The Tupelo journal., 1908-01-31
FARMING IN
THE SOUTH
A GOOD SHED FOR THE COW.
How One May Be Constructed Cheap
iy and Easily For Protecting Cows.

The open shed for dairy COWS will
come into more geenral use, especially
in the mild climate of the south 1t
affords protection from rain and winds
and at the same time gives all the
fresh air that there is to be had. By
making the shed floor of clay pounded
in firmly, the manure can be saved
in good condition; and if one desires
to go to the expense of making a c e
ment floor the manure can be saved
without fear of any of the liquid part
teaching away. A good supply of bed
ding will be needed, but the bedding
will return its cost by saving the ma
nure and by itself being turned into
fertilizer.
The part of the shed that is to hold
the hay or other roughage is in the
middle of the shed. This arrangement
| permits the storing of the feed beside
the racks in which it will be fed. If
a silo should be used, it can be To-
Gated so as to make the distribution
of the silage an easy matter. A small
for milking in can be built off
near one end of the shed. This room
need be only large enough to hold
twice as many COWS as there are milk
ers. The cows, particularly the heavy
mixers, may not eat all the grain
ration while they are being MIXED;
and the extra stall room will make it
possible for them to eat during two
milking periods. The herd will soon
learn to come to the passage that lets
them into the milking room. They
are let out by another door than the
N they entered at, into a division
MIXED.
The manure will be kept tramped
80 solid that it will not deteriorate
quickly, and can be hauled to the
fields as it may be convenient. In
building, care should be taken to
make it easy to load the manure ana
to unload the roughage that is stored
in the center of the shed. Racks for
feeding this roughage should be right
against the storage part, so the rough
age can be thrown into the racks with
one easy handling.
The shed can be entirely open; or,
better still, it can have the sides built
up solid with lumber, provision being
made to have windows all along under
the caves. The windows can swing up
under the roof to be out of the way
and where they are not likely to be
broken. This will give all the fresh
air needed and will also keep the bad
winds from striking the cows with
full force.
If it is intended to keep the win
dows closed a good part of the time,
it will be well to stretch cloth on
frames to fit in where the ordinary
window might go. All the cloth should
be on N side of the shed, the side
from which cold winds are the least
duces drafts.
The roof need not be sleeper than
necessary for making the roof carry
off water well. If some of the com
position roofing is used, the roof can
be almost fiat. 1t will carry off water
just as well when nearly fiat, and the
composition does not run down a COM
paratively fiat roof when it softens
in warm weather.
Provision should be made to make
the shelter airy and breeze-swept in
the warmer part of the year. 1t will
keep the COWS comfortable, and en-
able their owner to get a larger part
of their manure to haul out where he
most desires it. Considering the cheap
ness of such a shed and it's many
virtues, a dairyman will find it salts
factory to a high degree. 1t will be
found useful for other breeds of stock,
also, with slight modification to suit
special needs. Any farmer should be
able to build it without the aid of
skilled labor, and make it that much
cheaper.
The question will naturally arise as
to how much shed room each COW
should have. Some will favor only
forty square feet, while others will
avocate something near four times as
many; but from eighty to one hun
dred square feet per COW will give
good results for the amount invested.
That is a space from about nine feet
square to ten feet square per COW, the
storage room for the roughage being
provided in addition.