Newspapers / The Arator (Raleigh, N.C.) / April 1, 1856, edition 1 / Page 23
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THE ARATOtt. SHELTER CHEAPER THAN FODDER. Notwithstanding much that has been written du ring a fer years past, especially in the agricultural journals, on the true principles of winter protection and feeding of domestic animals, there is still a great ' amount of costly ignorance on this subject. Last winter we chanced upon the larm of a man who possessed a fair share of intelligence upon gen eral matters, and wo were not a little surprised to find him still clinging to the old opinion that his stock wintered better when exposed to cold than if warmly housed. He kept no account of the amount of food consumed, but his observation had taught him, and truly, that his sheep, for instance, consum ed mote food in a cold winter than in one of moder ate temperature ; and he reasoned that if they ate more it indicated better health and a faster growth of flesh and wool, and of course a greater profit Following out this opinion, ho kept a flock of sheep in an open field, exposed to bleak winds and petting storms. In this field he had placed r. number of small stacks of bay, to one after another of which they had fre and upon which they made rapid inrc ' . Ikcir only shelter was afforded by the 1 r 1 ido of these hay stacks and by the stc . ..lb that surrounded the field, together with V -a tmrm 1ia nriffliorn filfln flint aorvflti in hrMilr . the wind from that direction, but from entering Ybich they '...were prevented by the intervening fence. He was quite sure they ate better when thus expos ed than if housed or allowed a warm shelter around and under the barn. His other stock were treated in a similar manner. Instead of warm aheds or stables, they fed and slept in a cold open yard. He said it Jcept ibem in better " heart," and gave them a sharper appetite. As to the latter, he was doubt less correct. , But he. like thousands of others, had drawn his conclusions from a false' theory.' which a few careful V exneriments would have corrected. Ho suould nave . v .. . considered that the profitableness of keeping ani mals depends not upon the absolute amount of food - they consume, but upon the greater or less product of flesh, wool, Ac., obtained from a given amount of nutriment. Had he weighed his animals in the fall and divided therar keeping one part in close warm sheds or stalls and the other part in the cold situa tion, he would have found that the projected ani mals, while consuming les3 food, gained more in weight than the others, t and in May or June would have been in superior health and heart. In the case referred to it was found necessary to give tht sheep a dose of tar, by applying it upon the noses, in the spring, to operato as a tonic, and to counteract the 11 running at the nose" produced by colds,which hoop 11 catch! as well as men. There is -a principle or two involved la feeding and nutrition which, if well understood by all who have the care'of animals, would render their labor doubly profitable. The food consumed by animals serves a double or treble purpose. It supplies the waste of the system produced by the natural wear of the va rious organs, and keeps up respiration and the re sulting heat. What is left after these ends are serv ed goes to increase the flesh or weight The wear depends upon the amount of exercise taken ; hence the more quiet animals are kept alter allowing just enough exercise to preserve the organs in a healthy state, the less will be the amount of food required to supply the waste. The heat of the body results from the consumpt ion of carbonaceous food, especially the oily and - starchy portions. The union of the carbon in a tal low candle or oil lamp with the surrounding air, producing the heat und the flame, has an exact coun terpart in the lungs and blood of the animal, when the air drawn in at respiration unitc3 with the oily or fatty matter in the blood and givc3 heat to ths system. On a warm day not much heat is, removed from the surfade of the body, and the animal breathes loss rapidly and fully, and less fat Is consumed to supply wasted heat. If the samc'amount of oily food is consumed and digested as on a cold day, there will be a larger sur plus to be stored away as fat As a matter of course, the colder the weather, the less surplus fat or profit will be obtained from the food. Another point usually overlooked is this : In the coarser substances, such as hay and straw, consum ed by animals, there is but a small proportion of oily or carbonaceous matter, and to get w Ibis Is necessary to digest a prodigious quantity of food. This ovcr-taxos the digestive organs, and results In more or less debility. We have here an explanation why a t mailer quan tity of meal, which supplies oil and starch, (both of which are rich in carbon, the chief heat-producing clement,) will keep an animal in so much better health. The principles above indicated, which are fully established by both scientific theory and oft repeat ed experiment, lead to the certain conclusion that, for all kinds of animals, whether kept as stock or for fattening, it is most profitable to furnish warm shelter. We repeat, a flock of sheep or a drove of cattle will, without doubt, eat much less food and gain much more weight if kept, nearly at summer heat during winter than if left exposed to our in clement weather. X. V. Tune:
The Arator (Raleigh, N.C.)
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April 1, 1856, edition 1
23
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