THE FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. 469 



sure. Any other animal on the farm will stand more exposure without 

 suffering than a cow giving a large flow of milk. 



Close confinement in the barn during the whole winter is a subject 

 now being much discussed by dairymen, and some argue for the prac- 

 tice, reporting favorable results. I can not believe that it is well to 

 keep cows confined for four or five months in one spot. The dread dis- 

 ease tuberculosis has already found a lodgment in too many herds 

 scattered over the country, and its spread is something greatly to be 

 feared. It is not unreasonable to hold that dairy stock confined gener- 

 ation after generation in the stable, out of the sunlight and fresh air, 

 for many months each year, must, after a time, become more suscepti- 

 ble to this disease than where more freedom is allowed. 



PROF. ROBERTO'S SYSTEM. 



It is not well to turn stock out into the bleak winter storm to obtain 

 fresh air and exercise, but can we not modify our present system so that 

 the cows shall have the freedom and avoid the exposure? At Cornell 

 University Prof. Roberts has for years followed a plan which seems of 

 great value in its teachings to the dairymen of this country. The cows 

 stand in stanchions while feeding and being milked, but immediately 

 afterward they are turned into a large covered yard where they are free 

 to stand or lie, entirely unconfined except by the walls, so that they 

 have a dining room and living room, each adapted to its purpose. The 

 a< ( umulations from the horse stable are spread over the floor of the 

 covered yard where the cows spend most of their time, and is cov- 

 ered with straw and land plaster, used to prevent odors arising. 

 This perfect system of saving manure should alone pay in a few years 

 for the cost of the additional room required. The stable can be reduced 

 10 the smallest si/e compatible with holding the cows and permitting 

 milking and feeding, andean be, kept scrupulously clean and thoroughly 

 aired, since the cows are in it but a few hours each day. Under these 

 conditions the cows should eome to their meals each day with the best 

 of appetites and return to their larger quarters to ruminate in com- 

 fort. Where dairymen arc buying and selling COWH constantly, using 

 each animal but a few years, close confinement and little attention to 

 the health of the herd may not bring unfortunate results, but there are 

 nn-ny persons breeding choice herds of dairy animals who wish to take 

 a^ little rink as jK)Ksible from weak constitutions or inducing tubercu- 

 losiH. To Htieh I commend a careful review of the Cornell system. 



REGULARITY AND K1NDNESH IN TIIK DAIRY. 



The dairy cow is the creature of habits, as well as most other annuals. 

 and is very susceptible to favorable or unfavorable intluenccH. At this 

 station a record of every milking in kept, and in looking over it we can 

 tell when Sunday comes by the smaller yield* on that day. Our men 



