AGRICULTURAL DISCUSSION. 



333 



this point as a pivot, it describes the arc ol a circle, 

 fo that the limb is above the ground. That this ac- 

 tion may be performed with facility, the scapula, or 

 shoulder-blade, should have considerable obliquity, 

 rendering the shoulder what is termed oblique. The 

 humerus should be relatively short, because its func- 

 tion being to move in a circle, the same arc will be 

 described by a smaller radius as by a larger, and this 

 with less displacement of the parts. When the first 

 bone of the leg is too long, the breast is too far in 

 front of the fore legs, and thus the horse is rendered 

 heavy before. 



Attached to the humerus are the bones of the fore 

 arm, (so called), which should be relatively long, that 

 the powerful muscles connected therewith may have 

 full play, which should be well developed down to the 

 knee. The elbow, or ulna part, of the fore arm should 

 be long, so as to be adapted to its function of moving 

 the arm, which it does in the manner of a lever. The 

 bones of the knee, or carpus, should be sufficiently 

 large for the attachment of muscles, so that the knee 

 appears broad when seen in front When viewed 

 from the side, the canon bone should appear broad, 

 indicating the size of the sesamoid bones behind, and 

 full space for the tendons and ligaments connected 

 with the pastern and foot The pastern, formed of 

 the upper and lower pastern bones, should be more 

 oblique and long in proportion as the animal is des- 

 tined for more rapid movements. In race horses they 

 are peculiarly oblique and long, giving more spring or 

 elasticity to the animal when at speed. When the 

 pastern is too short and upright, the animal becomes 

 unsafe for the saddle and unsuited for active exercise, 

 and should be employed in slow labor. 



The hoof should be symmetrical in form, and of 

 medium size. Its color will depend on that of the in- 

 teguments, but a dark color is better than a light one. 



It is not difficult to load a horse with too much fat 

 for good service, and it is still easier to have him too 

 poor for sound economy and the highest usefulness. 

 Horses are injured in a great variety of ways, and 

 perhaps more by neglect than any other cause. Prop- 

 erly treated, a horse will labor many years in the en- 

 joyment of sound health, but when subjected to ill 

 usage, no property is more perishable. Ground oslU 

 corn, and other grain, and cut hay and straw, are bet- 

 ter than to feed these articles without such comminu- 

 tion. It favors digestion, and saves time in mastica- 

 tion. 



As compared with its inhabitants, no other nation 

 has more than half the number of horses and mules 

 reared and used in the United States. At this time 



the number approximates five million. Good horses 

 and mules sell high, and there is no better business in 

 the farming line than the breeding and rearing of these 

 useful animals. More care and pains are needed ia 

 the selection of l)rood mares with a view to improve 

 this kind of live stock, as the character of the ofl'spring 

 depends somewhat more on the blood of the matern J 

 parent than on that of the male parent Every ani- 

 mal of either sex that possesses valuable qualities for 

 elevating the race, should be set apart for that special 

 purpose. 



TussEE, who wrote about three centuries ago, 

 speaks of "gelding fjllies" as common in his time, in 

 England. The spaying of mares, however, is sel- 

 dom, if ever, practiced in this countiy. 



Mules being more hardy, less liable to disease, and 

 longer lived, than horses, sell at better prices, and, ia 

 skillful hands, their production is exceedingly profita- 

 ble. Brood mares of rather more than medium size, 

 and large jacks, give the best progeny. 



AGBICULTUEAL DISCUSSION AT THE STATE FAIR 



During the late State Fair at Elmira, some little 

 excitement was caused by Solon Robinson, of the 

 JVeto York Trihine, asserting that on Wednesday 

 evening he would prove that no farmer could afford 

 to draw manure a mile, even could he obtain it for 

 nothing. At the appointed hour the room was filled 

 and the speaker essayed to fulfil his promise. 



The President of the Society not being pmsent 

 Mr. RoiiiNSON proposed that Judge Osborn, of Albar 

 ny, take the chair. To this Mr. Osborn objected, 

 as on the previous evening he had snuounced himself 

 as the champion of barn-yard manure, in opposition 

 to Mr. Robinson. Mr. Geddes then took the chait; 

 and Mr. R. proceeded : 



On a prairie soil, he said, it would not pay to draw 

 manure any distance, because the soil contains too 

 much humus. He had himself preferred to remove 

 the barn instead of the manure. But he did not refer 

 to these soils. He would instance the poorest soils 

 of Long Isknd, or the sand hills of Albany, where 

 farmers were in the habit of taking their straw ta 

 New York, selling it for a trifle over the cost of 

 drawing,* and taking back a load of colored straw, 



• If the farmera in the neighborhood of New York sell straw fo» 

 a trijle over th* co$t of drtncing, they must tw ft more liberal eet 

 of men than the farmers in our neighborhood. Here straw is sold 

 by the bundle, and we have invariablj found, on wdigbtog these 

 bundles, that stnw wu selling higher than li&j. 



