548 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dfia 



These questions were brought home to the busi- 

 ness and bosoms of farmers, and of farmers' sons 

 and daughters ; for the case of the latter was treat- 

 ed with clear insight. Nor was the question of 

 emigration forgotten ; and in regard to that, as well 

 as other points, Mr. F. spoke of what he had him- 

 self seen and known. As a specimen of his practi- 

 cal manner, we notice the following : 



Mr. F. takes the circle of relatives, thirty-two 

 in number, with whom he was most familiar in 

 childhood, and Inquires into the history and pres- 

 ent position of each. The general result is this : 



"Leaving out of the estimate three of the young- 

 est of these thirty-two individuals, I class nineteen 

 as farmers and ten as having left the farm. From 

 my knowledge of their affairs, I estimate that the 

 property of the nineteen farmers will average about 

 $3000 each ; that of the ten families who are not 

 farmers, about $700, or rather less than one-fourth 

 as much as the farmers." 



Cannot the managers of the Society get leave to 

 publish the Address ? 



MUCH IN A BAEH. 



Very much depends upon the conveniences and 

 comforts of a barn — especially in this region of 

 hot summers and cold winters — for a man's success 

 in raising and keeping cattle, horses and sheep. 

 A good cellar is as indispensable to the barn as to 

 the house. .In building one this season, we have 

 taken care to have a full basement story, lined with 

 pure granite walls on three sides, one front, the 

 east, being devoted to doors and windows for en- 

 trance and light ; otherwise, too, the whole is ven- 

 tilated. There, in the hot weather of summer, our 

 horses, cows, pigs and hens will be cool ; and in 

 the cold weather of winter, these, with the sheep, 

 added at that season, will be warm. Probably it will 

 not freeze much, if any, in winter ; and one apart- 

 ment will be appropriated to roots, &c., for the use 

 of stock. A writer in the Connecticut Homestead 

 has the right idea on this subject. We give his 

 article : 



SHELTER FOR STOCK. 



Messrs. Editors : — I have seen several articles 

 the past year in favor of warm shelter for stock, 

 that I can endorse ; also your statement that one- 

 third of the fodder is saved by having warm shel- 

 ter, and will give you my reasons, for I have tried 

 both sides of the question. 



Among other legacies left to myself and brother, 

 was a lot of old buildings, and after purchasing his 

 right to the farm, and getting on that delightful 

 bed described by Mr. Beecher, I was in a poor con- 

 dition to think of building, and had to get along 

 with patching for several years. After making up 

 my mind to build a barn, I said to others that I 

 dreaded the stone work more than the wood work, 

 as I meant to have a basement ; they would say, 

 "You don't need a basement; I would not give 

 anything for a basement." I told them that I would 

 not have a barn until I could have a basement. 



In the summer of 1853, I built a barn 30 by 40 

 feet, with 8^ feet basement, the wall two feet thick, 

 made of split stone ; one-half of the basement for 

 Stables, and the other half for a cellar. Owing to 



the shape of the ground, I was obliged to have 

 the yard on the east of the barn. The most of 

 the dirt taken from the cellar was used to level the 

 yard, and raise it higher than the ground around 

 it, so that all the water that fell in the vicinity 

 would not run through the yard. The stalls for 

 the cows are five feet wide. The cows are kept in 

 the stables all the time., with plenty of good bed- 

 ding to lie on. I let them into the yard warm 

 days to get water. They do not leave the yard 

 till turned out to pasture. 



The stables are warm ; it does not freeze in them, 

 except on a few of the coldest nights — not more 

 than six or eight nights the past winter. The cows 

 hair lies smooth, and shines, and their eyes look 

 bright, in place of dead and sunken eyes, and brist- 

 ly hair. Their bags are full, and teats full and 

 smooth, when I go to milk them, the same as they 

 are in summer, and they will give a quart more at 

 night when tied in the stable, than when they have 

 been in the yard the warmest days during the win- 

 ter. 



The first remark made by a person coming into 

 the stable in the winter is, "Why, what a good 

 place you have got for your stock ; they don't know 

 anything about the cold weather. Your basement 

 is worth as much as the rest of the barn." A per- 

 son said, "You mess your cows." "Why so ?" said 

 I. "O, I can tell cows that are messed ; their hair 

 is smooth and shines." I did not mess them at 

 that time. 



When I kept my stock at the old barn, my cows 

 would go dry two or three months every winter ; 

 now they will give milk till they calve. 



The first winter after 1 built my barn I had a 

 yoke of oxen that lay in the yard till the Ist of 

 February. They had all the good hay they could 

 eat. The next winter they were kept in the stable, 

 fed on stalks and straw, till the first of February, 

 and they were in as good, if not better, order than 

 they were the year before, and did not consume 

 more than half the value of fodder. 



I have no floor for my oxen, but level the ma- 

 nure and use plenty of bedding. The cow-stablea 

 are filled up about a foot and a half; then a short 

 plank put down long enough for the cows to stand, 

 on ; iitrips of boards nailed across to keep them in 

 their place ; pieces of plank are put upon them to 

 keep them level. The water runs through and is 

 saved in the litter and manure below, and the cows 

 are dry and clean. 



My stock used to range the lots for water, poach- 

 ing up the meadows and girdling the trees, as some 

 of my neighbors now do. After losing a cow worth 

 $50, 1 thought it was best to have water in my 

 yard, and I find it pays the cost every year. 



If there were no saving of fodder, it is a satisfac- 

 tion to me to know that my stock are not sufi'ering 

 with the cold weather as we have had the past 

 winter. 



I keep my hens in a room in the south end of 

 the cellar, fourteen feet square, with an open shed 

 outside, with the use of the cellar in mild weather. 

 The first winter 1 put in thirty, and they layed from 

 eight to fifteen eggs every day through the winter. 

 After they had been there fourteen months, I car- 

 ried out twelve bushels of manure that was as 

 heavy as 1 could carry. My hens laid every day 

 the past winter. A person that came to my barn 

 said, "Do your hens lay ? Mine have not layed 

 an egg this winter." Some persons' hens are trou- 



