Year: 1871




system should be, we should obviously
be guided by those laws of nature which
govern the animal economy, only by the
observance of which we can maintain
that perfect health 30 indispensable to
success.


And gentlemen, | believe it to be a
question worthy of our careful consider
alton, whether our present system of sta
bling cows is in accordance with these
plain requirements of nature. | am a.
ware that the practice of closely conin-
ing cows in winter is almost universal in
cold climates and among the best farmers,
but hold that we should allow only
those practices of the world around US,
whether of one individual or ten thou
sand, whether in business or morals, to
influence our course which we believe 10
be founded upon sound principles. That
while we should respect the honest opin-
ions Of others, and the usages of the past
and present, no man Of mature mind
should accept these opinions and usages
as his guide without first examining the
reasons upon which they are founded.
Has not the extensive practice to which
| have alluded been accepted without
this proper Investigation =? propos,
briefly to point out what believe to be
the defects in our present practice in thi,
respect, and suggest remedy.


And first, let me inquire, do not the
laws which govern the animal economy
require perfect freedom in regard to food
and drink, exercise and rest? And for
the COW as well as most other animals,
pure air and cleanliness, the avoidance of
sudden changes in temperature, and both
extremes of heat and cold. Require light
and in our cold climate the enjoyment of
the greatest possible amount of sun shine
during the winter months? We cannot
reasonably hope to attain the highest sue
cess, while we violate these plain re-
quirements of nature, the sum of which
is, that we shall render the situation of
our animals as perfectly comfortable as
the circumstances of the case will admit,
and remove from them as far as possible
all causes of irritation. Does the COM
mon practice of stabing cows secure this?
Is it not rather direct violation of all
those conditions Of success?


No one will deny that exercise is essen
tial to health, and why should we confnc
our cows during eighteen hours of the
day, especially during that critical period
of pregnancy when nature most demands
/ II and uhon too ,ro oro So ofan ,rorpaJ
Of our mismanagement in this respect by
what we call bad luck ?" Pure air we
all grant, is essential to health, and why
deprive our cows of it by coniining them
in the warm, foul air of filthy stables ?
A uniform temperature also is essential.
Why turn them from warm crowded
stable, where the heat of their bodies and
breath raise the temperature to above the
freezing point, as often practiced, into
the biting blasts of Vermont winter,
whose temperature is often FIVE or ten de-
grees below zero, and oblige them to re-
main until thoroughly chilled, and if they
drink at all to drink while thus exposed
from icy fountains all that they are per-
mitted to do in each twenty-four hours ?


All irritating causes should obviously
| be avoided. Why confine our cows like
criminals in the stocks, condemn them to
pass three-iourths of their time during
our long winters yoked by the neck, as
practiced by many, in that restrained un-
comfortable position, much like that which
civilized society has long since condemned
as too barbarous Il practice TO be toler-
atcd among men, even for the punishment
Of crime?


When left to choose for themselves
they will never select hard, unyieldine
surface upon which to lay down and rest
Yet how many farmers oblige their cows
to lay upon bare stable floors, not even
affording them the litter necessary to
make their situation more comfortable
than it would be upon the smooth surface
of rock, which in their summer rambles
they would carefully avoid?


Why, too, should we restrain them
from obeying that instinct, which teaches
them to avoid filth, and oblige them tc
besmear themselves in a manner, against
which, even their brute nature rebel
To carry about upon their sides and
fanks, the evidence of mans cruel re-
straint


That practice too, Of milking COWS thu,
besmeared is simply detestable Ant
the butter produced, is often more detes
table than the practice, in spite of th'
utmost care and skill of the dairymaid.


Another objection to the practice ot
stabling, is the great amount of unneces
sary labor which it requires, and that O
the most unpleasant nature. 1t is a mat
ter Of surprise to some, that so many o.
our farmers sons should abandon tn,
occupation of their fathers, and seek EN-
ployment in other departments of indus
try, while poets sing of the pleasures o
the farmers life,-of "blcating focks
and lowing kline" But tell you gentle
men, there is no poetry in the milking O.
COWS in filthy stables; in the daily clean
} ing of those stables or in wallowin,
) through those mire holes OF corruption
: which disgrace the barnyards, even o
; some Of our most intelligent farmers
And | confess, that | admire that you'll
whose aspirations point him to noble
pursuits than these. And if it we're ne
cessary, as boys too often suppose, tina
the sons oil many Of our dairy farmers
should follow the example OF their faith
ers in these respects,it there was not IA vas
field for Improvement in the business
where their intellectual faculties could b,
exercised, and developed while in the in
telligent pursuit Of it, | would counse
those, whose superior natural abilities
incite such aspirations within them, t.
seek some other calling. But happil,


the occupation of the dairyman is sus
: eepiihlr OF greater Improvement, than
= almost amy other calling in the land.
by mental application means may b.
> devised, by which its most unpleasan