1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



3o9 



CURE FOR CORNS ON HORSES' FEET. 



Messrs. Editors : — I noticed the inquiry of a 

 correspondent in the March No. of The Cultivator, 

 concerning corns on horses' feet. In answer I 

 would say, corns of long standing are incurable. 

 Those of more recent date can be helped. The 

 only remedy I know, is the following, viz : Dig the 

 corn out and pour in hot tar. If the horse is flat- 

 footed, be careful about paring the heels — only 

 rasp it carefully, and avoid having the shoe bear 

 on the heel as much as possible. I make a few 

 extracts from Youatt on the Horse, which come 

 directly to the point. 



In the angle between the bars and the quarters, 

 the horn of the sole, has sometimes a red appear- 

 ance and is more spongy and softer than at any 

 other part ; the horse flinches when this portion 

 of the horn is pressed upon, and occasional or 

 permanent lameness is produced. This disease of 

 the foot is termed corns. The first thing to be done 

 is to pare out the angle between the crust and the 

 bars. Two objects are answered by this ; the ex- 

 tent of the disease will be ascertained, and one 

 cause of it removed. A very small drawing knife 

 must be used for this purpose. The corn must be 

 pared out to the very bottom, taking care not to 

 wound the sole. It may then be discovered wheth- 

 er there is any effusion of blood or water under- 

 neath. If this is suspected an opening must be 

 made through the horn, the matter evacuated, the 

 separated horn taken away, the course and extent 

 of the sinuses explored, and the treatment recom- 

 mended for quitter adopted. Should there be no 

 collection of fluid, butyr of antimony should be ap- 

 plied over the whole extent of the corn after the 

 horn has been thinned, as closely as possible. A 

 horse that has once had corns to any considerable 

 extent, should at every shoeing have the seat of 

 the corn well pared out and the butyr of antimony 

 applied. — Country Gentleman. 



THE GTJANO TRADE. 



The New York Evening Post furnishes some in- 

 teresting facts respecting the guano deposits belong- 

 ing to Peru, and the manner in which the business 

 of removing and disposing of this important fertili- 

 zer is conducted. The guano islands (the Chinchas) 

 are about one hundred miles north from Callao, 

 the longest of the group being two miles in length 

 and a quarter of a mile wide, and the least about a 

 mile in length by half a mile in width. There is 

 but little guano on the largest island, while upon 

 the smallest it is two hundred and fifty feet deep. 

 There are often from three hundred to five hundred 

 sail of vessels, generally of large size, loading at one 

 time. At the rate of which guano is now shipped 

 from these islands, it will be exhausted in six to 

 eight years. Twenty thousand tons are sometimes 

 removed in a single day. There is on one of the 

 islands a settlement of Chinese coolies, who are em- 

 ployed in digging the guano and loading the ves- 

 sels. A task is given them each day, and if the 

 gang fail to get out the given number of wagon 

 loads, of two tons, each day, their bondage is con- 

 tinued a longer period, to make up; so many months 

 or days being added as wagon loads are wanting. 



These coolies are cheated into the belief by Man- 

 darins, or knowing Chinamen, that they are to be 

 shipped from China to California and the gold dig- 



gings, and are further deceived by the offer of a 

 free passage. The shipmaster takes them to the 

 Peruvian government and sells them for a round 

 sum in the shape of freight money, and they are 

 sent to the guano islands for life or for a term of 

 five to seven years. The Peruvians also send all 

 their prisoners of State, some two or three hund- 

 red, into the guano mines, where they are let out 

 to work by day and confined by night. 



The guano is hard and can only be broken up 

 with the pickaxe. It is then broken and shoveled 

 into the wagons and rolled through the "shutters" 

 to the vessels. There is no fresh water upon the 

 islands, and each vessel is required to carry a ton 

 of water there for every hundred tons burden of 

 the ship. The oldest captain in the fleet from each 

 nation is appointed Commodore, and hoists his flaw 

 as such on his ship, where all disputes are settled. 

 Indeed, the municipal laws of the islands and the 

 fleet are decidedly of Yankee origin. Says the 

 Post : 



"The islands are about ten miles from the main 

 land, and are composed of new red sandstone. The 

 guano is not all bird dung, but is largely composed 

 of the mud of the ocean ; that brought "from Peru, 

 is so, at least. When anchors are hoisted into the 

 ship from the holding grounds of vessels along the 

 Peruvian coasts, large quantities of mud, of a green- 

 ish white color are brought up, and this mud when 

 dried makes guano equally good with the guano 

 taken from the islands. The birds and seals come 

 upon the islands when the people are not at work, 

 but it does not appear that their dung or decayed 

 bodies are more than a foot deep on any of the 

 islands. The composition taken from the islands, 

 called guano, is stratified, and Hes in the same form 

 it did before it was lifted up from the bottom of the 

 ocean. Our informant says that a geological ex- 

 amination of the islands will satisfy any man that 

 the guano ships are bringing away from these 

 islands a very different thing from the dung of birds 

 or decomposed animals. 



Gibbs & Bright, of Liverpool, have a lease of the 

 Guano Islands from the Peruvian government for 

 five years, which expires in 1857, but hope to get 

 their lease renewed. This house jjays the Peruvian 

 government about $4,50 a ton for the privilege of 

 taking all the guano from the islands, the govern- 

 ment furnishing the men to dig the guano." 



GiFFORD Morgan Horse. — Is there a horse 

 known as the "Gifford Morgan." If so, by whom 

 owned, and where kept, and what is his pedigree ? 



J. w. A. 



Remarks. — There is, or has been a horse by the 

 above name — but we can give no account of him. 

 Brother Howard, of the Cultivator, will be likely 

 to know. — JV. E. Farmer. 



The horse Gifford ^lorgan was kept for several of 

 the latter years of his life by F. A. Wier, of 

 Walpole, N. H. He died at the stable of Benj. 

 Gates, in the town mentioned, Oct. 30th, 1850, 

 aged 24 years. He was got by Woodbury or 

 Burbank Morgan, and was the sire of Green Moun- 

 tain or Hale Morgan, and other well-known horses. 

 — Cultivator. 



^^ The Essex Agricultural Society have elected 

 Ben Parley Pooreto deliver the oration before them, 

 at their annual fair in September, at Newbiiryport. 



