CHAP. 1. 



PONDS. 



693 



The Stack-yard. It is less the custom than formerly to stack the 

 corn in the stackyard, for horses cannot always be spared to cart the 

 corn far from the field in which it 

 grew. It is an undoubted fact that 

 corn is better when stacked in an 

 open place, free to every wind that 

 blows, than it is when crowded 

 into a stack-yard where one stack 

 shelters another from sunshine and 

 breeze. It is, moreover, safe to 

 stack corn in a much moister 

 condition in the open, than in a 

 crowded stack-yard, where it cannot 

 dry before the March winds begin 

 to blow, and when probably the 

 musty smell will not be got rid of. 



Forge. Many outlying farms are 

 placed at a disadvantage because 

 there is no forge conveniently near, 

 so that all little repairs have to be 

 done at a distance : a small forge 



Fig. 231. Root's Improved Acme 

 Forge. 



a 



is therefore most useful. Messrs. Samuelson & Co. are makers of the 

 blower and hearth illustrated in fig. 231, and it would be difficult to find 

 a more useful appendage to the homestead. 



Besides the various buildings, &c., that have been specified, it will 

 be proper to have loose boxes or separate apartments for the reception 

 of sick or diseased cattle. These should be erected in some quiet spot 

 contiguous to the farm offices, but at such a distance as to prevent 

 the healthy beasts from being affected by contagion. 



CHAPTER II. 



ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF PONDS. 



IT! HE RE is nothing of greater importance to the health of 

 J_ domesticated animals than a constant supply of water, which, 

 being the only liquid horses and cattle are accustomed to drink, should 

 be perfectly pure. The superior quality of water has been supposed to 

 be indicated by its clearness, and by its continuing transparent not- 

 withstanding the application of chemical tests. It is not, however, the 

 clearest water that is necessarily the most wholesome. There are few 



