FARMERS' REGISTER-FOOD FOR HORSES-SUCKERING CORN,&c. 685 



For the Farmers' Register. 

 RYE IIV THE GRAIN, AS FOOD FOR HORSES. 



A friend, in whom I have every confidence, wlio 

 is a fjentlemnn of scientific acquirements, and a 

 practical asjriculturist, has just iiiven me tlie fol- 

 lowinii: information, rehitive to horse feed. 



While travelling recently on one of our public 

 roads, he fell in company with a farmer, from one 

 of the northern counties of Virginia, and in the 

 course of con versation, the subject of feeding horses 

 was mentioned; when the farmer observed, that 

 for four years past, he had pursued a new plan, 

 greatly to his advantage, as well as to that of his 

 horses. The new {)lan was that of feeding rye, in 

 the grain, without grinding. He said, that after 

 four years experience, he had become ])erfectly 

 satisfied, that less rye produced a better effect, than 

 if it were chopped or ground. After much diffi- 

 culty, he had prevailed on some of his neighbors to 

 try it; and thus, gradually, all the horse owners in 

 his neighborhood had become converts, and now 

 all fed rye in the grain; all agreeing that a large 

 portion of grain was saved bv it, beside a marked 

 difference in the condition of the horses for the bet- 

 ter. He .said, he cnuld not give the " why and 

 because ;" it was different from the universal pres- 

 cription of science, and the almost universal prac- 

 tice of intelligent husbandmen ; but that the fact 

 was before him, and challenged his belief in such 

 a way, that to have continued incredulous, would 

 have been to shut his eyes against the most [)alpa- 

 ble demonstration. Thebestof this is, that an ex- 

 periment is easily made, and, even if unsucc essfid, 

 cannot result in material loss. But should it prove 

 to be true, that rye in the grain is better, or even 

 as good as when ground, a considerable saving 

 would result to the farmer, in avoiding the trouble 

 and expense of going to mill. The farmer stated, 

 that he had observed grains of rye passed off in 

 the dung, but that they seemed to have left their 

 substance in the body of the horse. In this he is 

 doubtless mistaken; but may not the modus ope- 

 randi of this new diet be explained thus : — The 

 grain that escapes crushing by the teeth, prevents 

 the mass in the stomach, from concreting into 

 lumps, and thus permits the free action of the 

 juices of the stomach upon the whole. Persons 

 afflicted with dyspepsia, swallow white mustard 

 seed, with great advantage ; but I believe it is not 

 pretended, that the mustard seed has any other ac- 

 tion, than a mechanical one — that of keeping the 

 contents of the stomach from forming a dense mass ; 

 keeping the food light and penetrable by the gas- 

 tric juices, &c. 



The anecdote was given to me in so earnest a 

 manner, and by so respectable a gentleman, that I 

 thought, as I was about writing to you, 1 would 

 give it to you for insertion in the Farmers' Regis- 

 ter. 



Very respectfully, 



GIDEON B. S3IITII. 



Baltimore, March 15, 1834. 



ON SUCKERING CORN. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Charlotte County, March 20th, 1834. 

 I had the pleasure, about four years ago, to spend 

 a day in companj' with old Mr. Macon of North 

 Carolina, when our conversation was principally 



on subjects of agriculture; and among others, the 

 cultivation of Indian corn. After having inquired 

 whether I had the suckers which grew from the 

 roots of corn pulled off, as is the common practice, 

 and received my answer in the affirmative; he in- 

 formed me, that he suffered,them to remain, having 

 from repeated experiments, ascertained that they 

 did not injure the corn ; but on the contrary, the 

 suckers more frequently than otherwise produced 

 good ears of corn; and that if they failed to do so, 

 tliere was an increase of fodder. I have since tried 

 the experiment and witnessed the following results. 

 That after carefully examining the ears of corn on 

 the stalks producing suckers, they were found to 

 be as good as the ears on the surrounding stalks 

 not producing them — that a large majority of the 

 suckers produced good corn, though the ears gene- 

 rally, were smaller than those on the mother stalk, 

 and that (of course) there was an increase of fod- 

 der. Without entering into an inquiry, whether 

 corn ought not be planted so thick, as to prevent 

 its producing suckers, (if thick planting will pre- 

 vent it, of which I am not sure,) or whether the 

 pulling them off, may not injure the corn, by in- 

 flicting wounds on the stalks; I can now safely re- 

 commend Mr. Macon's jiractice, as saving the 

 time and labor of pulling off suckers, and what is 

 of more consequence, as producing an increase of 

 the crop of corn and fodder. I ought to add, that 

 none liut the suckers growing from the root ought 

 to be suffered to remain. 



AV. M. W ATKINS. 



DISEASED HORSES. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



flfessrs. Tucker ^ Co. — I have read the re- 

 marks of Onondaga, in the Farmer of Dec. 21, 

 respecting the black tongue, and the doctoring of 

 horses ■generally. I am pleased with some of his 

 observations, but I think he is mistaken in some 

 things. In speaking of the pulse of the horse, he 

 says that fifty to a minute and upwards, indicates 

 a high fever. So say I, if enough upwards of fifty. 

 The pulse of a horse in good health, with low feed- 

 ing, beats from thirty-six to forty per minute; if 

 high ftd, his pulse may go 45, and some more, 

 without any more fever than is occasioned by the 

 high feed. In simple and symptomatic fevers, the 

 pulse will run from sixty to seventy-two, and in 

 cases of inflammation of the lungs or pleura, in 

 the early stage of the disease, the pulse is often 

 from sixty-two toeighty, when nothing but exces- 

 sive bleeding with continued clysters, will be of 

 any service. 



The best place to ascertain the pulsation of a 

 horse, is under the jaw-bone, where the artery 

 passes on to the side of the face. In this situation 

 the artery is covered by the skin only, and as it 

 rests against the bone, its strength or weakness 

 may be ascertained with the nicest exactness and 

 accuracy. When a horse is in health, the artery 

 feels neither hard nor soft, but perfectly elastic; 

 but, when in a fever, the artery becomes often so 

 hard, as to resist the pressure of the finger, and 

 will beat, as said before, from sixty to eighty a mi- 

 nute. 



As there is nothing like comparing notes to come 

 to the truth, I wish you to give the above a place 

 in your Farmer. 



•A SCOTCHMAN. 



