Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1853-01-13
Agricultural.
What shall we do for Fodder
this Winter?

WnaC snail we 90 1Or EOQQGf
this Winter?
In the present scarcity of hay Throughout
a large portion of the country, the anxious
inquiry has been made thousand times,
How shall we bring our animals safely
through the winter?" Many have answer
ed by selling off at low prices large por.
ton of their stock; but we believe that
taking the country at large, the entire de.
6ciency might be made up, BY saving what
is n0w ,DdSted-and that too, wasted in a
way Of which one-haf our ordinary farmers
are unconscious. is it the ueading of
hay by the cattle into the mud :" eargerly
asks one Is it by eg'ecting the use of
the strawcutler inquiries another" Is it
by irregular and improvident feeding-by
allowing animals TO njnre each olher-by
permitting our hay to be spoiled by expos.
ure " are the various questions of others.
1t is none of these sources Of loss, although
all are to be carefully avoided, that we refer
to- What we mean is the wasteful practice
of using hay and meal for the simple pur
pose of fuel--for maintaining the animal
warmth of sheep and cattle-but which
ought to be used solely for keeping up their
flesh. What burn up our hay to heat
our barns and sheds? Impossible
Permit US briefly to explain this matter.
fot the benefit OF that portion Of our read.
ers who may have not given it their atten-
ton.
Let us inquire why it is that the human
body, aud the bodies of warm blooded ami
mails generally Except at the surface mer,-
Iy,) are always at the same temperature,
whether in summer or in winter, in cold
climates or in hot-why, in the intense cold
within the arctic circle, where the mercury
of the thermometer is frozen solid, the heat
If the body is as great as under the burn
ing sun of the torrid zone? In those cold
regions the heat is constantly escaping from
the body at prodigous rate, in the same
way that the heat of stove is constantly
passing into the air which surrounds it, and
is carried off by the currents. Where does
it all come from to supply this constant
waste?
BY breathing, large quantity Of oxygen
from the air is constantly received into the
lungs. The circulation of the blood brings
this Oxygen into contact with the carbon
and hydrogen Of the blood, both Of which
are derived from The food. The oxygen
combines with these two elements, and in
the act of combining heat is given out, in
precisely the same way, only more slowly
that it is given out by the burning Of wood
Combustion in pure oxygen gas is very in
tense, aud its heat greater than the hottest
furnaces combustion in common air is
slower and the heat correpondngly less in.
tense. But in the animal body many hours
are required to consume the same amoul Of
oxygen as in quick combustion. But the
real amount of heat is the same its nten-
sity is diminished as the time is heightened
This is further proved by the fac, tina, ami
mails which breathe rapidly have the highest
animal heat. A child has more rapid res
plra,lon than man, and we accordingly
find its temperature two or three degrees
higher. Birds breathe more rapidly than
quadrapeds, and have four or five degrees
more heat Fishes and reptiles, known as
cold blooded animals breathe very slowly.
Active exercise increases the amount of
bodily heat, by throwing the blood more
rapidly into the lurgs, and which thus COM
blnes faster with the oxyssI- or i"susksr
words produces more rapid combustion.
Hence more food is required for animals
in winter, 10 keep up the more rapid waste
OF heat. And hence too, domestic ami
mails, exposed to cold winds and snow
Storms, requ re more food than those shell
tered in stables. A starving animal of any
: kind is soonest frozen to DEATH Beasts of
prey in the arctic regions, far exceed in 70.
raclty those of the torrid zone. The in
habltants of the extreme north consume al
mos incredible quantities of food Every
farmer knows that it requires more grain to
: falten beei and pork in the depth of winter,
than during the milder weather of autumn.
Now, when domestic ANNALS are exposed
to the severe cold winds aud snow storms,
there must be three resulting alternatives.
: Either large amount of food must be Civ
en- them to keep up the heat. besides what
is needed for allmenl; or else the animal
must freeze TO death. One of these three
alternatives is inevitable. The last no one
J desires; the hrst is costly process; the
second is no less to be dreaded. Now
+ our advice to all is, to avoid this triple.
> horned dilemma, by securing the warmth
! OF comfortable shelter.
TO prevent, therefore, the consump,ion Of
II hlgh.prlced fodder for the purposes of fuel
most wasseiul source of heat, we must
u come at once to the practical details Of
warm stables, dry sheds, and free use Of
: good litter and thick horse blankets. The
winds which sweep through the cracks often
seen In barns. carry off every winter many
t dollars worth of food the comfor,less we,
j floofs and yards OF snow and mud absorb
! still largar portion. The practice of even
y blanketlng cows, in connection with q
= thorough attention TO cleanliness, has beer
3, ADOPTED by some to great advantage W.
/! hav eknown an intelligent farmer, who, b,
e prorIdiag warm, close, and comfortable
t house for his sheep in winter, uctuaity tos,
e less than in summer; and we have heart
y OF another of extensive experience in sheer
n raising. who is about to erect house II
e such manaer as to be moderately warmed
a In the severest weather by stove heat, Al
being more economical than maintaining
r the heat by feeding.
: This is subject that ought to receive
!, more thorou h attention from farmers gen
j, eraly; for these facts do not rest on III,
n basis ofuncertaln theory but are establish
5 ed as thoroughly as any truths in farming
= Their full appreciation generally in ireez
o ing weather, would, we doubt not, lead t,
o corresponding practice in the erection q
a shelters, that would save the country a