The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-01-16
FARMERS DEPARTMENT.
.Ihc farmers crop their living from their crops,
And each man shares the blessing of their shares"
Warm Barns.--Noyv is the time to look to it

Warm Barns.--Now is the time to look to it.
| we find in late number of the Albany Gull
tvator an article this subject; and as the cold
season is now approaching, and there may be
Still ample time left to prepare for it, we hope
the HUT thrown out and argued with SO much
force, and sustained by so many facts, will be
duly considered by all who may not be provided
as carefully as they should in the particulars re-
ferred to by this correspondent. s.
WARM BARSs.-So much has been said upon
the necessity of keeping cattle warm in winter,
that it might be supposed every farmer would
have his barn warm and comfortable; but as we
call upon neighboring farmers, we find many of
their barns quite open, exposing their cattle to
the wind and drifting. Many, doubtless, do not
know how much more it costs to winter cattle
IN cold barn than In warm one, and that, at
best, they cannot be made to thrive SO well UPON
the same quality of food. The animal body acts
as furnace which must be supplied with fuel,
and the greater the exposure to cold, the more
fuel there must be to keep up the heat
Captain Parry, when wintcrng in the frigid
regions, found his men lost their appetite for
light 1ocd, and ate clear butter and grease with a
keen relish, and without the slightest inconven
encc, and that their health and comfort required
these articles of food in proportion as they were
exposed to the rigor Of the climate. Warmly
clad travellers have found, to their great sur.
prise, that the men in some ofthe northern tribes
who wear little clothing, will consume daily ten
pounds of flesh, beside eating as freely Of talow
candles as we do of apples. So it appears that
shelter and clothing, to a certain extent, answer
the purpose of food. If we apply this principle
to the wlntcring of stock, it is obvious a preat
saving may be made in hay. The cattle are so
many furnaces that must be kept heated. IF
the surrounding medium is cold, there must be
more fuel, or the cattlcs flesh will be consumed
to keep up the heat. The farmer, then, who has
20 tons ofhay in cold barn, may save at least
one. tenth of it, by expending small sum in ma
king his stables warm; and this saving he NAV
make every year he fills his barn, beside having
his cattle in much better condition in the
Spring.
Farmers frequently buy hay in backward
springs, paying high prices, when, if they had
expended onc-half of the money paid for the hav.
IN fixing up their stables, they would have saw.
ed buying any hay, besides having their stables
warm for future use. So the objection farmers
sometimes make to repairine their horns- that
they are poor and IN debts the very reason
why they should repair them IF they are pay
ing SIX per cent interest on their stock; thew can
Ill afford to lose twice as much more in keepinc
1t. Cold barns will make farmer poor, as we'll
as his cattle. A merchant or mechanic wo,1d
grow poor last enough, if he wasted ten per cent
OF his stock No wonder, then, farmers grow
poor, who waste often more than ten per cent of
all their hay, by keeping their cattle in cold, o.
pen barns. The farmer had better sell ton or
two Of hay, (f he cannot do it without) and oct
some money to make his barn warm.
We have seen cold stables made quite confor-
table by boarding them up on the inside, 3 or 4
inches from the outside boards, and fillinr the
intermediate space with straw. The front side
OF the stable should also be boarded up, leaving
space open to feed the CATTLE which NAV be
kept open or closed, according to the tempera-
thod for those who cannot build new barns, or
make thorough repairs upon old ones; and it is
only necessary to have it accomplished: that the
farmer should 60 about it. 1t may be done at
any season of the year, in fair weather or foul.
Farmers, in what manner can you most profita.
bly, invest few dollars' You have, perhaps.
warm kitchen, and find it much less expensive
providing fuel for it than for a cold one, beside
being much more comfortable for your family:
You will find there is as much economy in hav.
ing warm barn, as in having warm kitchen;
and although the comfort of your cattle is not to
be compared with that of your family, yet it
should not be forgotten. Gould the dumb brutes
speak, they would tell many sad tales of suffer.
ing:-yes, and they would argue, too, more
feelngly than ever stump speaker could in "a
vor OF protecton. JOHN TUFTs.
T. II