1852 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
135 
Remarks on Some of the Farming in the Housa- 
tonic Valley. 
Analytical Laboratory, Yale College, \ 
New-Haven , Conn.. Feb, 28, 1852. J 
Eds. Cultivator —-In carrying forward at the same 
time courses of lectures here and in Albany, I have had 
occasion, at least once a week, for the last two months, 
to pass through the valley of the Housatonic river for a 
part of its course. These have been flying railway visits, 
and moreover the ground has, for the most part, been 
constantly covered with snow. Such are not the most 
favorable circumstances for the inspection of an agricul¬ 
tural region, but I have nevertheless been able to note 
some points which I noticed the more, as they disclose a 
state of things which is not by any means confined to that 
section of New England. 
Of the country through which runs the Housatonic 
road in the upper part of its course, I cannot say much; 
it is in the immediate vicinity of the road, from above Van 
Deusenville to North Canaan, rather flat, and having, I 
should judge, a somewhat light soil. Occasionally in this 
section I noticed fine barns, and outbuildings, with other 
evidences of thrift and good management. In a few 
cases too, large heaps of compost appear, sufficient to 
manure the fields very extensively and heavily. But it 
is not of this region that I intend to write. 
Below Falls Village we come into a very rough and 
poor district, extending down through Cornwall and Kent , 
at least as far as New Milford, though I do not feel cer¬ 
tain as to the boundaries of the towns. The land in the 
valleys, back from the stream of the Housatonic, may be 
better than that near the railway; of this I cannot decide, 
as I have not visited any points away from the line. Along 
the line, and in full view from the cars, may be, and I 
hope are, some good farms; as to this I would not pretend 
to speak with certainty; but I do feel quite sure that few 
worse specimens of winter management, can be presented, 
than some of those that I have witnessed this season in 
the Housatonic valley 
In very numerous cases, and as it seems in some of the 
towns to a passer-by, almost a majority, the cattle of all 
kinds seem to spend their winter on a bleak exppsed hill¬ 
side, without the least protection;, they may possibly be 
housed at night, or sheltered in some way, but their days 
they pass in the fields, and there they are fed. Scattered 
about the fields are small ill-shaped stacks, many times 
almost flat on the top, and universally without thatch of 
any kind, so far as can be seen. These stacks are sur¬ 
rounded by crooked rail fences, and the ground for many 
feet in every direction, is covered with hay trampled into 
the snow, it being fed upon the bare surface, without 
racks of any description. Several large circles of this 
kind may be seen in the same feed, denoting the con¬ 
sumption and the waste of an equal number of stacks. 
The stacks are mostly built on sloping ground, quite 
convenient to some small stream where the cattle can 
drink, and into which all the soluble portion of the ex¬ 
crements, so plentifully deposited about the stacks, im¬ 
mediately runs. This arrangement in fact, is common to 
the yards in most cases. They are usually so located 
that all water and liquid drains away and is lost. 
Now, I ask, could there well be devised a more wretch¬ 
ed course of winter management than this? In the first 
place the animals are fed in cold bleak fields, on the snow. 
Their food is given so that a considerable portion is lost 
by being trampled under foot, and this food, from the 
manner in which it has been preserved, is probably not 
by any means of the very best quality. But this is still 
not the worst part of the case. It is well ascertained 
that the most uneconomical way of feeding stock is in 
the open air, at least so long as cold weather lasts. It has 
been found by actual and careful comparative experiments, 
that animals kept sheltered, and warm consumed less 
food, and really increased more in weight. The explana¬ 
tion is easy. The functions of respiration keep up the 
heat of the animal body; by the air of every breath we 
draw, we consume in the lungs and blood vessels, a por¬ 
tion of the food that has been taken into the stomach. 
Chemically speaking, the carbon of the food unites with 
the oxygen of the air, producing carbonic acid, which 
passes off into the atmosphere. It is this union of the 
carbon with oxygen, that is supposed to keep up the ani¬ 
mal heat. 
In cold weather we, as all know, require more food, 
and especially when much exposed to the air. Exercise 
and cold together very soon affect the system, if an abun¬ 
dance of food is not furnished. A man cannot endure 
cold and hunger long when they come together, but give 
him a full meal, and he will soon feel a glow over the 
whole system, caused by the new supply of what may in 
this case be termed fuel. The Esquimaux, and other 
nations living in extremely cold countries, eat eagerly 
enormous quantities of fat, tallow, and oil, without ex¬ 
periencing evil effects; these articles of food containing 
much carbon, are doubtless chiefly valuable to keep up 
their respiration, and through that the heat of the body. 
If, after noticing such facts, we look at one of these 
unfortunate cattle shivering in a wintry blast, we see at 
once the reason why it eats so much more than if it were 
warm and sheltered, and at the same time does not in¬ 
crease greatly, or may even decrease in size. The great¬ 
er part of the carbon in its food, which would otherwise 
go to the production of fat, is used up in maintaining the 
heat ot it.« body, and consequently, with a large con¬ 
sumption, it even grows poorer. Surely, lumber is not 
dear in that part of Connecticut, and even cheap open 
sheds, fronting towards the south, with racks or boxes for 
feeding, would be a great improvement, and would, I 
have no doubt, turn out to be true economy. 
In the second place, this arrangement is a miserable 
one, on account of the loss of manure. During the win¬ 
ter, if the farmers stock are placed in a yard well cover¬ 
ed with straw, and peat also, if possible, and properly 
shaped, he accumulates a large quantity of valuable ma¬ 
nure for his next crops. Here, however, the excrements 
of the animals are scattered about over the snow; when 
this melts, the greater portion of what is soluble, runs 
away with it over the frozen ground, while what remains 
lies, unless the ground is plowed, in lumps, and is com¬ 
paratively useless. The land about the stacks is of course, 
somewhat benefitted, but not to nearly the same extent 
that it might have been, by the same manure properly 
preserved. 
But perhaps some of your readers will say that it is 
