184 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
iDork for Aje Jllonit). 
Care of Stock in Winter. 
From December until April in our northern climate, 
and in a greater or less degree in more southern ones, 
the great business of the farmer consists in the care of 
his domestic animals. One of the great sources of loss 
to the farmer is the wretched condition in which his an¬ 
imals are frequently kept: their wool, their milk, and 
their ability to labor being in a great measure determi¬ 
ned by their mode of keeping during the winter. With¬ 
out shelter, without water, without food, or at best an 
irregular and partial supply, it must be expected that 
disease will invade his flocks and herds, and occasion 
losses that months of hard labor will be required to 
counterbalance. 
At the commencement of winter, the farmer should 
carefully examine the condition of all his animals; as¬ 
certain whether any are unwell, weak, low in flesh, and 
the cause. Such animals require particular attention. 
One diseased animal may infect a hundred when brought 
into close contact with them ; a weak poor animal will 
fare worse with a number than alone, and the chances of 
getting through the winter are proportionably abridg¬ 
ed; and all such must have good care and attention, or 
there will be a total loss. If there is one truth respect¬ 
ing animals more deserving of remembrance than ano¬ 
ther, it is that the animal entering the winter months in 
high condition is already half wintered ; that is, the care 
and food required to bring him out well and hearty in 
the spring, will not be one half as much as will be re¬ 
quired by the one that commences winter, spring poor. 
A fat, strong animal, will be warm and comfortable, 
where a poor, weak one can hardly live, and the hearty 
vigorous one will digest and assimilate food which the 
weak one would scarcely taste. All weak and sickly 
animals at any season of the year, and particularly in 
the winter, should be kept by themselves, and receive 
the best care, and the best keeping possible. 
Shelter 1'or animals is a point too often neglected by 
farmers. Their sheep or cattle are left to find the warm 
side of a stack or fence, during our winter storms of 
snow or rain as they best can ; and when the former die 
off by the dozen in March, or his cows are “ on the lift” 
for a month or two in the spring, the owner affects to 
wonder at the cause, or why his neighbor who has good 
sheds is not as unlucky as himself. Domestic animals 
must have a shelter ; it is as necessary for them as it is 
for man, and one may as well talk of comfort without it 
as the other. Few things are more trying to the man 
who has a soul, than to see a flock of sheep crouching 
in a corner of the fence half buried in snow ; a few 
lean cows, their feet so drawn together by cold and hun¬ 
ger that all might stand in a half bushel; half a dozen 
swine of the alligator breed, squealing, and their noses 
imploringly turned to the place where the trough should 
be ; and the same air of discomfort and misery pervad¬ 
ing every thing on the premises. Where animals are 
kept in this way we instinctively expect to find the win¬ 
dows of the house stuffed with cloaks and old hats, and 
the owner at the fire side of the nearest tavern or grog¬ 
shop, and rarely will such expectation be disappointed. 
It is very true much less attention was paid to the 
shelter of animals than now, and it is equally true that 
the difference in the mode of keeping was not greater 
than that existing in the wool, size, maturity and value 
of the respective animals. 
Water is another essential thing in the winter man¬ 
agement of animals, but it is a thing more frequently 
neglected than almost any other matter connected with 
their comfort. Cattle are often allowed during the se¬ 
verest storms to go half a mile to drink, and require a 
good feed and an hour in a warm stable to counteract 
the effects of the labor of wallowing through the snow. 
In addition to this, their drink is frequently found in a 
slough, and the animal is covered to the knees in mud, 
which is left to freeze, stiffen the legs, and by retarding 
the circulation cause their freezing. It is no disadvan¬ 
tage to cattle to go a suitable distance to water, but ra¬ 
ther a benefit, as promoting circulation in the feet, and 
thus preventing diseases of the extremities, but the 
place of resort should be free from mud, and room for 
the animals to approach without crowding or fighting. 
Sheep are almost universally the victims of neglect in 
respect to water; while, although they can live without 
it, water is as essential to their comfort, and used by 
them as constantly, as it is by cattle. There are few 
farms on which with a very little expense plenty of wa¬ 
ter may not be had sufficiently near the barn for all the 
purposes of stock; and where buildings are to be erect¬ 
ed, particular reference should be had to this point. 
Animals should be salted in the winter with the great¬ 
est attention and regularity. Farmers are too care¬ 
less about this in summer, and are apt to neglect it 
altogether in winter, a course which requires reforma¬ 
tion at once. It is necessary for their health, gives an 
appetite, and summer or winter they should always have 
access to salt. Where a farmer has no sheds or troughs 
for saltin'?, the best way is to make a strong brine and 
sprinkle it over the hay, straw, or other fodder they 
are to receive. Such food will be eaten more cleanly, 
and there will he no waste of the salt. 
Regularity in foddering or feeding all animals, is very 
necessary. Experience has shown that a given quanti¬ 
ty of food will keep an animal in much better condition 
when fed to them at regular hours, than when given to 
them without order and at haphazard. In the former 
case the apimal in the intervals of feeding is quiet; he 
has taken his meals and is expecting nothing more 
until the stated hour arrives, for all animals soon ac¬ 
quire the habit of computing time quite accurately; in 
the latter case he is continually restless and uneasy, 
bleating, bellowing, or squealing, and wasting what nou¬ 
rishment he receives, in expectations and efforts to ob¬ 
tain more. Feed your cattle regularly then, whatever 
may be the kind of food. This half starving animals, 
feeding them as it suits your convenience, keeping them 
without salt or water, and thinking they can get along 
without shelter, is had policy, and should be repudiated 
at once, by every man who would be merciful to his 
beast, or find in his pocket satisfactory evidence that 
keeping stock is not a losing business. 
Preparation of Fire Wood. 
Another thing to be attended to in the winter, is the 
getting of wood for the year. This work must not be 
put off till the last of the season, since if this is the 
case, the farmer has too often the pleasure of drawing 
his wood a jag at a time, and finding when he comes to 
cut it, (perhaps when he should he haying or reaping,) 
that it is so filled with gravel, that his axe Avill require 
grinding after each operation. The wood-house must 
be filled in the winter for the next season’s use, that 
green wood, and smoke, and the sour looks of the good 
woman, and the delay incident to had wood and worse 
fires may be avoided. Where a saving of fuel is desira¬ 
ble, and this is decidedly the case with most farmers in 
this country, it is better to use the saw in preference to 
the axe as far as is practicable. But where the axe is 
used, care should be taken to gather up the chips if the 
wood is cut in the wood lot instead of the yard, as we 
have found by experience, that a chopper in cutting up 
three cords of four feet wood will make a full wagon 
load of chips, which for many purposes are the most 
valuable part of the wood, and too frequently now whol¬ 
ly lost for the use of fuel. 
Where there is no wood-house the fuel should be 
drawn, split, and closely piled in such a way that a roof 
of boards may be placed over it to protect the wood 
from the weather while seasoning, and after it is dried. 
The difference between protected wood and that expo¬ 
sed, is nearly as great as that between wood made from 
green trees and from dead ones. The more hard, hea¬ 
vy, and sound fire wood is, the better it will be when 
dried, and the least decay or exposure to the elements 
after cutting, is prejudicial. Some have contended that 
part of green wood is preferable to having it wholly dry. 
This is a decided mistake; as the experiments of Count 
Rumford proved, that the difference in the heat given 
out, was precisely equal to that required to evaporate 
the same quantity of water as was contained in the 
green wood. — 
Improvement of the Mind. 
And now, when your animals, and every thing with¬ 
out doors is well and snugly cared for, is the time du¬ 
ring the winter evenings, and days when the storm con¬ 
fines you to your homes, to store the mind with useful 
knowledge, and avail yourself of the means of educating 
and schooling the man as well as the child, which hap¬ 
pily are within the reach of every American citizen. 
Books, magazines, papers, on all subjects and in profu¬ 
sion, exist; New-York and Massachusetts have placed 
excellent collections within the reach of every one; and 
the whole genius of our institutions, the history of our 
most distinguished men, and the undisputed advantages 
of knowledge, invite to a perusal. The demand is made 
upon the farmer as well as others, and none can he 
more interested in the acquisition than he. The suc¬ 
cessful prosecution of his business, the duty owed to 
himself and his country ; the necessity of intelligence to 
the continuance of our institutions ; all require and 
force upon the farmer, the propriety of employing every 
leisure hour in strengthening and improving the mind. 
There are many who seem to suppose that where the 
man or woman has learned to read and write, or mas¬ 
tered perfectly the rudiments of education, the work is 
done, and he has nothing more to think of in the xvay 
of learning. This is a serious mistake ; and it is as fa¬ 
tal to the liberally educated, and as common to them, 
as to him whose learning has been gained at the district 
school. When the boy or the man leaves the school or 
the college, they are not educated, however great may 
have been their acquirements. The means only have 
been gained of obtaining an education, and without their 
continued use and unwearied application, a man may 
live many years very learned, and die at last little better 
than a fool. It is this education of the mind, the turn¬ 
ing of knowledge to practical uses, which has marked 
the rise of the greatest men in this or any other coun¬ 
try- Read, then, acquire knowledge, use it faithfully, 
and he an honor to your country. On the use you make 
of your winters, much is depending, and the work of ed¬ 
ucating the mind is one that cannot be neglected with 
impunity. 
As every farmer should keep a record of his farming 
operations, the account of his receipts and expenditures, 
and the manner in which his course of cropping has 
been conducted, the close of the year or the winter 
forms an excellent time for examining it carefully, and 
correcting any errors in practice that may be discovered. 
Especially Ibok over your list of purchases (it is to he 
hoped you did not run in debt for any thing,) and see 
whether any useless articles were purchased, a course 
to be strictly guarded against in future. Never buy a 
thing you do not want, however cheap it may be, for if 
this is done, you will soon find yourself unable to obtain 
the articles you need. The Farmer’s Book is an essen¬ 
tial part of every farming establishment, useful in many 
respects, and by no means to he overlooked. One half 
of the failures and mishaps of life, arise from a neglect 
of the past, and the lessons it teaches. It is the part of 
the wise to profit by these, to know and shun past er¬ 
rors in a future course; and to do this such a record is 
indispensable. Years are the monuments that mark our 
course; their lapse should show the lessons each one 
must have taught, have not been in vain. 
MEETINGS OF AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
In our last number, we gave notices of the meetings 
of the Ohio State Agricultural Society, the Farmer’s 
Agricultural Society, the Rochester Cattle Show and 
Fair, the Berkshire Agricultural Society, the Oswego 
Ag. Society, and we this month continue such notices, 
feeling as we do that few things will be more interesting 
to farmers generally, than such records. For ourselves, 
we regard the new impulse which such associations have 
received, their rapid increase, and the spirit and success 
which has this year attended them, as one of the most 
promising signs of the times, and only regret that our 
limits prevent us from doing as ample justice to them 
as would be desirable. The notices we are receiving 
are so numerous that we are compelled to condense 
and abbreviate as much as possible the various interest¬ 
ing details with which the reports abound. 
Worcester Agricultural Society. 
It is estimated that not less than twelve thousand 
persons assembled on the 14th of Oct. at Worcester, to 
celebrate the 21st annual meeting of that central insti¬ 
tution of the Old Bay State, and never have the pro¬ 
ceedings been conducted in a better feeling or spirit, 
than in the present instance. The editors of a number 
of the N. England Agricultural Journals were in atten¬ 
dance, and gentlemen of eminence from various parts 
of the country. It was a neutral ground on which po¬ 
litical partizans, if they did not forget their preferences, 
forbore discussion or contest; and party and sect were 
lost sight of for a time in the stirring incidents of the 
day. 
The show of animals was very fine; and the follow¬ 
ing table will show the rapid increase, in the number of 
animals exhibited, for a few of the past years : 
Years,. 1819, ’34, ’35, ’36, ’37, ’38, ’39, ’40, 
Animals shown, 133, 269, 259, 276, 311, 342, 415, 540. 
We do not recollect an instance in this country where 
so great a number of animals have been shown at a 
fair as this; and should it continue to “ go ahead,” as we 
trust it will, it will soon in its animal department, rival 
the most celebrated societies of Europe. The plowing 
match went off admirably, and the show of domestic 
manufactured articles, particularly the ladies’ departm ent 
was good. The reports of the different committees at the 
Worcester Fair, have long been celebrated, and various 
“ lots” of swine have been immortalized, in the reports 
drawn up by the “ elder and younger Lincoln.” The din¬ 
ner was good, the weather fine, the animals capital, and 
Worcester may well be proud of her fair for 1840. 
Onondaga Cattle Show and Fair. 
The second meeting of the Onondaga Co. Society 
was held at Syracuse, on the 7th of Oct. and was at¬ 
tended by a large number of the farmers and others of 
the county. There was a superior show of cattle, horses, 
sheep and swine, to the number of between two and 
three hundred; a number of sales of valuable stock 
were made on the spot; while the spirit manifested 
was such as to furnish encouragement to the friends 
of agricultural iinprovment to renewed exertions. The 
improved breeds of animals were well represented; 
the department of domestic industry was well sustain¬ 
ed ; the show of vegetables was good, and the kinds 
numerous ; and that part devoted to the ladies’ offerings 
did honor to the fair hands and patriotic hearts that pre¬ 
sented them. 
The position of Onondaga County is most favorable 
to the success of such an association, and it should he 
improved to the utmost. Its central location; its nu¬ 
merous and industrious population; its ample agricul¬ 
tural, mineral, and manufacturing resources, decided¬ 
ly mark it as a county where an agricultural society 
should flourish and prosper abundantly. Such we can¬ 
not doubt will be the result from the spirited beginning 
already made. 
A number of premiums were awarded for the best 
cattle, sheep, horses and swine, and a large number 
of choice animals were exhibited, upon which no pre¬ 
mium was claimed. By the kindness of a friend of 
the society, a number of volumes, of the Cultivator 
xvere presented as premiums or gratuities; and we would 
here remark that we highly approve of the proposition 
or remarks of Mr. Bement, in his notice of the Berk¬ 
shire cattle show in our last number, and believe that 
all societies would find it much to the advantage of all, 
if instead of the distribution of small sums in cash, 
valuable agricultural journals or works were selected 
for such purpose. The State Ag. Society of Rhode Is¬ 
land, has annually distributed as premiums a large 
number oi such volumes, and the most beneficial re¬ 
sults have followed. Where the volumes of a periodi¬ 
cal have been chosen, the arrangement respecting prices 
would of course he satisfactory to all. We hope the 
managers of our societies will take this matter iDto 
consideration in deciding upon their premiums in com¬ 
ing years. . .. . . , , 
A very able and appropriate address, distinguished 
by the sound, practical, common sense views of the 
