lis 



THE FARMERS CABINET- 



VOL. I. 



than a stone building. So of stables, sheds, 

 outhouses, &c. But not so of dwellings. 



The desire of warmth with which human 

 beings are sheltered, forms a prominent part 

 of the comfort and usefulness of life, and 

 therefore all dwellings should be built of the 

 best materials, and constructed in the warm- 

 est manner compatible with the ability of the 

 owner. I have much doubt whether the 

 occupant of an open, badly built house, does 

 not pay three times the annual interest of its 

 cost, in the extra fuel and labor consumed to 

 keep its inmates comfortable ; and among no 

 class of people have I found so great an in- 

 attention to these very important matters, as 

 among our moderate farmers; and when the 

 annual losses by disease, exposure, extra 

 labor of obtaining and preparing fuel, and 

 of time in various ways, all arising from a 

 cold and comfortless house, are taken into 

 consideration, I am thoroughly satisfied that 

 a great portion of the profits of a whole 

 family's industry, are annually lost by the 

 wretched houses they occupy, 



Errors in Building. 



The great fault committed by most farmers, 

 in their buildings, is in the great size of their 

 dwellings. Many who build, calculate to do 

 \i within themselves ; or they get out their 

 own timber, draw their own saw-loo-s to the 

 mill, if there be one near them ; quarry and 

 haul their own stone, &c. &c., and so manage 

 as to hire but a portion of their mechanic 

 work, turning in their own labor and that of 

 their sons or hired men, if they have them, to 

 assist in its erection. This is as it should 

 be ; but the difficulty is, that they often plan 

 too largely, calculating on finishing off only 

 a small portion of the house at present, and 

 to do off the rest at some future opportunity 

 of more leisure and convenience. But these 

 future opportunities of leisure and con- 

 venience rarely occur, and so much more 

 capital is often expended in the inclosino- 

 ofa large dwelling than had been anticipatecf, 

 or is at all useful to the family, that it re- 

 mains forever unfinished, and a cold, com- 

 fortless receptacle for them, when a snuo, 

 warm and delightful dwelling could be en- 

 tirely finished, with every requisite comfort 

 for a numerous family, at the cost of the un- 

 finished shell I How painfully true is this 

 fact in numberless instances ! 



This fatal error oftentimes extends itself to 

 the outer buildings of the farm, alike preju- 

 dicial to all descriptions of stock kept upon 

 it, and of most serious account in the year's 

 results of its products. Fortunately, there 

 is so little intricacy or science needed in the 

 construction of farm buildings, that even the 

 least skilful may erect comfortable and ne 

 pessary shelters for all his domestic animals' 



and materials abound so plentifully in oar 

 country, that they are every where to be 

 found. It is better, even, in my estimation, 

 for a farmer to sell a small portion of his 

 lard, to accommodate the remainder with 

 proper buildings, if he cannot do it otherwise, 

 for he IS actually richer in the end to do so; 

 as for the most of them, the produce on an 

 equal number of those acres would be an- 

 nually wasted for the want of them, besides 

 all the discomfort, misery, and suffering 

 caused by exposure to the inclemency of the 

 seasons. This may be unpleasant argument 

 to those who are intent upon nothing but in- 

 creasing the extent of their farms, regardless 

 of the comforts or profits of their stock. Yet 

 such, were they to pause in their acquisitions, 

 and by the erection of necessary buildings on 

 their farms, secure more effectually its pro- 

 ducts, would in a short time accumulate 

 much more rapidly than before. I name these 

 facts with more emphasis, because I am well 

 assured by my observations throughout the 

 country,that the want of necessary and proper 

 buildings is the greatest drawback our farm- 

 ers experience in the profits of their labor. 

 Of what avail is it that I reap fifty bushels 

 of wheat, or an hundred bushels of corn to 

 the acre, and lose one third of it for want of 

 shelter, or waste in feeding? Un'ess I can 

 secure my crop, my profit in growinij it is 

 of small account. If I cut fifty tons of hay, 

 and by exposure in stacks to the weather, 

 only forty of it can be eaten by the cattle, 

 and one quarter part of that even is trampled 

 under foot, I had better have had only thirty 

 tons of good hay in my barn, and even then 

 my stock would have consumed five tons 

 less by being warmly housed for the winter. 

 This is a view of the case which I think 

 must strike every thinking mind, and will 

 apply itself to every kind of domestic animal 

 on the farm. To my own mind it has been 

 most strikingly presented by a year's expe- 

 rience, and I am of opinion that the difference 

 in the consumption of food for the domestic 

 stock of a farm, taking in all the losses in- 

 cident to the forage itself by want of housing, 

 &c., is at least thirty per cent., compared 

 with the most economical method of expend- 

 ing it; and in some cases evenforfi/ or fifty-' 

 I am aware that this calculation will strike 

 the reader with surprise, and by many it will 

 not be believed ; but to such I only say, try 

 it, and he will become satisfied of its truth. 



Management of a large tract of 

 I^ancl-. Wintering Cattle. 



In the spring of 1831, the management 

 of a large tract of land coming under my 

 charge, portions of which had for years been 

 most miserably mangled by a horde of squat- 

 ters, who had cut, haggled, and worked the 



