46 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



when mixed with other substances, is of great value as ma- 

 nure. The most healthy stables are those which are open 

 to the east, or have an eastern aspect. It is a common 

 practice to build them too close. The stable should never 

 be completely closed up, however cold the weather may be, 

 although it is desirable that strong draughts of cold or damp 

 air should be guarded against, especially in winter. It may 

 be held as a general rule that stables or cow-houses are too 

 close when on entering the breath is affected, or any smell 

 of urine can be perceived. 



It is also very important to keep cow-houses or cattle 

 stables clean and well littered. Dung left in stables soon 

 renders the air unwholesome, and is the cause of disorders. 

 Cows in a stable should be allowed a square space of at 

 least six feet each way for each cow. Two or three venti- 

 lators near the ground on the north side afford, at a trifling 

 expense, an excellent way of renewing or sweetening the air 

 in stables in the summer time, and on the south side in win- 

 ter, without occasioning draughts ; and these may be shut 

 when necessary by means of straw, or, what is better, a slid- 

 ing door. 



It is of no small importance that the floor of a cow-house 

 be very tight, so that none of the stale be lost, which is of 

 great value as manure, when mixed with other substances. 

 A farmer might as well lose the dung as the urine of his 

 beasts. 



'The common cattle stalls of our country are so ill con- 

 trived, and so straitened in their dimensions, that the cat- 

 tle are constrained to lie down in part in their own dung. 

 This dries and forms a thick coat on their hind quarters, 

 from which they are not relieved till they shed their hair in 

 the spring. They are thus rendered uncomfortable. To be 

 uncomfortable is to suffer some degree of pain; and no one 

 will suppose that animals in pain can thrive, or preserve their 

 plight with the same food equally with others perfectly at 

 ease. Even hogs, though prone to wallow in the mire in 

 warm weather, are always pleased with a dry bed, and thrive 

 best when kept clean. "^ 



The following, from the Memoir's of the Pennsylvania 

 Agricultural Society, is extracted from a letter from R. Smith, 

 to J. H, Powel, and will be of use in directing the mostj 

 economical management of dairy cattle. 



* Colonel Pickering. 



