800 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



for harnesses after they have been washed and dried. Castor oil will endure the effects of 

 the atmosphere and moisture much longer than neats-foot oil, and when used will not require 

 applying as often. A mixture of equal parts of castor and neats-foot oil is frequently used. 

 Le Bourellier et le Sellier, a French work, gives the following recipe for restoring old and 

 stiff leather: Melt over the fire, in a metallic vessel, eight pounds of very pure beeswax, 

 stirring it until it is all melted ; then introduce one pound of litharge, which has been pulver 

 ized in water, dried, and passed through a fine sieve. Leave it on the fire, and stir it until 

 all of the soluble part of the litharge is incorporated with the wax; remove the vessel from 

 the fire, and when the mixture shall have lost a portion of its heat, incorporate with it, little 

 by little, one pound and a half of very fine ivory black of the best quality; replace it on the 

 fire, and stir it incessantly until the wax commences to boil again; then remove it and allow 

 it to get nearly cool. Then add to it spirits of turpentine, until it is of the consistency of a 

 paste. More turpentine may from time to time be added, as may become necessary. 



Cleaning the Plate. When tarnished, the plate of a harness may be cleaned by 

 rubbing with common whiting for polishing silver. If badly tarnished, rub first with whiting 

 wet with soapsuds, afterwards with dry whiting. No acids should be used; it will be liable 

 to destroy the plate. Steel mountings should be kept bright by rubbing with a cloth 

 containing a very little sweet oil, never enough to be perceptible on the surface of the steel. 



Treatment of Sick Horses. As soon as a horse is discovered to be sick he should 

 be placed apart from others, both for his own welfare and that of other horses that may be 

 stabled with him, as contagious diseases may be communicated by the confined air of the 

 stalls. The sick animal should have warm, airy, and well-ventilated quarters, which should 

 be kept scrupulously clean. He should also be provided with a good, soft bed of clean straw 

 or leaves. He should be handled very gently, and always approached in a quiet manner, 

 avoiding all unnecessary noise, or anything that would have a tendency to disturb or irritate 

 him, for sick animals, like sick people, like to be quiet and undisturbed, and are equally 

 affected by irritating causes. Good nursing and simple remedies are much to be preferred 

 for sick animals, as well as for sick persons. Never use a horse that is not well. If he 

 refuses his food, or seems ailing, he is in no condition for work. 



Diet for Sick Horses. This will depend much upon the nature of the disease, the 

 degree of development, its intensity, etc. Rush recommends that &quot; in acute diseases no food 

 whatever be given until improvement has taken place, and even then only in a sparing man 

 ner; the articles of diet most suitable are bran, oats, hay, carrots, Swede turnips, and green 

 food, either grass or clover. The bran may be given either dry or wet, whichever way 

 the animal prefers it. Oats may be given mixed with bran, either raw and crushed or whole 

 and boiled. It may be necessary to keep the animal without food and water for a half hour 

 before and after administering medicine.&quot; A warm mash of bran is excellent, also boiled 

 flax-seed, potatoes, either raw or boiled, and a few sweet apples. 



Pulse of the Horse, It may not be known to all having the care of horses that 

 the pulse of the horse can most conveniently be felt close to the junction of the head with 

 the neck, in the lower jaw, a little back of where the sub-maxillary artery and vein, and the 

 parotid duct come from under the jaw. The ordinary number of pulsations in a common 

 farm horse in temperate climates is thirty-six per minute, while that of the thoroughbred 

 will be from forty to forty-two. It is somewhat increased by hot weather, and greatly so by 

 a hot climate. 



It is stated by reliable authority that the pulse of a thoroughbred horse will be about 

 ten degrees higher in New Orleans than in New York. The ordinary practice of feeling the 

 pulsations of the heart through the sides determines only the number of beats in the minute, 

 while by that of the jaw, as described, determines not only this, but the manner in which the 

 blood passes, and the quantity. 



