The Farming of Cheshire. 
101 
them in very cold situations. Young calves are exceedingly 
susceptible of cold, and unless kept warm and dry will not thrive 
as they ought. A south aspect is decidedly the best, but such an 
arrangement is not alwavs convenient, as it might interfere with 
the general plan of the buildings ; but whenever they are placed 
in situations much exposed to the cold winds, care should be 
taken to have the doors closely jointed, and the openings required 
for ventilation should be sufficiently high to prevent the winds from 
blowing uj)on the calves ; and if the building be a shoring, the 
roof should be plastered underneath, as in frosty weather the 
cold strikes through the slates ; and the floors should invariably 
be raised a little above the level of the ground, with openings 
left between the flag-stones or boards through which the wet 
from them may escape. 1 have found strong oaken planks to 
answer better than flags for floors, and so contrived as to be en- 
abled to j)ut them in loosely, as they are then readily removable 
for the purpose of cleaning out the bottom of the pen : wood is 
also much warmer for the calves to lie upon than flags in frosty 
weather. I am thus particular, because I have experienced the 
difference between cold pens and warm ones. Mine are shor- 
ings, on the north side of the buildings, with the exception of one 
to the south. During cold frosty weather the calves in the former 
pens often suffer from disordered bowels, and other complaints 
follow ; neither do they thrive well in that situation ; but if re- 
moved to the latter, a change for the better is very soon per- 
ceptible. In three of my calf-pens I have had frames of oak 
bars made in three divisions each, with an inch between each bar, 
to place upon the flags, and have found much benefit from the 
contrivance, as the calves now lie in a much drier and warmer 
state than before. 
Offices connected with the dairy are also much improved in 
many parts of the county. The dairy-kitchen, as it is called, is 
spacious and convenient ; and anything calculated to create a 
draught is studiously excluded, it being of great importance to 
keep cheese warm during the process of making.* The milk- 
house is placed on the coolest side of the building, and has good 
ventilation ; the drying-house is at one end of the dairy, and the 
cheese -presses are placed close to the wall at the back of the 
boiler and whey-furnace, which stand in the dairy, as the warmth 
from them is so desirable to promote the running of the whey 
from the cheese while under the press. The furnace and boiler 
are arched over, and are so contrived that the steam arising from 
* By the present regulations only one dairy window is allowed free of 
duty ; lattices are therefore freqviently introduced, and thus cold draughts 
are admitted of an injurious tendency. 
