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VOLUME VII CHU.RAW. SOU i'H-CAKOLINA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY la, 1842 NUMBER 9tf
. ??. .? 9 r: r *
'j-1 ,,? i 1 1 ' ? ssgasBEasggaa*
By IV. in AC LEA*.
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' '~A*iikxw&i>&ipgk4fee"
i,
BKKKlCtO AND TIKATMKNT OP HOR1KS. )
7b (lie Editor* of the. Culticator :? i1
Your correspondent W. B. From North j
C arolinn. rxpri>? n a i*h tv at some I:
extended remark* on the best manner of ^'
treating irark and travelling horses;" and
you a?k some of your correspondents to 1
reply to hix iniquiry. To do so fully
would require a book or pamphlet of a
considerable size. But the subject i*
w highly important to all who own horses j
7 and particularly to those, of whom there
arc many who know little or nothing of
their pmpor treatment: I will, therefore,;
oiFer a few remarks in the hope that some j
of your correspond?rits who are belt, r j
qualified than ( am, may he tempted by ;
..<r?? 1 . ?; vi.. nk?, I
Ill V I'liwn^ III nmni u*- u^'ii ?. ?? ? wik>v. i
vations will consist ehiatiy of directions '
condensed from works published in .
England, under the supervision of the
8ocietv for the Di/Fusidn of Knowledge.
The first is entitled u The Horse," and
i*byf?r the best treatise I have ever
read in regard both to the theory and ,
practice of the veterinary art; no farmer j
should be without it. The second was j
only published last year, and is called :
** Outlines of Flemish HusbandryIt j
contains many very useful directions as i
to the management of farm, horses, the j
correetsnes* of which, as well as of those 1
in the Horse Rook, none could fail to j
perceive, if I had room to present the r a
boms fur them, togetuer with the directions
of themselves.
To begin with the stable. This should
be ao constructed that its temperature
during spring, summer, and fall, should Ih:
very nearly the ?nine a* that of the open
air; and in winter, not more than 10 do.
gree.s above that of the external atinospliere.
The size recommended a* best,
is (in the proportion for six horses) 40 feet 1
long. 13 or 14 wide, and 12 feet high, if J
a loft is made to it, in which case there
should he a plastered ceiling, to prevent
the hay from being scented by the exhai- 1
ations of the stalls and floor. The whole
stable, especially the stalls, should he kept
as clean as practicable, by frequently
changing the beds and strewing plaster of
df Paris on those spots. where the urine falls.
This not only prevents its otfensivc ??dor.
by combining with it ammonia. hut thereby
forms one of the most powerful of all
the new manures yet discovered. The
floor of the stalls should he sloped barely'
enough to drain off* the urine not abstracted
by the litter and plaster of Paris, since
a level position for the hordes' feet is the
most natural, and consequently best for
the muscles and sinews of their legs and
ankles.
Light is quite as essential to the soundness
of your horses'eves, as pure air is
to the health of his body* Rut it should
h" let in through glazed windows, and
open gratings, which serve also as ventilators,
under the caves of the roof. No
openings should he made, either under the
mangers, or opposite, or just above the j
horses heads, as partial streams of air of- ,
ten prod lies colds, with all their had con- !
sequences in horses; especially if they
are put up in such stables immediately j
after being much heated, and before they I
are rubbed dry. A glaring light, however,
should always be avoided, since horses
caa neither rest, nor sleep, nor fatten so
well in Mich light, as in that which is moderate.
? ? a.. ? .
llnaer the heart ot "grooming, it t* ro- j
commended to treat farm horse* different, i
rl from those kept for the saddle and
carriage. The farm horse which is j
worked hard all day, nnd turned out nt ;
night, requires little more than to have
the <fa*t brushed off from his limbs, since
the dandruff or scurf which is removed by
the curry-comb, is a provision of nature to
defend him from the wind and the cold.
Rut if generally stabled, then currying,
brushing, and rubbing are necessary.
These operations are indispensable to
a* saddle and carriage horses; and should a).
wava be performed in the open air when
the weather permit*. They open the
pore* of the skin, end in circulating the
blood, in augmenting free, healthy, insenaible
perspiration. aerve instead of exorrise,
when that cannot he taken. Moreover,
it regularly and carefully performed,
with a plenty of good food in which two
or three tahle-apoons full of brown sugar
i* occasionally mixed, they will secure
that fine, glossy, dappled coat, to attain j
which, the health, and not unfroquently !
the life, of the horse issacrified, by keeping
him covered up with blankets. Care
#hould be taken in using both the curry,
comb mad brush, especially when new,
not to applv them roughly, particularly to
horse*that have tender skins,-and fine,
thin hair. For nil such the curry-comb is
hardly necessary, if they are well rubbed,
and dressed with a soft brush and haircloth.
Horses which are constantly stabled,
should be moderately exercised for two
hours a day, when the weather permits, if
you would keep thern perfectly healthy.
This, however, should depend somewhat
on their age, as a young horse requires
more exercise than an old one, Bat for
neither should it he violent, when given
for health,* nor should the horse ever he
put up until he is cool. The whip or spur
should never be used for any fault but
dullness or obstinacy, although it is very
common to do it both for starting and
?tuinbling. both of which are certainly
iggravated by it, and thereby Ihe rider
punishes himself, in the end, much more
than he does his horse. In fnc.t, harsh,
cruel treatment to horse? succeeds ns4badly
as it does with children; and all who
are so brutal and inhuman as to he guilty
of it. deserve well to become its victims:
neither whip nor spur would be had rem.
tidies for thtir detestable tempers and habits.
It is common, immediately after hard
wo king or travelling in hot weather, to
wash horses all over, or swim them in
water much cooler thun their skins or the
atmosphere. This praotieois very dangerous,
often producing colds, fevers, and
not (infrequently* fatal chronic complaints,
unless the same exercise is speedily
repented. Ewn the paitial application
of verv cold water to parts of the body,
or the head, or the legs, when the horse is
much heated, should he avoided; for his
appearing to he gratified by it is no more
a proof that it is good for him. thnn the
manifest gratification of a sot in dramdrinking,
after having been drunk, is
proof that he is benefitted thereby. The
poor horse which knows no better, experiences
present relief, at the expense of
future suffering that he is incapable of
anticipating, or brute as he is, he would
probably reject it. Rubbing in the shade
and lending the horse about at intervals,
constitute thu proper treatment both for
farm and other horses, when much distress?*J
by severe work of any kind.
But all precautions to preserve the
health arid vigor of your hor-es will prove
unavailable, unless you pay equai attention
to the kind and quality of their tood;
(he manner of feeding them, and also of
giving them water.
To enable either farm or other horses
to render the utmost service of which they
are capable, thev should be fed wholly no
dry food, the grain and long forige to be
old and sound, the first of which should
he ground, and the latrer chopped in nil
cases where practicable. For saddle and
carriage horses under hnrd and constant
usage, on Is arc better than Indian corn,and
that is preferable to every other grain.
The blades also, when well cured, are
better than any other kind of long forage,
as they contain more saccharine matter.
When cither farm or other horses' arc
much heated, and great haste is indispen
sable, no other food should be given thorn
than a hand full or two of old corn or oatmoal
stirred into a few quarts of soft wa.
tor, with a little salt dissolved in it. Before
this is given, let their nostrils, inside
and out, be cleansed by a sponge or rag
wet with vinegar and water, if the former
can he piocured, if not, with water alone.
Altera very hard ride or travel in harness,
the horse should he suffered to swallow,
before any thin# else is done to him, if
time and weather permit, rather than to
he led immediately into ti stable to be
cleansed and cooled.
Manger feeding with ground grain and
chopped long forage, is now very generally
preferred in England and Belgium, as
well ashy the best judges in our own
country, to the old fasioned, most wasteful
way of giving unground grain in mangers,
and unchopped fornge in racks.
? ? i L 4
Tnese last are disused every wnere, om
in a Tew places for green grass; and in
Inn of the rack, wide, deep mangers nre
adopted, with small iron or wooden bars
fastened across them, to prevent the
horses from throwing out their food. In
England the inost common food for farm
horses consists of a mixture of bruised
oats, beans, and ehatf, in the proportion
ofeight pounds of oats, which nre equal
to about live quarts, (their oats hcing a
lew pounds heavier per bushel than ours,]
two pounds of beans, with twenty ofchatf
Thirty.<lve or six pounds of such food i.?
the day's allowance for medium sized
horses while at work, and forty pounds
of it for large horses. Such is the com.
inon allowance during winter, when th?
horses are constantly stabled. Rut from
the end of April to the end of July they
are usually turned out at nigiit, and the
whole of rest davs. Other kinds of food,
however, are much used bv small farmers
such as barlev. unmerchantable wheat,
>
beans, peas, sweedish turnips, carrots,
and potatoes with grasses of various* kinds
but very little oats or rye.
In Belgium the chief* food of their
farm h or sea consists of green clover in
summer, and roots with cut straw in win.
ter, A few oats are occasionally given,
but not in 30 regular a planner as to give
great muscular strength. They usual!)
go to work as soon as it is light, continue
? &
at it until ten, then rest and feed until
two or three o'clock, when they resume
and continue their labor till six or seven.
In harvest time they work from daybreak 1
until evening, resting only a few hours '
in the heat of thedav. A pair of hows 1
with one plough are allowed for every 40 1
acres of arable land, the whole of which, (
on an average, is ploughed twice and ,
harrowed three times; besides this thev
* 0 J
cart fodder and manure, and do the har. ]
vest work. Both in Belgium and Eng. (
land, they are rnoicrately watered before <
and after feeding. When not worked, <
water is given them three times a day, I
and always otthe softest kind, M,hen it <
can be procured. In ordinary travelling *
also, a liberal supply of such water is '
strongly recommended to be given, a lit. 1
tie at a time, which prevents excessive J
thirst, and the consequent drinking to 1
i excess. This is very dangerous, especi.
I .llir a knpiia rr.ii/.K kofttpH. PltllPClftllV if t
Ill r III ?* mnnc J ..
the water be very cold.
In addition to the foregoing condensed j
remards, taken chieflv from the two ex*
I
cellent works already mentioned, permit
j me now to offer auch information as I ,
I have derived from other* and from mv ,
own long experience as an owner of eve- ^
rv kind of homes but the race horse, in |
regard to the best mode of managing
the.se most useful animals in our own (
country. I will abegin (as the saying is)
at the beginning."
Colts should always he weaned before j
the grass is generally gone, and should
be put into some enclosure where they |
cannot hurt themselves. Their dams
should he stabled for a few days, and
milked if their hags swell much. Those
colts should never he stabled until broke, (
nor much after that before they are full
grown. But they should have well covered
shelters, open to the south, under
which to protect themselves from bad
weather. Plenty of good corn, fodder,
| or hay in winter, and grass when it come*,
and n? long as it lasts, will keep them
whilst unhroke, in a henkhv, growing
condition, which is far better than keeping
them very fat to force their growth be.
vend what is natural; for overgrown
horses, like overgrown men, rarely, if ev.
er, have hardihood, vigor, and activity in
proportion to their size. In fact, very
large horses aro objectionable for all pur.
poses, except slow and heavy drafts.
The gentling of colts should commence
soon ufter they are foaled, and continue
until they are hacked. Freipient hand, j
ling, occasional salting or feeding them!
: out of your hand, and stroking their necks
| are nil good practices. From two to
j three years old they should be accustomed
j by degrees to the saddle and bridle ; a
I light snaffle is l>est. Thus treated, tho
| breaking becomes so easy, that they will
i rarely play any tricks, and may be soon
| taught even to stand fire, by shooting off
j a. gun or a pistol for a few dnys, just as
; they commence-eating. In a word, nnij
I'ormly kind, gentle treatment by their
! master, will always make such good, do.
I rile, gentle horses, that they will often
| follow him like his dog, and will manifest
j equal regard for his person.
All the general directions for the Ireat.
j ment of horses in England will suit quite
as well for the horses of our own country.
. Hut the articles of food being somewhat
j different with us, I will now add a few
j .emorks on that subject. In most of our
>' states, the chief lood for horses is Indian
j corn and the fodder thereof. Both are
! usually fed away in the most careless, ex.
j fravagant, and wasteful manner?the
: corn being given in the ears, and the
I fodder in bundles, which are thrown un.
! tied into the horse-racks or on the ground.
| Much then, is wasted by being trampled
j under foot, nnd so dirtied that the borne
reject* it, whilst many of the grains of
corn pass through bis body undiges;ed,
and of course render him no service whati
ever. He also loses all the benefit of
the cobs, which ha rarely eats when
whole, although they make an excellent
: j food, if ground up with the grain. This
j mode of feeding is much the most gene.
! ral, notwithstanding it has been indisputably
proved by actual and numerous experi
men ts, that to give the corn and cob
ground together, which is called rob hominy,
nnd fodder chopped in a cutting box.
not only saves more than enough to pay
the extra expense of grinding and cut.
' ting, but actually keeps the horse in a
| hotter condition than the same quantity
1 j of corn and fodder given in the usual
way. Moreover, it is a cheaper food
! than any other of which grain, either
whole or crushed, forms a part. Take
oats for example, which are the most
i common, where corn is not used, nnd let
{ us estimate the farmer at forty and the
i latter at sixty cents a bushel, which I
think a fair general average in the stntes
wherein corn is a staple crop. Now as
only half the cob hominy is grain, the
mixture will cast only thirty cents a
bushel, and is generally deemed fully
' i ..AimI in mitritivn niinlilii-M tn M bushel of
I " M" . -1 - I
I oat#. If (liege also be crushed, we must
i add about four cents to their cost, and
1 the difference between the two kinds of
ground food, (the chopped fodder being
, the same in both casca.) will be about 14
i rents per bushel, in fqyor of cob-hominy.
Suppose theq, thqt qne gqllpn, thw tjmea
. a day, is enough, as experience hjis
( #; 01 ti
proved it to be, for an ordinary sized i
horse, with eighteen or twenty bundles of !
fodder, the saving in one week, bv feed-!
ing with cob-hominy, will he a fraction !
river thirty-six cents, or nearly nineteen
dollars a year for each horse, which is the
annual interest of rather more than 9315.
Yet not one in a hundred of us ever
thinks of saving it I Few southern ami
western men who are "well off" (as the
laying is,) keep less than three or four
liorscs thai do no fnnn work, and this they
do at an additional yearly expense, when i
wtts and tinchopped fodder are their food,
nf 57 dollars for three, and 76 dollars for
four horses, rather than he at the small
trouble of having their fodder chopped,
ind their ears of corn ground into cob
iiominy. Ten or twelve poor children
might br annually schooled for that sum.
For horses that are often hard ridden and
rapidly travelled, oats are generally deem?d
hotter than corn, as less heating; hut a
greater quantity of them must be given,
in the proportion of about one and a half
gallons of oats to one of corn at each
feed. Undei1 such usage, green food
<hould never he given if avoidable. But
when the horse can rest for a few days
lome may be allowod him, in small qunnritipa.
hv wrsv of medicine. Anv kind of
gran* that a horso will eat. may answer
the purpose, but lucerne and clover of the
first cutting are deemed be*??the sec.
und always salivate*?an effect, by the
way. for which no cause, I believe, ha*
yot been di*covered. Presupposing that
a horse haft plenty of wholesome food and
proper grooming, if you would give him a
liner coat than these alone can produce,
let half a pint of sound wheat or a small
hanofull of brown sugar be mixed with
his food, about once in every six or eight
days, for a few weeks, and the object will
be attained far better thnn by blanketing,
which always makes him more liable to
take cold, when exposed to had weather,
a* he sometimes must necessarily be. On
long journeys, in hot weather, give your
horse a double feed at night; in the morning
travel 15 or 20 miles before you feed
him again, then do it lightly and after he
is cool. Give a few quarts of soft water j
both before and after hi* food, then resume J
your journev and go fifteen or 20 miles
farther. Thjg will enable you to stop
early every evening, without any night
riding, and will give both yourself and
your horse a long rest to recruit your
strength. If your horse he sound, you
may thus travel him hundreds of miles
without danger of hi* failing.
Farm horse* may be kept in good order
at much less expense; for they may he
fed, id hen unemployed. upon anv of the
roots which it is custom.irv to give th-m
in England, in addition to these, we have
the pumpkin and its varieties, all of
which nre good food for horses, but the
seeds should always ho taken out. as they
are powerfully diuretic. If such fond he
at first rejected, hor?es may soon he
taught to eat it. hv mixing a little salt
with it, and offering them nothing else
for a few days. To this should be added,
a* soon a* they will eat such mixture, from
thirty to forty pounds of chopped provender.
for every twenty four hours, and this
may ho made either of well.cured corn
top#, blades, hay wheat, oat. or rye straw,
or chaff. Corn shucks (which is the
southern name for tho covering of the
ears.) answer well to mix when chopped
up, with the roots or pumpkins; if they
are salted as they are put up. nnd kept
dry. Another very good long forage pe.
miliar to our country, consists of Indian
pea-vine. These make excellent food
for farm horses, if exposed to the sun un*
til they are somewhat wilted, then stack,
ed in alternate layers with the straw of
either wheat, rye, or oats, and oach layer
sprinkled with salt, as they are stacked.
Thus fed and protected from had weather
by warm shelters, open onlv to the south,
and well covered with any kind of thatch,
or corn tops, or loose straw, farm horses
mav be kept healthy and in good order
throughout the Southern states, without
their owners incurring the expense of
wooden or brick stables foi them. Stalls,
however, should he made for thein under
.the shelters, with divisions high and close
enough to prevent their fighting, and in
those they should he tied while eating.
Their mangers or troughs should be wider
and deeper, than when racks also are
used, although they never should he, or
? ?:?I ' II
1.17V nosuer* will UU Kiiru w avnu muniselves
of them, if not clonely watched
When put to constant farm work, horses
should hive only dry food, three times a
day. Ii may consist either of bran, shorts,
cob.hominy, ground rv?? oats, broom
corn, or oats mixed with chopped stuff* in
the propoitions already mentioned?that
is, ibout thirty.five pounds for horses of
common size, and forty pounds for the
Inrgest. But after the press is in plenty,
and as long as it lasts (if it does not shli.
vate.) they may he turned out of niphts
and rest-days, although if your pastures
are large, more time is lost, every mom.
ing in catching them and petting ready
for work, than would amply compensate,
if spent in farm labor, fur the expense
rtf keeping thorn up, especially should
you have any grass to give them a mode*
rate quantity in l?eu of a portion of their
dry fo??d.
To fatten a horse rapidly, his fodder ?r
hay should always he chopped and steam,
ed, before it is mixed with the meal of
ejtbff porn, oats, or iy<o and w much
should be gifren him, three trim* a day,
a> he will eat without leaving any. Give
him also salt hlone as often as he tfift ent
it, and soft water at least thrice * day,
hut always with some meal of either of
the above mentioned grains stirred up
with if. A small quantity of ground Indian
peas will add much to the nutritive
propertit s of his food; and thus treated,
with moderate daily exerciso, in go?>d
weather, the process of fattening will
soon bo completed, provided the horse be
in good health at the eommencernerfL
I fear that some of Vour readers perhaps,
may deem the foregoing details relative
to horses, more minute than they
need be, and possibly may think me somewhat
officious in giving thein. But
should thcv be disposed thus to condemn
me. I must beg them to recollect before
they pass sentence, that all f have written
on the subject has been communicated
at the request of yourselves and one o."
your correspondents. It is true that this
request whs made to your contributors
generally. and therefore it was not my
special business to comply with it. Still
I have ventured to make the attempt, and
should it bring me into any scrape, I hereby
give you and your North Carolina
friend fair notice that I shall call upon
you both lustily for help. If either of
you should want farther information in
regard to horses, let me strongly recommend
to you the work on " The HorW
for in addition to all that I have said, von,
l i '
will tinu a prescription for all (heir diseases,
and directions for correcting every
fault which can he corrected.
farx-yabd jtatfvks.
The manure commonly furnished by
the farm-yard is compounded of a mixture
of animal substances, ot the putrefying
straw of various descriptions of
grain, mixed with the feces, and urine
of cattle, bor9es and swine.?The mixture
forms no new substances neither
doe* the putrefaction which ensues add
1 to the bulk of toe dung; on the contrary,
! it causes a considerable loss of weight'
There have been many arguments and
I much difference of opinion among cultivator*,
with regard t? the advantages of
employing dung in a fresh or in a putrid
state; anil, as is too often the ease, both
parties have run into extremes, the one
side contending for the propriety of employing
it fresh from the farm yard, the
other contending that it cannot well he
too rotten. The mode employed hy.,Mr.
Coke i* the medium between these erro.
neous practices; he found that the e'mplovment
of the fresh dung certainly
made tne dung go much farther; hut then
a multitude of the seeds of various weeds
| were carried on to the land along with
I the compost; He has therefore, since
used his manure when only in a half put
trified st ile, called short dung by farmers;
and hence, the seeds are destroyod by
the effects of the putrefaction, and dung
still extends much farther than if suffered
| to remain until quite putrefied,
j Putrefaction cannot go on without the
I the presence of moisture ; where water is
| entirely absent there can be no putrnfac
tion; and hence, many far merit have ad.
j apted the practice of pumping the drain,
j age of their farm, vard* over their dung
heaps; others invariblv place them in
low damp situations. This liquid portion
cannot he loo highly valued by the culi
tivotor. The soil where a dunghill, has
laid in a field is always distinguished by
a rank luxuriance in the succeeding crop,
even if the earth beneath, to the depth
of six inches, .m removed and spread with
the dunghill.
The controversy, too, which once so
keenly existed, as to the state of fennentai
tion in which dung should he used on the
land, has now pretty well subsided. There
is no doubt hut that it cannot he applied
more advantageously than in as fresh a
{ state as possible, consistent with the at.
j tainmcnt of a tolerable clean husbandry,
! and the destruction of the seeds of weeds,
i grubs, &c? which are always more or
I less present in farm.vard dung. These
' a.i.L !< hu Oiinpuliflnilull from
| nrc HIC? 'llll v r V I in ill a|f|7i\,uvnu*? ?
(he desirable employment of this mnnnre
in the freshest state; for otherwise the
loss of its most valuable constituents
commences as soon as ever ferme.itHtion
| begins. This was long since demonstia.
ted by Davy, whose experiments I have
often seen repeated and varied. He
says, ? I tilled a large retort, capable of
j containing three pints of water, with
! some hot fermenting manure consisting,
; principally of the. litter and dung of cat.
| tie: I adapted a small receiver to the re.
tort, and connected the whole with a
mercurial pneumaric apparatus, so as to
collect the condensihlo and elastic fluids
which might arise from the dung. The
receiver soon became lined with dew, and
drops began, in a few hours to trickle
down the side of it. Elastic fluid likisj
wise waj generated ; in three days thirty'
i five cubical inches had been formed,
j which, when analyzed, were found trr
I contain twentyone cubical inches of car.
' bonic acid; the remainder was hydrocnr.
j bnnate, mixed with some azote, probably
I no more than existed in the common air
in the receiver. The fluid mutter cdkfci
ted in the receiver at t!?e sume timo,
nfmounfted to nearly half an ounce* It
had ft saline taste, am) a disagreeable
snrull, aod contained some acetate and
carbonate of ammonia. Findiug <neh
products given off from fermenting litter,
I introduced the beak of another retort,
tilled with similar dung very hot at the
time; in the soil* amongst the roots of
some grass in the horde* of a garden: In
less than a week a very distinct effect art#
produced on the grass j upon the spot exposed
to the influence of the matter disengaged
in fermentation, it grew witb
much more luxrinnce than the grasa in
any other part of the garden.w
Nothing, indeed, appears at first light
so simple, as the manufacture and coUec~
tion of farmyard dung; and yet tin**
are endless sources of error into which
the cultivator is sure to fell, if he ia not
e/er vigilant in their management. Tim
late Mr. Francis Blnkie( in hit valuable
little tract upon the management of farm*
yard manure, dwell* upon several ofthescJ
he particularly/condemn* the practice "of
keeping the dung, arising from different
descriptions 01 animals, in separate heap*
or department*, and applying them to the
land without intermixture. It ihcustom|
nry," he adds, to keep the fattening neat
cattle in yards by themselves; and the
manure thus produced is of good quality
because the excrement of such cattle is
richer than that of lean ones. Fattening
cattle are fed with oil.cake, corn, Swedish
turnips, or some other rich food, and the
refuse and waste of such food, thrown
about the yard, increases the value of the
manure; it also attracts the pigs to the
yard. Tuese root the straw and dung
about, in search of grains of corn, hits of
Swedish turnips, and other food, by which
means the manure in the yard becomes
more intimately mixed, and is proportion*
ately increasec in value. The fending
troughs and cribs in the ya*d should, for
obvious reasons, be shifted frequently."
The horse dung," continues Bltkic,
-- * a
"in usually thrown out at the xtanie noors,
and there accumulates in large heaps. It
is sometimes spread a little about, hut
more generally not at all, unless where
necessary for the convenience of ingrese
and egress, or perhaps to allow the water
to drain away from the stable door.??
Horse dung lying in such heaps, very soon"
ferments, and heats to an excess; the
centre of the heap is charred cr burned to
a drv white substance, provincially term,
ed firefangfd. Dung in this slate, loses
from 50 to 75 per cent, of its value. Toe
diligent and attentive farmer will guard
against such profligate waste of property#
by never allowing the dunjj to accttmu*
late in any considerable quantity *t
the stable doors. The dung from the
feeding hog atyes should also he carted
and spread almut the store cattle yard, in
the same manner as the horse dung.*'
Johnson on Manure*.
CAKX OF STOCK.
At seasonable times wc have spoken
of the producing and gathering of hay,
roots, die.; also of the im|iortance of
making the barn comfortable. Without
food and comfortable lodging, stock will
not thrive. But these alone are not all
that the farmer may profitably allow to
his domestic animals.
Kindness or gentleness in the general
tro;>?nn<?nt nf nil nfiimala. is nuite condil.
I ? > 1? _
I cive to their enjoyment and thrift; we
I therefore recommend the employment of
kind tone# and gentle actions towards the
minutes of the barn. No matter how
large your outlay of kindness, for the in*
vestment will yield a good interest.
The curd and currycomb, bv exciting
the action of the akin, help to increaae
the circulations and to give health and
vigor to the animal. The cow being generally
confined to the yard in winter
and accustomed to hut little exercise, requires
carding and ru *bing more than
the ox, where exercise will open the pores
of the skin and help to keep up good cirrulatinnM
throughout the xvstein. And
yet it is the ox, that goes into company
with his owner, whose hide is rubbed
down with elbow grease?while the cow,
needing it more, is s?)dom thus favored.
A good carding, ench morning, will he
found economical food for your beast*.
Let all your animals he so well littered
that their bed shall be dry and comforts.
hie. Sides bedaubed and wet with excrements,
must be both uncomfortable and ,
unhealthy.
Feed out your hay in small quantities
at a time?the cattle relish better that
which has just been put before them,
than that which they hare fouled by their
breath. Mix a variety of kinds together
?fresh meadow hay, salt marsh hay, <utt
or barley straw, English hay; these er
whatever other ingredients you mar
havo, it is often well to m?*-ftmongijly
and fe*d out to the stock. Tfc4>|trnpor?
tiona must oe determined bv thtftpiantity
of each that is to be consumed in the
course of the winter?4?ut malts your calculations
so as to have the fhsitebeeems
better in quality toward spring than is
in mid winter. > ,
All hay before being fed out should fct
well shajtcn up. The more the straw*
each other, and the lighter they 1**0*4
' . . I
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