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JTOEWWiVJCMJJ 
14 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
fod in the usual way. Two hundred and seventy-two 
and a half pounds of butter, 1 have made from one 
cow the last season, besides supplying a family of six 
persons with plenty of milk. All that is extra in the 
above yield, I attribute to feeding roots, which I do 
freely through the winter and spring months; conse¬ 
quently my cow is in high flesh at all seasons of the year. 
Cutting feed for horses or cattle I consider very 
profitable, having kept a pair of horses mostly for two 
winters on oats in the bundle, cutting four bundles a 
day for the pair, which keeps them in fine condition 
without hay. They are kept m this way ninety-four 
days, from the produce of one acre, yielding fifty bu¬ 
shels, which at the present price of oats, would cost 
twenty dollars. In the ordinary way of keeping hors¬ 
es, the same length of time, and to keep them in as 
good condition, they will require two tons of hay, 
worth sixteen dollars, and six quarts of oats a piece 
per day, making thirty-five bushels, worth fourteen 
dollars ; amounting in all to thirty dollars ; leaving a 
saving in favor of cut feed, of ten dollars for about 
three months, or twenty dollars for six months, or for 
the usual time of keeping horses in the stable, which 
is about eight months, of thirty-three dollars—suffi¬ 
cient to pay for one of Green’s Straw Cutters, or the 
hire of a man for four months in the winter season. 
The result of the above estimate will be about the 
same with straw and provender. 
The above are but few of the items of profit which 
I have derived from improvements made in farming 
within the last four years; but I forbear to speak of 
the advantages of draining land, curing hay, rotation 
of crops, fattening hogs, destruction of Canada thistles 
and other noxious weeds ; improvements in gardening, 
straw cutter, cultivator, horse rake, drill barrow, and 
economy in the kitchen, which must be mostly attri- 
b uted to the dissemination of useful knowledge, through 
the medium of agricultural publications; and had I 
possessed the same sources of information seven years 
sooner, the actual profit arising from it, could not have 
been less than one thousand dollars. Who then would 
be deprived of the benefit of what I have enumerated 
for one dollar a year 1 Who would be deprived of 
the reflection of having done something to improve his 
condition, and that of his posterity, for that paltry sum 1 
Who would rather plod along in the footsteps of their 
forefathers, without the gratifying reflection of having 
improved their condition 1 Enlightened minds dwell 
with pleasure on the advances they make in any ob¬ 
ject worthy of their attention, whether in reference to 
the improvement of their time, or to the condition of 
their farms, or stock, or the liquidation of debts, or the 
enlargement of estates ; some such stimulus is neces¬ 
sary to satisfy the man of business, otherwise he would 
seem to have lived in vain; for if, in the retrospect, 
he can find nothing to gratify, or cheer the mind, it 
will put a damper on future exertions, and leave no 
encouragement for improvement hereafter; and all 
the time thus spent, is lost to the gratification of the 
finer feelings, and leaves but the unwelcome reflec¬ 
tion, that another year of his life is spent to no good 
purpose. Improvement should be the main-spring of 
all our exertions, and all means within, our reach to 
obtain information in reference to our business, should 
be employed; reflection, close observation, and the 
careful perusal of some publication devoted to agri¬ 
culture, combining the observation and experiments 
of men of science, as well as of common practical far¬ 
mers, are within the reach of all, and should be sought 
after. Yours, &c. 
To J. Buel, Esq. DANIEL S. CURTIS. 
Canaan Centre, February 12th, 1838. 
Ffan for a set of Buildings for a Farm, &,c. 
Mr. Btjel,—I respectfully submit for your conside¬ 
ration, and herewith send you drawings of a plan, for 
a set of buildings, suitable for a farm of an hundred 
and fifty to two hundred acres, where breeding neat 
stock, dairy or growing of wool, forms the principal 
part of the business. 
In such a cold and variable climate as we live in, 
I consider it of very great importance that all animals, 
under our charge, should not only be well fed, but com- 
fortably housed. 
Where is t.he person that has travelled through the 
country in the winter, and has not noticed a lot of 
half starved animals, standing on the south side of a 
barn, with their backs drawn up, and their feet in the 
compass of an half bushel; and in some places not 
even a wall or fence to shelter them from the pelting 
storm, or a piercing north-wester, without even straw 
or any other litter to protect them from the severity 
of the season. And it is not unfrequent to see them 
standing around a stack of hay, on the top or side of 
an hill, without any other protection than that afford¬ 
ed by the stack. Where is the person, I repeat, that 
has observed the above, without emotions of regret, 
that there is one so destitute of feeling to the beasts 
which form so great a share of our comfort and 
wealth 1 
Now, it is not expected that every fanner can af- 
' ford, however willing, costly stables and sheds for his 
stock ; but it is in the power of most of them, to erect 
sheds or hovels made of poles and pine or hemlock 
boughs, with a little straw or coarse grass for a co¬ 
vering, which would, in a degree, protect them from 
the winds and storms of winter. 
And where is the person, that has visited a well 
conducted establishment—where the cattle are not 
only housed, but well littered and kept perfectly clean 
—the hair laid perfectly smooth every day with the 
card—their full bodies, sleek sides, and placid counte¬ 
nances evincing good care and good keep ? 
Where is the person who has witnessed the above, 
and not felt a degree of satisfaction to know that there 
are some who are not regardless of the comfort of the 
brutes who are by Providence confided to our care 
and protection 1 
But to return to my plan. The area for the yard 
[See figure 9] should be 120 feet square ; in the 
[Ground Plan, Fig. No. 9.] 
centre of the north line of the yard, is to be a barn, 
(No. 10,) forty feet square, and twenty feet posts; to 
[North Section, Fig. No. 10.] 
i 
be raised from the surface of the yard, by a stone wall 
(a) foundation, laid in mortar, two feet above the 
ground, with a cellar seven feet deep, for vegetables. 
A door (b) and passage for a cart to pass through, for 
the purpose of putting in and taking out roots ; and a 
window (c) on each side to serve as ventilators. 
The doors of the barn to be twelve feet wide and 
twelve feet high, and the floor fourteen feet wide. 
On each side of the barn are to be sheds (2, 2,) 
40 by 20 ft. and fifteen feet posts. The lower part 
to be open sheds, six ft. high, and the upper story for 
storing hay or grain. 
[West Section, rig. Ho. 11.] 
west line of the yard, 
for a cattle stable, six¬ 
ty feet long, thirty-two 
ft. wide, and fifteen ft. 
posts. The stables, (d, 
d,) on the ground plan, to be seven ft. between the 
floors ; a passage (e,) of four feet, running length¬ 
ways through the centre, which will give eight stalls 
(f, f,) on each side, of seven feet each, suitable for two 
animals in a stall, to be secured by chains or bows to 
stancheons (g, g,) by the side of the partitions. 
Mangers, (h, h.) to be one foot six inches deep and 
two feet wide. Doors or windows on each side for 
ventilation and throwing out the manure ; but I would 
recommend to have the manure scattered in the yard, 
by means of a wheel barrow. The upper story, or 
'oft, for storing hay, with a space, in the centre, say 
eight by ten feet, for a straw cutter, with a hole in 
the floor, 18 inches square, and a tube to conduct the 
cut hay to the passage, from whence it is to be fed. 
No. 12 is the building designed to be placed on the 
[East Section Fig. No. 12.] 
east line of the yard, sixty by twenty-five feet, fifteen 
feet posts ; the east side (i, i,) of this building, as seen 
in the view, is intended for sheep sheds, twelve feet 
in width and six feet high, running the whole length 
of the'building, to be divided into as many apartments 
as may be deemed necessary for the different classes 
of sheep. 
In the west side of the same building, fronting the 
yard, see also west front, (j, j,) are to be six stables 
for cows to calve in. These will also be convenient 
for ewes and lambs when necessary to be housed. 
No. 13, 13, forming the south side of the yard, are 
[South Section, Fig. Nos. 13, 13.) 
two buildings, fifty feet long, twenty feet wide, and 
fourteen feet posts, with a passage of twenty feet, over 
which is a building, (5, 5,) twenty feet square, 
twelve feet from the ground, twenty feet posts. This 
building is intended for storing coarse feed, &c. &c. 
having a tackle for the purpose of hoisting up the 
grain. In the east wing (k) is a stable for six horses, 
and room for harness, &c. The stable to be twenty- 
five feet long, and twenty wide. In the stable, near 
the door, may be placed a bin for horse feed, which 
may be conducted by ( means of a tube, from the gran¬ 
ary above. The remainder of this wing (1,) is de¬ 
signed for sheds for housing wagons, carts, sleds, and 
other bulky implements. 
The lower part of the west wing (m,) is for storing 
farm implements, and (n,) a work shop—The lofts of 
both wings for storing hay or straw. 
Now, as the east and west buildings are only sixty 
feet long, there will be sixty feet of fence to reach the 
line of the south buildings, indicated by dotted lines. 
Should the entrance to the cattle stables be in the 
south end, as laid down in the plan, No. 11, it will be 
necessary to start the fence from the extreme west 
side, which makes the yard thirty-two feet wider, and 
to correspond and for appearance, I would start the 
fence on the other side of the yard, from the ex¬ 
treme east side of No. 12, which will make the yard 
still twenty-five feet wider. This will give room, on 
each end of the south range for gates, as at (o, o.) 
I would recommend a good hard road to be made 
from the passage (p,) to the barn No. 9, and on each 
side of this road I would have the yard excavated or 
hollowed, sloping to the centre, and over these exca¬ 
vations may be erected sheds to protect the manure 
from evaporation. [See perspective view.] 
[Perspective View, Fig. No. 14.] 
The yard maybe divided for different grades of cat¬ 
tle, and running water should, if possible, be intro¬ 
duced into each yard. 
I will also give you a plan of my piggery, (15, 16,) 
[Ground plan of Piggery, Fig. No. 15.] 
It forms the south side of my barn yard. The centre 
building is two stories high, twenty-five feet long, and 
twenty feet wide, fourteen feet posts, with a cellar un¬ 
derneath for roots. The first story is intended for 
boiling or steaming food for the hogs. The second 
story is my store room for coarse grain, &c. &c. On 
each side are wings extending fifty feet from the 
centre building, eighteen feet wide and eight feet 
posts. Each of these wings are divided into seven 
apartments, (b, b, b, b, b, b,) nine of which are for 
breeding sows, with a sleeping room to each; one for 
a boar and four for fattening or store hogs. There is 
a passage (c, c,) leading from the centre building, in 
front ©f the pens, four feet wide, in which project the 
feeding troughs, one foot wide, extending the whole 
length, with doors similar to the Shaker plan, as de¬ 
scribed in Yol. 2, No. 7, of the Cultivator. Tfie 
troughs are divided, one-third for the sow, and the re- 
