136 



THE FARMERS CABINET. 



VOL. I. 



eonveniently and economically built. No 

 farm house should, however, remain without 

 a swill house, with a large cauldron set in 

 brick, an ample wood house, wagon and tool 

 house, corn-crib, &c., near by. As to the 

 dwelling, it is a matter of fancy with many, 

 and to those who have the ability, provided 

 they make it comfortable and convenient, it 

 matters little what is the shape, size or style 

 of it. Still there is a model that I consider 

 cheaper and nrjore convenient than almost any 

 other, and for those landholders and farmers 

 who build for the accommodation of their 

 tenants, I consider it a most excellent one to 

 follow. I am about building one on a farm 

 of my own for the manager to live in, suffi- 

 ciently capacious to accommodate his own 

 family and half a dozen hired men. Its 

 whole expense will not exceed a thousand or 

 twelve hundred dollars, and if opportunity 

 offers, I may send you the plan in some fu- 

 ture communication. 



Most truly and respectfully yours, 



L. F. Allen. 



Buffalo, Dec. 5, 1835. 



Choice of l.ive Stock. 



Before the improvements introduced by 

 Bakewell, the value of an animal was entire- 

 ly judged of by its bulk; and if a great size 

 could be obtained, more regard was paid to 

 the price the animal ultimately fetched, than 

 to the cost of its food; of late, since breeders 

 began to calculate with more precision, small 

 or moderate sized animals have been gene- 

 rally preferred, for the following reasons : — 



Small sized animals are more easily kept, 

 they thrive on shorter herbage, they collect 

 food where a large animal could hardly exist, 

 and thence are more profitable. Their meat 

 is finer grained, produces richer gravy, has 

 often a superior flavor, and is commonly more 

 nicely marbled or veined with fat, especially 

 when they have been fed for two years. 

 Large animals are not so well calculated for 

 general consumption as the moderate sized, 

 particularly in hot weather; large animals 

 poach pastures more than small ones; they 

 are not so active, require more rest, collect 

 their food with more labor, and will only 

 consume the nicer or more delicate sorts of 

 plants. Small cows, of the true dairy breeds, 

 give proportionably more milk than large 

 ones. Small cattle may be fattened solely 

 on grass of even moderate quality; whereas 

 the large require the richest pastures, or to 

 be stall-fed, the expense of which exhausts 

 the profits of the farmer. It is much easier 

 to procure well-shaped and kindly-feeding 

 atock of a small size, than of a large one. 

 Small sized cattle may be kept by many 

 peraons who oannot afford either to purchase 



or to maintain large ones, and by whom the 

 loss, if any accident should happen to them, 

 can be more easily borne. The small sized 

 sell better; for a butcher, from a conviction 

 that in proportion to their respective dimen- 

 sions, there is a greater superficies of valua- 

 ble parts in a small than in a large animal, 

 will give more money for two oxen of one- 

 hundred and fifty pounds each per quarter^ 

 than for one of three hundred pounds. 



The form of animals a few years ago at- 

 tracted the attention of an eminent surgeon, 

 Hknry Cmne, Esq. of London. The fol- 

 lowing is the substance of the doctrines which 

 he lays down: — That the external form is 

 only an indication of the internal structure; 

 that the luntrs of an animal is the first object 

 to be attended to, for on tiieir size and sound- 

 ness the health and strength of an animal 

 principally depend; that the external indica- 

 tions of the size of the lungs are the furna 

 and size of the chest, and its breadth in par- 

 ticular; that the head should be small, as by 

 this the birth is facilitated; as it affords other 

 advantages in feeding, &c. and as it general^ 

 ly indicates that the animal is of a good 

 breed; that the length of the neck should be 

 in proportion to the size of the animal, that 

 it may collect its food with ease; and that 

 the muscles and tendons should be large by 

 which an animal is enabled to travel with 

 greater facility. It was formerly the prac- 

 tice to estimate the value of animals by the 

 size of their bones. A large bone was con- 

 sidered, to be a great merit; and a fine-boned 

 animal always implied great size. It is now 

 known that this doctrine was carried too far. 

 The strength of an animal does not depend 

 on the bones, but on the muscles; and when 

 the bones are disproportionably large, it indi 

 cates, in Cline's opinion, an imperfection in 

 the organs of nutrition. Bakewell strongly 

 insists on the advantage of small bones, 

 and the celebrated John Hunter declared 

 that small bones were generally attended 

 with corpulence in all the various subjects he 

 had an opportunity of examining. A small 

 bone, however, being heavier and more sub- 

 stantial, requires as much nourishment as a 

 hollow one with a larjer circumference. 



Treatment of Milcb Coi%'t. 



There is, perhaps, no part of the husband- 

 ry of our country so much neglected as that 

 which relates to the providing of provender 

 for the milch cows on our fanas. On many 

 estates, even those of magnitude, the chief 

 part of the food, if not the entire, which they 

 get, are the blades, the tops and the husks of 

 the corn, with an occasional gratuity of nub- 

 bins by way of a holliday feast. The conse- 

 quence is, that if the winter be severe and 



