70 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



Feb. 



harrowed in ; the lime spread with a shovel or 

 lime spreader, as soon as slaked, while in a 

 powdered condition, and the salt sowed broad- 

 cast, or mixed with the lime before spreading, 

 or the lime slaked with brine. From his ex- 

 perience and observation of the effects of salt 

 on this land, he estimates one and a half sacks 

 of merchantable ground salt, or an equivalent 

 of dirty salt, and 25 bushels of lime per acre, 

 as good for wheat as a moderate dressing of 

 stable manure, and the grass after the wheat 

 is as good, where the salt and lime are applied, 

 as where the stable manure was applied. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 MARES AND COLTS. 

 An Efsay head before the Concord, Mass., 

 Farmehs' Club, Nov. 14, 1867. 



by hox. john s. keyes, of concord. 



At what age and in what condition are mares bes' 

 suited for breeding ? How should they be treated 

 duiing gestation? What is the best management of 

 colts until Ihcy are three years old ? 



Breeding is a science of which but little is 

 known, and that little but poorly practiced. 

 Most of it is done in a loose way, without much 

 attention to anything but convenience, and the 

 results are what might be expected, — uncer- 

 tain and profitless. When proper care and 

 attention is bestowed, animals may be bred 

 almost to order, and among the large and ex- 

 . perienccd breeders in Vermont, New Hamp- 

 tiiire, and Maine, colts of almost any tize, 

 ehape, color and qualities are raised as wanted. 

 ■OJ' course this requires a knowledge of the 

 ecience, a care for every detail, and an ex- 

 ■pesse in the selection of the stock that are 

 alone conwstent with making this a business, 

 and following it as any business must be pur- 

 sued, to make it a success. 



For our purposes, in this discussion, three 

 questions only are to be answered, and all 

 others need not now be considered. To the 

 tir^t — the best age and condition of the mare 

 for breeding — Uiere is but one reply : in the 

 .prime of her years and finest order. But to 

 this reply, there are many limitations of cost, 

 profit and convenience, which will materiall} 

 modify Xhe. answer, according to the cin iim- 

 atames of each case. For farmers who wi.>-h 

 only to raise a colt occasionally, either for 

 their own use or for sale, we must be gov- 

 erned by the convenience to our work and the 

 cost of the trial. We cannot take the family 

 mare from her work of all kinds on the farm 

 and give up her use for nearly if not quite the 

 ■whole season, to get a foal, without supplying 

 her place at an expense not warranted by the 

 profit. If she gets injured by an accident, or 

 used up by many seasons of hard work, we arc 



too apt to put her to breeding, as the best use 

 that can be made of her, though there is more 

 certainty of getting poor stock in that way, 

 than of any profit. But we can do this, and 

 it is, under all the conditions, the be.st plan : 

 let that filly have a foal before she is put to 

 work. This is the real secret of successful, 

 pecuniary result in breeding horses. Every 

 tilly breeds before working in all those sec- 

 tions where raising colts is followed. It is 

 the best time, in my judgment, at from three 

 to four years old, depending on the size and 

 maturity of the animal. It saves them from 

 being worked at too young and tender age ; and 

 it imparts to the offspring all the vigor the 

 mother naturally possesses, unimpaired by any 

 of the hardships or strains she may undergo 

 in work. It develops her own frame and bodily 

 powers, and, if well kept before and during 

 gestation, with no injurious results. Such a 

 filly that had been kept growing her first three 

 years, without stint of good, nutritious food, 

 with great freedom of range in the pasture, 

 and roomy, well ventilated stalls, and moder- 

 ate exercise during the winter, if put to a horse 

 in the prime of his powers, say from seven to 

 twelve years old, could not fail of bringing as 

 good a colt as she ever would produce fVom 

 that horse at any age. Indeed, I believe a 

 better, or one that I would rather take my 

 chances with, than of any born later in life, 

 after the mare had worked even on a farm, to 

 say nothing of stable or city use. The colt 

 then would be weaned and the mare ready for 

 breaking and use at from four to five years 

 old, and be worth more than if she had never 

 bred, besides paying all her keeping to that 

 age, with the one good colt thus raised. 



As to the second question, mares should be 

 treated during gestation as naturally as pos- 

 sible, whether by this is meant either the 

 actual time of birth or the whole period of 

 bearing. Their work should never be severe 

 or long continued, and their keeping such as 

 would t^upply both mare and foal with ample 

 nouri.shment. Too high condition might not 

 be better than moderate order, but it would 

 be vastly preferable to any stinting or scanty 

 fare. " In the event of breeding at the earlier 

 age, three or four years old, they should be at 

 pasture all the season would permit, and in 

 the winter should have no work, only moder- 

 ate exercise, to keep them growing constantly. 



Breeding later in life, after the mare has 

 been worked, she shoidd be kept at grass as 

 much as possible, and if recjuired to work, 

 great care should be taken to prevent any 

 over-work, or undue exposure, and the feed 

 shoidd be liberal to support not only the mare 

 but the foal. With care and good treatment, 

 the colt may not suffer or be any the worse for 

 the use of the mare during the earlier stages 

 of pregnancy, but no such ta.x as hard work 

 and breeding can be imposed on any animal, 

 without injury. For some time before the 

 birth, she should be at pasture if possible, and 



