342 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



"I have ofteo, in concurrence with a well- 

 known custom of the counir}', held tny hand 

 over the eyes of the call; and tireathed a (ew 

 slroni^ breaths into iis noslrils; al'ier which I have, 

 with my companions, rode several miles :i)to our 

 encampment, with the little prisoner busdy I'ollow- 

 ing the heels of my horse the whole way as close 

 an'd afieciionately as its ine'inct would attach it to 

 the company of Its dam. This is one the most 

 extraordinary things that I have met with in the 

 habits of this wild country ; and although I have 

 olten heard of it, and lelt unable exactly to believe 

 it, I am now willing to bear testimony to 'he lact, 

 from the numerous instances which I have vyit- 

 nessed since I came into the country. During 

 the time that I resided at this point, in the spring 

 of the year, on my way up the river, I assisted (in 

 numerous hunts of ihe buflalo, with the Fur Com- 

 pany's men) in bringing in, in the above manner, 

 several of these liitle [irisoners, which sometimes 

 Ibllow for five or six miles close to our horses' 

 heels, and even into the Fur Company's Ibrt, and 

 into the stable where our horses are led. In this 

 way, before 1 left for the head waiers of the Mis- 

 Bouri, 1 think we had collected about a dozen." 



In the same way ihe wild liorses are tamed. 

 When the Indian has got him well secured with 

 the lasso, and a pair of hobbles on his leet, '' he 

 gradually advances until he is able to place his 

 hand on the animal's nose, over his eyes, and at 

 length to breathe in iis nostrils, when it soon be- 

 comes docile and conquered ; so that he has little 

 more to do than to remove the hobbles from his 

 lieet, and ride it into the camp." 



Mr. Ellis chanced to read this account when on 

 a visit in Yorkshire, and Ibrsooth resolved to try 

 the experiment. He and his friends were alike 

 incredulous, and sought amusement from the fail- 

 ure rather than knowledge by the result— but two 

 experiments, all he was able to try, were both 

 successful. Here are the particulars of one of 

 them : — 



"Saturday, February 12, 1842.— While the 

 last experiojente were being tried on the yearling, 

 W. espied B., a farmer and tenants, with some 

 men, at the distance of some fields, trying, most 

 ineffectually, on the old system, to break a horse. 

 W. proposed to go down and show him what 

 effect had been produced on the yearling. When 

 the party arrived at the spot they found that B. 

 and his men had tied their filly short up to a tree 

 in the corner of a field, one side of which was 

 walled, and the other hedged in. W. now pro- 

 posed to B. to tame his horse alter the new me- 

 thod. B., who was aware of the character of 

 his horse, anxiously warned W. not to approach it, 

 cautioning him especially against his fore feet, 

 asserting that the horse would rear and strike him 

 with the fore feet, as it had ' lamed' his own (B.'s) 

 thigh just before they had come up. W. therefore 

 proceeded very cautiously. He climbed the wall, 

 and came at the horse through the tree, to the 

 trunk of which he clung for some time, that he 

 might secure a retreat in case of need. Immedi- 

 ately upon his touching the halter, the horse pran- 

 ced about, and finally pulled away with a dodged 

 and stubborn expression, which seemed to bid W, 

 defiance. Taking advantage of this W. leaned 

 over as far as he could, clinging all the time to the 

 tree with his right hand, and succeeded in 

 breathing in one nostril, without, however, being 



able to blind the eyes. From that moment all 

 became easy. W., who is very skilful in the 

 m inngement of a horse, coaxed it, and rubbed its 

 face, and breathed Irom time to time into the 

 nostrils, while the horse offered no resistance. In 

 about ten minutes W. declared his conviction that 

 the horse was subdued ; and he then unfastened 

 it, and, to the great and evident astonishment of 

 B., who had been trying all the morning in vain 

 to get over M, led it quietly away with a loose 

 haUer. Slopping in the middle of the field, with 

 no one else near, W. quietly walked up to the 

 horse, placed his arm over one eye, and his hand 

 over the other, and breathed in the nostrils. It 

 was pleasing to observe how agreeable this opera- 

 tion appeared lu the horse, who put up his nose to 

 receive the puff. In this manner W. led the 

 horse thiouiih all the fields to the stable yard, 

 where he examined the lore feet of the horse, who 

 offered no resistance, but while W. was exa- 

 mining the hind liset, bent its neck round, and kept 

 nosing W's back. He next buckled on a surcin- 

 gle, and then a saddle, and finally fitted the horse 

 wiih a rope. During the whole of these opera- 

 tions the horse did not offer the slightest resistance, 

 nor did it flinch in the least degree." 



Two experiments are all Mr. Ellis has had 

 opportunity ot either witnessing, or hearing the 

 results of. But, as he states, these have been to 

 him perfectly satisfactory ; and, as he has no 

 opportunity of carrying them on, since he is un- 

 acquainted with the treatment of horses, and 

 neither owns any, nor is likely to be thrown in the 

 way of unbroken cohs, he has resolved to publish 

 these particulars, that gentlemen, farmers, trainers, 

 and others, may at least try so simple a plan, and 

 thus test and determine its value. Mr. Ellis is of 

 opinion that this is the secret of the celebrated 

 Irish horse tamers ; and we remember that in 

 more than one recorded instance of their power, 

 ihey pretended to whisper to the animal, and 

 played with his head, and thus probably breathed 

 in his nostrils. 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 



Extracts from a Review of Johnston's Lectures on 

 Agricultural Chemistry and Geology. 



From Blacliwood's Magazine, for June, 1842. 

 The atmosphere consists chiefly of hydrogen 

 and nitrogen, but contains also a very email pro- 

 portion of carbonic acid— one gallon in two thou- 

 sand five hundred. This carbonic acid consists 

 of oxygen and carbon only— it is the gas that 

 escapes from soda water and sparkling cham- 

 pagne. The leaves and other green parts of 

 plants, in the sunshine, absorb it from the air, de- 

 compose it, as chemists call the process, returning 

 the oxygen lo the atmosphere, and retaining the 

 carbon. Plants thus clearly obtain carbon from 

 the air, and in larger quantity in proportion to the 

 extent of leaf they hang out, and to the duration 

 of the sunshine. But the earth also contains 

 vegetable matter, from which the roots draw part 

 of their sustenance— of their carbon, that is — in 

 the form of certain soluble organic compounds, 

 which are naturally produced during the decay 



