NEW ExNGLAND FARiMKR. 



The Trii.-^tees also propose lo appropriate, on 

 the second day of the Cattle Sho.v, their Pens 

 for tlu! public sale of any Animals, that have 

 been ollered for prcminm, and also ot any oth- 

 ers, that are considered hy them, as possessing 

 line qualities ; and their Ylalls for the public 

 sale of ManiUactures. Both sales to take place 

 at half past eleven o'clock, precisely. And for 

 all Animals or Manufactures, that are intended 

 to be sold, notice must be given to the -Secre- 

 tary, before 10 o'clock of the 10th. Auction- 

 eers will be provided by the Trustees. 

 By order of the Trustees, 



J. LOWELL, 



J. PRINCE, 



G. PARSONS, 



E. H. DERBY, 

 January, 1822. 



Committee. 



From tlie Boston Daily Advertiser. 



COXSTRUCTIO.Y OF STABLES. 

 Most of the horses brought into this town 

 from the country, become soon diseased, gene- 

 rallv in the course of the first week, and fre- 

 Hueutly in 24 or 43 hours after they are phced 

 in our stables. It has been frequently ftsked 

 what can be the cause of this sudden alteration 

 in the health of the animal, and it has almost as 

 frequently been answered, a change of air and 

 of food. There is no doubt a change of food 

 has some inlluencc, but the effect is principal- 

 ly attributable to a change of air. It is not 

 however the kind of change, that is generally 

 supposed. It is not the bringing horses from a 

 fresh atmosphere to a salt one, that pro- 

 duces the disease I allude to. It is the brmg- 

 ing them from a pure atmosphere, and confin- 

 ing them in crowded stables, where the air be- 

 ing vitiated bj' respiration, and the effluvia from 

 nnimal bodies, a malignant quality, which being 

 inhaled by horses imacustomed to it, soon de- 

 ranges the system and generates disease ; and 

 So long as our stables are constructed, as they 

 now are, so long will our country horses be 

 sick , when brought into them. We have ali 

 of us heard of jail fever, hospital fever, plague 

 and typhus; and much has been said about the 

 domestic origin of yellow fever, but what jail, 

 hospital or prison ship; or what situation in our 

 streets, or about our wharves, can be found, 

 where the air is so vitiated as in a common 

 stable ? Imagine for instance 30 or 40 horses 

 confined inii space 50 by 30 feet, and 9 feet 

 high, (the scafl'old is generally about 9 feet 

 from the ground) surrounded by a brick wall, 

 without windows, and no ventilators through 

 the roof; and no outlet for the hot air, except 

 at the doors, and those closed at night ; and then 

 consider the fact as stated by Dr. Hales, that a 

 man cannot live in 74 cubical inches of air, one 

 minute, without danger of sutiocation. It is ob- 

 vious, that a horse so situated, must breathe the 

 same air over and over again and not only the 

 air which has repeatedly passed through his 

 lungs, but that which has been breathed many 

 times by other horses, and is filled with exhal- 

 ' ations, arising from animal secretions and excre- 

 tions ; and perhaps too, the planks and timbers 

 of the very stall he stands in, may have been 

 saturated, for years, with excrementious matter, 

 which can emit only noxious effluvia, or what 

 is called animal miasms. 



It has been stated by a writer of some emin- 

 ence, that three thousand men contined in the 



compass of one acre of ground, ivould make an 

 atmosphere of their own steams, seventy feet 

 hi;;h, which would soon become pestilential, if 

 it were not dispersed by the winds. After 

 considering these facts, who can doubt what 

 generates disease in horses brought into our 

 stables from the country? The only doubt that 

 naturally suggests itself is, how our horses get 

 along so well as they do. After gettinc: over 

 their first sickness, or seasoning, as it is called, 

 (which requires more or less time, according to 

 the constitution of the horse, and the stable in 

 which he is placed) they go on tolerably well. 

 Their constitutions become assimilated to their 

 situation, as to the air which they breathe, and 

 its effects are not so injurious ; in the same man- 

 ner as a man, may become so accustomed trom 

 habit, to the use of tobacco, opium, and arsenic, 

 that they will not make him sick, jet none will 

 say. that these are not injurious to the human 

 constitution ; and I believe few will say, when 

 the subject is properly understood, that the air 

 in our stables is not equally so to the animal. 



In making these remarks, I have but one mn- 

 tivej which is to draw the attention of the pub- 

 lic to this subject, in hopes that an alteration in 

 the construction of our stables may be the con- 

 sequence. We have many excellent buildings 

 in this towui occupied as stables, and with a few 

 alterations, they might be made very healthy 

 and comfortable dwellings, for horses. 



In constructing a stable, the first object ought 

 to be a propfcr system of ventilation. This 

 may be effected in the following way. Let a 

 hole 3 by 4 inches he knocked through the 

 brick wall, immediately above the head of each 

 horse, and another of the same dimensions op- 

 posite to it, and parallel with the floor of the 

 stall. This will occassion a perfect and con- 

 stant ventilation. As it is the property of hot 

 air to ascend, every time the horse makes an 

 expiration, the air expelled from his lungs, be- 

 ing more rare than the surrounding atmosphere, 

 wdl go out at the upper hole, and a correspond- 

 ing quantity of pure air will come in at the low- 

 er hole. 



No danger is to be apprehended from cold 

 air coming in at the upper hole, upon the head 

 of the horse, as the current will constantly be 

 turned upwards. The rarified and unwhole- 

 some air will escape at the upper hole, and the 

 wholesome air will come in at the lower. 



As some stables may be so situated, as to 

 render this method of ventilation impracticable, 

 1 would recommend, where this is the case, that 

 one, two, three or four openings be made 

 through the roof The number ougiit to be in 

 proportion to the length and size of the stable. 

 This may be done in the following wa}'. Let a 

 hole be cut through the scalVold about 3 feet 

 square, and another directly over it, through 

 the root', about 2 feet square, and let a box be 

 inserted, open at each end, of a shape and size, 

 to correspond- to these two openings, and sulTi- 

 ciently long to extend from the under side of 

 the scatTold, through Hie roof. Then let holes 

 be cut through the doors, or through some con- 

 venient parts of the stable, on a jjarallel with 

 the fioor, of equal number and dimensions, as 

 those through the roof. By this method a re- 

 gular and systematic ventilation will be pro- 

 duced. If any one doubts the justness of these 

 remarks, and believes that our present method 

 of stabling a good one, and that horses ought to 



be kept in a hot air. and covered up with wool- 

 en blankets, let him trj' the experiment upon 

 himself; let him sleep in a heated room, with 

 ten or fifteen others, covered up with clothes, 

 sweat it out for the night, and try the condition 

 he will be in for any kind of employment ' 

 whatever. 



I cannot refrain here from making one or 

 two remarks upon the very common, but very 

 absurd practice of blanketing horses in the sta- 

 ble, thougli this is a sul>ject which more pro- 

 perly belong; to the maiuigcment of horses than 

 the construction of stables. 



It must be obvious to every one, who reflects 

 at all upon this subject, that if a horse requires 

 one blanket in a warm stable, he ought to have 

 two when he goes out in a cold storm. Instead 

 of this, when the horse is taken from the stall, 

 his blanket is throw i off, and he is exposed per- 

 haps for the day to the inclemency of the wea- 

 ther, and frequently withotrt much exercise to 

 counteract the ellects of cold. Even the con- 

 stitution of a horse cannot withstand this treat- 

 ment. He soon becomes infirm, decrepit, and 

 broken down. His usefulness is diminished and 

 his life shortened by this kind of iiwiiagement. 



From the Rhode Island .\mcrican. 



FARMERS— ATTEjyn. 

 James !-isson, Esq. who lives at Warren 

 Neck, about three miles from the village of 

 Warren, is well known to the publick as an en- 

 terprising Agriculturali^. He is always seek- 

 ing improvements in what is most useful to his 

 fellow-citizens, viz. Orchards, the introduction 

 of new kinds of Grain, the best mode of culti- 

 vating his farm, &c. He imported from Bre- 

 inen,"in November, 1820, two pairs of the larg- 

 est kind of Geese, supposed lo be the largest in 

 the world, weighing when fatted, 20 pounds, 

 and, it is confidently asserted, some weigh 30 

 pounds- At first he' was rather discouraged, as 

 they would not cat Indian corn, an-d the spring 

 following they sat early and both Geese reared 

 but one to maturity. That one, however, this 

 spring, brought off two litters, and the two old 

 pairs each brought up a litter ; he now has 17 

 young and 5 old ones., all perfectly white and 

 liealthy, and of full size. They feed and set as 

 well as any of our common Geese ; the young 

 cenie off healthy and strong, and yield about 

 double the quantity of t'eathers. I was at his 

 farm, a few days since, and was highly gratified 

 in viewing on the lawn directly in front of the 

 house, two beautiful flocks of snowy whiteness 

 (he has the common geese, feeding near them, 

 and they resemble ducks in point of size) and 1 

 have no hesitation in recommending to the 

 farmers of New-England that they introduce 

 this valuable breed of poultry into their barn 

 yards. Mr. Sisson will dispose of a few pairs, 

 if applied for soon, and the opportunity ought 

 not to be neglected. 



A Fiiend to Agriculture. 



A'ea) Covering for Floors. — A new material 

 has been introduced and is becoming fashiona- 

 ble in Philadelphia as a covering for floors. It 

 is made of paper, is said to be very handsome, 

 as it may be fashioned in a great variety of 

 patterns, is quite durable, and is only one quar- 

 ter as expensive as Carpets or Oil Cloth. 



