1861. 



THE ILLIjS'OIS FARMEK. 



307 



[Kr^m the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] 



Protecting Animals from Bain 

 Storms. 



I believe that farmers, generally, are not aware 

 bow muchi loss they sustain in the flesh of their 

 domestic animals, and how much they suiftr 

 during cold storms of rain in the summer, or at 

 any other season of the year. Warm showers 

 never injure animals; indeed they appear to have 

 a good relish for such a. sprinkling as they fre- 

 quently get, providing it is not as cold as ice. 

 Most animals will endure pretty stsvere cold, as 

 kng as they can keep dry; but, as soon as their 

 bodies have been wet, and are kept wet, evapora- 

 tion commences. And as evaporation is a cool- 

 ing process, the heat of their bodies is carried 

 away very rapidly ; and the sudden transition 

 from heat to cold chills them in a very short 

 time, and injures them more than a severo storm 

 in winter. 



Animals will endure a very sudden change 

 from cold to heat, with impunity ; but snddea 

 changes from heat to cold are often attended with 

 very injurious consequences. We are apt to think 

 because it is summer, or not freezing weather, 

 that a storm of rain will not hurt our animals, 

 But, could they communicate to us their feelings 

 during a storm of cold rain, there would not bs 

 so much negligence about protecting them, espe- 

 cially during tbe cold and stormy days and nights 

 of autumn. 



I well remember, that about twenty years ago, 

 there was a severe rain storm in the month of 

 June, and although our sheep had been sheared 

 more than two weeks, we thought they ought to 

 be brought home to the barn. But many of them 

 were to cold and feeble, in consequence of the 

 rain, that it was necessary to go after them with 

 a wagon. 



About the first of July, 1861, there was another 

 very cold storm of rain, which swept away hun- 

 dreds of sheep in the town where I reside. One 

 farmer lost about sixty of his choicest sheep, al- 

 though they had beon sheared several days be- 

 fore the fcitorm came on. I have heard of more 

 than three hundred lost during the storm. 



It is infinitely better for animals, to keep them 

 in a stable or shed, where they cannot get a 

 mouthful of food for twelve successive hours, 

 than to allow them to be exposed for only two 

 hours to a storm of cold rain. 



When I was accustomed to keep sheep, I was 

 always careful to let them have the benefit of a 

 shed, if they needed it, not only in winter, but 

 during summer ; and it was very unusual that 

 our horses and neat cattle were left for one hour 

 in the field, during a cold storm. Cold storms 

 not only make horses /ooA bad, but they do really 

 injure them, by rendering them stiff and dull; 

 and they often contract severe cold, which, many 

 times, will Ruperinduce catarrh and glanders. 



Young calves and colts often suifer extremely 

 from exposure to cold storms, even in summer; 

 and to shelter them, will be time and money well 

 appropriated. »'A merciful man regardeth the 

 life of his beast." s. e. t. 



It is the spring and autumn storms that damage 

 stock exposed to them, and not the dry, cold 



weather of winter. For this reason we have al- 

 ways advocated the use of sheds. Keep your 

 stock out of the wind and storms, and they will 

 get alung well enough without being stabled. In 

 fact a good sbed, with plenty of straw for bed- 

 ding, is better than an ordinary stable. Tbe 

 dairymen about Chicago have learned that, to 

 have a cow give a good mess of milk, they must 

 be kept in a stable, with a temperature above 

 anything like a severe frost, that the thermome- 

 ter should not go below thirty degrees. So if we 

 wauld keep our stock in good order through the 

 winter, we must not allow them to be exposed to 

 cold rain storms. Cattle will do well on straw, 

 if well stacked, and they be allowed to run to it 

 at pleasure; and in such case you will always 

 find them on the lee side, and at night snugly 

 bedded in the Lose straw. We would prefer a 

 good straw stack to an abundant supply of hay 

 without the shelter. Ed. 



\--_ [From the Ciccinn&ti Commercial.] 



Linseed Crop. 



Within the past week, the manufacturers of 

 Linseed Oil in the West, held a meeting in this 

 city for tbe purpose of comparing notes, with 

 reference to their future action. 



The statistics furnished, showed thatthe whole 

 amount of seed given out to farmers, in the 

 spring of 1860, was, in round numbers, 40,000 

 bushels; and that the average product was 

 eig .t fold, or eight bushels to the one sown. 

 This year the whole amount given ont did not 

 exceed 25,000 bushels, and further that there 

 has been much less independent seed sown this 

 year, than last. The cause of this falling off was 

 the wet weather in April, which rendered sowing 

 in all cases difiScult, and in some cases, in flat 

 land with a c'ay sub-soil, impossible. The grow- 

 ing crop, we understand, looks well, and promises 

 an average yield, in case the weather proves fa- 

 vorable. 



The whole number of oil mills in the West ia 

 sixteen, all of which we believe were represented. 



Now, the product of oil is generally two gal- 

 lons per bushel, so that basing our calculations 

 upon the above figures, leaving out the deficiency 

 in independent seed, the comparison is as fol- 

 lows : 



1860, product of oil - - - gallons 784,000 



1861, " '• 400,000 



Deficiency this year $384,000 



Based upon this fact, thus made known, the 

 manufacturers agreed not to sell their present 

 stock of oil less than 55c, which is an advance of 

 4@5c per gallon over the rate it had been selling 

 at. 



<•» 



— Though the clouds rear their battlements in 

 the sky, they are easily carried by storm. 



