2^8 HOW TO MAKE THE FARM PAY. 



iironerly fed. The cruelly which makes the soitioothed 

 horse eat hard haj, grain, and corn, causes his teeth to wear 

 down, and in proportion as they are worn down, his age is cal- 

 culated. A horse, properly fed, at twenty years, should have 

 as goml teeth as most horses now do at ten years. 



How TO USE A Horse; as not abusing it. Overworking is 

 a common method of abuse. Do not overwork the mare with a 

 foal ; neither work the colt too early ; for every year that you 

 delay putting the colt to hard work, you will gain two years in 

 bis longer usefulness. Other things being equal, a colt that is 

 not put to hard work, till six years old, will be as good at fifteen, 

 as another will at ten, if put to work at three years old. Never 

 pair a strong horse with a feeble horse. Make your loads suit- 

 able to the roads you have to go on, and do not strain your 

 bor.se through a quag or plowed field with the same load you 

 consider sufficient for level ground. Beating a horse is usually 

 worse than useless. Never allow a hired man to strike a horse 

 a blow. Absolutely forbid it, and discharge a man for it as you 

 would for picking your pocket. The cruelty of men to these 

 poor dumb beasts is not only barbarous and sickening, but is 

 also ruinous. Millions of dollars worth of horse flesh is ruined 

 by these brutal punishments. The horse kindly treated delights 

 to serve bis master, and will strain every nerve to accomplish 

 his commands. Brutality only causes fear and stubbornness, 

 Striking a horse with a hoe, shovel, or other tool, kicking in 

 the abdomen, striking with a club, and such punishments, are 

 acta of which any decent man will never be guilty. Kicking a 

 mare with foal is so perfectly abhorrent that it seems as if no 

 man would ever do it; but it is done, always to the injury, 

 and often to the death of the foal. Slitting and cropping the 

 ears, nicking and docking the tail, are cruelties that ought to be 

 wholly abandoned. The horse is not absolutely your property 



