868 



THE GENESEE FAKMER. 



IMPORTANCE OF SHELTER FOR STOCK. 



I SUPPOSE it to be generally understood that 

 animals require more food when exposed to ex- 

 treme cold, than in a mild temperature. Every 

 one's experience in his own person, will teach 

 him this. Admitting this fact, there seems little 

 more to be said on this subject, for every one must 

 then see that by laying out money for shelter, he 

 saves money in feed. But the question of economy 

 is not tkus fully settled; for the shelter might cost 

 more than the extra food. Still, when we consider 

 that shelters last for years, while food must be 

 supplied daily, we can hardly doubt that the in- 

 vestment in shelter will pay. It is a known fact 

 that animals will thrive better when comfortable. 

 Uneasiness from any cause prevents thrift. 



Again ; an animal shivering under an exposure 

 to a northern blast, is a pitiable object — surely the 

 gratitication of your sympathy is worth some little 

 outlay for shelter, even if of the rudest kind. I do 

 not doubt but all farmers are aware ot the econ- 

 omy of shelter, but the subject becomes more iuter- 

 estii g, and its economy better understood, when we 

 know ic/iy we need more food in a low temperature. 



Chemists tell us there are in nature 62 simple 

 elements or substances, composed of only one kind 

 ot matter; 14 of these enter into the composition 

 of plants, 12 of these 14, with one other not known 

 to exist in plants, compose the animal, and without 

 these neither the plant nor the animal can exist. — 

 In the animal, more particularly, these elements 

 serve two purposes — one- to build up and supply 

 the waste of the body, and the other to serve as 

 fuel to keep up the heat ; for without this fuel, the 

 animal would be as powerless as a cold steam en- 

 o-ine. Of the 1'6 elements used in building up the 

 'body, 3 of them only, serve the purpose of fuel ; 

 these are carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. How 

 "jan these cold elements produce heati Only by 

 fcombustion. But tiiere are two kinds of combus- 

 tion, — one producing heat and light, and is called 

 fire ; tlie other produces heat also, but less intense, 

 tmd without light. This latter is the combustion 

 tjonstantly going on in the animal. "What, then, 

 -a combustion? It is the unitmg together ot two 

 iyr more of these elements, those that unite to 

 Produce heat in the animal are the same that unite 

 to produce heat in your stove. These changes con- 

 iititute growth and decay. Some of these elements, 

 ^hen separated from all ethers, are solid, like the 

 diamond ; others are invisible gases, like air. — 

 ^ost of the elements are capable, either when sin- 

 s^le or in combination, of assuming two or more 

 *brms. In passing from one form to another, heat 

 s eithur given out or absorbed, in 'which latter case 

 jold is produced. Mix salt and water, and cold is 

 produced ; mix water and quick lime, and heat is 

 Produced ; mix potassium (the base of potash) and 

 jvater, and you have heat and light, or tire. The 

 ,vood which you burn is composed, in part, of car- 

 'j)on and hydrogen. If you heat a portion of wood, 

 ts carbon begins to separate, uniting with the oxy- 

 ten of the air, (you know you must have draft,) 

 prming carbonic acid gas, which is invisible, and 

 ,»asses off into the air; the hydrogen also sepa- 

 jEtes and unites with oxygen, and forms water, 

 jVhich also passes off in the smoke in the form of 

 'team or vapor. Both of these reunions produce 

 "leat and light, the heat continuing to produce the 



separation, and the reunion to produce heat, till the 

 fuel is consumed. The food which you eat con- 

 tains caib;)n and hydrogen. By the digestive or- 

 gans the food is converted into blood, whicli flows 

 to the lungs, where it comes in contact with the 

 air which you inhale, and the same reunion is pro- 

 duced as in the case of the wood, the same product 

 formed — carbonic acid gas — which also escapes 

 into the air. There is also the same reunion of 

 hydrogen and oxygen, forming water, which all 

 know is constantly thrown off from the lungs in 

 the form of vapor. These unions compose the less 

 intense combustion spoken of before, producing 

 heat without light. In this way the heat of the 

 body is kept up, like that of the steam engine, by 

 the combustion of its fuel. The animal system, 

 like the steam engine, is a nicely made, self-acting 

 machine. If the animal is exposed to a low tem- 

 perature, the air is condensed, the animal takes in 

 more at an inspiration, the combustion is greater, 

 and a necessity exists for more food or fuel. If it 

 is exposed to a high temperature, nature has pro- 

 vided not only less appetite for food, and less oxy- 

 gen at an inspiration, but a safety valve in perspi- 

 ration to let oft' excess of heat. The body must be 

 preserved at a nearly even temperature, or life 

 soon ceases. 



If the reader has understood me thus far, he will 

 at once see why his animals require more food with- 

 out shelter than with. In the two combustions 

 mentioned, the carbon of the wood and of the food, 

 with the oxygen of the air, are the principal agents. 

 If the animal takes in its food more carbon than is 

 necessary to build up and repair the waste of the 

 body, and supply its fuel, the balance is stored up 

 in the torm of oit or fat (which is little else than 

 carbon) for future use, in case a supply shall fail in 

 the food. The reader will now see why it is so 

 diflicult to fat his animals in winter, unless they are 

 protected from the cold. Horses, horned cattle, 

 and sheep, have an extra coat of hair in winter, 

 and with proper shelter may be fsittened without 

 much ditiiculty ; but the hog has little or no extra 

 covering, and can not be fattened in very cold 

 weather without very warm shelter. *^* 



Gorham, K. Y., 1858. 



NOTES FOR THE MONTH. -BY S. W. 



John Johnston vs, Agkioultural Science. — Mr. 

 -Johnston says " no man ever saw me for the last 

 twenty years feed straw to cattle." The reason is 

 undoubtedly, that just twenty years ago Mr. J. 

 read Boussingault's analyses of wheat and rye 

 straw, by which he learned that straw contained 

 but very little nutriment, and that it only performed 

 the office of keeping up heat in the animal stomach, 

 a necessity only to exposed cattle in cold or stormy 

 weather. He then begun to practice on the hint 

 thus received, and he has since by experiment fairly 

 proved the truth of science in the premises. On 

 the other hand, his Dutch neighbor. Christian 

 KiME, who could not read and would not learn, 

 fed cut straw and rye meal to his horses, and wheat 

 straw to his cattle, to his dying day, without know- 

 ing that good chopped hay would dispense with 

 half the rye, while it gave more muscular strength 

 and activity to his team, and life to his cattle. It 

 wont do for a man who reads as much, and who 

 takes as many agricultural papers as Mr. J., to say 



