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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PLANK FLOORS FOR HORSES. 



One of the greatest evils in the use of plank floors 

 for horses, is in their construction. In most cases, 

 they are made too slanting, even five or six times as 

 much as would be necessary to carry off the liquid 

 manure. A great many owners of horses have no 

 thought of this evil. In numerous cases, we have 

 said to the keepers of horses that their floors were 

 too steep, and their horses stood with pain, or a con- 

 tinued and unnatural effort was necessary to sustain 

 them on so steep a descent. The reply has often 

 been, that the descent was only an inch or two ; but 

 on measuring, Ave have often found the inclination 

 from four to six inches in a length of nine feet. 

 Thousands of horses are suff'ering in this way with- 

 out the knowledge of the owner. 



A descent in the floor of one inch in eight or nine 

 feet is sufficient. This slight inclination will not 

 seriously affect the horse. If a horse has tender 

 feet, that sufi'er from a hard floor and dryness, the 

 evil may be remedied by making first a level floor to 

 the stable, and then a floor slanting slightly, extend- 

 ing almost to the fore feet ; and under the fore feet 

 place a few inches in depth of sand, loam, or other 

 suitable material for the horse to stand on. This 

 may be moistened, and afl'ord the advantages both of 

 a soft bed and moisture ; which may be done by 

 the use of litter, or other substances, to relieve horses 

 that stand on hard floors. 



We copy the following remarks, on the injurious 

 effects fi"om plank floors, from the Western Culti- 

 vator : — 



TVTiy are elevated plank floors in stables injurious 

 to horses' feet ? 



1st. Because they deprive the hoof of receiving 

 certain assistance, which they require for their well 

 being, and which in a state of nature they receive 

 by moisture. The hoofs of horses are a horny, elas- 

 tic, porous substance, capable of receiving moisture, 

 which is indispensably necessary to their well being. 

 In a natural state they receive it, and in a domesti- 

 cated state they might, if men would hearken to the 

 mandates of nature. The evils of domestication to 

 the horse are recognized by many intelligent ob- 

 servers and admirers of the horse. In proportion as 

 we vary in our treatment to the horse, from his 

 natural way of living, in the same ratio do disease 

 and lameness exist. 'Tis a solemn fact — start not at 

 the idea — that the diseases of horses are induced by 

 the deeds of men. Candid observation will prove 

 the truth of this assertion. The horse's natural 

 floor, the earth, is the best and only suitable floor for 

 him: on that, his hoofs receive requisite moisture; 

 on x^l'ink floors, they do not. Why ? Because it is 

 not there. The plank floors are generally (always, I 

 believe, when they are made fashionable) made 

 higher at the fore part, than the hind part ; conse- 

 quently, what little moisture there may be from the 

 dung or urine, is drawn away from the fore feet : the 

 eff"ect is, the horse becomes lame in the fore feet, 

 hoof-bound, narrow heeled, &c., while the hind feet 

 remain sound and healthy. Why ? Because the hind 

 feet receive moisture from the dung, urine, &c., 

 when the fore feet fail to receive it. It will be 

 found, upon examination, that nine tenths of the 

 horses that are lame, are so in the fore feet ; stage, 

 carriage, road, and hackney horses, that are stabled 

 all the time, (except when in use,) are generally the 

 subjects of such lameness. A majority of writers 

 and farriers acknowledge and deplore the prevalence 



of lameness in the fore feet ; and it is easier to cut a 

 knot than untie it. They say that bad shoeing is the 

 cause of all this lameness. So blind are they to the 

 cause and efl'ect, that they appear to me to know not 

 what they say. They have got the boot on the wrong 

 leg, and I will show it. Blacksmiths are like other 

 men ; they have then- failings, and may perhaps lame 

 horses occasionally ; but because of this, must they 

 bear the blame of aU other men's misdeeds ? No, 

 no ; they should not, nor will not, if we would only 

 seek for the true cause of all this lameness. I am a 

 blacksmith ; I stand good for the defence of myself 

 and brethren when falsely accused. The same 

 causes produce the same eff'ects. Horses that are 

 kept up are generally shod all round by the same 

 men, and in the same manner. Well, now, if bad 

 shoeing lames the fore feet, why will it not lame the 

 hind ones in the same manner ? Tell us why, you 

 fault-finders who falsely accuse horse- shoers, or else 

 desist : look at the eff'ects of your own bad manage- 

 ment, niceness, and false philosophy, and you will 

 find that your dry plank floors are th.e cause of so 

 much lameness, and not bad shoeing. 



2d. Another evil, attendant upon making the stalls 

 higher at the front, is, that it compels a horse to 

 stand in an unnat^u-al position, which is certainly 

 improper. When a horse stands in such a manner, 

 the muscles and arteries of the hind legs are kept 

 constantly on the stretch, frequently producing 

 windgalls, &c. These ideas, if true, may suggest 

 the idea of level stable floors, and of the importance 

 of moisture to the hoof, which may be imparted by 

 washing, daily, the legs of the horse with water, that 

 must of necessity be kept in the stable. 



PRUNING STONE FRUIT TREES. 



It has been but a few years since the cultivators 

 of fruit have been in the habit of pruning peach- 

 trees at the extremities of the branches, instead of 

 cutting oflf linibs at the trunk. This system of 

 shortening-in, as it is called, is gaining grouiid, and 

 it is a great improvement. The reasons for this 

 mode of pruning are evident on examination. Most 

 kinds of stone fruit grow rai)idly, and bear the 

 greater part of their fruit on new wood, which is, 

 of course, neax the ends of the limbs. In this way 

 a tree spreads over much land, and has naked 

 branches near the trunk ; and pruning at the trunk 

 causes the gum to ooze out, which sometimes en- 

 dangers the health or life of the tree. 



On the contrary, by pruning at the ends of the 

 branches, the tree is confined to a small space, the 

 wounds have no unfavorable effect, or only aff'ect the 

 twigs, and not the trunk, and much new wood is 

 produced for the production of fruit. 



We might say much more in favor of the shorten- 

 ing-in system ; but we prefer offering a valuable com- 

 munication from the "Working Farmer," remarking, 

 in regard to the time of pruning, that it may be done 

 at any time from the fall — nearly the close of vege- 

 tation — to the time vegetation commences in the 

 spring. 



Shortening-in Peach-Tkees, &c. — At a meeting 

 of farmers, which is held -weekly at Lyons Farms, 

 the following facts were elicited : — 



Several of the persons present gave evidence of 

 the propriety of shortening-in the limbs of the peach, 

 plum, nectarine, and other rapid growing trees. 

 The effect of this practice has been to render them 



