14 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



SPIRIT OF THE AGRTCULTUKAL PRESS. 



How to Cube Kicking Horses and Runaways. — The 

 Boston Herald says: " If you have a horse that has a 

 habit, when in harness, of bringing his heels in contact 

 with the dasher and damaging his vehicle by kicking, 

 proceed as follows : Place around his neck a baud like 

 that used for the riding martingale. Then take two light 

 straps, buckle them to the bit on either side, pass them 

 through the neck band and then inside the girth, and 

 strap them securely to each fetlock of the hind feet, tak- 

 ing care to have them of the proper length. When a 

 horse is rigged in this manner, if he attempts to "kick 

 up behind," each effort will jerk his head down in such 

 way as to astonish him, and perhaps throw him over his 

 head. He will make but a few attempts to kick when he 

 will find his head thus tied to his heels, and two or three 

 lessons will cure him altogether. The method of reform- 

 ing a runaway is equally simple and effectual. First of 

 all, fasten some thick pads upon your horses' knees, then 

 buckle a strap about the size of a rein upon each fetlock 

 forward, and pass the straps through the hame rings on 

 some part of the harness near the shoulder on each side, 

 and lead the straps back to the driver's hand as he sits 

 in the buggy. He has thus four reins in hand. Start the 

 animal without fear; don't worry him with a strong pull 

 upon the bit, but talk to him friendly. When he attempts 

 to run he must of course bend his forward legs. Now 

 pull sharply one of the reins, and the effect will be to 

 raise one of his forward feet to his shoulder. He is a 

 three-legged horse now, and when he has gone on in that 

 way a little distance drop the constrained foot and jerk 

 up the other. He can't run faster on three legs than you 



can ride, and when you have tired him on both sides 

 i 

 pretty thoroughly, or if he refuse to take to his trot 



kindly, aud to obey your voice and a moderate pull on 



the bit, you can raise both his fore feet, drop him upon 



his knees, and let him make a few bounds in that position." 



Tight Barns. — The Massacliuselts Ploughman has the 

 following eminently sensible remarks on a very import- 

 ant subject: 



Cattle must have air, or they die. Hay must have air, 

 or it becomes musty. Corn must have air in the crib, or 

 it rots. Many farmers seem not to understand this ; and 

 they enclose their barns as tight as double-boarding will 

 permit — making it necessary to give their hay two or 

 three hours more sunning than it would need in barns 

 that admit some air between the boards. 



It is an universal law that all living animals require 

 air. Even fish in the ponds die very soon when deprived 

 of air. They inhale a small quantity through their tjills; 

 and, by closing these gills tight with twine, they die in 

 their own element. Some animals require much more 

 than others. Those living under water require the least; 

 while the fowls of the air require the greatest quantity, 

 and their blood is warmer than that of cattle. But the 

 blood of fishes is comparatively cold. 



The alarming fever among cattle, which prevailed here 

 last year, was generally supposed to have come from Hol- 

 land, whence Mr. Chenery/, of Belmont, imported his 

 cows. Different opinions were given on this point; but 

 most of the papers on farming were filled with accounts 

 of fevers that had often prevailed in Germany, England, 

 and France. And they had not the least doubt that Mr. 

 Chenery had imported the German fever with the Ger- 

 man cows. 



But we are now confirmed in the opinions heretofore 

 expressed by us — for Mr. Chenery himself told us, last 

 week, that he had no doubt the fever among his cattle 

 waa caused by their being confined closely in his very 



tight barn. His agent, also, who has the care of his cat- 

 tle, stated to us explicitly that the want of free air was 

 the sole cause of the fever. 



And now for tight barns. Why will practical farmers 

 continue to throw away their money in building barns so 

 tight that the cattle can not breathe in them— so tight 

 that the hay becomes musty, and the horses become dis- 

 eased with the heaves V 



We have been recently informed that a gentleman in 

 Walpole has been building a barn so costly that but few 

 farmers could think of imitating it. The cost was $6,000. 

 Well, it was filled with hay last summer, but it could not 

 hold hay. Soon after haying was over, the owner went 

 into his barn, and declared that the hay was on fire. It 

 actually smoked so much that he thought spontaneous 

 combustidYi must take place. 



He ordered the mows to be overhauled, and the side 

 boards to be opened to let in air. His hay, of course, was 

 nearly spoiled, and would be worthless without removal. 



It is cruel to keep cattle tied up in cold barns, as many 

 have done, where drafts of air pass through, and the frost 

 freezes hard the manure behind them. But the poorest 

 farmer can prevent all this, if he has ingenuity enough 

 to place his principal haymow on the cold sides of his 

 barn, to stop all draft of air through it. 



The hay may be dealt out in winter in such a way as 

 to leave that portion of the mow on the cold side or sides 

 untouched till mild weather comes. A hay-cutter will 

 leave the mow in good trim. 



The wall boards of barns should not be jointed. It is 

 loss of labor and of lumber to make the edges straight by 

 planing or jointing. Good barn boards will come together 

 quite close enough by merely pressing them together by 

 means of a small iron bar. 



Boards put on in this way will keep the snow out, and 

 let a little air in — enough to keep hay from spoiling and 

 cattle from catching fevers. 



Half Leicester and Merino Sheep.— The Boston Cul- 

 tivator alludes to a flock of 100 sheep, half Leicester and 

 Merino, belonging to E. A. Parks, of E :st St. Johnsbury, 

 Vt. Mr. P. says : " I have two rams of that cross that 

 will weigh 200 lbs. each. They have yielded fleeces of 

 12 lbs. each. My whole flock generally averages 4J lbs. 

 washed wool. My flock last year gave me 6^ lbs. of wool 

 per head, unwashed, aud raised 100 lambs from 98 ewes. 

 The sheep brought me in about $4.50 per head last year, 

 and would have done as well this year if I had not sold 

 till now. I have my lambs come in April or last of 

 March; keep them under sheds, and give them what good 

 hay they will eat, and give them grain when they first 

 come to the barn. About the first of March I commence 

 giving them grain again, and continue it till they go to 

 pasture. When the hay crop is short I give them grain 

 all winter. I have sometimes bought in Boston the sec- 

 ond quality of beans, when they could be had cheap. It 

 is a good plan to give sheep some browse through the 

 winter, and give them sulphur in their salt, occasionally, 

 and let them have good water as they want it." 



Rabbit Breeding in France. — The Aigle du2fidi states 

 that a farmer named Pinel, of Revel, in the department 

 of the Haute-Garonne, has lately commenced breeding 

 rabbits on an extensive scale for consumption, and that 

 he expects the operation to be successful in a commercial 

 point of view. In the space of five months from May last, 

 he, with fifty female and five male rabbits, obtained 1,300 

 young, and he now intends to have 200 females. By 

 allowing these latter to produce only every two months, 

 instead of every month, as they can do, he calculates that 

 he can procure 500 rabbits a month, or G,000 a year. He 

 has had constructed a large shed, 30 yards long by 20 

 wide and 40 high, and in it are 140 compartments, of 



