110 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



of a week or two, he said, " Bring that horse over : he don't 

 go as well." He was taken over, and a light shoe put on 

 him, and he went as well as ever. 



Mr. Bowditch's horses go down hill rapidly. I shall not 

 uphold him in that. It is said he needs iron horses to stand 

 it. But, so far as the feet of his horses are concerned, you 

 seldom see one that is limping. 



Question. Would Mr. Bowditch omit calks from the 

 shoes of heavy horses that are driven on city pavements ? 



Mr. Bowditch. I would omit calks unless they are abso- 

 lutely necessary. When it is icy, you cannot get along 

 without something in the way of calks. But that is a 

 necessary evil. If you can shoe your horse properly for nine 

 months in the year, he will stand abuse for three months. 

 You can get along in that way ; but never use calks unless 

 you are obliged to. My horses come to the city ; and I have 

 asked the teamsters repeatedly, " Do the horses slip on the 

 pavement ? " The reply has always been, " Never, sir." 



Mr. . Not many weeks since, my horse slipped on 



the pavement, and I attributed it to his being smooth. 

 I am in the habit of having blunt calks put on my horses' 

 feet. I have had the impression that they stood better when 

 they had those calks on, especially when I drive on the 

 pavements. When in the country, I do not feel the need of 

 them. But I remember well, some years ago, when I was in 

 Paris, I was struck with something that seemed very peculiar 

 in the management of dray horses in the streets. They 

 were treated the same as Connecticut girls are before they 

 weed onions. The girls have knee-patches ; and those horses 

 were equipped with knee-pads. I noticed, to my surprise, 

 that they not infrequently slipped in the streets, which were 

 wet, as a general thing, in the cold season ; and, as a 

 safeguard, many of the horses had leather pads on their 

 knees, so that when they fell, and came down upon their 

 knees, the pads would protect them somewhat. 



I wish, while I am up, to make a single remark with regard 

 to what the gentleman from New Hampshire (Col. Hum- 

 phrey) said about breeding. He instanced a mare that was 

 first covered by a black stallion, and subsequently by various 

 other horses of different colors ; but all the progeny were 

 black. That, of course, only goes so far as color is con- 



