103 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



[Chap. I. 



(three quarters of an acre), seeded to clover, from which I kept one sjjan of 

 horses in thriving condition from the first day of June last to the hist day 

 of August, besides cutting 900 lbs. of good hay, which I ])ut into the barn, 

 and harvested of the second mowing seed suthcient to stock an acre or two 

 of ground. This may, and undoubtedly will, seem to many like a big barn 

 well stretched. In fact, I should doubt the reality of such a stor}- myself, had 

 not my eyes seen and my hands felt the truth of such a statement. I5y the 

 time I had mowed two thirds of this little patch, the remainder was fit to bo 

 made into hay, which I accordingly did up after the most ajijirovcd fashion. 

 And that part mowed first was sufficiently large to mow again. I fed them 

 three times a day all they could oat. They smelt not, touched not, tasted 

 not one particle of grain during the three months ; used them more or less 

 every day, and at the end there was a perceptible gain in flesh. Kever, 

 since I could say «i// team, have I suimnercd a team so cheaply. The great- 

 est cost is cutting and putting it before the horses. I offered them water, 

 -but they did not drink to exceed a pailful a week. 



" I am of the opinion that if they had been turned loose upon this piece 

 of ground, ten days would have been sufficient time to eat up and trample 

 into the earth everything green upon it. As five acres of good pasture is 

 little enough to summer a span of horses when allowed to run, there is almost 

 an incalculable saving in soiling them." 



150. Brccdiii,!; for Longevity. — We, have liad a few instances of horses liv- 

 ing to the age of thirty years, but they are so rare, that such an old horse is 

 looked upon as a, curiosity. Lewis B. Brown, of AV'estchester County, N. i'., 

 has a team of four, the aggregate age of which is 108 years, the oldest being 

 over 30 years, and all in such vigor of constitution that but few teams can 

 hold their own with this upon the road. The exhibition of this old team at 

 the Springfield show, in 18C0, attracted universal attention. This shows that 

 such old horses are rare, and it proves that old horses are not worthless. It 

 also induces the question, whether we can not breed with a sijccial reference 

 to longevity. If selections were made upon both sides, of stock which had 

 ancestors noted for longevity, and this course continued through several 

 generations, with mares and stallions which have arrived at mature age, still 

 retaining a vigor like that exhibited in Mr. Brown's team, who can say that 

 we should not obtain a breed noted for longevity, and that horses forty or 

 fifty years old would then be no rarity? This is a subject worth thinking 

 about. 



151. Treatment of Colls, — "When first foaled, if parturition is at maturity, 

 the colt should have eight front teeth, four in each jaw ; but it sometimes 

 happens that these are not all cut through, and the gums are inflamed and 

 60 tender that the colt can not suck Avell. This should always be looked to, 

 and the gums cut with a sharp knife, and, if need be, the colt fed until it can 

 suck freely. 



Colts as well as calves are sometimes aff'ectcd by lice ; these may be got rid 

 of in vai'ious ways. Take white-oak bark, boil it in water, making a strong 



