WINTER FEEDING OF LIVE STOCK. 573 



moderately, and we should guard against the possibility of their 

 wants being occasionally forgotten. 



6. Pure Air. — Hardly second in importance even to nutritious 

 food is an abundant supply of pure air, at all times and seasons. 

 Animals kept in ill-ventilated stables, in which the air is impreg- 

 nated with the carbonic acid from the breath, and ammonia from 

 the droppings, can neither make the best use of the food that is 

 given them, nor preserve their bodies in rugged health. 



It is impossible that there should not be always, even in the 

 best-regula<ed stables, more or less ammonia and more or less 

 offensive odor. All that we can do is to overcome the ill-effect 

 of these, by providing an abundant supply of pure air from out of 

 doors to dilute and dissipate them. 



While this supply of fresh air is a matter of absolute necessity, 

 it is hardly less important to guard against strong currents blowing 

 directly across the animals, especially in cold weather. There 

 are many ways in which stables may be ventilated without sub- 

 jecting their inmates to draughts. Those plans are the best 

 which cause the vitiated air to escape from near the floor and 

 admit fresh air from above, but at such distance from the animals 

 that its current will be diffused before it reaches them. 



As far as the economy of the stable is concerned, farm stock 

 may be classified as follows : — 



1. Growing stock. 



2. Fattening stock. 



3. Milking stock. v 



4. Working stock. 



According to the class to which an animal belongs, must its 

 food and its exercise be regulated. 



I. Growing animals have not only to support the ordinary 

 wastes of animal life, but to lay up in all of their parts the material 

 that contributes to the growth of their bodies. This requires the 

 greatest diversity of nutritious elements in the food. If a colt is 

 fed only on roots, he will become pot-bellied, lean, and defective in 

 his bony structure. In proportion as we supply him with food 



