The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-02-07
Winter Stabling.

warm stable INTO JHe ydTu, On COlu
winters day, the change, from one ex-
treme to the other, is so great that they
cannot relish the change, especially
after having first filled up with ice water
from trough or stream. All the en-
joyment of outdoor exercise is thus
taken away, and they will probably do
nothing but stand about and shiver
until allowed to enter the ''sWeat-box"
again.
The same might be said of the treat
nent of horses. By being confined
large portion of the time in such close,
warm stables they are rendered unfit
for the rough outdoor exposure to which
farm-horses must be submitted more
or less. Horses, and in fact all domes-
tic animals, thrive best in cool, dry
and airy quarters. By this [ do not
wish to be understood that cold, open
stables are good. BY no means. Let
the stable be warmly and substantially
built. Haphazard ventilation, by means
of cracks between the boards, broken
windows, and tumble-down doors is not
the idea at all. The ventilation should
be systematic and thorough. The
means for ventilating should be so ar
ranged and constituted that it will be
an easy matter to adapt the ventilation
to all kinds of weather. Any stable can
be so ventilated at a small cost, or
rather, at no cost beyond few hours
labor. The cold air should be admitted
at the rear of the stable, and near the
floor. This can easily be done by boring
large auger holes in the back walls
near the floor, and others to correspond,
in long, sliding piece, which can be
held in place by means of cleats or
strips attached to the wall. Then, by
moving this slide backward, or forward,
the ventilating holes can be opened,
closed, or partly closed. This gives
the fresh air access. The foul air
must, of course, escape at the top of the
stable, or near the top. Is this theory
ofventilation correct?-Ed PoWD1a7e.
The places for egress should be at the
front of the stable, when the construc-
ton of the stable renders such method
possible. These should be open in all
kinds of weather, for no stock can
thrive unless their stabling quarters are
provided with some means for carrying
off the impure air.
We often see sheep confined in low
basement under the barn which is too
tOltSil DulA doslLp anu clOS6. some
farmers seem to labor under the idea
that any low, dark place that sheep can
crawl into, is all that they require in
the way of stabling. OF all stock,
sheep most need roomy, airy quarters
And they also need clean ones We
think that our cow stables and horse
stables should be cleaned out twice
each day, while the sheep droppings
are allowed to accumulate until spring,
which causes the pens to become foul,
thus generating vermin. Sheep will
bear open exposure better than such
treatment. Their thick, warm coats
indicate an adaptability to cold weather
and exposure such as would seriously
affect other stock. They should be
thoroughly sheltered from storms; and
when this is done they will stand any
amount of cold weather.
If those farmers who pride them
selves upon their good stables would
only look into the matter little more
thoroughly they would find that large
number of their so-called good stables
could lay claim to that title only upon
the ground of being frost-proof. Every
autumn our agricultural papers TEEN
with articles advocating warm stables
for winter, while the more important
points-purity and ventilation are very
seldom touched upon.
Thorough ventilation is one of the
essentials to wholesome condition of
the stable, but ventilation, however
thoroughly executed, cannot alone keep
the stable pure and the stock in a
thrifty condition, unless the same good
management be exercised in other d.
rectlons. There is not one farmer in
ten that thinks it necessary to do more
than scrape out the drippings when
cleaning out the stables. The fumes of
ammonia are inhaled with every
breath. The very harnesses are per-
meated by this penetrating gas. The
most valuable part of the manure is
thus escaping, thus causing a double
loss. And how easily all this loss
might be prevented Absorbents of
some description are in the reach of
every farmer. Every swail and hol-
low has its deposit. The common
earth from the surface of one of his
many fields will yield the desired mate
rial. Muck is the best, but dry earth
is good. The finer and DRYER the earth
is made, the greater will be its absorb
ing power. The foulest stable floor
will lose its pungent odor in a few min
utes if sprinkled with fine muck or pull
verized peat. Upon some farms hun
dredS of dollars might be saved annual
~ by the use of absorbents. The
amount of fertilizing material is thus
immensely increasedin both quality and
quantity.
Good farm management consists in
looking well to these possible gains and
probable losses-so closely, in fact, that
the fumes of escaping ammonia meet
with prompt and effective action, and
are captured to do good work. Vest
erB PtoWman.
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