BAR 



BAR 



17 



as lo prevent its being mow burnt. 

 BARN YARD, a small piece of 

 inclosed ground, contiguous to a 

 barn, in which cattle are usually 

 kept. It should have a high, close, 

 and strong fence, both to shelter 

 the beasts from the force of driv- 

 ing storms, and to keep the most 

 unruly ones from breaking out. By 

 the help of this yard, a farmer may 

 prodigiously increase his quantity 

 of manure, if he will be careful to 

 take the right methods. 



The ground of a yard for this 

 purpose should be of such a shape 

 as to retain all the manure, or pre- 

 vent its being washed away by 

 rains. It should be lowest in the 

 middle ; or at least so high on all 

 the sides, that even the greatest 

 rains shall not carry away any of 

 the manure. This is a matter of 

 so much importance, that it may 

 be well worth while to form the 

 ground to the right shape, where 

 nature has not done it. 



A yard should be larger or smal- 

 ler in proportion to the stock that 

 is kept in it. A small one is bad, 

 as the cattle will be more apt to 

 push and hurt one another. A 

 large one is more favourable to the 

 design of making abundance of 

 manure. Not only should the 

 yard be contiguous to the barn, but 

 as many of the otlier out houses as 

 conveniently may be should be 

 placed on the sides of the yard, 

 especially those of them which af- 

 ford manure or rubbish, as the hog- 

 sty, &LC. 



Many, who have good farm yards, 

 are not so careful as they should 

 be to make the greatest advantage 

 3 



by them, by confining the cattle 

 continually in them, during the 

 foddering season. The practice 

 of driving cattle to water, at a dis- 

 tance, is attended with great loss 

 of manure. Instead of continuing 

 in this absurd practice, the well 

 that serves the house, or one dug 

 for the purpose, should be so near 

 the yard, that a watering trough 

 may reach from it into the yard. 

 Some have a well in the yard ; but 

 this is not so advisable, as the wa- 

 ter may become impregnated with 

 the excrements of the cattle, and 

 rendered less palatable. He that 

 has a large stock, may save enough 

 in manure in this way, in one year, 

 to pay him for making a well of a 

 moderate depth : Besides secur- 

 ing the advantage of having his 

 cattle under his eye ; and of pre- 

 venting their straggling away, as 

 they sometimes do. Innumerable 

 are the accidents to which a stock 

 are exposed, by going to watering 

 places, in winter, without a driver, 

 as they commonly do. And often- 

 times, by means of snow and ice, 

 the difficulty is so great, as to dis- 

 courage them from going to the 

 water; the consequence is, that 

 they suffer for want of drink, and 

 the owner is ignorant of it. All 

 these things plead strongly in fa- 

 vour of the mode of watering I have 

 here recommended. They should 

 not be let out, even when the 

 ground is bare : For what they 

 get will make them to winter the 

 worse ; and they will damage the 

 fields. 



There should be mere yards 

 than one to a barn, where divers 



