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Shelter On Stock Farms

Shelter On Stock Farms image
Parent Issue
Day
15
Month
March
Year
1872
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

TJnder this heod we wish to embody a few general but highly important dircctions in regard to the manage ment oí thoso farms doVotcd principally, or : tially, to the rearing of stock, so far as : thia subject relates to the horse and mule. ' It is a great fault on many farms of , this character that there aro no soitable buildings, o at least no suttioiency of them, for the shelter of ertock, and especially of tbe young and growing colts. Such negligenco is a great mistako, and one for which the farmer has to pa y doarly in a pecuniary scnsi. It is alinost as needful that bis stock should be afforded proper shelter i'rotn the stonn and cold as that the hay and grain they oat should be well secured. But, in addition to dry and commodious stables for wintor use, shelter should bo provided sufficicntly largo to accommodate all the young horscs and mulos during the cold rains and storms of the spring and fall eeason ; and these should bo oither in the pasture itself or accessible from it. The size of the shelter should be proportioned, of course, to tho nuinbcr of the animáis to be aecouiinodated. A shelter of twenty feet square will be largo enough for twenty colts, if there be a partition run down tho middle, as thoro ahvays should be. On each sido of this ten can ■tand very comfortably. The construction of such a shelter is very simple, and need not bc expensire. All thot i required, in addition to a roof, set on posts eight feet high, and resting on largo flat stoues to keep them from the ground, will be an enclosure of the north and west sides wifeb boards. A cheap substituto for the latter, and one that will last tor ger-cral nionths, is a compact wall of good wheat or rye straw, straight and strong, bound up in long, continuous sheaves or layeTOrSet prpendiculariv, and' secured with two or three boards placed horizontally and fastened to the posts. Tho división through the conter should consist of a rack to hold hay or straw, and when the grass begins to fail lata in the fali or before it ha grown much in tho early spring, a supply of these articles of fodder should bc kept in it, so that tho colts may be fed bere as well as sheltered. Troughs should be arrangcd under the Tack, to put the feed in when the colts may requiro it. It will here be proper again to cali the attention of the practical stock-raiser to the diseased condition that so often characterizes the colt's mouth, as a consoquence of teething. Perhaps the bost place to give the young animal the remodies that will correct this state will ha right here in thfiae feeding troughs. The Bhabby plight of many a colt proceeds from indigestión, caused and kept up by soro.ness end inflammation of tho mout h and gums. Good wood ashes, with plenty of.salt;jL&pt conetantly in the feodiiigtïoughs, will hans tüe happiest effect in bating the evils referred to, and in ïnitigating the sufforing of colthood. Sulphur, also, may bo usod in tho saine way, with very marked benefit to tho colt. Nót only is it worth a thousand tirues its cost, as a preventivo of disease, but it will efféctually destroy and koep away vermin of' every. description. On mauy farms thero cxists a great lack of shade trees, not a few pastures being totally destitute of tlicm, and this is another most weighty reason for tho erection of suoh shelter as wo have desoribed. It is absolutely essential to tho comfort and the well-being of stock, espocially oi the colts, that they have sonie cool retreat under which to retire from the bnrning rays of our midsummer and dog-day suns; and whero thei are no trees to afford a natural shode, an artificial substituto for thein beoomes a necessary appendage upon every well-regnlated stock farm. Shado trees aro tho beauty and Messing of tho pasture, and thcro will bo a very perceptible differenco in the fall between the appearance of colt that runs in a wel'.-shadod pasturo and that of another ■which has no shelter from tho noon-dav heat. The young animal cannot be continually exposöd to the down-pouring ol the sho'ï fierce rays, through the hottesi montbs of the year, without suffering plainly from debility and deprossion One of toe first things to be done in a new pasture, if shade is unfortunately lacking in it, is to take measures at once to supply the deficiency. Trees should be set out in different parta of thè field, reforence being had to convenience of location, character of tho soil, and other circumstances that the intelligent farmer will not be likely to overlook. The preferablo tree for this is the black locust. It will grow very thrifty on even a poor, rocky point, it boars a large sweet blosoui whibf 8kS well as tho leavos, is very healthful for stock, and tho grass that comes under it will be of luxuriant growth and prove more palatablo thau the pasturing under ny other tree. On nomo lich flats the sugar-maple may bo planted, and beside the creek or brtinch, if there beone.tUe willow slip may bo set out and will grow with surprieing rapidity. The loeust also grows rapidly, and all these trees maleo a fine shade and are valual)l for tho wood, rails and timber. For making rails and fënoe posts,. tho locust ia ahnost unequaled. Locust rails will last a century. Shrubbery is a desirablo feature in any pastustv and thcro are special reasons why even the briars may profitably be rctained on poor, thin, or stony knobs, and

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus