108 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



center of sliding board, put sash cord through from outside and tie knot in the 

 end, and have cord ahout two feet long. Place a sash pulley on the outside of 4 in. 

 top board, pass sash cord over pulley lo connect to a wire which i-uus back to end 

 of rack next to alley and fastens to a lever Avhich is fastened on the ontisde of bot- 

 tom board with % bolt 2 in. long, this bolt to be placed to the end of lever. When 

 the sliding board is raised for feeding the lever should stand straight up and tight 

 against the inside of standard and held to place by a wedge-shaped piece nailed 

 onto side of 4 in. board. There will have to be a slot cut in slanting board on top 

 of rack for lever to work in. Put 1x4 on outside of standards 20 in. from top of 

 bed piece to keep .sheep from putting their heads over sliding board when dropped 

 down. 



PREVENTION OF ANIMAL DISEASES BY PROPER CARE. 



Nowhere in tlie experience of life do we find the old adage, ''An onnce 

 of prevention is worth a pound of cure," more true than in the care of our 

 domesticated animals. If we exclude lamenesses, probably one-half of 

 the diseases affecting our animals, especially the horse, are diseases of 

 the digestive organs. We often underestimate the importance of the 

 digestive system. We are apt to think of the heart and brain as vital 

 organs; so they are, and yet 



THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT, 



inasmuch as it prepares the nourishment for all par-ts of the body. We 

 often seem to think that when the animal takes hay and grain into the 

 mouth it insures their use by the body. This is not always the case, how- 

 ever; before that food can be used by the body it must be digested by a 

 process which is practically liquefaction. It is only that part of the food 

 that is liquefied that can be taken up by the blood and carried to the vari- 

 ous parts of the body to nourish them. This digestion is carried on in the 

 digestive system, which consists of a long tube about one hundred feet 

 in length, varying in size and shape in different parts; these different 

 portions being commonly called the mouth, gullet^ stomach and intestines. 

 Each part has a work to perform. The mouth pulverizes the food; if the 

 work here is not thoroughly done digestion is interfered with. The gullet 

 simply carries the food to the stomach. In the stomach we find a juice 

 formed which helps to dissolve certain elements in the food. In the intes- 

 tines the food is mixed with a number of different juices which complete 

 digestion; that part of the food which is indigestible passing on out of 

 the tract, while digestion is going on, the stomach and intestines are 

 in constant motion, thus bringing all parts of the food in contact with 

 the juices and also bringing the digested part in contact with the walls 

 of the tube where it can be taken up and carried to the parts of the body 

 needing nourishment. In order then to have the body nourished 



THE FOOD MUST BE DIGESTED, 



and in order to have the food digested it must be thoroughly masticated, 

 the juices must be formed to dissolve it, and the organs must be in motion 

 to mix the food and juices and to bring the dissolved portion in contact 

 with the walls of the tube. In order that these last two conditions may 

 be properly carried out, the digestive organs should have during diges- 

 tion, a free circulation of blood; anything that tends to a sluggish cir- 



