Nebraska advertiser., 1880-12-09
Xintering Cattle.

The increased care that i now given
to dairy cattle is good evidence that the
farmers OF this country have struck the
right track. Better cattle. better care,
and using properly the advantages re-
sulting from these, will pet money in
farmers pockets and put their farms i'm
high state of fertility. We boast of
the progress that has been made i'm this
direction, and substantial progress has
indeed been made, but there is room for
more. Go across the country to-day,
and compare one barn with another and
one can hardly credit his eyes. Miser-
able substitutes for stables, and in many
eases no provision at all scarcely, for
shelter Great neglect is JreVal,fnt still
in winter.ng cows, and a large Der cent.
of feed-is actually thrown awasy every
year, from using cold and connie tless
stables and sheds. or none at az. -
There are MANY definitions o. a good
stable. A very warm one, a very airy
one, one uniform in its temperature, one
free from every OdOr, another saturated
with the smell of manure. a stable bat
toned and banked up, another clear up
from the ground and wide cracks in the
floor, one with bedding, another with a
hard plank floor. But our ideal stable
is one with ''sOme of the comforts, - and
while we would have the air come in, we
would have it come in otherwise than
through cracks, and the ventilation so
regulated that something like an even
temperature can be maintained-fOr If
milk is the object sought, the COW must
be kept reasonably warm and well fed.
There is an active dispute going on
about the care that should be bestowed
upon the heifcr before she takes herplace
in the dairy, whether or not she should
be fed so that the fattening tendency
shall be paramount, and every effort
made TO foster her growth, the idea be-
ing that the development will be equal
20 all the demands; or that she must
rough it, and be kept merely in a good
growing condition, and that the fatten-
ing tendency should be checked, that the
milking qualities, which are the OppO-
site, may develop. Be this as it may. it
is no argument why the growing heifer
shall not have a warm stable and ample
dry bedding to protect her from the Sc
verify of the winter, even if II is decided
to scrimp her food to keep her from put
ting on beef.
In former article-''In a Stable
we indicated something in relation to the
construction of il, ahd beyond a dry,
comfortable stable, airy, light and warm,
the question is one largely of food and
care. OF course a cow can be starved
with rather more comfort 10 herself in
warm stable, than under the protecting
lee of a rail fence; but if the cow Is TO
be MIXED, or if she is expected to thrive,
she must be fed upon a somewhat diver
sifed diet. and one that should have a
little meal sprinkled upon it, to give her
courage. Il Is now conceded that roots
of some kind cause a much healthier
condition among the cattle than simply
hay and meal; certain it is that they
stand the change from hay to grass bet
ter. and though but small quantity is
given, those who eat the beets and man
Colds are easily diStinguishable by their
thrift. There is another subject that is
overlooked too often, ani hats, the win
ter watering of cattle. To water a cow
that has stood tWenty-fOur hOu-s I'm
warm stable, at pond covered with ice,
and let her gorge herself with ice water,
stand in a snow bank afterwards while
nature warns it. is demand upon the
system wholly unnatural and Of a dan
gerous tendency. With the modern APP
pliances OF supplying the farm yard
with water. enaGlingcOy VS. 10 drink when
their inclination leads them, rather than
when the farmer and his dog drive them
across wind-swept lot to distant
= -. Al l..
wintering of COWS, and one that has full
" as important bearing upon the sue
cessful wintering OF cattle and stock
generally, as any that can be brought
forward SAM.