136 Management and Treatment of the Horse. 



ance of brake-power to every cart, the horse 

 could go as easily down a steep hill as on the 

 level road. I have seen such a contrivance in 

 Scotland upon the carts drawing stone from 

 quarries. It is simply a piece of wood attached 

 to the after-part of the cart with two short pieces 

 of chain ; in the centre of the wood a small rod 

 of iron passes through to the axletree to which it 

 is attached, on the end which projects through 

 the wood a screw-handle is attached, with which 

 the carter can screw the block of wood so that 

 it has a bearing upon both wheels. The con- 

 trivance is very simple and the cost trifling, as 

 any country smith could make it and put it on, 

 and the saving in wear and tear of horse flesh 

 must be enormous. This simple break would 

 be far superior to the skid pan and chain upon 

 our waggons, as the power is upon both wheels 

 at once, and the pressure can be put on with- 

 out the horses being stopped and can be taken 

 off without backing the load. If owners of 

 waggons and carts would have them put on, their 

 carters would soon appreciate them ; for as a 

 rule they are very fond of their horses, especially 

 if the farmer does not half-starve them. The 

 late Mr. Mechi used to jocularly say that ^'the 

 ploughmen were more fond of their horses than 

 their wives ; they love to see them fat, with skins 

 as glossy as velvet and as sleek as moles." No 

 man knew more about the ploughman than he, or 

 was more beloved by (to use his own words) his 

 old and trusted servants, many of whom had 

 worked for him for twenty years and upwards ; 



