cattle iu Winter. 



Perhaps it would e-xcite the surprise of many of 

 our readers, should we assert that cattle generally 

 sutfer more t'roin thirst in winter, than during the 

 heat of summer. Yet there is strong reason to be- 

 lieve that this is to a great extent the case. Cat- 

 tle whose winter food consists entirely of hay, 

 straw, and other dry materials, need a plentiful 

 and frequent supply of pure fresh water. This 

 many do ncit obtain, as nearly all running streams 

 are covered with ice, and cattle are obliged to wan- 

 der a considerable distance from the yard to the 

 watering pKice, through deep snows or over a slip- 

 pery path, exposed to the annoyance of dogs, or to 

 be gored by other cattle, and rather tlian endure 

 this, they often suffer much from a want of water. 

 It has been ascertained that a bullock, who has wa- 

 ter at command, will drink it eight times a day. 

 It should always therefore be of easy access to cat- 

 tle at all times; and not on a distant part of tiie 

 farm, or in the open road, so that in order that your 

 cattle may help themselves io it, you are obliged to 

 leave your gate open, or barn-yard bars down, and 

 thus your yard is thronged with vagrant colts and 

 other ill-bred animals, who take possession of wliat- 

 ever fodder they can lav tiieir mouths upon, and 

 pay no regard to the rights of inciivi and ttcum. Dr. 

 Anderson says that lie knew a man who became 

 very rich by being great in littie matters, that is, 

 attending carefully to things whicli other men con- 

 sider of too little consequence to claim their no- 

 tiee; and this man aUvays made it a point to see that 

 his cattle, particularly his milch cows, should have 

 a constant supply of pure water. — Far. Cabinet. 



From tlie Philadelpliin Farmer's C.iliinet. 



Curry your Cows. 



The price of butter is such as to offer encour- 

 agement to farmers to try the effect of extra keep 

 on their milch cows the present winter; and in ad- 

 dition to keeping them warm, clean and comforta- 

 ble, it would be well to trj' the effect of currying 

 them. Horses and fatting cattle are well l;nov.-n to 

 thrive much better where this operation is thorough- 

 ly and regularly performed, and the celebrated Dr. 

 B. Rush, in a lecture delivered in 1S07, upon the 

 duty and advairtages of studying the diseases of 

 domestic animals, and the remedies proper to re- 

 move them, states that there is an improvement in 

 the quality of the milk, and an increase of its 

 quantity, which are obtained by currying the cow. 



If some of oyr farmers would make trial of it as 

 soon as they commence stabling their cows, and 

 carefully note the result, and make a conmiunica- 

 tion of it to the editor of the Cabinet, (Visitor) it 

 would much obli.ge an Or.n Subscribed. 



Brick Orcn.i. — The Cultivator gives the follow- 

 ing directions for building a brick oven: — It should 

 be so built that it will long retain its heat ; there- 

 fore the covering must be thick. — It sliould be 

 readily heated, and therefore the bricks must not be 

 contiguous. A very thick wall made wholly of 

 bricks will be long in heating and will require too 

 much firewood. We therefore wish you to cover 

 our oven with one course of bricks. This gives a 

 thickness of four inches. Then put on a covering 

 of sand, made so moist as to keep its place, and not 

 less than four inches in thickness — then you may 

 lay one or two courses more of bricks for an outside 

 covering, according to your room in the chimnev. 

 Now you have given us a thick wall for a cover- 

 ing which will retain the heat as long as if made 

 wholly ot bricks — and it may he heated in one half 

 the time, because we have onl3' to heat eno tier of 

 bricks instead of three. The coating of sand be- 

 ing a nonconductor, it will not commrmicate the 

 heat of the oven to the outside walls or covering; 

 but will serve to retain the heat in the oven, and 

 apply it when we want it to the baking of our 

 loaves. The bottom or hearth of the oven must 

 have a similar construction. 



Feeding Infants.^— A young lady with whom we 

 are acquaiirtod, gave birth lately to ber first child. 

 The little one was about a fortnight old when we 

 asked a l;tdy how it and the young mother were. 

 "The mother is doing well,'' she ansv/ered, " but 

 the child is very cross; and indeed it is not to be 

 wondered at, for they are so pleased, they seem 

 hardly to know what they are about. The mother 

 feeds it, and then the sister feeds it, and than the 

 grandmotlier feeds it, and then the nurse feeds it, 

 and thus they make the child ill." Our friend was 

 right. We should like to have shown the vuuno- 

 lady the stomach of a new born infant now in our 

 museum. It would not hold more than three table 

 spoonfuls, and yet they were trying to cram food 

 down the little jnnocerjt's throat by teacupfuls. — ..V. 

 "', MedifO'l Eiaminer 



FARM BUILDINGS. 



[To give the readers of the Monthlv Vi.Mroit an idea of the convenience and perfection of Farm 

 Bnildinn-s erected and occupied by some of the independent farming gentlemen of Pennsylvania, we 

 procure^engr-avings for the description and illustration taken from that excellent agricultural journal, 

 the Philadelphia Farmer's Cabinet. Such a barn as that of Col. Smith would cost for its erection 

 nearly the price of a good New England I'arm. Nevertheless its completeness and convenient ac- 

 commodations will furnish patterns for constructing a barn or parts of a barn at far less expense ; 

 and consequently we consider this model to be not less useful than would be a model of an improved 

 New Eugknd barn. , i r 



We invite our agricultural friends who are experimental judges to furnish us plans of larm buildings, 

 yards, gardens, laying out of fields, &c. for insertion in future numbers.] 



Col. Smith's Baru, Pesiu Township near Philadelphia. 

 [Fig. 5.] 



.\. Waggon House, CO hij 40/1. 

 B. Cow stables. 



C. Horse Stables. 



E. Carriage-House, 20jt. 



F. Hay Mow. 



G. Granary. 



The barn which if5 represented by tlie above engraving, was built in 1S34, by Col. Ke.vderto.n' Smith 

 of Penn Township, in this (Philadelpliia) county. It is of brick, 150 feet in length, by 40 feet in breadth. 

 The main baru is three stories high and 70 feet long. The basement story S feet 6 inches high, and 

 is divided into horse and cow stables. Along the front is an entry throe feet wide, which extends the 

 whole length, upon which there are doors to prevent the cattle or horses from p.issing from one stable 

 to another" or from the stables to the entries. The horse stable contains twelve stalls— they are fifteen 

 feet cjeep, and the stalls are five feet wide. The cow stables are 13 feet long, and the stalls four feet 

 wide. There are sixteen stalls. At the northwest corner of the barn there is a feed-room with boxes, 

 trough, &c., for the cattle; it is 8 by 13 feet. At the northeast corner there is also a feed-room for the 

 horses, 10 by 1.5 feet. These communicate with the stable on one side, and the entries on the other. 

 The entry between the horse stables is fi feet wide, that between the cew stables is r> feet. The doors 

 are double, which serve to give light and air, and prevent the cattle from getting into the stables when 

 it is desirable to have them in the barn yard. They are lined at the bottom with tin to prevent them 

 from beincr cut by rats, — and so complete is the barn in this respect, that a rat has never been found in it. 



[Fig. 6.] 



The Joists of the floord are embedded in broken stone, and these are covered with mortar as lii^rh as 

 to tlie tloor, b}' which means the floors are rendered more firm, and there is no harbor afforded for rats. 

 The sills of the doors are all of dressed stone. There are funnels extending from tiie topw of tJie mows 

 into the entries, through which the hay for the horses and cattle is dropped. This saves mucii labor, 

 prevents tJie barn floor from hcing lumbered up with hay, and the funnels act as flues to take off the 

 foul air from the stables. 



On the east of tlie main barn is a carriage house 20 feet wide and 40 feet deep, over which is a 

 frranar/ with hatchway, block, tackle, &c. On the west of the main barn is the arched building 60 

 feet lon^ii; by 40 deep, 2 stories high, the lov.'er story is used for a wagon-house, and tiie second story 

 is a mow, which will hold 30 tons of hay. 



The second story of the barn consists of mows and barn floor. The mows will probably contain 

 about one hundred tons. The barn floor is 1(5 feet wide, and is provided with a closet for tools, and fun- 

 nel to pass grain into the lower story to the entry between the horse stables. There is abundant room 

 for nine horses to thrash upon it at ^ time. This story is well ventilated with Vent-tian blinds which 

 can be opened or closed at pleasure. There is much advantage from having them made in this way, as 

 they draw much air into the mows when open, and when closed, shut out the effects of storms. In 

 the rear of the burn is a ramp leading to the barn doors, which open inwardly, and are contained in a 

 house built for ilie purpose. This gives greater extent of barn floor, prevents the door from being in- 

 jured by the wind, and protects the wall of the barn from being injured or pressed inwards by the 

 earth in the ramp. The whole buildin^,' is provided with gutters and spouts to conduct rain water, so 

 as to prevtrntit from going into the barn yard, and thereby washing away the strength of the manure 

 there deposited. Tl)e v.-hole is surmounted by a lightning rod, and no farmer should consider a barn 

 finished until this protection is furnished to his building, as it is very probable, considering the many 

 barns that have lately been struck and burnt, tiiat tjie gas from hay and grain, when in the sweat, acts 

 as a conductor of electricity, and a rod should be ready to pass it into the ground, and thereby prevent 

 the sorrowful consequences often visited upon farmers for neglecting this precaution. 



Last, though not least, when we consider the perlVct manner in which this building has been plan- 

 ned and finished, embracing every desirable comfort without any waste of room, and tlio nrrungement 

 of which precludes all waste of labor, we cannot omit to notice the flagged pavement e.\tending along 

 tbe whole front, 12 feet wide, and the pump in the centre. The horses can thus be led to water in 



