vol,. XI.V. SfO. s*. 



AND H0RTICULTUR4.L REGISTER, 



187 



The 



horse 



as plenty 



It appears to me that the community— for there horse endeavors to relieve it by eatin^ straw 

 111 part the lault lies— lay too much stress upon sensation cannot, be that of hun<rer°else th 

 the tact ol "recent importation." The breed is would devour his corn ; but whilst h 

 timn said not to have deteriorated, &,c. Now we of grain and plenty of litter, the diminished aiiow- 

 ail know that the importation of stock has been ance of hay is borne with impunity. But when 

 carried on ever since the settlement of the country a sufficiency is not obtained in any shape, the horse 

 more or less, and we also know, if there is any 'loses appetite and becomes emaciated ; his bowels 

 truth incertihcates, that we have hundreds of the are confined, his flank is tucked up, and his belly 



almost disappears ; in general he drinks little 

 water, and when ho takes much he is apt to purge. 



best samples of horses, cattle «nd hogs, now in 

 America, ofdift'erent breeds and dilfiTent families 

 of the same breed, and admittedly enough to start 

 with. Now let us see a little American spirit dis- 

 played, and a large amount of determination dif- 

 fused among our farmers and others, to foster and 

 encourage those who have expended their money 

 and spent their time in procuring and rearing a su- 

 perior breed of cattle and swine. The idea of de- 

 terioration, where proper attention is paid, is all 

 ideal ; the race of man, all will readily admit, has 

 not deteriorated. Why then should cattle? Let 

 our character as agriculturists and stock breeders 

 be stamped with more nationality, and let us foster 

 our own enterprising breeders. Let an American 

 Herd Book be opened, and breeders be fully assur- 

 ed of the quality of the animals they purchase, and 

 let them prefer purchasing from American breeders, 

 and the race of cattle and swine will be no worse 

 than those we are paying large prices for, and run- 

 ning the risk of carrying across the Atlantic. 

 Respectfully, yours, 



J. H. HEPBURN. 



From the Farmer's Cabinet. 



CORN-COB MEAL. 



Sir, — As the question of the value of the cob in 

 feeding, when ground with the corn, is again com- 

 ing into consiileration, perhap.s the followino- e.x- 

 tract from " Steward's Stable Economy" min-ht n-o 

 far to decide it, in the minds especially of those 

 who know that the cob is equal in quantibj to the 

 corn— the only consideration which is necessary in 

 the present stage of the question : on some future 

 occasion, it may be shown that the cob itself is ful- 

 ly equaly in quality to the same quantity of oats for 

 this purpose. 



" Condensed food is necessary for fast workino- 

 horses ; their food must be in 1-ess compass than 

 that of the farm or cart horse, but to this condensa- 

 tion there are limits. Grain affords all, and more 

 tlian all, the nutriment a horse is capable of con- 

 suming, even under the most extraordinary exer- 

 tion ; his stomach and bowels can liold more tlian 

 they are able to digest; something more than nu- 

 triment is therefore wanted, for the bowels must 

 suffer a moderate degree of distension, more than 

 a wholesome allowance of grain can produce : 

 they are very capacious ; in the dead subject more 

 than 30 gallons of water can be put into them ; and 

 it is thence evident they were not intended for 

 food in a very condensed form, for it seems natu- 

 ral that they require a moderate degree of pressure 

 or dilation to assist their functions, they must have 

 something to act upon. Now, when hay is very 



dear and grain cheap it is customary in many , tney can trequently be obtained for. Ei.ht of 

 stables to givo less than the usual allowance of i the ten geese (for two should be gande s) will , Je 

 hay and corn, but the alteration is sometimes car- : on an average \en goslings each,\ut allowi J one 

 ried too far and IS often made too suddenly : the , half for paper calculation and probable 1 ss tln,u"l 

 horses may have as much as they will eat, yet it the season, it will leave us with a fl c k^ o £ 

 does no suffice without fodder, and, having no hay, old and young, worth when well dress d for hJ 

 hey will leave he gram to eat the litter: a crav- , market, not a dollar, the original cost but olw 

 .ng sensation of emptiness seems to arise, and tlio half this sum, and you have t^entyfive do lars n 



His belly is often rumbling, the bowels apparently 

 containing a large quantity of air, which occasion- 

 ally produces colicky pains; these horses are very 

 liable to crib-biting and wind-sucking, and it is 

 certain that these diseases are very j-are amonn-st 

 those that live on bulky food. 



When the ordinary fodder is very dear, its place 

 must, therefore, be supplied by some other, which 

 will produce a wholesome distension of the stom- 

 ach, although it may not yield so much nutriment : 

 straw, roots, either or both, may be used in such 

 cases; the tucked up flank, and the horse's repeat- 

 ed eflxirts to eat his litter, show that his food is not 

 of sufficient built to sustain nature in her operations. 

 And when toork demands the use of condensed 

 food in a horse that has been accustomed for some 

 time to bulkier articles, the change must be made 

 by degrees and with the greatest caution ; remem- 

 bering, that coming from grass or the straw yard, 

 the horse, for a time, requires more fodder than 

 would be proper or necessary to allow him at his 

 work, after a season." 



Now, it would appear that the cob, ground with 

 the corn, would be just the proper quantity of fod- 

 der for mixing with the corn, the condensed food, 

 for almost all purposes; and nothing, surely, can 

 be mingled with it more readily and conveniently, 

 or so profitably as the cob, which, at the same 

 time, saves the e.\-pense of shelling. When, there- 

 fore, the philosophy of the arrangement comes bet- 

 ter to be understood, we may expect that to grind 

 the cob with the corn will be the general practice, 

 for the feeding of stock of all descriptions. 



B. D 



From ihe Farmer's Gazelle. 



GEESE. 



Mr Store r— In No. 2 of the Gazette, you de- 

 sired information or hints, in relation to the breed- 

 ing and management of horses, cattle, swine, sheep, 

 &c. Now if ' &c.' means a goose, or geese, I have 

 a word to say in relation to them, and this decided- 

 ly in their favor. Geese can be raised, in a proper 

 situation, at a profit far greater than almost any 

 other stock. But to do this, more attention is re- 

 quired than is usually bestowed on their keepino- 

 and management. ° 



But let us make an estimate of the profit on a 

 flock often old geese, in the mannerthey are o-en- 

 erally kept by most farmers. We will suppose 

 that the goose-keeper (for there are many who are 

 not farmers) commences operations by purchasino- 

 ten geese in the spring before they begin to lay, 

 at one dollar each, which is a quarter more than 

 they can frequently be obtained 



addition to this, every old goose will yield a pound 

 of feathers, and every young one three fourths of a 

 pound, making in all, forty pounds, which are al- 

 ways worth fifty cents a pound — making twenty 

 dollars for feathers alone, which added to the twen- 

 tyfive gives us fortyfivo dollars. Then deduct ten 

 from this, as the original cost of tlie old gccse, and 

 wo have a nett profit of thirtyfive dollars. I say 

 nett profit, for there is not one goose-keeper in ten 

 that feeds his flock, either old or young, after the 

 grass has started in the spring, until fattening time 

 in the fall ; and then the large quills will more 

 than pay for their extra food. 



The above calculation is made, having reference 

 to the usual mode of managing this fowl, which is 

 no management at all. Btcause, in the first place, 

 they have generally no place to obtain their food, 

 but on the open commons, except such as they too 

 often steal from meadows and mowing grounds, to 

 the great injury of the standing grass, to the feel- 

 ings of its owner, and very frequently putting their 

 own necks in jeopardy. 



But onthe other hand, if the owner will provide 

 a good warm and dry — dry what ? Why, if henery, 

 (a place for keeping hens,) is an English word, 

 then goosery ia. Well then, let hini provide a 

 good, warm and dry goosery for the accommoda- 

 tion of his geese while laying and hatching, and 

 attached to this, a larpe (or if not a large, then a 

 small) pasture, where they may have at all times 

 access to green grass and a small stream or pond 

 of water, with -due attention and the right breed, 

 which in my opinion are the Bremen, and my word 

 for It, with only ordinary good luck he will receive 

 more than ordinary profit on the care bestowed and 

 capita;l employed. Bremen geese are larger than 

 the native breed, -are always white, and yield on 

 an average'from one to three ounces more feathers, 

 and these of a better quality, (having more down 

 attached to them) than those of the native brown 

 goose. 



As the season is so far advanced, and Thanks- 

 giving day for this year is past, I shall not attempt 

 to inform the readers of the Gazette how a gnose 

 may be made perfectly fat in five days, but will de- 

 fer it, at least for the present. There is not a 

 doubt, however, but that a profit far greater than 

 is generally supposed may be derived from the 

 keeping of geese. LEXOS. 



The smallest-bird of America is the humming 

 bird, and of Europe the golden-crested wren. The 

 smallest quadruped in the world is the pigmy mouse 

 of Siberia. The most diminutive plant is the arc- 

 tic raspberry, which is so sma 

 phial will hold the wliole 

 fruit. 



that a six-ounce 

 branches, leaves and 



To ease ihe pain of a tooth Those who have 



"killing tooth-aches " (says the Nashville agricul- 

 turist,) can have relief in ten minutes or less, by 

 putting a mi.\ture of equal parts of alum and com- 

 mon salt into the affected tooth by means of a lit- 

 tle cotton plug. Permanent relief is never obtain- 

 ed while there are decayed teeth in the mouth. 



It IS supposed the amount of cotton exported to 

 England during the year ending September 1840, 

 was about 4<j5,000,000 lbs., which at 8 cents per 

 pound, would amount to .37,200,000 dollars. 



Look well to your fires these nights. 



