Nebraska advertiser., 1856-09-13
KIND OF WATER FOR STOCK.

Various opinions are entertained as
to the quality of water required for the.
best health of stock. Some think that
the question need not be discussed,
and that any kind of water will do
for animals. Others think that the
same principles should control the
selection of water for stock, as those
which guide the choice of water for
the use of man. We lean to the latter
opinion 81 elawso of the vital economy
are substantially the same in animals
especially in the higher orders-as
in man. Almost all substances that
are poisonous for man, are also poison
Gus for horses and cattle. Intoxicat-
ing drinks produce the same effects on.
horses as on men. Stage drivers have
often given their horses a bottle of
whiskey to quicken their speed. The
same medicines operate in a similar
way on brutes as on human beings.
We might multiply these illustrations,
but it is needless. 1t may be taken as
a fixed fact, that the action Of all great
laws of climate, and food, and drink,
will, with due allowance, be the same
in the cases of our domestic animals,
as in our own cases. If, then, water
is poisonous for us, it cannotbe healthy
for them. The Importance then, Of
securing a full supply of pure, clear,
healthy water, for stock, cannotbe too
highly estimated. There are three
ways in which water may be healthfu-
ly supplied. 1. By good springs, or
the running brooks which issue from
them. 2. By good wells. 3. By
cisterns, which receive pure rain water
from the roofs of buildings. To pre-
serve rainwater pure, it should be CON
veyed in clean pipes to the cistern, and
the cistern itself should bewen cemen-
ted. A lower order of supply is that
derived from tanks, made by ~enlarging
running streams, by means of excaYa-
tons and dams. In many cases these
do very well. Another still is, the use
of large streams, when neal by, for
the watering of stock. When the
water is tOlerably pure, this will also
| serve a tolerable purpose. But if the
) water would give a man the ague, we
t could not recommend its use for cattle.
The lowest and most detestable wav
of treating stock in this respect, is to
2 furnish them with only stagnant water.
8 exposed to the sun, covered with green
! scum, fetid with decOmposing vegeta-
ton, and swarming with animalcules,
| living and dead, which the illfated
: cattle must swallow with every draught
theytake. The evils which result from
1 this kind of water, are these:--Such
1 water is disgusting to the taste Of
1 healthy cattle. They will endure a
S great deal before they will touch it
i, They will, of course, be greatly injur-
t ed by thirst, when such supplies alone
are given them. Another evil is, that
the use of such water produces con
e stitutional disease. Feyers, and de-
rangements, in the digestive organs
r we believe, often flow from the use Of
: such water. Another evils the intro
duction of animaleules in 1.-THE stomach
3 and alimentary canal. We might FL
columns with the accounts of cases il
cattle that have died in consequence,
) of swallowing these creatures Will,
a drinking.
Such are some Of the results which
may be imputed to the use Of stagnan-
and putrid water. The farmer whC
does not, as soon as possible, provide
e a supply of good, pure, healthy water
for his stock, fails alike in regard fol
his wi interest, and for the comfor
e and health Of the animals that depend
on him for both.-0hiO Farmer.