FOAL. 



FOG. 





affect crops which are backward in the time 

 of ripening. 



FOAL (Su. Goth, fole; Sax. poia). The 

 young of the horse kind; the male being term- 

 ed a colt foal, and the female a filly. The foal 

 and its mother should always be well fed, and 

 two feeds of corn, at least, be added to the 

 green food which they get, when turned out 

 after their work at night. The growing colt 

 should continue to have liberal nourishment ; 

 bruised oats and bran should form a consider- 

 able part of his daily provender. In five or 

 six months, according to the growth of the foal, 

 it may be weaned. It should then be housed 

 for three weeks or a month, or turned into 

 some distant rick-yard. The process of break- 

 ing in should commence from the very pefiod 

 of weaning ; and the foal should be daily 

 handled, partially dressed, accustomed to the 

 halter, led about, and even tied up; for on this 

 much of the tractability, good temper, and 

 value of the horse will depend. After the se- 

 cond winter, the work of breaking in may com- 

 mence in good earnest. 



Management of Foals after Weaning. The 

 principal object with most breeders is to have 

 their stock large and powerful at an early age. 

 It is really wonderful what may be done to- 

 wards effecting this by means of good food 

 judiciously supplied, proper shelter, and liberty 

 of range in favourable weather. It is natural 

 to suppose, when a foal is first taken from its 

 dam, that it will, in some degree, fall away in 

 condition and lose flesh ; the nutritive proper- 

 ties of its " mother's milk" cannot be taken 

 from it without affecting its yet tender constitu- 

 tion. To guard against this, every attention 

 must be directed to the quality as well as quan- 

 tity of food which is presented to it ; that which 

 contains most nourishment must be provided, 

 find although the bulk of hay which a foal con- 

 sumes is very trifling, it should be of the best 

 quality. For foals, when they are first weaned, 

 linseed gruel should be their constant beverage, 

 and, indeed, it cannot be too highly recom- 

 mended for all horses. A liberal allowance of 

 oats is likewise necessary; foals, if in health, 

 will eat at least two quarterns per day ; and, as 

 they increase in age, this allowance may be 

 augmented. The seeds which are left from the 

 linseed-gruel, should be given with the corn. I 

 have frequently recommended the practice of 

 bruising the oats, and must certainly repeat it, 

 even in opposition to the arguments of some 

 persons who are averse to it. Bran mashes 

 may be given at least once a week, and in 

 some instances more frequently. Carrots will 

 likewise be found a very proper food for young 

 stock, and should be given once or twice a 

 day. Too long a continuance of the same 

 food cloys the appetite. Boiled barley is found 

 to be very nutritious food, and most horses are 

 very fond of it. As an alterative, it may be 

 given with great advantage, if foals do not 

 consume their corn with their usual appetite. 

 It requires to be well boiled for two or three 

 hours in a small quantity of water, frequently 

 replenishing it that the grain may not burn, 

 and constantly stirring it that every grain may j 

 undergo an equal process; it maybe consider-' 

 ed sufficiently boiled when all the corns have j 

 63 



burst, and, when given, should have a little 

 bran or finely-cut hay mixed with it. About 

 ten days or a fortnight after they are weaned, 

 each foal should have a gentle dose of physic 

 one drachm to a drachrn and a half of aloes, 

 with a drachm of Castile soap, and the same 

 quantity of ginger, will generally be found suf- 

 ficient. 



FOALING. A term applied to the act of 

 parturition, or bringing forth young in the 

 mare. Good feeding and moderate exercise 

 are found to be the best preventives against 

 slinking, which is most prevalent when half 

 the time of pregnancy has elapsed. See ABOR- 

 TION. If a mare has been regularly exercised, 

 and apparently in health while she was in 

 foal, little danger will attend the act of parturi- 

 tion. If there be false presentations of the 

 fo3tus, or difficulty in producing it, it will be 

 better to have recourse to a well-informed 

 veterinary practitioner, rather than injure the 

 mother by the violent and injurious attempts 

 which are often made to relieve the animal. 

 As soon as the mare has foaled, she should be 

 turned into some well sheltered pasture, with 

 a hovel or shed to run into when she pleases ; 

 and as, supposing she has foaled in April, the 

 grass is scanty, she should have a couple of 

 feeds of corn daily. The mare may be put to 

 moderate work a month after foaling. 



FODDER (Germ, fuller ; Sax. FOTJOOP; from 

 poeoan, to eat; Irish, fader, straw; Icel. fodrj. 

 In agriculture, the ordinary food given to cat- 

 tle, which consists of the stems and leaves of 

 plants, such as clover, hay, chopped straw, 

 dried blades and tops of Indian corn, &c. ; the 

 culmiferous stems of the grasses, the haulm 

 of legumes, potatoes, &c. Grain, beans, tur- 

 nips, and other articles which present nourish- 

 ment in a more concentrated form, are not 

 included under the term fodder, but are rather 

 known as solid food. See FOOD. 



FOG (Dan. fog). In meteorology, a dense 

 vapour near the surface of the land or water. 

 Fogs in general are the consequence of the 

 nocturnal cooling of the atmosphere. The air, 

 by its rapid cooling, becomes surcharged with 

 moisture ; a part of which being condensed in 

 the form of a cloud, gives rise to the ordinary 

 fog. During the day the heat of the sun gene- 

 rally disperses the fog, because the quantity of 

 moisture which the air is capable of holding 

 becomes considerable in proportion as its tem- 

 perature is increased. In calm weather the 

 surfaces of rivers, lakes, &c., are frequently 

 covered with fog. The reason is this. During 

 the night the air is colder than the water ; the 

 strata of air in contact with the water are con- 

 sequently heated, and become saturated with 

 moisture. The mixture of the vapour with the 

 air, together with its elevation of temperature, 

 renders the air specifically lighter. It rises in 

 consequence, and mixing with the cold air in 

 the superior strata, is cooled, and has its mois- 

 ture condensed. The cloud or fog resulting 

 from this precipitation can only rise to a small 

 height, because the uniformity of temperature 

 is soon restored. Hence it is easy to see how 

 winds, or a great agitation of the water, pre- 

 vent the formation of fogs over the surface of 

 water. In the equinoctial regions, fogs some- 

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