228 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JANlfARY 30, 1S33. 



The following is from a very useful little work, 

 lately pulilished by Carey & Hait, Philadelphia ; 

 Carter & Heiidee, Boston, and other booksellers, 

 entitled The Complete Cattle Keeper, or Farmer's 

 and Grazier's Guide, S,-c. By B. Lawke.vce. 



Of the ])ropcr treatment and food of neat cattle 

 generally, and of coivs in particidar. 



The profit and advantage that are to he derived 

 from the keeping of neat cattle, or from the pro- 

 duce of the dairy, depand greatly on their treatment 

 and management. Soil has a sensible effect on 

 the quality of the pasturage, and this also operates 

 similarly on the animals which graze thereon. In 

 Exeter, the butter is excellent, but the cheese the 

 woi"st in the kingdom ; while in Somersetshire the 

 reverse is the case ; — the cheese there manufactured 

 is of a very superior quality while the butter is 

 uniformly indifferent or bad. The riijuiess of 

 the butter made in Scotland, is generally attributed 

 to the cows feeding upon the sweet and short 

 pasture in the glens; the soils of other parts of the 

 kingdom have also a similar effect on the animals 

 fed thereon ; but generally speaking, old pastures 

 are the best ; new laid ones being often productive 

 of disease. 



In natural pastures, there is usually a suiRcicnt 

 variety of good herbage ; and if the animal be al- 

 lowed to rove about, it will select such only as 

 instinct points out to be proper or agreeable to its 

 palate ; and in doing this uses such a degree of 

 exercise as is conducive to health and perfect diges- 

 tion. This is almost invariably the case where the 

 animals, are inured to the soil and climate ; but 

 when the farmer or dairyman is obliged to have 

 recourse to artificial food and confinement, the 

 animal becomes essentially different: an unlim- 

 ited quantity of food is a temptation which few 

 animals can withstand ; and when it is not ac- 

 companied with a due portion of exercise often 

 proves of bad, if not of fatal consequences. It is 

 a fact, equally applicable to the brute, as it is dis- 

 graceful to the human being, that where the inor- 

 dinate appetite for food is indulged, an inclination 

 or sensation of thirst, is invariably felt ; and that 

 by freely indulging in either extreme, a capability 

 for extension of appetite is iiigeudered, which soon 

 paralyzes the powers of the digestive system, and 

 ])roduces a train of disorders injurious to the 

 whole animal economy in their existence, and 

 totally destructive in their effects. 



When neat cattle, but particularly cows, are 

 brought from a distant county to the farm or 

 dairy, they will require particular care and atten- 

 tion until accustomed to the soil, food, and other 

 local circumstances connected with their new 

 residence. If they have travelled far, they should 

 at first be put into the stable, or cow-house, and 

 allowed a large quiintity of litter, but must be 

 taken out of the stable several times a day, for the 

 benefit of fresh air. They should also be well 

 rubbed and brushed all over the body, particularly 

 about the joints ; and if they seem fatigued, their 

 legs may be rolled in bandages kept wet with 

 warm water, in which a little vinegar has been 

 mixed. 



They must not be put too quickly upon any 

 particularly diet ; but gradually inured to that 

 system of feeding which it is intended tijey shall 

 follow. At first, food that is easy of digestion, 

 is decidedly the best ; and if cooked, it will be 



better still. Too much must not be given at any 

 one lime; let tliem have it in sujall quantities, and 

 frequently. The water which they drink should 

 at first have the raw chill taken off, and a little 

 bran or meal may be put into it, together with a 

 small quantity' of salt. 



If cither of the cows should be near calving, 

 let her be bled, but not too profusely ; this will 

 render her calving more easy, and less liable to 

 accident. 



The most healthy stables are those which are 

 open to the east; or have an eastern aspect, and 

 are built on a dry and elevated situation. It is a 

 common practice to build them too close ; and it 

 is an equally erroneous opinion, that cold is in- 

 jurious to cows, or that they should be carefully 

 guarded against it : this opinion is productive of 

 many of the worst disorders with which they are 

 afflicted. The cow-house is, in general, not only 

 very low, and with narrow ojsenings, but it is also 

 shut u]> closely as possible, if the weather happen 

 to be a little severer than usual. A more per- 

 nicious or more fatal practice can scarcely he con- 

 ceived. Experience has proved that cows kept 

 in the open air, without the slightest shelter, siif- 

 fer but little inconvenience, except in damp or 

 wet weather ; it is better, no doubt, to keep them 

 in a more sheltered situation ; but the stable 



SHOULD NEVER BE COMPLETELY CLOSED OP, HOW- 

 EVER COLD. THE WEATHER MAY BE, although it is 



desirable that strong draughts of cold or damp air 

 shouhl be guarded against, especially iji winter. 

 It may be held as a general nde, that the stable is 

 too close, when, on entering, the breath is affected, 

 or any smell of urine can be perceived. 



If it be important to keep cow-houses or cattle- 

 stables well ventilated, it is no less so to keep 

 them clean. Dung, if left therein, soon renders 

 the air unwholesome, and engenders a trahi of 

 putrid disorders. Cows in a stable should not be 

 too close — a square si)ace of six feet each way 

 should be allowed to each cow. Two or throe 

 ventilators near the ground on the north side, af- 

 fords, at a trifling expense, an excellent way of 

 renewing or sweetening the air in stables in the 

 sunnnertimc: and on the south side, in winter, 

 without occasioning draughts: and these may be 

 shut when necessary, cither by means of straw or 

 otherwise. The ground of the cow-house should 

 be of brick work or stone ; with the sides elevated 

 just suflicient to cause it to drain towards the mid- 

 dle, where there should be a gutter, to carry off 

 the urine and excrement, and convey them into a 

 water-tight tank, or at all events, into a large cov- 

 ered hole on the outside ; and by no means, as is 

 too frequently the case, into an open ditch, on the 

 outside. By tliese simple means, the ani;nals, 

 and their habitations may always be kept clean 

 and sweet. 



From the Albany Argits. 

 HIHTS TO FARItlERS. NO. II. 



Society is made up of different classes, each 

 possessing an identity of habits and interests, dis- 

 tinct, yet not incompatible with each other ; and 

 all contributing, when properly regulated, to make 

 up aharmonious whole. Yet it is essential to the 

 preservation of this harmony, that each, while it 

 claims and maintains its own, should respect the 

 rights and interests of the others. Of th^se classes 

 the agricultural far exceeds, in numbers; the ag- 

 gregate of all the rest. This, cpnsequently, wields 

 the giant power, and is amenable to posterity for 



its discreet exercise. History does not record an 

 instance of the political power of a state being so 

 emphatically in the hands of its agricultural popu- 

 lation, as it is in this country; nor does it afford 

 us an example of an agricultural population so well 

 qualified, by its intelligence and the tenure of pro- 

 perty , to protect and preserve the liberties entrusted 

 to its charge. The fee of nearly all the lands on 

 the old continent, belongs to the privileged orders, 

 or to the mercantile and professional classes ;* who 

 there, also, wield the political power of the culti- 

 vators, — the farmers are mere tenants, and conse- 

 quently in a measure dependents, of the higher 

 orders. Here the reverse is happily the case : our 

 cultivators are the lords of the soil, anil the depos- 

 itaries of political power. The spectacle which 

 our coimtry exhibits is one of momentous concern 

 to the interests of humanity ; and the eyes of the 

 world are fixed with intense interest upon' the 

 novel experiment we are making in civil govern- 

 ment. Under the high responsibilities which these 

 considerations present, it is wise to look ahead, 

 aiW scrupulously to guard agjvinst every iiinova- 

 tion which may impair the purity of the govern- 

 ment, or poison the fountains of its power. 



The dangers most to be apprehended, are likely 

 either to grow out of the wealth and prodigality 

 incident to our ])rosperity^ — to arise from tlie en- 

 croachments of and)ition, — or to result from the 

 want of intelligence and vigilance in the people. 

 The suitable precautions against these dangers, are, 

 first, an imyielding determination to preserve sim- 

 pliiity and economy in the administration of the 

 goicrninent. 2. A fair representation, in our 

 coiucils, and at all times, of the great agricultural 

 ii:tcrest ; and 3, the moie general diffusion of 

 knowledge among this class, to qualify them to 

 fulfil the high trusts connnitted to their charge. 



In no class are the moral and social duties of 

 life more strongly enforced by example, than in 

 the agricultural. Their frugal habits, imrenjitting 

 industry, and unassuming pretensions, — their at- 

 taolunents to their avocations and their homes, 

 and the experience of the past, all forbid the ap- 

 prehension of danger from their use or* abuse of 

 power. But we must discredit the unerring testi- 

 moiiy of history, ere we can award a like excul- 

 pation to all the other employments of society. 

 Coiuniercial and professional wealth, and the cx- 

 tra\agance and profligacy which they are apt to 

 generate, have a strong tendency to impair the 

 purity of our democratic habits and institutions. 

 No exclusively commercial Slate has ever long 

 withstood their corroding influence. Even Eng- 

 land, whose wealth, connnerce and arts are so 

 often held up for our admiration, presents rather 

 a beacon than an exaniple for our imitation. She 

 exhibits a melancholy picture of gorgeous misery: 

 of yrasteful extravagance and pinching want. One- 

 seventh of her population are paupers ; and the 

 labors of four-fifths of the residue go to support 

 the remaining fraction in luxurious idleness. It is 

 to the intelligence and firmness of the fainiers, that 

 we sre to look for a counterbalance to this baleful 

 influence among ourselves. Nor should we lose 

 sighf of the maxim which teaches, that it is easier 

 to prevent, than to cure an evil — easier to extin- 

 guisli the lamp, than to overcome the fire, after it 

 has enveloped our dwelling in flames. B. 



» Tlicrc are but 20,000 landholders in England, seCliDg aside 

 ihe c/ergy and corporations ; and, I believe, 16,800,000 inhabit- 



