52 



^\)c jTarmci's iUontl)lij lUsitov. 



of a liisli. His practice was first to put a Itridle 

 only upon a colt, and fasten liini to tlieliairnes of 

 an old steady horse before the oxen about the 

 farm, and let him Itail in this way for a day 

 or two. He then put on a collar and haimes, and 

 let him lead about for a day or so more, as con- 

 venient. Any horse woidd answer, but the best 

 was the mother of the colt. Next he put the 

 traces, in addition, but fastened them u[) between 

 the haimes, and merely let them jiuf^le about the 

 sides of the animal, and this answered for one 

 or two days more, or at a i\umber of times when 

 convenient. By this time the yoimg animal be- 

 came accustomed to the feel and rattle of har- 

 ness, and also to s:o slou; which is an impor- 

 tant object. To finish, he is hitched before the 

 oxen by the side of another horse, with an empty 

 cart. In this way without the least severity, his 

 youn^ horses would leadily fjo in harness, and as 

 my old friend said, they would pull soon enough. 

 When once learned to s^o slow, they would rea- 

 dily learn to i;o fast, and alter a few days of use 

 by the side of another hnrse, they would quietly 

 jjo without such company. We all know how 

 important it is to form good habits in horses, that 

 if when youni; they become frightened, or dis- 

 couraged, it is rare that they ever forget it; and 

 we also know that when a horse is what is 

 termed obstinate, they will die under the lash 

 before they will move forward. This is almost, 

 if not always, owing to mismanagement at first, 

 and whatever is done, a cult should never be 

 brought into use by a timid man, for the animal 

 will most certainly find it out. Have we not 

 many of us much room fi)r improvement in the 

 treatment of this animal, which a kind Provi- 

 dence has bestowed for our user After a hard 

 day's toil we require a wholesome iiieal and a 

 comfortable repose; does not the animal that has 

 toiled with us require as much? My old three 

 cornered friend was ever kind to his horses— it 

 was a rule with him never to let a horse stand 

 upon any other than a dirt or clay floor, and this 

 should be level or very nearly so. A horse when 

 •standing, if left to himself, will never stand on 

 sloping ground. He takes a level spot, and al- 

 most every one has reu:arked the horses in a 

 livery stable if not in the act of eating they stand 

 back at the halter's length, because this brings 

 their hiiiiler feet upon the raised part, or rather 

 brings the animals U|)on a level. If our stables 

 are, as they should be, on dry ground, a very 

 little clay or dirt twice a year, will suffice to fill 

 up the inequalities produced by the wear of the 

 feet, and keep the horses feet in better condition 

 and their joints less lialile to swell than when on 

 a plank or |)aved floor. The Virginians, so long 

 noted for their fleet horses, always keep them 

 upon a dirt or clay floor, which is not only deemed 

 better than any other, but is also the least ex- 

 pensive. Their fleetest horses, intended for ra- 

 cing, or the turf, as they call it, are kept tqion 

 short pastures in smntner and hard fare in win- 

 ter, with very ordinary shelter, until they are 

 three or four years of age. This they say pre- 

 vents them from growing too large, which would 

 be the case under more generous treatment. 

 Their winters are less severe than ours, and they 

 let their colls run in an enclosure, where there 

 is good wat(;r, and feed them on coarse hay, with 

 no other shelter than a sort of shed covered only 

 at the top to shelter them from the weather. 

 When these horses are taken into use, they are 

 better treated ; but most of the Virginia stables 

 are made of logs, and o[)en at the sides between 

 the tiers. 



As a general truth do we not drive our horses 

 too fast ? All horses have a natural gait, and 

 when pushed beyond that it wears upon them 

 and makes them prematurely old. Nine times 

 out of ten it woidd be difiicult I think to assign 

 any good c.uise for fast driving. If the surgeon 

 is wanted to take up an artery, and which, if iiol 

 done piomptly, the man must die, why then put 

 the horse to his best, let him devour the way as 

 it were, and if he is well used at other limes, he 

 will lie eiiable<l to do it so much the quicker; 

 but these cases, and similar ones, are rare, and 

 we lose more than a little by liist driving. All 

 teamsters accustomed to take heavy loads are 

 aware of the fiict that, with good keeping, their 

 horses are easily kept in good condition, for they 

 move slowly. It is not easy to keep a sla;:e 

 horse in order that is pushed at great speed f<)r 

 only fifteen or twenty miles in a day, and yet the 



same horses with twice the weight usually taken 

 would keep as fat as they could walk and go 

 the same distance each day on a walk. By fast 

 driving we lose in the wear and breakage of the 

 carriage, we lose in the expense of keeping oiu' 

 horses in creditable condition ; they are made 

 prematurely old by the heat and cold from the 

 violent exercise; and to the man of a good heart 

 who is teiuler of the unite animals given us for 

 our use and not abuse, is there not also a loss 

 in our humane feelings? If these things are so, 

 is there not an economy idso, so desirable in 

 these times in surrendering up this pride of ap- 

 pearance in fast driving? 



There are sotne accounts, well supported, of 

 horses living and retaining their usefulness to 

 even forty years of age, yet most of ours become 

 worthless before half that period. I never ride 

 in a railroad car but with a satisfactivin derived 

 from the fact that it is without the severity of the 

 old mode in a stage coach, which annually de- 

 stroyed so many fine horses. I have known 

 these noble and andiitious animals in hot weather 

 frequently to drop in the harness and soon alter 

 expire tVom over exertion. This cruelty i* spared 

 by the cars, more room for the convenience of 

 the traveller, and greater speed; but let us not 

 attempt with our horses to imitate that speed ; 

 and 1 would be rejoiced to see less speed in our 

 pleasiu'e carriages, than is too often the case. 

 Every thing relating to our horses, as well as 

 cattle, is worthy of our attention, for we have 

 not yet reached that enviable state where there is 

 no room for improvement. 



March 15, 184;J. A FARMER. 



From the Southern Literary Messenger. 

 How to plant and cook Potatoes. 



Ch'iose a loamy soil that's sandy. 



Throw manure broadcast and thick — 

 Stercoracis should be handy, 



That the work may go on quick. 



It is best to plough in winter — 

 Deep ploughing is the only thing. 



Use your labor without stint or 

 'Twill be double in the Spring. 



When you tind your ground is drying 



Let the kidney then be freed 

 From tlie hole where they've been lying, 



.\nd select the best for seed. 



Then in April, fall to planting 



From llie larije potatoe hea[i ; 

 Let no little hands be wanting. 



They're good as men, and twice as cheap. 



Do not cut the root to pieces, 



Nor let It into plaster roll — 

 A kidney usually increases 



Two told, it' you plant it whole. 



Hills are best. I'nr vou can tend them 

 .Ml .irounil. with plough or hoe — 



J\ot too close or you will rend them, 

 ,\nd the oiJsetti will not grow. 



Keep down weeds and dres3 the hills up. 



Let them both have ram and sun — 

 Then the plant grows well and tills up 



And your summer work is done. 



Now before the ground is frozen 



Look nut lur a sloping spot, 

 Which, if dry, and rightly chosen. 



Keeps the roots from growth and rot. 



Six feet deep, the French have found out, 



Roots will never germinate ; 

 So take the hint and dig the ground out, 



When you want your planting late. 



Having told you how to plant them, 



Also how to lay them by, 

 Now for cooking when you want them 



For the table in July. 



On the day you want to use them, 

 Take the kidneys from the ground, 



Of a size, 'tis best to choose them, 

 Throwing out what arc unsound. 



Wash them clean and scrape the skin ofT, 



One water never is enough ; 

 Take the eyes and nubbins thin off, 



And every little speck that's rough. 



Do not let them lie in water, 



(So the nice observers say) — 

 Not a minute — not a quarter, 



That will take the taste away. 



When the fire is burning brightly, 



And the water's boiling hot, 

 Sprinkle table salt in lightly. 



Then put the kidney's in the pot. 



Eighteen minutes — sometimes twenty, 

 Cooks them nicely to a turn ; 



Some say more, but that is plenty, 

 Every one must live and learn. 



Pour the water ofT, and set them 

 On hoi coals that they may dry, 



But mercy on me ! do not let them 

 Burn, or into pieces fly. 



Some prefer them whole at table, 

 Others mash them in the pot. 



With butter! //la/ is execrable. 

 And truly, you had better not. 



How scandalous it is to bake them, 

 How barbarous to fry them brown, 



How vandal-like in balls to make them, 

 .\nd with the band to pat them down. 



The only way if you will mash them, 

 Is with milk that's new and sweet — 



Then with a ladle quick slap-dish them 

 If you want Ihera fit to eat. 



After mashing do not smear them 



On the top and all around. 

 For in that jcay hut few can bear them ; 



Let the mass be one rough mound. 



One thing more — don't cook too many. 

 Just boil enough for each to taste j 



Kemember two will cost a penny — 

 Better it is to want than waste. 



When potatoes roll in plenty. 

 And hard times the poor distress, 



Knowing that their food is scanty, 

 Give them now and then a mess. 



Poultry. 



Poultry, from the French pou'et. The term 

 includes all the domesticated birds raised for the 

 table ; fowls, turkeys, geese, ducks, and Guinea 

 fowls. All those fowls may be niaile very profit- 

 able to farmers by proper care and feeding, hut 

 not otherwise. In Canada, fowl-yards cannot be 

 made use of in winter, but they are neces.varv 

 for the fowls during the spring, summer, iind 

 fall, and should be attached to every fowl-house. 

 There are certain seasons that it is very desira- 

 ble the farmer should be able to confine fowls, 

 and this can only be done wheie there are suita- 

 ble houses and yarils. Fow Is of every descrip- 

 tion are much more profitable when pi'ovided 

 with a fowl-house and yard, than when suft'erej 

 to go at large. We stibmit the following selec- 

 tion made from the article " Poultry," in the 

 Penny Cyclopsedia : — 



"Those who intend to rear fowls or any kind 

 of poultry should have a distinct yard, perfectly 

 sheltered, and with a warm aspect, well fenced, 

 and secure from thieves and vermin, and snfii- 

 ciently inclined to be alwtiys dry, iind supplied 

 with sand or ashes for the cocks and hens to roll 

 in, an operation necessary to disengage tiieir 

 feathers from vermin : running water shntild be 

 especially piovidcd ; for the want of water, of 

 which all poultry are fond, produces constipation 

 of the bowels an<l inflammatory diseases; and 

 for geese and ducks balliing is an indispensable 

 luxury. A contiguous field is also necessary lor 

 free exercise, as well as for the siqiply of grubs 

 and grass to the geese. The tovvl-honse should 

 he dry, well roofed, anil fioniiug the South, and, 

 if practicable, at the back of a stove or stables; 

 warmth being conducive to health atid laying, 

 though extreme heat has the conlrary efii-ct. It 

 should be furnished with tsvo lattice windows, 

 that can be opened and shut at pleasure, at oppo- 

 site ends, for ventilation, which is frequently iie- 

 nessary ; and the perches should he so arranged, 

 that one row of roosting fowls should not be di- 

 rectly above another. 



A house twenty feet long and twelve feet wide 

 may be made to accommodate 150 hens at roost. 

 The plan is simply this:^the first roosting perch 

 (i-oimded a little at the upper angles only, for 

 gallinaceous fowls cannot keep a firm hold oti 

 perfectly cylindrical supporters) should be placed 

 lengthways and rest on tressels in each enil wall, 

 si.x feet (Vom the front wall, and at a convenient 

 height, which must depend upon the elevation 

 ol the house fiom the floor, which may be form- 

 ed of plank, that can be easily swept. Another 

 perch should be fixed laddervvays above this, but 

 ten inches nearer to the back wall, and so on, 

 until there are four of these perches like the 

 steps of a ladder when jiroperly inclined, btit 

 with a sufiicleiit distance bptweeti the wall and 

 the upper otie to allow the potdtiy-maid to stand 

 I cotiveniently upon when she has occasion to ex- 



