16 
No. 144 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
WINTER, SCENE— drawn by foster. 
(Engraved for the American Agriculturist.) 
Above we present a very striking picture, drawn 
originally by the celebrated English delineator, 
Foster, and re-engraved for this journal. Though 
s r '-’asing and beautiful the sketch, as a picture, 
we could wish it represented only an English 
scene, instead of being so applicable to what may 
be found on thousands of American farms. After 
what we have so often written in regard to the 
importance, the economy, the humanity, so to 
speak, of furnishing good, warm, comfortable shel¬ 
ter for all kinds of animals, it would seem unne¬ 
cessary to add a word more on the topic. Yet 
line upon line, precept upon preeept, here a little 
and there—a good deal, must still be written, be¬ 
fore many persons will become convinced of even 
the 
PROFIT OF PROTECTING ANIMALS FROM COLD. 
We have before us a letter in which the wri¬ 
ter’s argument, with a slight change in phraseol¬ 
ogy runs thus : .. .While you generally deal in 
matter of facts—more so than any other journal 
I know of—yet you do sometimes run after vis¬ 
ionary theories. Take, for example, your teach¬ 
ings about housing animals in Winter. You say 
they are healthier, etc., for being kept in warm 
shelter. Now my practice teaches me differently. 
My sheep are kept out all Winter in a bleak field, 
and fed at stacks of hay built over rail pens. They 
eat even the coarsest bog hay with an avidity and 
relish whieh is exhibited by none of your warm 
housed, nursed flocks. Why, neighbor L.’s sheep 
are kept under the barn which is built on high 
posts and walled completely around except a nar¬ 
row entrance; and they go moping around all 
day, or lie chewing their cuds and looking as 
sleepy as a sloth. They do not eat half as heartily 
nor half as much as mine, and how can you ex¬ 
pect them to increase in flesh if they do not eat!” 
That is just what hundreds of others think, or 
at least practice upon, if they do not write out 
their thoughts. But our correspondent has failed 
to carry his observations far enough—just as mul¬ 
titudes of farmers continually do. If he will make 
one experiment carefully, and the result does not 
confound his practice, we will say no more—to 
him. Next Autumn, let him select and mark, 
say twenty ewes in his own flock, and an equal 
number in his neighbor’s of about the same weight 
and condition. Weigh these and then keep an 
account of about the amount of food consumed by 
each. We hazard nothing in saying that the 
warmly sheltered sheep will increase double or 
treble in weight for each 100 lbs. of hay consumed, 
over those which are left in the open field. Fur¬ 
ther, the increase in lambs will be much greater, 
and the sheep will go into the Summer in far 
better health, yielding heavier fleeces and more 
mutton. 
Ample experiments have established the truth 
of these statements, and they are perfectly con¬ 
sonant with reason. How do animals keep warm 1 
Evidently by means of the food they consume. 
If a quantity of hay be burned in a stove it unites 
rapidly with the air (its oxygen), and gives out 
much heat. The same hay gradually consumed 
within an animal’s body, there unites slowly with 
the air which is inhaled in breathing and absorbed 
into the blood through the lungs. Just as much 
heat is given out by the hay as if it v/ere burned 
in an hour, but it is slowly produced, and keeps 
the whole body warm through the circulation oi 
the blood. This is precisely the way our bodies 
are kept warm. The more heat there is abstract¬ 
ed from the surface in cold weather, the more we 
must eat to keep up the fire within. If we put 
on a warmer covering outside, less heat will es¬ 
cape, less will need to be produced within, and 
less fuel (food) will be needed to produce it. This 
is exactly the case with all animals; they will 
eat more, they must eat more, when unprotected, 
or they will perish with cold; and less of that 
which is eaten can be reserved for increasing the 
flesh. 
To say no more of the waste of food in keeping 
exposed animals warm, they can not be as healthy 
The boiler of a steam engine which requires two 
tons of coal to keep a quantity of water at steam 
heat, will wear out much sooner than one requrir 
ing only one ton. Just so the stomach of a sheep 
when required to digest 200 lbs. of hay to keep the 
