Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1845-01-09

When flrst put UP to- hay, therefore,
it is not good policy to feed out the
poorest at FIRST; that may be spared till
the coolest weather comes, and till the
cows are dry. You will find your
corn husks anexcelient article for cows
in milk ,as they willcause greater flow
than the best kinds of hay will; if you
should incline TO make butterin winter
you will find that husks communicate
nothing of a vicious character to the
cream, as dry hay will.
tits easier to keep all your cattle in
good heart than to build them up after
you have suffered them to fall away
Your cattle. therefore, should have
some your good fodder when they
are first taken up from the green food
of the fields. e eAs1 4sf
If you are rearing your calves, you
cannot bat agree with US, on reflection
that now is the time to pay the most
attention to them. They never have
been accustomed to dry fodder, and if
you pay no attention to them they will
soon become costive, and their excre-
ments will be as black as peat mu sh.
When this is the case you must not
expect your calves to gain single
pound in weight; and if they live
through the winter, It is more than you
ought to expect. g
Calves should have your best hay
to begin the winter with; next to this
give them your earliest cut English
hay, unless you seriously begin to
think that hay, cut after it has gone to
seed, is better than what's cut earlier,
as some writers have seriously told
you. Calves should have potatoes,
turnips, or roots,of some kind through
the, winter, land they will continue to
grow almost as fast as in the. summer,
so that your labor is not lost. You
can have your heifer cows at two years
of age just as well as to wait four years;
and heifers that come in young make
better cows-mind that-than such as
are suffered TO come in later.
Ifyour object is, to rear stock of as
large size as possible, let the heifers go
till the heifers are four years old before
they are suffered to breed. But if you
aim to geta great quantity of milk, or
of butter, as possible in proportion TO
the size of your COW, or in proportion
the food she consumes, let the udder
and the milk ducts be called into action
before the sinews and the muscles have
taken possession Of the space that is
wanted for milk.
Good water is important for stock,
and it ought to be handy in every COW
yard. At this season water from
well is warmer than from shoal one,
or from a brook, and cattle drink more
of it when it is first drawn. But it
soon freezes in many yards, and Sc
we're thirst only induces cattle to drink
when there is ice in the trough. When
you have boilers handy to cook food
for hogs, the cost of water in COW yards
in many situations, will not be great;
and we hope to see trial made to fur
nish warm wateI by some amateurs
who have nothing else to do.
tits highly gratifying toa good and
benevolent farmer to go to his barns in
he severest weather and see his stock I
n comfortable condition. The !
1orth-we may puff and whistle; the
snow may be thrown in heaps to blow
up the roads and door ways; and the
ain and hail may dash round the farm
ouildings;but if you have been prudent
you have a warm and secure retreat for
or your stock, where, if they give you
10 thanks for your pains, they will ut
er no complaints, and theirlooks when
winter is past, if not before, will repay
you for all that you have expended
n providing well for them.
As farmers generally feel unable to
provide room enoughIt olet all theircattle
'un loose under barns or sheds, they
,onfne to stancmons where they can
aot lie so comfortable as when united.
The single stanchion, with a bow and
ing, is preferable to the double stan
,hlon, where cattle are forced to stand
almost without the power Of turning the
head right or left. They also find it
difficult to rises after lyingdown.
A bow about the neck inserted
another bow. or rnnner aropndl
the stanchion, gives the animal much
more freedom to lie down, to rise, to
scratch her hide with her tongue, or
horn, and to look at her companions. 81
A chain fastened to single stud is
easier for her than to stand barred up
between two posts. -.
In winter cattle will drink best at 10
or ! in the forenoon, and unless they
can find water handy, they will not
trouble themselves much in search of
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