Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-09-26
FARM AND GARDEN.
RARNs AND STOCK SHEDS.

IL there is one thing we are more derelict
about than another it is the providing of
proper covering to protect our stock in win
ter. II were to take the trouble, / could
find excellent and reliable authority for as
sorting that cattle left out in the cold re-
quire to be fed third more to keep up the
same, amount OF flesh or milk than if prop
erly housed; that is to say, food is the fuel
of the animal engine, the real carbon from
which heat is derived. Now, your brute is
constantly subjected to the influences of
cold winds and rains, the heat is carried of:
whilst If it be kept in warm place the heat
will be retained. Again: this heat, this car
bon, is also fat; therefore, if your OK or
COW is exposed to the weather and not suf-
iciently fed to supply carbon to keep up
the warmth, nature makes a demand on
the stores laid up In better times, and your
animal gets poor; or if the store is not
there to draw from, the poor creature dies.
Look at it in any light you will, exposure
is loss-waste and bad management.
Every man who Pretends to be farmer,
In the proper acceptAtion Of the term, should
keep two-fifths of his land in red clover
which cannot be saved unless put under
clover. Here, then, are two inducements
TO multiply rocf surface. And yet another:
No farmer should neglect to save every par
ticle of manure that falls from bis stock,
and be cannot do this properly in the abb
sence Of sheds and stSbling. We mean the
man who utilities all the hours between the
time crops are laid by and gathering time,
and who will then have foresight enough to
rive boards and build houses to shelter his
cattle. Figure up what few hundred dol
lars properly expended In this behalf will
l. Ill 60
haul up and Put in the ground twenty-four
posts, 20 average foot each in diameter,
and stand fifteen feet out of the ground?
Set them ten feet apart and you will have
house forty by one hundred. What will it
cost TO put up and secure plates on the posts,
and also joists, with q row Of posts in the
center for support; then rafters, ssy thirty
four pair, Of three by six stuff, each twenty
eight feet long, say twenty-five hun
dred feet of lumberP And now for the
boards: 1t will take fourteen courses, Of
five hundred to the course, on each side, or
fourteen thousand in all, which will make a
very excellent job; ten Thousand will give
you roof, but not good one. How much
will the boards cost? A key Of eight penny
nails, and twenty pounds each Of tens and
double tens, will be needed. Set in and
splhO W I4lC BODLby AOL .COuldlllg al i've lCGb
spsrt, three BY four scantlipg to nail the
siding to; this will require fourteen hun
dred feet of lumber OfsidiDg we will want
four thousand feet Of inch plank, to be set
on end and nailed 70 the last mentioned
scantling. AT ten feet above the ground we
want good strong floor, with strong ioists,
made OF poles barked-four thousand feet of
lumber for the floor. We want some doors
with hinges, and some ladders. We also
want good well in one corner of the build
ing, or under q shed adjoining. Carefully
estimate tbs value Of all the mate
rial, and then value the putting in
place. Through the center of the
building, and along the entire length, have
your corn cribs on either side Of this
aisle. Should We cut off twenty feet
for this purpose, we have still left ample
room for eighteen animals In stalls, and a
harness and tool room. In the loft viii be
found capacity for one hundred tons Of hay.
To make this barn perfect, we must sur
round it with fifteen feet shed. This viii
take twelve thousand more boards, and
twenty-fOur hundred feet of rafter., and
five hundred feet Of plates, and five hun
dred feet Of ties, and another key of ten
penny nails, aud another twenty pounds of
tens and double tens. Take vcur slate and
pencil and work it all out, and see that this
great building, covering nearly quarter of
an acre Of ground, viii cost but few hun
dred dollars! "But," ssys an enquiri ng
friend, "What do l want with this big house?
/ have but few animals and no hay" The
reason you have 10 stock is because you
have neither food nor shelter for it. You are
content to raise few ten dollar cows when
you might breed many worth ten times that
much.
Get the barn, and, my word for it, you
will be stimulated 20 get the hay. Be sure
and SOW red clover on grain this month.
Don't be stingy with the seed, and don't be
afraid 10 put them on the surface; and when
you have the hay, your cattle, which means
horses and mules as well as horned stock,
will multiply, your manure heaps will grow,
your land will get richer, and, as sequence,
the same thing will happen TO you.-SOuth-
era Farmer.