The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-03-18
AGRICULTURAL.
An Anti.MicrObe Cow Stable.


He contends that the foul air in stables
is most powerful predisposing cause
of bovine tuberculosis, and hence the
one great need in eliminating the dis
ease from our herds is to so arrange the
stables that the animals will breathe
pure air. He says:
/ claim that a perfectly healthy animal
may be placed beside an Infected one in
proper stable without danger, and that
the invalid, if there is no outward sign
of disease, will start on the up grade to
health, if aided by proper medical treat
ment.
Mr.. Bixby is the determined foe of
the modern stable
The stronghold Of tuberculosis is that
bacillus nursery-the modern stable.
Until this 10 reformed, we are helpless.
The system is hideous blotch on the
record of the age, and is bringing
deadly curse on the dairy industry; but
still the death pens remain.
The suggestions which follow are
eminently sensible, and we commend
them TO the attention of our readers:
Why should we not try the hospital
plan for COWS? We do not make
slaughter house of typhus hospital,
killing those who are slightly affected.
Why should we not give the cows q
chance to recover? Try it first as
branch of the experiment station. Give
he, I,o
not what the average dairyman would
count such-but up to the ideal of, and
controlled by, the ripest hygienic talent
attGiuable. This might result in the
dawn of deliverance from the pest by
general reformation of the stables.
The cow must have pure air, and yet
her body must be kept warm. To
meet these two apparently incompati-
Bile conditions is the problem Mr..
Bixby sets himself TO solve. A man
can open his bedroom window little,
jump into bed and cover up warmly,
and then sleep all night, taking the
oxygen into his lungs. How
can be give his cows the same healthful
conditions? This is the most impor-
tant secular problem which confronts
the dairyman to-day, for without pure
air, it is (according to Mr.. Bixby) i'm
possible TO ward off tuberculosis, if
there is the least atom of cOntagion in
the stable, while with pure air the well
cows will keep well, and the sick cows
Gf they are not too far gomez will re-
cover. We viii let hin describe in his
own language the way he proposes to
do it:
Let the top, bottom, ends, and back
of the stable be tight as you please Eek
cept ventilating shafts) with registers
at the back, running from near the
floor to at least twenty feet above, and
with vane caps at the top. Let it be
well Widowed on the sunny side. Let
the front partition slope back from the
floor TWO inches to the foot, and it also
may be tight except oblong openings
for the cows necks, twelve inches
wide, and reaching from the floor to
four feet above. On the inside let a
ten-inchwide plank be hung at the top,
swinging in 80 as to close the opening
to seven inches wide. Let duplicate
plank be fastened permanently inside
of, and even with, the opposite edge of
the opening. On the outside at the
floor fasten the lower edge of flexible
curtain, thirty inches broad and fifteen
high, the top edge slightly curved, with
the center the lowest, and a strong wire
bent to fit the curve, sewed into the
edge, and its ends fastened to cords
running over pulleys through the top
of the partition, and weighted at the
other end just enough to raise the cloth
as high as its fastenings will allow.
This may be fastened down by pin
through the partition, and it makes
soft cushion for the cows neck when
lying down. To the upper part of the
opening, on the outside, fit panel,
sliding up and down in grooves, fifteen
inches wide and three feet high, made
of papier mache, light wood, or light
frame covered with cloth, the lower
end curved and cloth pad fitted to it,
to rest on the cows neck. This may
be fastened up by pin operated from
the inside. Let the cow put her head
through the opening, swing in and
fasten the plank door, release the panel
and curtain, which will move up and
down with the cows head, keeping the
opening closed against cold currents
from without and foul air from within.
The body of the stable may be kept as
warm as you like, without harm, and
the front at the same degree as the
open air.
Any possible Inconvenience in the
working of this system will be balanced
hundred fold by the benefits secured.
If this outline of the idea is under
stood, details and improvements will
occur to the intelligent farmer. Criti-
cisms and suggestions are invited from
this class.
We commend this plan to the atten-
ton of our readers, and hope they will
not hesitate to express their opinions
as to its merits and defects.