NEW^ENGLANP FARMER. 



Published by John B. Russell, at JVo. 52 .N'orth Market Street, (over the ^ffiicultural Warehouse). — Thomas G. Pessenben, Editor. 



VOL. VI. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1828. 



No. 33. 



AGRICULTURE. 



rOR THK NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOTS liV HORSES. 



Mr Fessenden — Having lost a very servicea- 

 ble horse, within a few dnys. by the bots, a few 

 •worrfs of caution may prevent the like disappoint 

 nient and loss to others. For a full and most in 

 teresting account of this deadly and hateful in- 

 sect, I would refer to a communication of Dr 

 Green, of Mansfield, in the 4 1th number of the 4th 

 volume (if the New England Farmer; the number 

 for May 'M. lti2G. 



From that article it appears that the insects do 

 not arrive at sutScient maturity to be greatly 

 troublesome to horse.-! till nearly this season of 

 the yeiir ; and comirionly prove fatal, if at all, in 

 this and the months of Match and April If, there- 

 fore, a horse is ill, from any unknown cause, in 

 the latter part of the winter, or the spring; months, 

 bots may weil be suspected, thoujjh none of the 

 common symptoms, described by Dr Green, should 

 appear. This was remarkab y the case with my 

 horse. Jle had laboured in the cart with his usual 

 great power and willingness, constantly, till with- 

 in two days, and given no indication, whatever, of 

 disease, till within a few hours of hi.-f death. He 

 was seen by several men of judgment and experi 

 «nce, who agreed that whatever the di.iorderl 

 might be, it was not caused by bots. And ye'., 

 on examination his lungs were found much inflam- 

 ed, and from one half to two-thirds of the villous 

 or inner coat of the stomach was entirely eaten 

 away. It is therefore truly astonishing, that this 

 patient animal had discovered no noticeable loss 

 of flesh, strength or appetite. 



From this case it is made certain that there can 

 be no hope of relief but in sonio speedy applica- 

 tion. And from the experiments of Dr Green, 

 and similar ones, which I tried upon the insects, I 

 am certain, that nothing which can be given with 

 any safety, will destroy them. So that it is only 

 adding much to the tortures of the poor animals, 

 to administer any pungent, caustic, or astringent 

 remedies, as is often done. The insects adliere 

 so firmly to the horse's stomach, that they cannot 

 be disengaged without considerable violence even 

 after the death of the animal. They must there- 

 fore, be enticed to relinquish their hold, by sotne- 

 thing for which tliey have a greater fondness, and 

 ' then be discharged by the immediate applicntion 

 «f any powerful and active cathartic medicine, 

 that may be at hand, before they regain their fast 

 hold. From experiments made upon them in the 

 stomich of the horse after death, I doubt not that 

 from one to two quarts of milk and molasses giver 

 blood warm, would be as efficacious as any thing 

 to disengage them. I have also discovered that 

 they have a strong appetite for blood, and where 

 it could be conveniently had, I presume the same 

 quantity of blood, warm from any slaughtered ani- 

 mal would be as likely to effect the object. 



But it is further to be remarked, that if wo suc- 

 ceed in discharging the bots, still the horse m^y 

 die from inflamed lungs, or spasms occasioned by 

 the irritated condition of the stomach. And if we 

 do not succeed in discharging them, the horse 



may live if we can allay the inflammation and ir- 

 ritation. 



It is therefore to be inferred from the commu- 

 nication ; bove named, that the first application of 

 all, should be opium to reduce the spasms, ind " a 

 free use of mild oils," to " lubricate the fibres of 

 the stomach". To allay inflammution of the lungs, 

 which may be known by coughing and difficult 

 breathing of the horse, bleed freely " with a 

 phlen.e in the jugular veins." 



A vigorous horse has a great quantity of blood. 

 If the inflammation is violent, y or 4 quarts may 



for moderately heavy draught. Two things arc 

 indispensable. She must be perfectly sound in 

 her feet ; or unsound distinctly from accident, 

 very improper treatment, or external disease, 

 and she must have a wide chest. She may, com- 

 paratively, be spavined ; ring bone. I ; or even 

 blind : but 1 am so convinced of a predisposition 

 to the disease which is the common cause of foot 

 lameness being frequently hereditary, that, if the 

 cause of it were not evidently as above-mentioned, 

 I would not take as a gift the finest colt bred from 

 a mare sufl^ring from foot-lameness. What sort 



safely be taken, and in a day or two, if necessary, of foot is the most likily to remain uninjured by 

 an equal quantity may be again taken. If the an- the severe concussion to which it is here necessa- 

 imal lives, and the spasms and inflammation seem rily expo.<<ed, it is difKcnlt to say : but a flat, vul- 

 abated, you may then attack the insects more at | gar looking one is decidedly my own preference, 

 your leisure. 



."Vs any horse is liable to be affected by bots, I 

 have no doubt that a little tobacco cut fine, or 

 blacksmith's cinders reduced to powder and sifted 

 and mi.\ed with a horse's provender occasionally, 

 or a little dry ashes given in his water or grain, 

 in the fall c( the year, or early in the winter, 

 when the insects are in their young and tender 

 state, would serve to annoy, and probably destroy 

 many of them. 



After all, prevention is the best remedy. And 

 this mny certainly be made effectual, by carefully 

 examining your horses every two or three weeks, 

 f:om the beginning of July to the last of Septem- 

 ber,, and with a sharp knife scruping off the eggs, 

 of the insects, which may be fouml deposited more 

 or less, on most horses, especially those kept at 

 grass or in open airy stables. They are found 

 mostly about the fore legs and flanks, or under the 

 throat of the horse. Respectfullv, 



South Boston, Feb. 27, 182B. L.'CAPEN. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



HORSES. 



Sir — Tn ray last communication, from " The pe- 

 culiar" to "Country of Virginia," should be an 

 integral paragraph ; read "question of foot lame- 

 ness" for " tho management ;" for " brought from 

 the Desert," read " bought ;" for the Suffolk Sor 

 rel's " country," read " County •," at the com 

 mencement of that paragraph there should be no 

 ■■ but ;" and for " gentlemen's" hunter read " gen 

 tleman's." I will now give you a few observations 

 upon breeding a horse in Massachusetts, and will 

 endeavor to express myself in the distinctest man 

 ner possible. 



Where hay and pasture are so dear, a farmer 

 can afford to breed from nothing but the right 

 inare : or the horse v;ill eat, three times in four, 

 more money than he will ever be worth, before 

 he sheds a tooth. In England, a mare is covered, 

 with a design that she shall produce a particular 

 horse : and it is not common for any horse but 

 the thorough bred one to be used for any purpose 

 but that for which he is bred. He, if not gifted 

 with superior speed, is hunted ; ridden on thi 

 road ; or galloped till his strength is consumed, in 

 a stage coach. Breeding from many of our mares 

 is a certain loss. The right one is a thick little 

 mare, fourteen hands three inches high, with a.' 

 much speed as is compatible with an adaptation 



It generally possesses less sensibility and suscep- 

 lihilitv of inflamm;ition, and the horn is weaker 

 and less able to contrRCt than that of a foot of a. 

 more beautiful original formation. There are 

 manv reasons why she should have a wide chest. 

 Tf she has not, she will neither have a good belly 

 for the voun? horse to grow in, constitution to 

 nourish him before his foaling, nor milk enough 

 for him after he is foaled : and she will be in 

 danger of transmitting to him a figure, which he 

 is more nnt to take from his dam than his sire, 

 and which it is very important in this climate he 

 should not have. Many narrow-chested horses 

 make It up in depth, and possess extraordinary 

 ttowers ill every way : but they are generally 

 light in the flank, and high on the leg ; hectick 

 in their constitutions, and variable in their spirits: 

 very snnerior walkers and trotters ; but they will 

 hear neither east winds nor d.iily labour. The 

 mnre's colour is of little consequence : excepting 

 that if should bo recollected that chesnuts, or as 

 we call them, sorrels, particularly light ones, virho 

 have always a good deal of white, are far more 

 liable than other horses to the sympathetick dis- 

 paspB of the lungs and skin The number of 

 broken-winded chesnuts in Massachuretts is four 

 times that of any o'her one colour. As I am ac- 

 onninted with but three horses in Massachusetts 

 fit to breed from, there is not much to be said 

 about the sire. A very celebrated English horse 

 is expected here in the spring ; and I believe in 

 Vermont there are two covering of unexceptiona- 

 h)p pe'lifrrees. Cock of the Rock is a good little 

 hay horse : got by Eclipse's sire. Duroc : dara, 

 own sister (called here full sister^ to Eclipse's 

 dnm, bv Messpnorpr ; grandam. bred by Lord 

 GroHVpnnr. hv PotRo's out of a Gimcrack mare. — 

 Trouble iq nlso bv Duroc ; dam by Hickory out of 

 Fclippp's d»m. A horse, here is .said to be got 

 nut of. for by, another horse ; a most ridiculous 

 rOTTuption 



The ppxt thinfr is to have the mare's gestation 

 nrocppd nndpr favorable circumstances, and t* 

 have her foal at the right time of the year Oa 

 this there is little to be said : a mare is perfectly 

 fit for ordinary labor during most of her gestation, 

 snd is all the better for it ; and the proper time 

 for foaling, in this climate, is the first of June. — 

 Even ir England, where the forwardness of a 

 thorough bred horse is a matter of extreme pecu- 

 niary importance : he being often matched, to run 

 at two, before he ia foaled, and all foaled in the 



