NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



63 



BLIND BRIDLES FOR HORSES. 



Among the most absurd in-acticcs in the mawage- 

 ment of horses is the use of blind bridles. They 

 are not only very inconvenient and uncomfortable to 

 the horse, but they aggravate the very evil which 

 they arc intended to obviate — that of preventing the 

 horse from being affrighted by the carriage -which he 

 might see -without blinders, or from any object ap- 

 proaching from behind him. 



In training a j'oung horse in a chaise, we took off 

 the blind bridle, to give him some provender, and he 

 started with afi'right at the sight of the carriage ; and 

 had he not been pent up in a corner, he would have 

 cleared. We saw from this instance the folly of the 

 practice, and afterwards used him without blinders, 

 first leading him up to the chaise and around it that 

 it might become familiar, before harnessing for a few 

 times, and we had no more trouble with him. 



When any thing is approaching a horse, in the 

 rear, it is far better for him to see it as it approaches, 

 which he will if not blinded, than for it to come sud- 

 denly upon him, before he can see it. We had an 

 instance of this in the same horse, while the blind 

 bridle was used. In travelling with a gig, and walk- 

 ing up a hill, a friend in company came up to the 

 horse's head, with his umbrella spread, Avhich so 

 frightened him that he ran away. 



We name these cases, hoping that they will have 

 some influence upon those who reason upon the sub- 

 ject, and induce them to abandon a practice that is 

 attended with trouble, and sometimes with danger. 

 Wc copy the following judicious remarks from J. 

 Maddock, Farrier : — 



Blind Bridles. — " Yes, use your thinking powers, 

 friends. They were given you to use, and not abuse. 

 Blind bridles ! Truly named, surely. Art never in- 

 vented a more fiital thing to the eyes of horses than 

 when she devised this plan of dej)riving the horse of 

 what nature intended he should enjoy. But, says 

 one, how are blinders injurious to the horse ? Be- 

 cause they gather dirt and heat around the eyes. 

 Dirt irritates the eye, and heat produces inflammation. 

 These bridles so entrammol the eyes of the horse that 

 he is compelled to be constantly straining them, to 

 see his way. The over-exertion of the nerve brings 

 on disease. Eyes were not made in vain. Had they 

 been needless, the Creator would not have located 

 them in the head. They were placed on the corner 

 of the head that he might have the advantage of 

 looking in different directions. Men, in the abun- 

 dance of their wisdom, concluded the horse had too 

 much sight, and they wished to curtail it ; hence the 

 origin of blind bridles. Think of this seriously, and 

 you will abandon the use of so destructive an appen- 

 dage. Remember, that blind bridles and diseased 

 eyes are inseparably connected. Custom hoodwinks 

 the senses of men as much as blmd bridles do the 

 vision of horses." 



IMPROVEMENT OF STOCK. 



Mr. Colinan, in his European Agriculture, under the 

 head of Important Practical Conclusions, makes the 

 following remarks on the iinproveinent of stock : — 



" Tlie fourth great matter to which I would call 

 the farmer's attention is the improvement of his live 

 stock. It is difficult to speak too highly of the skill 



and success of the English in the improvement of 

 their breeds of sheep, swine, cattle, and, I will add, 

 horses. I do not say that their breeds arc all such as 

 are best adapted for the United States. I need not 

 repeat the opinions which I have already given in 

 this matter. Different breeds of animals are suited 

 to particular localities ; and the extent of the United 

 States presents every variety of aspect, soil, and cli- 

 mate ; and is marked by different kinds of husbandry, 

 such as the raising of stock for beef or labor ; the 

 gi'owing of wool, fine or coarse, short or long ; and 

 the produce of the dairy. These points are all to be 

 considered in the selection of a stock for breeding. 

 An improved Durham short-horn would thrive 

 and develop all his richness and beauty in the 

 fertile meadows of Kentucky and Ohio, and the rich 

 prairies of the west, who Avould become poor and 

 dwarfish in some of the rocky and almost barren 

 pastures of the north. But that to Avhich I wish 

 particularly to call the attention of the farmers of 

 the United States is, the improvement of their stock 

 by patient care, skill, and selection. They may im- 

 port animals of improved breeds to advantage ; they 

 may cross the best of their own stocks with the best 

 animals Avhich they can find ; and, above all, let 

 them determine always to select the best animals for 

 breeding, and breed only from the best ; never sacri- 

 fice a superior calf or lamb to the butcher, nor be 

 satisfied with the services of inferior animals for the 

 increase of their stock, under which they are sure to 

 deteriorate." 



FATTENING ANIMALS. 



A memoir was read to the Academy of Sciences, 

 at Paris, by MM. Dumas, Boussingault, and Payan, 

 " Of Researches on the Fattening of Animals, and on 

 the Formation of Milk." These philosophers an- 

 nounce their belief that fatty matters are formed 

 in plants alone ; that they thence pass, ready formed, 

 into the bodies of herbivori, entering the chyle duct 

 by the lacteals, and so passing into the blood ; that 

 the first degree of oxydation forms stcarine or 

 oleac acid ; a further degree produces the margaric 

 acid, which characterizes fat ; a still further degree 

 the A'olatile fatty acids — in opposition to Liebig, 

 who traces the origin of fat to the sugar or starch of 

 the food. In confirmation of their views, they show 

 that hay contains more per cent, of oleaginous 

 matter than is produced in the butter from a cow fed 

 on this hay ; and that cows fed on potatoes, or other 

 roots poor in fat, produce much less butter. They 

 advance an influence, which bears much on rural 

 economy, that a cow eliminates twice as much fat 

 from a given quantity of food as docs an ox ; and 

 hence the commerce of milk ar.d butter deserves a 

 high degree of attention. Some relative experiments 

 on fattening pigs bear out the same general princi- 

 ples. — Pol. lievicu: 



HINTS TO LOVERS OF FLOV/ERS. 



A most beautiful and easily attained show of ever- 

 greens in winter may be had by a very simple plan, 

 which has been found to answer remarkably well on 

 a small scale. If geranium branches are taken from 

 healthy and luxuriant trees, just before the winter 

 sets in, cut as for slips, and immersed in soap and 

 water, they will, after drooping for a few days, shed 

 their leaves, and put forth fresh ones, and continue 

 in the finest vigor all winter. By placing a number 

 of bottles thus iillcd in flower baskets, with moss to 

 conceal the bottles, a show of evergreen is easily 

 insured for a whole season. They require no fresh 

 water, — Court Journal. 



