1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARHIER. 



33 



rated with the same, all ready to leave their 

 impression about j-our head ; then to come to 

 your breakfast with boots and clothes bedaub- 

 ed, and hands strongly perfumed, — not with 

 Cologne water, or Lubin's Extracts, — and talk 

 of your fresh and nicely drawn milk, and the 

 sweets of farming. 'Tis too bad, — 'tis enough 

 to send a thrill of disgust througli one's whole 

 body against fanning. It is no wonder far- 

 mer's sons and daughters are early prejudiced 

 again^t their occupations. Boys usually have 

 to do a large share of the barn-work, and if 

 they are compelled to work hard to accomplish a 

 litlle, and wear clothes that thus bespeak their 

 employment, they are soon down upon farm- 

 ing, rather than upon the manner in which it 

 is conducted. 



Now keeping stock clean is like keeping 

 one's self clean ; there is no particular merit 

 in it, while there is much disgrace in the neg- 

 lect of it. The want of cleanliness is wholly 

 the fault of the owner, for it cannot be said 

 that any of our domestic animals are uncleanly 

 from choice ; they all have a natural aversion 

 to their own excrements, and if left to them- 

 selves will choose a clean, dry place to lie up- 

 on ; although, from a wrong way of bringing 

 up, some animals seem to have lost this sense 

 of cleanliness. I have seen hogs which made 

 no distinction between their trough, bedding, 

 and the farthest corner of the pen. These, 

 when young, were kept in little boxes of pens, 

 scarcely large enough to turn round in, and 

 never had the privilege of a yai-d. Others 

 are exemplary as possible, keeping their beds, 

 especially, very clean. 



In nothing is the progress of agriculture 

 more evident than in the construction of farm 

 buildings. The arrangements for the comfort 

 and convenience of our animals are beginning 

 to receive the attention they deserve ; the days 

 of old, dark, low, narrow, damp and unhealthy 

 hovels ai'e passing away. Perhaps all cannot 

 possess a model barn, but something can be 

 done at once and by every one, at small ex- 

 pense, towards the improvement of stables. 

 If any one who has for years tended cattle by 

 elbowing, crawling, and crowding about in 

 these old barns, could have for one winter the 

 comfort of working in a well constructed sta- 

 ble, he would never consent to return to the 

 old arrangements. 



The secret of keeping cattle clean with little 

 labor, consists in preventing their lying down in 

 their ordure, and this depends upon the proper 

 construction of their stablings. Their plat- 

 form should be just. long enough for them to 

 stand upon, and there should be a trench or 

 pit behind this, at least six inches deep and 

 two feet wide. The walk behind this should 

 be wide enough for two cows to pass each 

 other, and a few inches higher than the plat- 

 form upon which the cows stand. Stanchions 

 are now generally preferred to halters, ropes 

 or chains, for the simple reason that they keep 

 cattle in their place better. In one of the 



model barns in this State, in which fifty head 

 of cattle are kept, the dimensions of the stable 

 are : length of cows' platform, lour feet six 

 inches; that for oxen is one foot longer ; dung 

 pit is seven inches deep, and two I'eet Avide ; 

 walk or passage behind, five feet wide, and is 

 raised two inches above the platform where 

 the cows stand. With oxen the urine is the 

 great trouble. To carry this oif, construct 

 the platform in two parts, — the lower half be- 

 ing made of strips of plank about five inches 

 wide, and laid about half an inch apart. In 

 this way the urine will run olFinto the manure 

 trench. Thus arranged, with a moderate sup- 

 ply of bedding, and cleaning out twice a day, 

 it is not much trouble to keep cattle clean. 

 Fifteen minutes spent with the card is as good 

 as an hour in the old ho\el. It is not neces- 

 sary to put on thick boots to go behind or be- 

 tween the cows. Some may think they are 

 too closely confined by this method. If it 

 keeps them clean, it is better by far than all 

 the exercise they get in stepping forward and 

 backward two or three feet, and in lying in 

 their own droppings every night. 



In these days of horse admiration, it is hardly 

 supposed the noble animals will be allowed to 

 go uncared for. Would that every man call- 

 ing himself a farmer, kept his horse during 

 winter half as clean and slick as he can keep 

 himself while at pasture. Here, too, a little 

 care in the construction of stalls saves labor 

 in grooming. Make the stall floor no longer 

 than the horse, and raise it a few inches above 

 the maiii floor, and conduct the urine away by 

 contrivances similar to those described for ox 

 stalls. 



As for poor piggy, though doomed to do 

 very dirty work, he expresses more thankful- 

 ness for a clean dry bed, than many a biped 

 possessing more dignity. The idea that any 

 hole will answer ibr a pig pen is intolera- 

 ble. Temporary and hastily built pens are the 

 dearest in the end. If any part is inclined to 

 give way, piggy Is sure to assist it. In fact 

 he likes to try the strength of every part, and 

 if the trough is placed upon the ground, he 

 will fill it with dirt to your continual annoyance, 

 and always takes occasion for his mischief when 

 you are in a hurry. No place is fit to be called 

 a piggery, which does not contain well-shel- 

 tered, dry and warm sleeping apartments, and 

 a firmly secured trough, conveniently placed 

 for feeding, apart from and above the yard. 



The cow yard is another Important place to 

 be kept clean, whether the cows are tied up 

 during summer nights or not. Some are little 

 better than sloughs ; they receive no other care 

 than carting dirt into them In spring and out 

 in the fall ; there is no way of getting about 

 them except by leaping from stone to stone, or 

 wading ankle deep in filth. No inconsiderable 

 amount of shouting and angry words are ex- 

 pended, as well as heavy blows given, over 

 the mishaps that constantly occur in milking 

 and yoking in such places. In looking upon 



