355 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
can wash and Jo up the fine linen as well as any woman. He 
can be made generally useful in and about the house, and, 
when not needed there, can work the garden in the best man¬ 
ner, or go into the field or among the stock : and he will do 
precisely as he is told, which can not be said of all laborers. 
I suggest the following plan by which we shall be able to 
employ more laborers, and make it pay : 
Winter more stock on the same amount of food, and raise 
more feed from the same land. Do more work in the winter 
that is now left for the spring and summer months. In winter¬ 
ing more stock on the same feed. I do not mean to say that we 
keep them too well now, but that by a proper application of 
more labor we will not only keep them better, but will also 
winter at least one-third more on the same feed; this can be 
done by applyingthe labor in housing, and more carefully giv¬ 
ing out the food after it is prepared, so that all of the hay, as 
well as the coarser products. such as straw and corn stalks may 
be entirely eaten up by some class of animals. I think that 
any intelligent and calculating farmer who has kept what is gen¬ 
erally considered a large amount of stock for the size of his 
farm, will readily agree with me when he looks on the amount 
of hay. straw and other fodder that has been trampled under 
foot, that if it had been prepared so that it could have been all 
eaten, he could have wintered 35 or 40 where be only winter¬ 
ed twenty. 
The question arises, how can th : s be done? The first and 
most simple process by which to save the food is to arrange 
it so as to let one class of animals clean up the leavings 
of others. That is. feed the best and most nutritious food 
to milch cows, working teams, fattening animals, *kc., in 
manners or racks so as to be kept clean, giving them more than 
they can consume: what is left pass over with coarser fodder, 
to hardy animals, not designed for market the coming spring. 
These leavings to be thrown into the yards in dry weather, 
where strong colts, mules and bardv steers can work over them 
durinsr the night. What is still better, I would have a straw 
cutter and cut up all the feel such an one as will in addition to 
