Breaking Yearlings. 135 



THE FIRST RAILWAY JOURNEY. 



If things have progressed satisfactorily, the end of the 

 third week should see the horse boxes ordered, and the 

 yearlings quite ready to undertake their first railway 

 journey. The average railway horse-box generally leaves 

 much to be desired in the matter of cleanliness and freedom 

 from risk of infection from its previous occupant. The 

 official idea of disinfection usually stops short at sweeping 

 the floor of the box free of droppings, supplemented, on 

 special request being made, by a. sprinkling of disinfectant 

 on the floor. The mangers and fronts are ignored ; yet if the 

 microbes or bacilli contained in the nasal discharge of a 

 previous occupant of the box, suffering from glanders, 

 influenza, etc., are to be found, surely the manger is the 

 one place, above all others, in which to expect them to lurk. 

 The disinfectant apparatus at most horse-box sidings is very 

 meagre, mostly restricted to broom, shovel, and pail. On 

 the principle that " if you want a thing done well do it 

 yourself," it is advisable to supplement the official routine 

 by a personal one. A watering can, fitted with a rose or 

 sprinkler, and containing a half-pint of Jeyes' Fluid, can 

 easily be accommodated on the luggage cart that conveys to 

 the station the straw for the boxes, and hay and corn for 

 consumption on the journey, while a sponge can be carried 

 in the pocket. Water is procurable at most stations with 

 which to dilute the fluid to its proper strength. For this 

 class of disinfecting the author believes in construing the 

 " Directions for Use " very liberally. With this solution, 

 the sides, ledges and mangers of the horse-box should receive 

 a liberal sprinkling as high up as the sprinkler will throw 

 it. To prevent injury to the yearling's eyes, lips, etc., the 

 parts likely to come in contact with them should be subse- 

 quently swabbed dry with the sponge. 



