214 THE STOCKFEEDER'S COMPANION 



The courts or yards may be covered in entirely 

 with a roof; or may be open, with covered feeding- 

 sheds along one or more sides, under which the 

 animals can go at will for food or shelter. 



The covered courts are generally much warmer ; 

 in fact, sometimes too warm if arrangements have 

 not been made for sufficient ventilation. Cattle can 

 be fattened in them to go out at Christmas, or any 

 time during the spring. The manure is very much 

 better preserved, and further, it can be carted on the 

 arable land and ploughed in immediately. 



In the case of open yards, the chief advantages 

 are that they are much less costly to construct, and 

 give the animals plenty of fresh air. For breeding stock 

 this is a great advantage, especially when one re- 

 members that in Herefordshire, where this system is 

 universally practised, their breed of cattle is almost free 

 from cases of tuberculosis. It is a great advantage to 

 have the sheds facing south. For fattening cattle, how- 

 ever, they are generally colder, and it is difficult to fatten 

 cattle in them to sell off fat before spring. Much 

 more litter is required to keep the yards clean, and 

 the manure gets sadly depleted of its valuable 

 constituents except in dry frosty weather. The manure 

 has absorbed considerable quantities of water, and 

 requires much more carting out. It is further 

 necessary to cart the manure into a large heap, 

 so as to allow it to ferment somewhat before plough- 

 ing it into the land. The farmyard is always very 

 difficult to keep clean and tidy where there arc open 

 yards. 



The advantages of covered courts over open yards 

 for fattening bullocks during the five or six months 

 they are kept in them in winter, have been estimated 



