Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1877-01-02

OF the eXerement where tue animals are
compelled to lie on it. The animal heat
of the bodies of animals lying on beds
charged with fetid, excrementitious mat
| ter, volatilizes it with great rapidity, and
: renders the air so impure that, if 1t is In
, hailed by the mich cow in sufficient guam
tity. il will faint the milk in the blood; ;
/ hence, claim that any feature OF stable
arrangements that is capable Of producing
such baneful influences, is too barbarous
to be tolerated by men protesting eiylli-
zatiou. 1t will he my purpose to explain
how construct COW stable floor so that
the LIQUID excrement. as It falls from the
COW. passes directly through the foor into
sub.gutter, by which 1t is conducted I'M
der the floor, thence under ground to
proper place of deposit. | construct a
belt Of three feet in width, OF the rear por-
ton of the COW stable floor, of grating
Of cast iron. The opening or meshes in
the grating are l3xli inches square, and
the intermediate bars are one inch in
width on the floor surface, and iive-eighths
of an inch in thickness at the bottom, and
one and one-eigbth inch in depth. Each
cow occupies a plate 3 x SO of the grated
floor surface the greatest width being
placed across the stall, or lougitudinally
of line Of stalls.
The plates forming the open floor OF the
rear of the stalls rest only on jOist at
each end of their greatest length thus
the joists supporting them form no OBJ
struction to the passage of the solid or Ii
qu;d excrement through the openings in
the plates. The solid excrement, por-
ton Of it, passes directly through the
plates as it falls on them the balance Is
pressed through as it is stepped on by the
animals, and very little remains on the
plate what does readily falls through by
sweeping the plate with brush broom.
The iron floor for each COW weighs about
200 pounds, and each forms l04 superb
cial feet Of floor, requiring no repair.
The upper surface Of the bars of the graf
ings is convex and smooth. Cattle do not
slip on them, nor do they suffer any in-
convenience in any way from lying on
them.
have equipped number of stables
with the gratings and concealed cutters,
and | have yet to hear the first complaint
Of them in any way.
would state, however, that | do not
recommend them for stables in which the
manure Is allowed to freeze. or where bed
ding is used, as it destroys the efficiency
Of the grating by clOgging the gratings
As this open floor and concealed gutter
Is probably entirely new TO 4 large may
jcIity of those who NAV read this essay,I
will, for the benefit Of such, describe it
still more in detail.
The floor on which the COWS stand and
lie is raised eight inches above the floor
of the passage in the rear of the line of
stalls it has no Obliquity or slope in any
direction, and is long enough to lie on
Before | dismiss the consideration of my
improved cow stable floor, will describe
one feature that consider the most I'M
portant of all embraced nit. Cow stable
floors having ! slope 10 the rear arc both
uncomfortable and dangerous to the ami
mails. The obEquity occasions slipping
and when a COW in an advanced stage Of
pregnancy lies with the posterior consid.
cradle lower than the fore parts, the effect
Is to produce undue fatigue and injurious
pos:erior pressure on the bowels and
womb: and | have often observed the
effect Of it when it had 30 fatigued the
muscular power OF the neck of the womb
that the fetus would be prematurcly par
italy presented at times for weeks prior
to the period Of normal parturition. This
needless barbarism is effectually avoided
IN the use of stable floor that is level
"tore and aft, and the floor 4 proper
length.
In the Use Of open cutters behind COWS
to receive the excrement, it : = univer-
sal practice, besides giving the stable floor
4 slope to the rear, that the animals
may not drown in their own urine, to place
the gutter close TO the animals, that the
excrement may fall in it. instead of on
the floor. This generally causes the pos
terror OF the COWS, when lying, to over
hang the gutter, and they being thus de-
prived Of support, the position is one of
constant and severe fatigue. This, and
a number Of other stable eruelties which
desire TO yentilate, We might hope would,
at an early day, like Other glaring bar
barities when exposed, succumb to the
march Of civilization, but fear i: has be-
come too stable to be soon supplanted by
any substitute, however good.
| cannot dismiss the consideration of
the heathenish "open gutter" without sta
ting one more characteristic that it pos
sesses, viz, that Of storing in the stable
all the aecumla,in. filth in the most fay.
Orable position possible for the animals to
smear themselves, the stable, the mixer,
the milk, and eve, the hangers.
The solid excrement dams the liquid in
the gutter, and the tails of the cows be-
come saturated with the filth, for broad.
casting which that natural fybrush seems
admirably adapted. | know of stables
that are smeared from floor to ceiling, and
from wall to wall, and | know Of few
things that directly affect the cleanliness
of human food which need reform more
than the COW stable, yet it seems to have
received little attention from members of
dairy associations, sut it is deyoutly to be
hoped that it will at an early day.
] MAXIM, fu NOVA oa-to,n a., 4Io3 oaoI