Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1853-12-22
Rules for Winter.

Now IS the time IN the Northern States,
TO be preparing for winter and a few SIM
pie rules may bc useful as renembranccrs,
especially to The young and inexperienced
farmers.
|. Keep no more stock Ihln you can
keep really we'll Ii you nave more, pick
out the most inferior, aud sell them Bet
ter To winter ten head well, aud have them
"a hue condition IN the sprlug, than to keep
twenty hail-staved, winch il Will require
all the next summer to put into condulon.
ii. Heat and shelter are equivalent TO
food. Ask Yourself whether It is best to
spend a hundred dollars Ia pultlng up
shed, which will last ior years save half
your fodder; aud preserve your stock
healthy and eomfortabe or 10 spend Tins
hundred a..aars ia hay and otter fi,dde,
IN wasted manures, aud diseased and diving
stock : Il Is fully proved lnat well shelter
ed animals, with racks 10 cal from, can be
NIniered aud keptin ine condition, on one
hair the food necessary whore the sleek is
fed out of doors on Tie gcoudd, With the lea
side of rail fencaiur' shelter, aud this
without taking iuto consideration the saw
ing Of manure, aud many other items of
profit.
Ill. You cannot make your young AMI
mats TOO comfortable, feed them too well
during the first winter. II they are once
situated or starved, they will never recover
a. Tins applies to ali kinds of stock, but
especially 10 calves aud colts.
Nv. Therefore make provision not only
for their shelter, but also their food Hay
alone VIII moi do for them. If YOU have no
roots feed them on bran. and crushed oats,
and corn. The secret OF having tine stock
Is Co keep them always IA growing condi-
tion. Tins they do during summer on the
best grass; and the cold ofWlulcr consumes
great proportion OF the food eaten ~ pro-
duclng heat, winch IN summer goes to con
stltule flesh and fat. II Is morally impuss-
bic that young animal eau continue 10
grow during our winters on the same food
which keeps u IN summer. Both The size
and health OF your auimals, and the milk
producing power Of your cows, viii depend
ON their being well fed during the winter
v 1t has been fully proved, that It your
sheep are shut up ali WINTER with suiiicien-
cy OF water, lhey can be kept fat n wheat
aud oat straw alone, aud make a vast quan-
MY of manure, though a few roots, or lit
tie gain once or twice week Is better
Thus, by having proper building, YOU can
turn all your straw INTO wool at 80 cents a
pound, aud the richest mrnure, instead of
burning it, or letting II rot, as is SO often
done. Would not this soon pay for shed
vi. Remember that you RAISE cattle in
order to make profit on them. II costs,
on an average, So a year to raise common
COW, III the common way. To maturity, at
four years old, and then you barely get $50
for II. Ii may cost you 81 year To raise
hue grade 10 maturity, at three years old
and you will get $50 for il. In one case
you barely get what the beast costs YOU Ia
the other, you make $40 profit As re.
CARDS horses, the difference Is greater still
Depend on 1t, no one ever made money on
stock by half starving aud neglect; but you
cannot iail 10 make money, # you breed ju-
d clously, aud feed and shelter literally
VII If you would grow profitable crops,
and prevent your land from being impoyer-
shed, you must manure literally This
manure you must either make or buy; for
our Western lands must have vegetable, as
well as mineral manures Now, If YOU al
low your cattle aud sheep to run loose all |
winter, you will make no manure If you
keep them up all winter, you Will make
great deal of 1t. The annual difference is,
probably, on common farm, 30 bushels OF
wheat, or, this year, $50. That would pay |
10 per cent interest on 5000 invested ia
buildings But as you could keep 20 head /
OF stock shut up, on the same food that len |
would consume running loose, We may call
the difference Of profit far greater than that |
VIII. Again, every heap of dirty rotten
straw is not manure" though II is often |
50 by courtesy. Manure is of no use to
plant, until 1t can be dissolved IA water
Now, If you leave heap of straw aud dung
exposed to the rain and sun, nearly all tina,
makes il useful to a plant runs of, or es-
capes into the air. After a time, nothing is |
LETT but humus, or rather woody fibre. Ii
is true that rotten wood may do some good