170 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 3. 



manure. Crawford County is in the north-west part 

 of Pennsylvania, and on the border of Lake Eric.] 



About eleven miles north west of this place, 

 (three or lour miles north of Brightstown in this 

 county, Crawford, Pa.,) an inexhaustible bed oi 

 the carbonate of lime in a clayey state (calcareous 

 marl,) has been discovered. The clay when 

 burned after the usual manner, produces very- 

 good white lime, from the specimen we have seen 

 we would say the very best lime. It has been 

 found that at this one place, it covers an extent of 

 one hundred acres, which is prairie land covered 

 with turf to the depth of one foot, under which 

 the marl is found, and although it has been dug to 

 the depth of nine feet, yet no sign of other kind of 

 earth was discovered. Apart from the general 

 uses to which lime, is applied, we are sensible that 

 this discovery will effect a new era in the agricul- 

 ture of this section of country, and will, when its 

 uses as a fertilizing manure become extensively 

 known and applied, enhance the value of our 

 lands, two-fold. We hope this discovery will ex- 

 cite such a spirit of inquiry and research as will 

 result in the disclosure of beds of lime in every 

 part of the county; and that persons may be dis- 

 posed to seek for it from an acquaintance with its 

 nature and uses, and be able to distinguish it from 

 other earths, we shall in some future number de- 

 vote a column in explanation of its chemical pro- 

 perties, probable localities, and value as a manure. 

 We have no idea that it is confined to any particu- 

 lar spot, but from many circumstances, are firmly 

 of opinion that it will be found near the surface in 

 almost every section of the county. 



From the Library of Useful Knowledge — Farmer's Scries. 

 THE VICES, AND DISAGREEABLE OR DAN- 

 GEROUS HABITS OF THE HORSE. 



[Continued from page 104, Vol. III.] 

 Horses have many unpleasant habits in the sta- 

 ble and the road, which cannot be said to amount 

 to vice, but which materially lessen their value. 



Swallowing without grinding. 



Some greedy horses swallow their corn without 

 properly grinding it, and the power of digestion 

 not being adequate to the dissolving of the husk, 

 no nutriment is extracted, and the oats are voided 

 whole. This is particularly the case when horses 

 of unequal appetite feed from the same manger. 

 The greedy one, in Ins eagerness to get more 

 than his share, bolts a portion of his corn whole. 

 If the farmer can, without considerable inconve- 

 nience, so manage itthatevery horse shall have his 

 separate division of the manger, the horse of 

 smaller appetite and slower feed would have the 

 opportunity of grinding at his leisure, without the 

 fear of his share being stolen from him by his 

 neighbor. 



Some horses, however, are naturally greedy 

 feeders, and mil not, even when alone, allow 

 themselves time to chew or grind their corn. In 

 consequence of this, they carry but little flesh; 

 they are not equal to severe work; and, if their 

 rack has been supplied with hay when the corn 

 was put into the manger, their stomachs will be- 

 come distended with half-chewed and indigestible 

 food; they will be incapable of exertion for a long 

 time after feeding, and, occasionally, dangerous 



symptoms of staggers will occur. The remedy is, 

 not to let such horses fast too long. The nose-bog 

 should be the companion of every considerable 

 journey. The food should likewise be of such a 

 nature that it cannot be easily bolted. Chaff 

 should be plentifully mixed with the corn, and in 

 some cases, and especially in horses of slow work, 

 should, with the corn, constitute the whole of the 

 food. Of this we shall treat more largely under 

 the article 'feeding.' 



In every case of this kind the teeth should be 

 veiy carefully examined. Some of them maybe 

 unduly lengthened, particularly the first of the 

 grinders; or they may be ragged at the edges, and 

 may scratch and wound the cheek. In the first 

 case the horse cannot properly masticate his food; 

 in the latter he will not: for these animals, as too 

 often happens in sore throat, would rather starve 

 than put themselves to much pain. 



Crib biting. 



This is a very unpleasant habit, and a consider- 

 able delect, although not so serious a one as some 

 have represented. The horse lays hold of the 

 manger with his teeth, violently extends his neck, 

 and then, after some convulsive action of the 

 throat, a slight grunting is heard, accompanied by 

 an apparent sucking or drawing in of air. Whe- 

 ther, however, air is actually drawn in, and thus 

 the horse becomes more subject to colic than one 

 without this trick, or whether a portion of air is 

 expelled, showiogthe previous existence of flatu- 

 lence and a disposition to colic, are points that 

 have not been settled among veterinarians. 

 ■ The horse is evidently making the edge of the 

 manger a lixed point, by means of which he may 

 overcome that obstacle which the formation of the 

 soft palate and the back part of the mouth would 

 present to either the expulsion or drawing in of 

 the air, if accomplished through the medium of 

 the mouth. When we consider, however, that 

 any air expelled from the stomach might easily 

 find a passage through the nostril, without the 

 action of crib biting; while it would be difficult or 

 impossible, without some alteration in the natural 

 form and action of the parts at the back of the 

 mouth, and particularly the depression of the 

 epiglottis or covering of the windpipe, to convey 

 air to the stomach, we are inclined to conclude, 

 that this fixed point is used to enable the animal to 

 accomplish this alteration, and suck up and con- 

 vey a portion of air into the stomach. 



The effect of crib biting is plain enough. The 

 teeth are injured and worn away, and that, in an 

 old horse, to a very serious degree; a considerable 

 quantity of corn is often lost, for the horse will fre- 

 quently crib with his mouth full of corn, the great- 

 er part of which will fall over the edge of the 

 manger; and much saliva flows out while the 

 manger is thus forcibly held, the loss of which 

 must be of serious detriment, as impairing the di- 

 gestion. The crib biting horse is notoriously more 

 subject to colic than other horses usually are, and 

 to a species difficult of treatment, and even dan- 

 gerous. Although many a crib biter is stout and 

 strong', and capable of all ordinary work, these 

 horses do not generally carry much flesh, and 

 have not the endurance of others. On these ac- 

 counts, crib biting has very properly been decided 

 to be unsoundness. 



