Vol. XIII. Xo. 329. 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



397 



tively light, con.sisting chiefly of grain; the heavy feed of 

 hay or gra.s.s .should come at night, when the hor.se ha.s 

 ■suffieient time to eat and digest it, without having to go to 

 work immediately after eating. A good practice in feeding 

 a working horse is to give him about one-fourth of his daily 

 allowance in the morning about an hour before his going to 

 work. If possible, another fourth of his daily allowance 

 should be given him as a midday meal, and the remaining 

 half as his evening ration. A hor.se should be allowed two 

 hours at midday to consume and digest his feed. 



When a horse comes in from his work he should have 

 a drink of fresh, cool water, care being taken that he does 

 not drink too rapidly, or gorge himself, if very warm. When 

 the sweat has dried oft" him, a thorough brushing should be 

 ^iven. It is advi.sable that a horse be watered before being 

 fed, or that an interval of an hour or more should intervene 

 between feeding and watering. The theory is that the water 

 washes the food from the stomach into the intestines before 

 the digestive process in the stomach is complete, thereby 

 producing indigestion. 



The giving of food and water to a horse in a heated 

 •condition is bad, and may lead to seriou.s results. The 

 introduction of food or cold water into the stomach at such 

 a time lead.s to a sudden activity in digestion, which often 

 causes colic or other troubles. 



Frequent washing a horse removes the natural oil from 

 the skin, and is apt to produce a dry, dusty, and rough coat. 

 This is a common practice in the Philippines, as it is in 

 many of the West Indian islands. It .should be di-scontinued 

 in the interests not only of the ajipearance of the horse, 

 but also of his health. Good grooming with a stiff brush 

 and a soft body-brush will .stimulate the pores of the skin, 

 and keep the coat smooth and glossy. The use of a small 

 amount of kerosene on a cloth, applied to the coat of the 

 horse, is of advantage in this respect. This also serves to 

 prevent irrititing settling of flies upon his body. 



Any bruises on the horse should be thoroughly washed 

 with a good disinfectant, and the animal not used in any 

 way .so as to irritate the galled spots. The application of 

 sugar of lead — 20 grains to an ounce of water — will help to 

 heal the wounds, and to harden the skin. 



Careful attention ought to be jjaid to the shoeing of the 

 horse. Many injuries to the knees and fetlocks are to be 

 attributed to carelessness in this matter. Shoes should not 

 be left on too long, as the hoof grows out to such a length 

 ■ as to throw the foot out of its proper axis, and so causes an 

 overloading of certain sinew.s, resulting often in unsound 

 legs. . Horses should not be driven on hard roads without 

 shoes, as their feet are not tough enoHgh to withstand the 

 wear. If the hoof becomes dry, hard, or brittle, a good 

 hoof dressing should be applied once or twice a week. 



Castration renders a horse much more valuable for 

 ■working purposes. It is well to castrate young horses at 

 the age of a year. 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES IN THE LONDON 



MARKET. 



Mr. J. K. J;ick.son, A.L.S., has forwarded the follow- 

 ing report on the London drug an'd spice market.s for 

 the month of October. 



Though the drug and spice auctions are far from Iteing 

 restored to their normal conditions, either in the regularity 



of their holding.s, the bulk of product brought forward, op 

 the prices realized, there has been, from the beginning of 

 October, a more settled state of things, and a fair amount 

 of business has been effected. Imports have been coming 

 more freely to hand than they did in the early stages of the 

 War. And the same may almost be said with regard to 

 exports, except those of a contraband nature. The prohibi- 

 tion against future trading with Germany has taken a firm 

 hold on the public mind, the result of which will be, 

 amongst other things, the manufacture in England of many 

 of the well-known drugs of a complex character of 

 which Germany has hitherto held the monopoly. 



Since the outbreak of the War there has been no drug 

 auction held till the first of October, giving an interval of 

 ten weeks. At the spice auction on the 7th of the month, > mly 

 .small supplies were brought forward of which the following 

 are the details. 



GINGER. 



This article was represented by 2-17 bags of limed and 

 wormy Cochin, part of which sold at 1.5s. dd. per cwt. At 

 the end of the month, namely, on the 28th, Cochin and 

 Calicut were represented by 3-17 bags: of these 109 bags of 

 washed Cochin were disposed of at 23s. 6c/. per cwt. Bright 

 rough Clalicut was bought in at 2(5s., and for 46 barrels of 

 fair to good middling Jamaica, 40s. to 4.5s. was refused. 



NUTMEGS, MACE AND PIMENTO. 



At auction on the 7th of the month, 325 packages of 

 West Indian nutmegs were offered and sold at an advance of 

 one farthing per ft>. on previous rates, namely 72's 6d. per ft., 

 85's to 95"s 4fd. to od., 98's to 108's 4|d to i^d., llO's to 

 I20's id. to 4Jc?., and 140's to 144's i^d. Mace was in good 

 supply in the early part of the mouth. At the auction on the 

 7th, 81 packages were oftered, and 68 .sold at advanced rates, 

 good pale fetching Is. lid., ordinary to fair Is. &d. to Is. 8d., 

 red Is. r)d. to Is. 6d., and common Is. '2d. to Is. id. There 

 has been but a very slight demand for pimento during the 

 month, at cjuite ordinary rates. 



.SAKSAPAEILLA. 



There has been very little business in this drug, 2s. per fc. 

 being asked for grey .Jamacia, Is. 8c?. for Lima Jamaica, and 

 \0d. for Mexican. 



LIME .JUICE, LIME OIL, CITRIC ACID, KOLA, AND 

 CASSIA FISTULA. 



At the beginning of the month there was a distinct 

 demand for lime juice, though none was oftered at auction; 

 but on the 14th it was announced that the arrivals were 

 coming forward in fair quantities, though a week later these 

 arrivals were found to be held very firmly, good bright 

 Dominica fetching 2s. 9c?. per gallon. At the last sale, 

 however, on the 28th, further arrivals from the West Indies 

 were offered, and resulted in 2s. 7d. being accepted. In the 

 matter of lime oil, at the beginning of the month 3s. dd. 

 per B). was being paid for West Indian distilled, and 10s. 6d. 

 for hand pressed. Citric acid has been in fair demand at 

 rates varying from 3s. 3d. to 3s. id. at the beginning of 

 the month, dropping to 3s. to 3s. Id. on the 14ih, and 

 standing at 3s. at the clo.se. Kola nuts have n'^it been 

 greatly in demand, and it is said that there are fair supplies 

 on hand at easy prices, fair sound being offered at 3|cf. 

 per It).; but at the close of the month the arrival of a quantity 

 of fair West Indian brought the price down to 3d. At an. 

 early date 2 cases of Cassia Fistula pods from St. 'Lucia, 

 described as 'ordinary lean,' were l)ought in at 18s. 



