1863 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



n 



stabling for Cattle. 



JSditor Illinois Farmer. Champaign Illinois : 



Of course it is important to stable cattle. Nev- 

 ertheless few do so. Some neglect it even when 

 they have shelter ; but the most because they have 

 no shelter. One of the worst effects of being 

 brought up on a farm poorly managed is the ac- 

 quiring of early habits of slovenly farming. Few 

 men will improve unless they see things better than 

 they have themselves. It is a bad thing, too, for 

 a farmer to commence for himself by not having 

 means to make his family and stock comfortable, 

 for he gets in a habit of getting along " somehow," 

 an(J as he grows wealthy he does not feel the im- 

 portance of having comforts and conveniences 

 when he has so long got along without them. 



Should our State have the good fortune to ac- 

 cept the government endowment, by which an Ag- 

 ricultural College will be established, an immense 

 change for the better will result in very many re- 

 spects — ^for there will be model farms which many 

 will visit, and the ideas they will suggest and dis- 

 seminate through the farming country, will revolu- 

 tionize, in a great degree, not only the appearance 

 but the condition of our farms. Such an institu- 

 tion will, among other things, show the advan- 

 tages of stabling stock. But while farmers are 

 waiting for " the good time coming " the cattle are 

 standing in the snow and rain, and many can im- 

 prove their spare hours by making temporary sta- 

 bles. The majority of farmers are too poor to 

 build costly stables — then let them build cheap 

 ones. 



Oak posts eight or ten feet long may be set in 

 holes dug in the ground. Then plates and rafters 

 of poles may be procured ; and for shingles, one 

 may use 3 feet clapboards ri%^ed of oak. Such a 

 structure cannot cost much anywhere. Rough 

 lumber will answer for the sides ; doors may be 

 hung on wooden hinges, and a strong wooden latch 

 is better for a barn than an iron one. Let a man- 

 ger run through the length of the building, and 

 beyond it keep the fodder or hay. The space 

 where the cattle stand should be divided into stalls, 

 which are best made like bars, and every animal 

 should be tied by the horns with a rope. The ad- 

 vantages are these, and they are very great : 



You feed each one what it should have, and it 

 without hooking or running down another. Amon"- 

 cattle there is always one which drives the others, 

 and one which all the others drive. Except the 

 first, every one is driven by another one. What 

 awful plunges, starts and stampedes always takes 

 place among the cattle when they are fed in the 

 barn yard. 



Agaia— whatever you feed the cattle is saved. 



If they don't eat it one time they will another. 

 Throw hay to a cow on the ground, the first thing 

 she does is to step on it. If it is muddy, she is 

 certain to destroy much. I consider that not more 

 than half as much feed is required to keep stock 

 when fed in a manger, as when fed on the ground. 

 I am not certain but a quarter as much will do as 

 well. Hence it is easy to see that when one saves 

 feed in the summer for the purpose of feeding it 

 on the ground in the winter, that he takes twice 

 as many steps, the scythe swings twice as much, 

 the wife works twice as hard, and that twice as 

 much meadow is required, as would be necessary 

 if he kept his cattle stabled. In short, so far as 

 this is concerned, it is true, that the farmer throws 

 away half of his summer's work ; and if he man- 

 ages the rest of his business in the same way, he 

 does not live more than half a life. 



Somebody must milk — and we have rain in this 

 country. A fine piece of business it is to sit on a 

 stool, or to stand stooping, milking in the rain. A 

 man that will suffer it has no excuse. If he is in 

 debt he is a fool for not having made a better use 

 of other people's money, and if he is not in debt, 

 he ought easily to borrow, should he do so for the 

 sole purpose of building a shelter for his stock. A 

 cow, when stabled will give more milk and 

 on less food than when kept out doors. 



In a stable it is easy to save manure, and where 

 manure is wanted this advantage will pay the cost 

 of a stable every year. There is no saving manure 

 in the winter season when the cattle run out doors. 

 The manure saved in the winter is worth more than 

 when saved in the summer, because much grain is 

 fed. Solon Robinson thinks one will gain in the 

 value of manure by feeding stock on corn meal, 

 and I agree with him. 



A man who stables his stock will get in the habit 

 of putting his farming tools and wagons under 

 shelter. How much he can save this way he can 

 easily calculate when he has to buy these things 

 ten years sooner than would have been necessary 

 had he taken care of them. 



There would seem to be reasons enough why one 

 should have stables, but there are two in addition, 

 one is : some will take him to be a merciful man 

 and a gentleman, and others will certainly think he 

 is a Christian. N. C. M. 



•«« ■ 



The Weather and Crops. 



Morxn Farm, Cextralia, III.^ 

 Feb. 12, 1863. f 

 To the Editor of the Illinois Farmer : 



Dear Sir — The Feb. Xo. of the Farmer came to 

 hand yesterday, and I was much pleased with its 

 contents, and look upon it as an indispensable vis- 

 iter to our prairie home. And feeling the great 

 benefit derived from its pages, I will use my best 

 endeavors to increase the number of subscribers 



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