The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1910-02-11
Stable Conyeniences.

So much of the farmers profit
from his cattle depends on their COM
fort in winter that he can hardly give
too much thought to securing for
them the very best accommodations
that he can afford. Fortunately, the
requisite degree of comfort to keep
them in good condition may be OBJ
tanned at a very small expense, as
has been more than once pointed out
in these columns. There are some
points in winter stable management
that are also worthy of careful atten-
ton, with regard to which few USE
full hints are given in the Times:
Cleanliness in the stable is an aid
to warmth, because it lessons the de-
mand for a large supply of fresh air
to remove the more abundant odor
from gathered stable manure or sat-
urated floors. The arrangements for
feeding the stock are of much i'm
portance, because they regulate the
amount of labor expended in stable
work. The store of bulky food is con-
veniently kept on a level with the sta
BILE floor, as the work of raising it to
ten or twenty feet is avoided. A con-
venient way of storing hay or fodder
is to have an annex to the stable,
reached by door from the feeding
| floor and low wheeled truck to
carry in the fodder. Grain, meal,
bran and similar feed stuffs we would
have kept above the feeding floor in
bins made like hopper with spouts
attached, and made larger at the bot
tom than at the top, so that the feed
falls down when the slide door below
is opened. These spouts we have
over the feed box in which the fodder
is cut and mixed. A cistern to save
the rainvater should be below the
feed floor and pump from it should
be fixed close to the feed box and
near the wall. This is a great con-
venience, as in bad weather the COWS
need not go out, and the feeder is
equally protected if, as should be,
passage is made through all the
buildings under cover from any part
of them to the outside door nearest to
the house.
"a large fodder cutter is indispen-
sable for economy of fodder and
time, and bushel basket and a large
grain scoop for measuring the cut
feed are equally serviceable. The
feed troughs should have a sloping
shelf in front of each one, and an
opening through which the feed may
be put into the trough or manger.
The feed troughs should be capacious,
to avoid splitting and wasting the
feed, and should be completely separ-
ated from each other, to avoid steal
ing the feed by one COW from another.
The convenience of the owner, or
OF the workman, which is the same
thlng-for time of a hired man is
money-should bestudied all through
the arrangements. While there are
some just objections to a manure GEL
lar under the stables, yet this may
be so managed as to avoid everything
that may be undesirable, and afford
many desirable facilities. With a
cellar for manure, and a gutter pro-
vided with trap doors in the stable,
the stable may be cleaned out very
quickly and without soiling the
clothes or boots. A large hoe should
be used for scraping the contents of
the gutter into the cellar, and
coarse broom should be used to finish
the cleaning. If a few bushels of
clean, dry sawdust are then spread
over the stalls and the gutter the sta
bic will be quite free from odor, and
may be called perfectly clean-for a
COW stable. A wide walking platform
behind the gutter is a great conve-
nience in many respects, for ample
room is a great saving of labor. To
Keep the cows cleaned at least once a
DAY is also a great convenience. for it
saves world of trouble with the
milk, saves labor in washing clothes
badly soiled, in removing filthy stains
IN the house, and saves mans self
respect, for how can man respect
himself who deliberately sits down to
milk COW plastered over with filth.
which soils the hands and gives a
foul odor to the whole person? All
the above Is applicable to the horse
stable. '-Week1v Witness