1860. 



.mm. ENGLAiJD FARMER. 



167 



any one will admit, that will reason for a moment. 

 I never allow more than forty sheep to run tg- 

 gether. I never keep my sheep in pastures -where 

 they cannot get on dry ground to stand or lie 

 down. I raise carrots or rutabagas for my sheep 

 instead of feeding grain. I have my lambs begin 

 to come about the 20th of April, and take them 

 away from the ewes about the 20th of August. 

 In this way the lambs become weaned and take to 

 feed before cold weather begins, and the ewes get 

 up in grand order before winter, besides they are 

 much more likely to bring lambs the next season. 

 If at any time I have a sheep that does not appear 

 to do well, I take it immediately from the flock, 

 and if it does not readily recover, I kill, sell, or 

 give it away. I give my sheep some kind of shed 

 in winter to resort to when th«y ciwose. I never 

 care about sheep having drink in the summer, if 

 they have good pasture. Care should be taken 

 not to give too much salt in hot, dry weather, 

 where there is no water in the pasture. I keep a 

 careful watch over my flock, and if I have any 

 ewes that do not breed to suit me, I dispose of 

 them and their stock. Much care should be taken 

 with regard to injudicious crosses among sheep 

 as well as with other animals, and don't forget or 

 neglect to give your sheep a sufficient amount of 

 feed in winter, or pasture in summer, to keep 

 them in good condition. There are many items 

 too numerous to mention here that will suggest 

 themselves to the careful obsenrer as the process 

 of care and feedino; advances. 



For tlie New Ensland Parmer. 

 HO"W TO THAW OUT PUMPS. 



Mr. Brown : — During the late cold snap, some 

 of your readers have been obliged to ride ofl" to 

 the pump-makers for help to thaw out their wooden 

 pumps. I found out a way to do this work, some 

 years ago, v.hich ought to be published often. It 

 is this : Provide a lead pipe : three-quarters of an 

 inch size is very convenient ; a tunnel, and hot 

 water. Put the pipe into the top of the pump, 

 resting it on the ice. Now pour in the water, 

 holding the pipe with cloths, as it will become 

 soon too hot for bare hands. The pipe will settle 

 right down into the ice, and A'cry soon the pump 

 handle will be going again. 



Every Avooden pump in an exposed situation, 

 should have a small vent below the platform, 

 where all the water aljove might pass out, ana 

 leave the pump in a safe condition. Copper pumps 

 should be attached to the lead pipe by a brass 

 coupling, similar to those used on fire engine 

 hose. Then when any thing gets into the boxes, 

 or the pump happens to freeze, it can be un- 

 screwed and taken down for repairs, or examina- 

 tion. A brass coupling will cost one dollar at a 

 Boston plumbers, and its cost may often be saved 

 in a single year. vv. d. b. 



Co7icord,' Mass., Jan. 10. 1860. 



P Cranberries. — Will some of our correspond- 

 ents inform us whether a natural cranberry mead- 

 low would be benefited by being thoroughly under- 

 '.drained ? That is, whether the meadow would be 

 Imore prolific of fruit, or the fruit be larger and of 

 finer flavor. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CRUEL TREATMENT OF HORSES. 



The enlightenment and humanity of the present 

 time are rapidly ameliorating the condition of the 

 horse. Formerly, his treatment and management, 

 by civilized man, was most unwise and cruel, but 

 now, some believe that kind treatment and ration- 

 al management are more economical and proper. 

 Till of late, he has almost universally, when in 

 harness, been tortured with the chec];-rein. Now- 

 a-days, a small percentage of horse owiiers and 

 managers do not use it. Some consider the rein 

 to be both ornamental and sei'viceable. They 

 have a fancy for a high head, and showy horse ; 

 and suppose, also, that this rein keeps the horse 

 from tripping and falling — that it holds him up. 

 It is often the canse of his trij^JJing and falling. 

 It prevents Jiis recovery from a Jail. With an 

 unrestrained head he could more easily and read- 

 ily prevent falling, when he might trip or stum- 

 ble ; or arise from a fall easier. He will not step 

 any lighter and higher for the check-rein. It will 

 no more hold him up than a man can be held up 

 in slippery weather by a stock for his neck that 

 throws his head back — face upwards ! The check 

 rein, that makes him a gazer at the sun by day,; 

 and the moon and stars by night, prevents his 

 seeing the ground upon which he is travelling. 

 When in motion, this check-rein causes quite a 

 jar of the head, arid a jerking of the bits upon the 

 mouth. 



The necks of horses diflfer in their formation, 

 yet tasty coachmen and teamsters draw their heads 

 equally high by this rein. In the days of stage 

 coaching, a driver had all of his horses' heads 

 checked up high and tort. One of the team could 

 not draw up hill, so h« whipped him soundly and 

 severely at the hills, till a passenger observing 

 the difficulty in the case of that horse, suggested 

 to the ckiver the cause — that he could not work 

 with his head drawn up so liigh — upon his being 

 released from the check, the horse drew smartly 

 up the hills aftei-wards. Drawing in the nose of 

 the horse to his breast, by a short rein, or the mar- 

 tingale, cramps the cords of the neck and pre- 

 vents the healthy circulation of the blood in the 

 neck and head. 



Blinkers are of doubtful utilitj'. Horses are 

 often startled by noises, the causes of -which he 

 cannot see with blinkers on. But the same noises 

 do not affright them -when not in harness, and 

 they can see whence the sounds come. They in- 

 crease the weight of the bridle, and deflect into 

 their eyes both heat and dirt. It is not always 

 that blinkers prevent skittish horses from seeing 

 sights, at which they become affrighted, and the 

 turning of their heads, then, away from these ob- 

 jects, rather increases than diminishes their fears. 



The tail of the horse men have generally con- 

 sidered imperfectly made, unfinished naturally, so 

 they cut off what they estimate Avorthless, or use- 

 less, the cords in it, and set it vp ! Some dock it, 

 and then cut the cords upon its under side, and 

 place it in the pulleys till it is stiffened, and will 

 remain set up. Others fancy a long-tailed nag, 

 with liis tail set u]), and perhaps will so cut and 

 pulley it that it will remain bowed. The tail is a 

 very serviceable instrument in its natural condi- 

 tion, for the horse to brush away the flics with, 

 that so much annoy him a large part of the year ; 



