188 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



blooded horse, will be worth two of tlie Itest mules 

 that ever were captured i?i Sante Fe. Rut the 

 troul)le (this fjreat enemy to the happiness of the 

 horse) aUhoiig-Ji it seems formi(lal:Ie at a distanee, 

 when yon approaeh, it (iissi|)ates to nothing. Get 

 into the habit i/oi/r^f//' of attending to the comfort 

 of your horse, and get your ostler or head plough- 

 man into the habit, and he will soon take all the 

 trouble off of your iiands. Let your ostler find 

 out that you are determined to have your horses 

 attended to — that you can, at a glance, tell wheth- 

 er they have been rubbed, curried, &c. &c., as 

 they shoidd have been, and you will have no fur- 

 ther trouble than to walk to your stable night and 

 morning and look in. As soon as you convince 

 him that this thing shall be done, he will do it; 

 for one kind of work is tlie same thing to a slave 

 as another — and he will do or not do this or any 

 other work well as the master permits him. 



Of the different kinds of food used for horses, 

 my experience tells me, that what is generally in 

 this section of the country called " cho|)ping," 

 that is, cut-straw and meal of any kind mixed to- 

 gether, is decidedly the cheay)est, and best gener- 

 al food. It is far |)referable to corn and fodder 

 in the usual way. With the horse, as with all 

 other animals, an occasional change is of great 

 service. Our neighbors over the Blue Ridge, 

 whose horses are always fat, make their " chop- 

 ping" of rye-straw and rye-meal ; but we, on this 

 side, who adopt this mode ot feeding at all, do not 



much care what kind of straw or meal we use 



For the last three months, I have been feeding (J 

 horses on 'ship stuff,' and corn tneal, (hall and 

 half) and cut ichent straw — occasionally alterna- 

 ting with cut shucks ; and f find it, if not the best 

 certainly as good, and cheaper than any other diet 

 J have ever used. By this rnetiiod, when they 

 are not at work (when at work, I give them corn 

 and fodder at 12 o'clock) my horses cost tue a 

 bushel of ship-stuff and a bushel of corn meal j)er 

 month ; the straw I eount as nothing. My shi|)- 

 stuff' cost me two shillings [)cr bushel. It is fre- 

 quently bought at 25 cents, f have not used one 

 pound of blade fodder, and calcidate by the sav- 

 ing, to sell fodder to twice the amount I paid for 

 the ship-stuff; and my horses are as fat. or fatter 

 than I ever had then* in the winter. After clover 

 comes in. I use little or no fodder — !)ut feed on 

 green or half-cured clover, and but little else; for 

 a horse will frequently leave uutouchcfl the corn 

 in his trough, if you fill u|» his rack with enough 

 green ciOver to kee[) him going all night. I cut 

 the clover in the morning, and let it partially ivilt 

 in the field till night, on which I feed at night, 

 and the ensuing day. Were it not so amazingly 

 convenient to toss ten ears of corn and a bundle 

 of fodder to a horse, I am sure I shouKI never 

 ive a grain of corn in the natural state as long as 



I live. It is a heating, indifferent food — and con- 

 venience and the dread of a very little troid)le, I 

 am convinced, are the causes which induce the 

 great mass of farmers to y)ersist in it — for 

 whether we consult economy, or the welfare of the 

 horse, we should certainly abandon it. I give my 

 horses a quart of meal and ship-stuff a head, mix- 

 ed uj) in half a bushel of cut-straw at a feed, in a 

 square box, made for the pur])ose, holdiujr fifteen 

 bushels. I mix the corn-meal and ship-stuff to- 

 gether, and at each mixing I crumble iif) three or 

 four bundles of lug tobacco and mix along with 

 it. This answers two valuable purposes ; it neu- 

 tralizes that predisposition to costiveness, (and 

 consequently colic) common to horses in the wm- 

 ter season, and which prevents "Cuffee" from 

 robbing the troughs, which, whether it be a [art 

 and parcel of liis very nature, or from a princij)le 

 of lex talionis, (to wrong the master because he 

 considers himself wronged,) he will be sure to do 

 unless you by some means prevent liim, even tho 

 you were to give him a bushel of meal and a ham 

 of bacon a day. 



The horse is a noble, generous, ill-used animal. 

 He ministers to man's pleasures and wants. In 

 peace or in war, for work or for fun,' he is the 

 same docile, suhservi -nt, willing, obedient friend, 

 — and if, Mr Editor, these hasty lines and imper- 

 fect description of what I have found to be an 

 economical and healthful diet, can be of any ser- 

 vice, either lo the "gallant steed," or to the "gal- 

 led jade," be is welcome to the half hour I have 

 devoted to it. * R. C. 



Thf. Food of 31 a \. — The Genesee Farmer 

 gives this brief summary of the native countries 

 of our most familiar plants: 



The potato is a native of South America, and 

 is still found wild in Chili, Peru, and Monte Vi- 

 deo. In its native state, the root is stnall and bit- 

 ter. The first mention of it by Eiwopean writers 

 is in 1588. It is now s|)read over the world. — 

 Wheat and rye originated in Tartary and Siberia 

 where they are still indigenous. The only coun- 

 try where the oat is found wild, is in Abyssinia, and 

 thence may be considered a native. Maize or 

 Indian corn is a native of Mexico, and was un- 

 known in Europe until after the discoveries of 

 Coliunbus. The bread fruit tree is a native of 

 the South Sea islands, particularly Olaheite. Tea 

 is found a native no where except in China and 

 Japan, from which country the world is supplied. 

 The cocoa nut is a native of most equinoctial 

 countries, and is one of the tnost valuable trees, 

 as food, clothing and shelter are afforded by it. — 

 Coffee is a native of Arabia Felix, but is now 

 spread into both the East and West Indies. The 

 best coffee is brought from Mocha, in Arabia, 

 whence about fourteen millions of pounds, are an- 



