No. 10. 



The Horse. 



311 



other in such quantity, as to impreonato 

 many of the ^erms producing (Trains of the 

 description cultivated in the adjoiniiKjr field. 

 This is the old theory of corn niixin*:;', and I 

 believe it is the true one — the correspondent 

 of the New England Farmer to the contrary, 

 notwithstanding. 



It is of practical importance that we should 

 understand the true theory of " corn mixing," 

 for the same theory must also apply to the 

 mixing of many other kinds of plants. The 

 squash and pumpkin, the cabbage and tur- 

 nip, the garden and sugar beet, and the man- 

 gel wurtzel, and many other vegetables, are 

 ruined when allowed to blossom and produce 

 seed near each other. 



Before concluding these cursory remarks 

 on the mixing of plants, I will address an 

 inquiry to my more intelligent readers, hop- 

 ing that some will be able to answer it satis- 

 factorily, which I believe has never yet been 

 done. 



It seems to be an admitted fact, that when 

 two varieties of the potatoe, one red, the other 

 white, are planted in contiguous rows, they 

 will produce piebald roots partaking of both 

 colours. It is not known that any other 

 plants do intermix in the root. Tiie old the- 

 wy teaches us how the seeds produced from 

 potatoes so circumstanced, may propagate 

 mongrels ; but a new theory which will ac- 

 count for this mixture in the root, remains to 

 be a desideratum to the botanical physiolo- 

 gist. The principle which is referred to in 

 the relation of Jacob's peeled rods, is inap- 

 plicable to the present case ; for although the 

 potato has many eyes, it cannot see ; yet, like 

 the flocks of the good old patriarch, it pro- 

 duces ring-streaked and spotted roots. Will 

 some of your able correspondents be so good 

 as to clear up this matter, either by giving 

 us a satisfactory explanation of the process, 

 or showing that it is only one of Dr. Frank- 

 lin's fishes 1 



A Noviciate. 



We have received, through the kindness 

 of a friend, a delightful little work on the 

 Horse, which contains in a few pages the 

 substance of a large volume. It is a recent 

 London publication, and we shall feel plea- 

 sure in laying its contents, from time to time, 

 before our readers. 



The Horse. 



The contents of the following pages are 

 the results of long practical experience, and 

 have been written with a view to the benefit 

 of jiersons not thoroughly practised in the 

 proper management of horses, and to whom 

 the knowledge now imparted may be useful. 



To men of business in particular, whose time 

 is too much occupied to admit of leisure for 

 much study, beyond th<'ir every -day pursuits, 

 ihe present wmk may allord information not 

 so easily acipiirod in other forms. A few 

 mimites devoted to the perusal of it will pro- 

 bably compensate them for their trouble, as 

 the vvholo is comprised in a small compass. 

 It will be found that the entire treatment of 

 the horse, that is, the useful, or road horse, 

 is fully considered in tlie subsequent pages. 

 The publishers, also, are not ashamed to con- 

 fess, that one i)arl of their object has beea 

 to induce greater humanity than is usually 

 practised in the treatment of so noble an ani- 

 mal ; and it is melancholy to reflect, that the 

 "high-mettled racer," in the words of the 

 song, is not unlikely to become " food for the 

 hounds." But those who are not susceptible 

 of the finer feelings of our nature, may be in- 

 fluenced by considerations of self-interest ; 

 and it would not only evince humanity, but it 

 would be a pecuniary gain, if the owners of 

 horses paid more attention than they usually 

 do, to tliat kindness of treatment which is 

 dictated by nature herself. 





In all nations and in all ages, the horse has 

 been esteemed as one of the noblest and most 

 valuable animals of the brute creation. It is 

 unnecessary for the object of the present 

 work to make any particular allusion to the 

 pride and admiration in which he was held 

 in ancient Greece and Rome, and indeed 

 among every warlike people. Caligula in- 

 vested his horse with the dignity of a first 

 consul. Innumerable passages might be 

 quoted from the poets, descriptive and illus- 

 trative of the qualities of this beautiful quad- 

 ruped ; but we shall confine ourselves, in this 

 introductory matter, to a citation from the 

 Book of .Job. The following verses are so 

 applicable to our subject, and so sublime in 

 conception and expression, that it would be 

 almost an unpardonable omission not to lay 

 them before the reader, who need not be told 

 that the apostrophe is to the Deity. 



