SHELTER. 305 



its great importance in the management of cat- 

 tle is due to the service it renders in reducing 

 the amount of fuel needed by the stock, and 

 consequently in reducing the amount of food 

 consumed, the cost of keep, and the time 

 needed for bringing an animal to maturity. 

 This applies principally to all young stock 

 and to beef cattle, but incidentally to all 

 cattle as well. As an example of how much 

 food must be used merely to keep up the 

 animal heat which is mechanically supplied in 

 the barn, the following experiment with sheep, 

 which are, perhaps, the best protected against 

 cold of all our domesticated animals, is very 

 striking. The case is 1 cited by Mr. Nesbit, and 

 came under his immediate observation. A 

 Dorsetshire farmer put thirty head of sheep 

 under a warm shed, and at the same time he 

 placed another lot of a like number, of the 

 same weight and condition, in an open field, 

 where they had no shelter of any kind. The 

 two lots were fed in exactly the same way, on 

 an unlimited ration of turnips with coarse fod- 

 der. The feeding was thus continued through- 

 out the cold season, and at the end of that 

 period the sheep being weighed, it appeared 

 that the sheep which had been fed out of doors 

 had gained one pound per head for each week 

 during the experiment, while those under 

 shelter had consumed less food and yet had 



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