Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1878-03-15
Economy Of Food and Warmth.

All animals depend upon a constant
supply of food and certain degree of
warmth for the maintenance of life, al
though the quality of the former and the
amount of the latter is determined by the
climate and season In which they are sit
uated. In southern climates the inhabi-
tants live on fruits, ETC., whereas in the
polar regions they consume large quanti-
ties of fish, blubber and oil, showing that
cold temperature necessitates grOsser
food, and that which contains a large
amount of carbon, to supply the warmth
requisite for existence.
If nature, therefore, has thus benef-
Gently provided for the effectual nourish-
ment of her creatures, why should man,
the noblest Of her creatures, neglect to
follow out her plans with regard to the
beasts dependen5 Ipon him, at the same
time clothing and feeding himself with
selfish care? 1 fear simply because he
thinks it don't pay to do it" Would
he himself be capable of enduring hard
and continuous labor, or would he even
maintain his health, without this care ?
Does it not pay to do it in his own case
and in what respect are the cases of
horses, COWS, sheep and pigs different ?
If it Is necessary that man should have
great coat in winter, his habitatiOn
weather-tight and well-warmed, and his
table literally furnished with nourishing
eatables, why should his horse, COW, sheep
or pig be denied plenty of dry bedding,
condemned to live (save the mark D in
barn with leaky roof, and sides full of
cracks, with just such rations as the
farmer thinks he can spare? If it pays
In one case, why not in the other2
Let every farmer where it Is practiea-
bic periodically weigh his stock this win
ter, sheep and pigs especially, and let him
rest assured, when he finds their weights
at each successive weighing stationary,
or nearly so, that he is losing money and
wasting his feed. No animals pay that
barely exist. The horse loses power and
endurance, the COW snrnks her milk, the
light clip of wool and the scanty number
of puny lambs in the spring tell the tale
of the sheep, and the poor pig, the most
neglected of az, I fear, too often becomes
bag of bones. 1t is on behalf of the
latter that particularly plead, and more
especially on behalf of his younger broth
ers and sisters. If we are to have thrifty
well formed boars and sows for breeding
purposes next Spring, they -nust have
snug pens plentifully supplied with bed
ding, together with warm, nutritious diet.
Warm food in Winter is highly desirable
both for comfort and digestion. It's also
economical, as any one may easily ascer-
tain by feeding one pig with cold and an
other with warm food. Which is most
comfortable and digestive of cold frosty
day, a bowl of cold soup, or one of warm2
Poor piggy would ike to answer the
question, and be served accordingly, as
in all well regulated piggeries he is and
should be.
Some farmers, am afraid, instead of
availing themselves of the valuable analy-
sis and experiments made by able and
devoted agriculturists, giving accurate
information as to the feeding value Of the
different kinds of grain, &C., study only
to procure cheap food and how little
of that cheap (and often unwhOlesOme
because cheap food their animals can
subsist on; the economical value of gen.
erous diet and warmth never entering
their close-fsted calculations. Some Of
your numerous readers, no doubt, have
experienced the pleasant feeling, whilst
sitting round the stove some particularly
stormy night during winter, of knowing
that their animals are warm, well fed and
comfortable. Those who have, 1 viii
venture to assert, have never since neg
lected their poor dependents. - Cor.
Country Gentlemen.