Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1871-09-27

We hear complaints from various sections
Of our country annually of the damage and
oss Of grain, hay and stock, from exposure
to the elements, occasioned by the want Of ca
pacous and suitable shelter, etc; also damage
to farm implements for their need Of shelter.
Why need all this annual waste be- when q
sufficient saving could be made, often iu one
or two years, to pay for putting mp barns,
sheds, etc, that would save all this loss If
lumber Of proper quality is scarce substitutes
can be made available to answer good pur-
pose and still last for quite number Of years,
In England aud the Continent thatch rooted
buildings, even to cottages, are very common !;
pise, or mud walls. are also in use for dwell
ings for the poor If timber for frames is
available with US, straw may be madeto form
very warm and durable covering for both
walls and roof, aud afford all the needed shell
ter from the elements desirable.
Let me here euumerate few Of the many
reasons which might be urged in favor Of
suitable barns and sheds sufficient to store all
crops aud implements and protect the stock
from the effects Of inclemency Of theweather.
Crops are preserved in better condition
when housed than they can be in any other
way and certainly farm implements are far
more durable when kept properly sheltered
than when left exposed to the open shelter Of
some fence corner, Hay or grain when de-
posted in any other than tight barn or shed,
is always in an unsafe condition. II put up
in stacks, the stacks can seldom be completed
the same day they are commenced and every
moment Of exposure beyond is fraught with
danger Of damage from some cause or other
all this danger is obyiated by having barns,
etc, in which to store them, where everything
IS safe. Hay and all forage for stock can be
more conveniently and economically fed from
barns than when saved in any other manner
If stacked and opened to feed, a certain por-
ton is always exposed and damaged beyond
being available as fodder from storms,
etc, lost, trodden under foot, or blown away.
The stock while feeding are exposed to all
the variations of the weather from which they
tain would retreat were it not for the stern
demands of nature Animals thus exposed
cannot thrive without consuming very much /.
greater quantities than if sheltered in COM
Portable barns, and more likely are they to
fall away in flesh on such fodder and be COM
PEELED to fight the elements while consuming
it. Animals fed in stables or warm sheds
well Uttered can be kept thriving on very
much less fodder and large quantity of
manure of better quality can be made than
when unsheltered, thus saving no nconsider- |.
able annual sum.
Grain put in barus when harvested meets |
with no loss from storms, yermn, scattering, |
etc. and when threshed there is no loss Of
grain, as there is in being threshed on the
ground the straw is of much greater value
for either feeding or market.
Farm implements properly sheltered will
last, on an average, one-iour,h longer than
when unsheltered and otherwise uncared for,
besides costing much less for labor 10 using,
us well as the greater satisfaction and pride
taken in having good, clean, easy working
implements, things too little priced general
ly
Put all these sources Of loss together and
estimate thereirom what they will amount to
on any farm, and see if you-thc proprietor
can afford to do without ample and suitable
barns and sheds, to afford store room, stables
and shelter for hay, fodder, grain, stock aud
farm implements. We eau hardly credit that
there is farmer in all our broad land so rich
or poor, that can afford to go without the es.
sentials above enumerated when he comes to
make proper estimates Of actual cost of suit
able shelter and store room, and the want
thereof.
W. II. WHITE
South Windsor, Conn.