CHAPTER XXIII 

 STABLES FOR COWS 



THE dairy cow, unlike the fattening steer that is protected 

 by layers of fat, needs to be comfortably housed to do good 

 work. The loss from exposure to cold, and especially cold 

 rains, results in much larger losses than the actual amount of 

 feed required to maintain the animal heat under the unfavor- 

 able conditions. The importance of housing is generally 

 understood and practiced in the colder climates. As a rule 

 more losses from exposure occur in thoss regions where, from 

 the usual mildness of the climate, sufficient provision is not 

 made for the severe weather that occurs only at intervals. 



Where the importance of proper stabling is recognized, the 

 conditions existing are, on the average, far from what they 

 should be. No part of the present system of handling cows 

 is more in need of improvement at present. It must be recog- 

 nized that the stable is a place in which human food is pro- 

 duced, and further that the health and even the lives of the 

 children of the country depend to a large extent upon the 

 conditions existing in the stables where the milk, which serves 

 as their main food, is produced. There is a strong and grow- 

 ing demand on the part of milk consumers and officials having 

 to do with the health conditions of the cities for better sani- 

 tation in the barns and dairies. Laws and regulations regard- 



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