1861 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
3G3 
Are the Animals Comfortable? 
Fretful men are seldom fat. Irritation and 
annoyance interfere with both appetite and di¬ 
gestion. It is your man of comfortable circum¬ 
stances and easy disposition, that increases in 
bulk. The same is true of animals. A fiery, ex¬ 
citable beast is fattened with difficulty, and fre¬ 
quent annoyance of any kind will seriously in¬ 
terfere with the thrift of stock. Profit as well 
as kindness demands that the comfort of ani¬ 
mals should bo studied. Let us note a few items 
which are often neglected. 
Regularity in feeding is of the first importance. 
An animal fed at irregular periods will often be 
hungry, and will constantly be on the lookout 
for a supply; this causes continual uneasiness. 
Where the hour for feeding is fixed, and punc¬ 
tually observed, the appetite is regulated accord¬ 
ingly; the food is taken with a relish, and 
when it is disposed of, there is no further anxie¬ 
ty until the next feeding time comes around. 
Keep animals cleanly. All are so naturally. 
Swine roll in the mud, and hens wallow in dust 
to clear themselves of vermin; they only choose 
the least of two evils. In Switzerland it is said 
that the hair of cows is kept as well combed 
and dressed as that of the women, and the ani¬ 
mals themselves learn carefully to avoid all soil¬ 
ing of their coats. This is going to one extrema ; 
but the opposite one, the entire neglect which 
allows the hind quarters of animals in the stable 
to become coated with manure, is a sin against 
common decency. Cleanliness is essential to 
health. The skin performs some of the most 
important functions of the body. Keep it in 
good order by frequent carding and brushing. 
A coarse card is better for this purpose than a 
stiff curry-comb. Much of the labor may be 
saved by supplying the stalls with plenty of 
litter. A good bed of straw will also aid in 
keeping the animal comfortably warm. The 
importance of this has too often been urged in 
the Agriculturist to need repetition here. 
Continued confinement is irksome to all liv¬ 
ing creatures. Stock of every kind should be al¬ 
lowed to spend a little time in the yards during 
the warmest part of every pleasant day. Sun¬ 
shine is stimulating to all natural functions, and 
is necessary to full health. Finally, keep the 
animals in good humor by keeping good-natured 
yourself. A “jolly” fat man will be much 
more likely to have jolly fat animals, than one 
who can not pass through the yard without 
venting his spleen by a kick or a curse upon 
some unoffending brute. 
Feeding Boxes Better than Racks. 
Horses do not naturally gather their food from 
trees, why then should they be compelled in 
Winter to take it from a rack over-head ? Every 
mouthful requires the animal to assume an un¬ 
natural position, which with young horses par¬ 
ticularly, must interfere with the proper devel¬ 
opment of the muscles of the neck, and with the 
graceful carriage of the head. May not the 
awkward manner in which many horses thrust 
their noses forward and upward, be attributed 
to the force of habit acquired in feeding from a 
high rack ? Another serious objection to racks 
is the danger from the seeds, dust, etc., falling 
into the eyes of the animal; and further, all the 
effluvia of the stable, the vapors from liquid and 
solid excrements, the exhalations from the skin, 
and from the lungs, pass upward, and are to 
some extent absorbed by the hay—an addition 
neither savory, nor healthful. The feed box 
may be made equally convenient with the rack, 
and is open to none of the above objections. It 
need not be large, and if the bottom be made of 
slats, all rejected fodder can be easily removed. 
A closed box on one side for feeding grain will 
be needed if the bottom of the main box be left 
open. The above may seem an unimportant 
matter to many, but every thing is worthy of at¬ 
tention which can add to the comfort and health 
of the noblest domestic animal. 
---*-•«-- 
Sheep Wanted ! 
For some weeks past while on our usual note¬ 
taking tours in the City Live Stock Markets, we 
have found an increasing number of inquirers 
after “ store ewes,” that is, those not fat enough 
to make good mutton. Some of the flocks 
brought in, have been sold out by the entire lot 
at $4 each, though the majority of this class sell 
at about $3 per head. The demand is evident¬ 
ly quite beyond the present supply. Fat sheep 
are of course higher, but not relatively so. Com¬ 
mon wool has advanced 12 to 15 cents per pound 
within two months, and the prospect of contin¬ 
ued high prices, especially if the war lasts, has 
awakened sheep graziers to the fact that there is 
really a scarcity of sheep; and those who were 
disheartened by the temporary low price of wool 
last Spring, are now making an effort to increase 
their flocks. Owing to the large demand for 
army clothes, socks, blankets, etc., the price of 
common wool has advanced relatively more than 
the finer grades, and as coarse wooled sheep 
furnish large carcases for the butcher, this class 
is in greater request. The middle wool, such as 
the South Downs, are probably the most profit¬ 
able in the long run, though the Leicesters or 
long Avooled breeds are just now preferred. 
What we wish now to urge upon the readers of 
the American Agriculturist is that their stock of 
sheep at present on hand receive the best atten¬ 
tion. As the pastures fail, and they come to the 
dry pickings of the yard, give them a daily “bite” 
of turnips or carrots; or in the absence of roots 
let them have a little bran or ship stuff, or corn 
meal, or other food. Look out in time for a first 
rate male to be turned in about the middle of 
December. Randall prescribes 30 ewes for one 
yearling ram; 40 to 50 for a two-year old, and 
50 to 60 for a three-year old. Taking the lowest 
number, 30, the owner of a flock of sheep can 
well afford to pay $25 or $30 a season for the 
use of a buck which will produce lambs that for 
the same care and food will make sheep worth 
$2 a head more than common grades. We this 
week saw 4 Leicester sheep from Ohio sold for 
mutton at $42,or $10.50 each. Live weight 200 lbs. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Improved Sheep—Hint to Breeders. 
The increased demand and better prices for 
wool now realized, will probably give a needed 
impetus to sheep raising. It is believed that it 
will pay to keep ten times the number of sheep 
now raised in this country, even if the demand 
for wool should be inactive, and prices rule low. 
Good mutton will always be wanted, and the de¬ 
mand will increase a3 the quality improves. 
As yet, one half our people do not know the 
excellence of this meat, from never having tasted 
a really good article. At present many are de¬ 
terred from breeding better sheep, by the ap¬ 
parently high prices at which improved animals 
are held. We believe it would be a paying 
operation to buy thorough-bred stock, even at 
the rates demanded, but while the community 
of farmers generally do not judge so, the im¬ 
provement of our flocks will advance slowly. 
Grade animals will be employed at first, and 
progress will be made by degrees. 
Would it not be well for the breeders of this 
country to institute the practice of annual ram- 
lettings as conducted in England. Many would 
undoubtedly pay well for the use of an animal 
by way of experiment, who could not be induced 
to purchase; and it is quite certain that having 
once seen the good effects of breeding from im¬ 
proved stock, they would soon be ready buyers. 
The season for introducing the male among tho 
ewes is at hand, and it is now too late to arrange 
for public ram-lettings, but would it not be well 
for breeders to give ample facilities for private 
arrangements by which the use of some of their 
improved animals could be secured the present 
season ? There need be no fear that good stock 
will thus become too common to be remunera¬ 
tive. In England, where breeding of blooded 
stock has been advancing for scores of years, the 
demand and the prices are better than ever.' A 
wider field is open in this country. Who will 
occupy it to the best advantage ? Progress. 
-”•-* — ■1— - r 
For the American Agriculturist. 
A Plea for the Goat. 
Allow me to call the attention of the read¬ 
ers of the American Agriculturist to the just claims 
of a domestic animal whose valuable qualities, 
in my opinion, have been too generally passed 
by in favor of other and more costly occupants 
of the farm yard—I allude to the Goat. 
In the most ancient of histories we invariably 
find goats mentioned in conjunction with sheep, 
as constituting the chief wealth of the Patri¬ 
archs, and we read of their flesh being frequent¬ 
ly offered to guests as a choice morsel, and oc¬ 
cupying a prominent place at “high festivals.” 
In these modern times it is also certain that 
large flocks are raised in many countries of Eu¬ 
rope and Asia. Is there any peculiarity of soil 
or climate on this Continent to prevent our do¬ 
ing so also? Would not the possession of this 
animal, by a cottager or poor man, who has 
neither the facility nor means to keep a cow, be 
a great acquisition ? 
I have one which yields two quarts of milk 
daily, far richer in cream than that of the cow_ 
no mean addition, I think, to the scant supply 
of food for the young family of a laboring man. 
Its flesh is sweet and wholesome, and although 
it can not compete with the sheep in the value 
of its outer clothing, yet I believe its hair is used 
to some extent in manufactures, and its skin in 
the shape of leather, is far superior to that of 
the sheep, and brings a much higher price. 
It is hardy in constitution, and by no means 
dainty in its food, thankfully receiving anything 
you may offer, and nothing comes amiss. It 
will quietly suffer itself to be tied to a stake and 
feed by the road side. It is, when treated kind¬ 
ly, gentle in disposition, and dearly loves to 
romp with the children. It will live on land of 
no value in an agricultural view, and will cour¬ 
ageously face and beat off the fiercest dog; and 
there is a tradition that -when kept around a 
stable, it banishes therefrom many of the dis¬ 
eases incidental to the horse. 
As a friend to the goat, I see all merit, and no 
demerit; can any thing be shown and proved 
against it—or has it been neglected hitherto like 
another despised favorite of mine, the Ass, solely 
on account of its unpretending modesty, its pa¬ 
tient docility and lowly obscurity? II. G. T. 
