Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-01-03

ECONOMY OF SHELTER. |
Why II Pays - Protect Lavs-sesck A..,,,n
CelA Winds 40 saev.
Sheltering farm animals can. Of
course. b commended on the ground
of humanity. But stronger appeal
can be made by showing that shelter
Is economical With the few very good
- with the many bad. the almighty
dollar is powerful; and we are most
happy in being kind and doing good
when we know that by so doing we are
making money. 1t il very agreeable
lending to the Lord" when we don't
have to wait till the crack Of doom for
interest and principal
When ] was at school ] was taught
that one Of the things which distin-
guished the higher animals from
the lowest. from plants. and from
inorganic objects. was that their
bodily heat did not vary with the
temperature of surrounding OBJ
jects. If their temperature is prac-
tically the same as it is in state
of health, that heat must be pro-
duced within them. Bodily heat, near
" always above that of the atmos-
phere. is produced within the body,
and is constantly escaping. though
the surrounding atmosphere may DO
of a higher temperature. This escape
when less than normal causes discom-
fort, as during the hot days of summer.
Still air is q poor conductor OF heat;
hence bodily heat will escape the moro
slowly into still air. When the air
about the animal is still the heat from
its body escaping into the air soon
raises the temperature of the air until
it is about that of the body; but when
the air is in motion. fresh air of q
lower temperature is continually
brought about the animal, and into
this air the vital heat escapes readily.
When we wish to increase this escape
we put the air about US In motion. as
when we use fan in summer; when
we wish to lessen this escape we con-
fine, by means of shelter, a body OF
still air about the animal.
During our winters the tempera-
ture of the air is usually so low and
the air so often in motion that from
animals not sheltered the escape Of
bodily heat is SO rapid as to be very
unhealthful. Freezing to death" is
not occasioned by cold passing into
the body, but by heat passing out BY
retarding the escape of the vital heat
in winter, we preserve the health OF
the animals. Their vigor is con-
served, and the result is more vigor-
Gus digestion and more thorough as
similation. This alone would usually
make the sheltering of farm animals
economical.
But there is yet a greater gain.
The fire in our stove, which is visible
combustion. makes heat. Combustion
is the chemical union of oxygen and
carbon, and is the same under all cir
cumstances- Two atoms of oxygen
unite with one of carbon and form
q molecule of carbonic dioxide Gear
bonic acid gas); and this union al
ways produces heat. In the case OF
fire, the fuel furnishes the carbon and
the air the oxygen. The vital heat OF
animals is produced in exactly tho
same way. The food of the animal fur
nishes the carbon; the oxygen is not
from the air taken into the lungs. and
the product-carbonic dioxide-is ex-
PEELED from the lungs.
In this internal combustion. the
food, which furnishes the carbon, Is
the fuel. and is burned to produce this
heat. Nature does all in her power to
keep the body alive; and when the VIZ
tai heat is escaping rapidly she burns
all the food she possibly can in
order to keep in the body the amount
of heat absolutely essential to health
and continuance Of life.
One point more: The food burned
can not form fat or muscle. and the
less the escape of animal heat. the
greater will be the part Of the food
used in making bone. muscle and fat
We now know why sheltered ami
mails keep in better flesh and gain
more on the same amount of food than
animals exposed to cold winds and
snow. First, their food is better di-
gested and more fully assimilated;
and, second, less of their food is used
in the production of bodily heat, leav-
ing a larger residue to be converted
into milk. flesh. fat or bone. The food
saved by sheltering farm animals
amounts to more than the cost of shell |
NJ Stdhl, in N. E. Farmer.