20 NECESSITY OF WARMTH AND SHELTER IN WINTER FOR STOCK.—IMPROVEMENT OF FARMS. 
county fowl of Pennsylvania and the game breed; 
and they now rejoice in the acquisition of some 
nice young Dorkings. 
But I weary your patience. To say that I was 
charmed, delighted, and exceedingly instructed, 
by my visit to this luxurious retreat, and much 
indebted to the refined hospitality of my esteemed 
host, would be barely common place. A proper 
delicacy forbids my saying more, and I would 
hardly have gone so much into detail, but for the 
rare and profitable example of highly improved 
agriculture here presented. 
L. F. Allen. 
Black Bock, 1843. 
For the American Agriculturist . 
NECESSITY OF WARMTH AND SHELTER, IN 
WINTER FOR STOCK. 
Llangollen, Ky., .FeA4M, 1843. 
Dear Sir :—It is frequently asked by young 
farmers, to what kinds of domestic animals and 
stock is it advantageous to afford warm and com¬ 
fortable winter quarters ? The answer is —to all; 
from hens and chickens, to the horse and ox. 
There is great economy of food in affording shelter 
to all that breathe, in a cold climate, and to all 
animals that we wish to fatten, perfect quietude, 
or freedom from muscular exertion, is not less 
important. 
All the food given to animals, goes to supply 
the waste in the system produced by the vital 
functions and muscular exertion, keeping the sys¬ 
tem in statu quo , or in increasing its bulk and 
weight, by addition, in full-grown animals, in fat, 
or in keeping up a supply of heat to the body. In 
cold weather a very large portion of the food is 
expended in generating heat, and just so much is 
lost to the production of fat, milk, eggs, &c. The 
necessity for generating animal heat from the car¬ 
bon and hydrogen of the food, increases with the 
severity of the weather, for the faster the heat is 
abstracted from the body by the atmosphere, the 
faster must it be supplied. We know of no other 
source of animal heat than the oxydation of the 
elements of food by breathing, and their passing 
out of the body in the form of vapor, of water, 
and carbonic gas. All the food, then, that is thus 
burnt to keep up the heat of the body, is lost to 
nutrition. Artificial warmth, then, either from 
shelter or clothing, supplies the place of food—of 
that food thus expended to produce necessary 
heat, which would go, if that were supplied from 
other sources, to the formation of fat, or the sup¬ 
ply of waste. Ail muscular exertion, everything 
that increases the frequency of breathing, causes 
waste, which must be supplied before any in¬ 
crease in fat, or milk, or muscle, can take place. 
Hard work, active exertion, and quick breathing, 
cause rapid waste of the parts of the system. This 
must be supplied by food before there can be any 
addition. Without this waste, the same food 
would go to increase the weight and bulk of the 
body. When animals are kept warm, clean, and 
quiet, about one half the nutritious matter (if it be 
diffused through a bulk sufficient for proper dis¬ 
tention of the organs of nutrition) that is neces¬ 
sary to a wretched shivering existence, exposed to 
the inclemencies of the weather, will keep them 
in fine condition. And good shelters and warm 
clothing even, cost much less in the course of a 
few years, than large daily supplies of food, neces¬ 
sary to vital warmth, and expended and lost in 
producing it. 
Independently of the question of economy of 
food, there is great comfort to a humane man in 
seeing all living things around him comfortable; 
and especially those to whom he is largely in¬ 
debted for those comforts which he enjoys. Even 
when there are ample supplies of food to waste in 
keeping animals warm, still they suffer in very 
cold weather, if unprotected from cold winds, 
sleet, and snow. And it is painful to see them 
drawn up and shivering, turning their mute sup¬ 
plicating countenances to their masters, for protec¬ 
tion from the pitiless inclemency of the weather. 
The subject of these brief hints is so ably treated, 
and fully demonstrated in Liebig’s Animal Chem¬ 
istry, that it is greatly to be desired that his work 
should be in the hands of not the few scientific 
men, but of the people; and I should be greatly 
pleased to see an edition of it, in which the lan¬ 
guage in which so much important truth is em¬ 
bodied, should be adapted to popular comprehen¬ 
sion. Many persons will not read it, and others 
will not understand it, in its present translation. 
His facts and the unavoidable inductions from 
them, bring us to a new era in physiology. 
Starting points that have not been approached be¬ 
fore, seemed to have been reached, and a new di¬ 
rection will be given to our researches, and a more 
profitable one, for we shall seek attainable ob¬ 
jects. We are yet barely in the dawn of the ap¬ 
plication of the inductive philosophy, and centuries 
will pass before mankind will be fully aware of 
the obligations they owe to Lord Bacon. 
Very truly your friend and 
Obedient servant, 
John Lewis. 
A. B» Allen, Esq., New York. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
IMPROVEMENT OF FARMS. 
Plants as well as animals require food, which 
they obtain from the atmosphere and the soil. 
When land is naturally barren, oris impoverished 
by severe cropping, it can only be improved by 
good tilling and manure. In looking over our 
farming districts, we find as a general rule, that 
farmers do not appreciate the value of manure ; 
but few take the trouble of informing themselves 
of its true nature, and upon what its peculiar 
effects upon the growth of plants depend. 
Manure is made up of certain gases, a few 
chemical salts, and some other less important 
substances, which, when placed under favorable 
circumstances undergo certain changes, which fit 
them to afford what is requisite for the perfection 
of plants. When the chemical changes in decom¬ 
posing substances are taking place, gases are 
formed- which are sensible to the smell; upon 
these the most valuable quality of manure de- 
