Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 March 1877 — Housing of Cattle. [ARTICLE]

Housing of Cattle.

It is a question whether cattle thrive best in sheds with yards, in stalls or in boxes. The determination of tills question would settle -the problem of construction of barns; for if more profit were certainly derived by the farmer in feeding his cattle in sheds with yards than in stalls or boxes, not only would no more stalls and boxes he erected, but those in use would be converted into sheds; and this determination would so materially change the form of barns as to abolish confined inclosurea, embraced within quadrangles, and throw open apartments to the influence of the sun at the only season these are required—viz., in winter. Some facte have been decided regarding the comparative effects of sheds and stalls upon cattle. Cattle are much clean!?, in sjieds than in stalls. JN o doubt they might be kept clean in stalls; but not being so, there must be some obstacle to cleanliness incidental to stall management ; and it consists, we presame, in the attendant finding himself more unable to keep beasts clean in stalls than in sheds; otherwise the facts are not easily to be accounted for, for he takes no special care to keep beasts in sheds and yards clean. Perhaps when cattle have liberty to lie down where they please, they may choose the driest, because the most comfortable spot; whereas, in a stall, they must lie down upon what may be beneath them. There is another advantage derived from sheds with yards—the hair of cattle never scalds off the skin, nor becomes short and smooth, but remains long and mossy, and is licked over, and washed clean by rain, until it is naturally ca*t in the spring; and this advantage is felt by cattle when sent to market in winter, where they withstand wet and cold better than those which have been kept tied up in stalls. A third advantage is, that cattle from sheds can travel the road without injury to their feet, being accustomed to move about. It is said in favor of stalls that they accommodate more cattle on the same space, and are therefore less expensive to erect at first than buildings without stalls. That in a given space more beasts are accommodated in buildings with stalls, there is no doubt—and there is as Rule that more beasts are put into such places than should be—but we have great doubts that it will cost more to accommodate a given number of cattle in sheds with yard? than in buildings with stalls; because t eCs can be constructed in a temporal;, form, at a moderate outlay, wherea? e barn with stalls cannot be formed) • let rate, and,even in the more costly h i p f of roofs and walls, the sheddings require, comparatively to a bam, a ■mailer stretch of roof; and it is well known that it is the roof, and not the bare walls, that constitutes the most costly part of the bam. We believe it is the general opinion of agriculturists that cattle improve quicker, or, in other words,

thrive better, in oomforUble, walled-tn abode with yards than in close buildings with stalk. As to the comparative advantage of feeding cattle in sheds and boxes, there is no doubt that boxes afford ranch better accommodation than stalls. Although, under a roof, boxes are not so heating to cattle as stalls, at)d they are more cleanly; but being constantly under cover, cattle do not stand transportation as well as from the she#* with yards, and their skin is never in sotresh a state. Theoretically, it is maintained that cattle must thrive better when under cover in a warm place, than where the atmospheric sold carries off animal heat Exposure to cold, and especially to draughts, must retard the progressive growth of cattle; but in properly-appointed sheds they are never so exposed, being sheltered around, and having a comfortable shed at their command night and day. Practically, we cannot believe that constant heat, as in stables with stalls, can so conduce to the health and condition of cattle, as when they have fresh air, sunlight and heat; rain on their skin, warmth In their sheds, freedom from draughts, and constant companionship, so as to have liberty to lick one another with that health giving organ, the cow’s rough-surfaced tongue: and without doubt, the milk and the beef of such cattle is in the most wholesome and perfect state. —Prairie Farmer. V. ... ,mmm* ' ■■ —The Chicago Journal quietly observes: “The little girls have commenced their annual season of rope-jumping, and the prevailing style of coffins for children are those covered with white satin.” Ghosts and dreams influenced a Texas man to steal, and the Sheriff and a jury influenced him into confinement for a year. i