552 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



neglected in regard to cleanliness, as to become 

 disgustingly filthy and a burden to themselves. 

 This is an unnatural condition, and must tend to 

 decrease the power of the food used. It makes 

 the creature uncomfortable, and probably prevents 

 that important action of the skin which promotes 

 health and vigor, and indeed, is essential to the 

 preservation of life itself. An ox that is kept 

 clean, by being carded, and even washed occa- 

 sionally, will be quite likely to improve faster on 

 the same amount of food, than one who is forced 

 to lie down amidst the accumulated droppings of 

 the stall. 



"If given irregularly, the animal will consume 

 his food, but he soon acquires a restless disposi- 

 tion, is disturbed at every appearance of his feed- 

 er, and is never in that quiet state so necessary 

 to take on fat. It is surprising how readily any 

 animal acquires habits of regularity in feeding, 

 and how soon the influence of this is felt in the 

 improvement of his condition. When at the reg- 

 ular hour the pig has had his pudding, or the 

 sheep his turnips, they compose themselves to 

 rest, their digestion is not unseasonably disturbed, 

 or their quiet bi'oken by unwonted invitation to 

 eat." Some persons make the places where the 

 animals are kept quite dark, but this is a needless 

 and even cruel process. It is only necessary to 

 observe other essential circumstances. 



Next to regularity in feeding, there should be 

 a judicious selection of food, and great care ob- 

 served in the manner of feeding it out ; that is, 

 not to give the animal all hay or vegetables, one 

 day, and then nothing but grain the next, or the 

 reverse of these. There is also much to be ob- 

 served in the preparation of the food. "The ox 

 that is obliged to wander over an acre to get the 

 food he should find in two or three square rods — 

 the horse that is two or three hours eating the 

 coarse food he should swallow in fifteen minutes 

 if the grain were ground, or the hay cut, as it 

 should be — the sheep that spends hours in mak- 

 ing its way into a turnip, which, if it were sliced, 

 it would eat in as many minutes — the pig that 

 eats raw potatoes or whole corn, when either 

 cooked could be eaten in one-quarter of the time, 

 may indeed fatten, but much less rapidly than if 

 their food were given them in a proper manner. 

 All food should be given in such a state to fatten- 

 ing animals, that as little time as possible, on the 

 part of the animal, shall be required in eating." 

 It will not do to stuff" and starve by turns. 



Vegetables of various kinds, such as turnips, 

 potatoes, beets, mangolds and carrots, are excel- 

 lent in fattening, but they must not be depended 

 upon so much as some of the grains, which are, 

 eminently, fat producing substances. Corn, with 

 us, stands first and foremost among them all. 

 ■Pnf fV'^- s;' — M >^" T-N-r,,, in the form of meal. 



Oil meal is also excellent, in proper quantities. 

 A cow may be well fatted on turnips, with what 

 good English hay she will eat ; but it may be 

 doubted whether such a course would be the most 

 profitable one for the farmer. It would depend 

 upon circumstances. 



The essential points to be observed, are, — 



1. Warmth and comfort in every way. 



2. A variety of sweet and nutritious food, and 



especially food containing heat giving and 

 fat making principles ; and 



3. The utmost regularity in feeding and tending. 



THE LARGEST BARN IN THE COUNTRY. 



Lancaster County has always been famous for 

 its large barns, and perhaps no county of the 

 same extent in the United States can show so 

 many ■well built and well-appointed barns as the 

 Old Guard. The Shakers of Lebanon, New York, 

 however, have a barn which, in point of size and 

 completeness is nowhere equalled, and a descrip- 

 tion of which we feel sure will interest our numer- 

 ous rural readers, and we therefore give it a place 

 among the "locals." It was recently erected at 

 an expense of $15,000, and it is thus described: 



It is 196 feet long, 50 feet wide, five stories 

 high ; the walls of good flat, quarried stone, five 

 feet thick at the foundation carefully laid in lime 

 mortar, cement pointed outside ; roofed with 

 tarred paper, cement and gravel. It also has three 

 wings, wooden buildings, which form four sheds 

 about 100 feet long upon the east and west side 

 of the cattle yards, on the south of the main build- 

 ing, with lofts for straw and grain connected with 

 the barn. 



The lower story of the barn is a manure cellar, 

 and at the west end it is level with the ground, so 

 that carts can be driven out with ease. The next 

 story is the cow stable, which is on a level with 

 the yard, the cows standing with their heads to- 

 ward the centre, with a passage between supplied 

 with Avater pipes and cocks. In this passage roots, 

 cut feed or water can be given in iron feed boxes, 

 which swing on a pivot into the passage. Behind 

 the cows the floor drops a couple of inches, a space 

 of three feet, and back of that rises again. The 

 depression is to hold the manure. On the rise 

 behind are iron rails, upon which cars run into the 

 west end and over a space about '15 feet wide, and 

 discharge their loads, the rails and a turn-tal^le 

 being so contrived that the manure is well distrib- 

 uted with but little labor. The idea is entertained 

 of making the whole cellar into a liquid vat, which 

 could be distributed by its own gravity iqoon the 

 lower part of the farm, or sent liigher uj) by the 

 water power that drives the mill not far distant. 

 The cows are all fastened to their stalls at each 

 milking, in sunnner, and all at one movement. 

 They are driven in all together, and cacli one 

 takes her place where her name is printed over- 

 head, and then by a pull of a cord all the movable 

 stanchions are closed. They are opened by a re- 

 verse motion, and all the cows hurried out in a 

 drove, so that they never make a deposit on the 

 floor. They arc left a few minutes to do that in 

 the yard, before sending them to pasture. 



There are six large ventilators from tli'^ '"''"r of 



