Year: 1860

but even here the cost of lumber involve:
too considerable an outlay of capital fol
the beginner to supply at once good and
sufficient, durable and permanent shelter
To supply this want, various devices are
adopted; among which, = chief reliancf
! IS ihe huge piles of badly stacked slras
an Jndeed mrnr cattle ase
Aoi -9naez % fa ccIit
dei1 al winter and subsisl 1bol e ali-
i gathered weather-beaten stalks and leaves
without any protection. II is very true
that cattle in this way do exceedingly wei
in mild weather in early winter, but all
animals need sheltering roof as well as
protection from the winds. How many
calves are "st0nted" for life By a days
severe exposure to a cold wet storm in
the spring, so that they never gain the
proportions they would otherwise have
assumed. So it is with growing animals
-as one day Of very severe labor Injuries
man more than months of ordinary SER
vice, so one or two, or three at most, Of
the Usry hard storms of winter do the
mischief of the season, damaging herds
more than is regained in months, if indeed
it be ever fully recovered. Then the hard
winter as a season Of cold and nonproduc-
ton receives the blame for the mischief,
when it is all chargeable to few days Of
snow or rain tempest, which thousands Of
cattle are Obliged to bear through all its
dreadful peltings, with the torturing pains
of the pillory. 1t matters not what blood
or breed they are; on such days of storm,
cattle need protection. Indeed, it must
be an acClimated race to get through with
the breath of life in them. know that
the voice of the farmers of this region is
against the existence Of such an impera-
tive necessity for protection, but the low
condition of their stock in the spring, with
the increased cost of winter keeping over
what itneed have been, is evidence enough
against them. The decrease in fesh
through winter being chargeable to winter
keeping, and is the chief item of expense.


This need not be-economical shelter
can be given, which, with present keeping,
would save them IN full weight fos 'lf
pastures Of spring and domui,h. very
ia d few wears, towards raising our cattle
10 The poin: Of excellence ihey should aE-
tain. Straw is abundant everywhere,
and in many places prairie grass can
be gathered too coarse for hay which
makes excellent hovel covers.


For winter forage the upland grasses
of the prairie are cut, and furnish a nu-
trious and paIateable Diet Then we have
the range of the cornfelds, which, after
the corn is gathered-the stalks not being
cut-giVe in fair weather in early winter,
full supply of food on which cattle thrive
and fatten. Drawing the elements In Ia
ter winter for food to save life, is what
retards the growth of western animals.


The East has also a slight advantage
over the West in proximity to market
But all advantages are over-ballanced in
the unsettled parts, by the wide range for
summer and the quantity and quality Of
winter fornge. Indeed in many places
in Illinois and more in other States West,
vast herds can subsist on pastures, rent
and tax free. Corn for fattening being
easily and cheaply produced renders this
an excellent place for stock-growing-
both growing and fattening being less
expensive than at the East.


Hence the importance of endeaVoring
to produce by improvement good race or
breed of cattle for the beef market Of the
East, as well as to supply the demand for
work cattle on the plains. And this we
may do-but as an occasional storm Of
passion marks the blandest countenance
Of parent and even offspring with tell-tale
lines, and will hinder upward progress IN
the scale of being; so the causes Of which
we have spoken, though considered unim-
portant, will hinder the best blood from
proper and full development. Do we
place too high an estimate upon care and
keeping in the improvement Of herd!-
We believe not-and further, that what
ever accident may occasionally do IN the
way of producing fine animals, an univer-
sal good result cannot be gained until an
imals are fed regularly and kept sheler-
ed from the awful days spoken Of IN win
I ter, and the severe cold nights.


Most farmers wish to so manage their
farms that a profit on the labor will be
realized. How can a larger profit be
gained by furnishing shelter and little
grain daily, thereby keeping on the sum-
mer flesh which will pay well for the
grain, besides saving the wear and tear
Of constitution occasioned by cold and
storm. Ananimal going into winter quar-
tiers weighing ten hundred pounds, should
see the first Of May with the same weight;
and if it does, it is then possessing Its full
] powers Of strength and spirits, ahd is fit-
ted to breed from or PROPAGATE by, or to
turn to pasture to fatten upon the natural
material for beef making in warm wealth
er-the abundant prairie grasses. On
the other hand, as now wintered, we give
the cost Of fifty "hafton steers" as fol-
lows:


DR.. to so tons Of hay S3 per ton, $50 90
&c to one fourth their live weight


(being their best beef and tall


low without bone or waste


value 5 cts. per lb. net, - 3l2 SO
Care and locking after, 81 each, 10000


Total, 1862 SO


Credit in spring, to balance by SO
4 head of lean steers fakinos nearly Al