l-'Gl. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



525 



we think they will not find fault with us for re- 

 jecting them entirely. If we were to publish 

 only those relating to our State, they would oc- 

 cupy a large space in each week's paper, that 

 would be of no more value to most readers, than 

 a last year's robin's nest ! What would our four 

 or five thousand subscribers in Vermont say to 

 this? 



If gentlemen will send us the results of every 

 society in New England briefly written, we will 

 try to find a place for them. When we find any 

 thing of an extraordinary character, that has 

 drawn a premium, we are quite willing to men- 

 tion the premium in connection with the fact it- 

 self. Our object is to give vai'iety always, as well 

 as useful matter. 



DOCKIWQ AND NICKING. 



These barbarous methods of depriving the horse 

 of his natural form and appearance, in order to 

 make him conform to the fashion of the time, is, 

 fortunately, very fast going into disuse. If the 

 tail of the horse were given him for no good pur- 

 pose, and if it were not a design of nature that he 

 should have the power of moving it forcibly to 

 his sides, there might be some excuse for cutting 

 it off, within a few inches of his body, or for sep- 

 arating the muscles at its sides to lessen this 

 power ; but, that this is not the case, must be ac- 

 knowledged by all who have seen a horse, whose 

 tail has been abridged by "Docking," or weakened 

 by nicking, annoyed by flies. 



If a horse has a trick of throwing dirt on his 

 rider's clothing, this may be prevented by cutting 

 off the hair of the tail, below the end of the bones, 

 as is the custom with hunters in England, where 

 the hair is cut squarely off about eight or ten 

 inches above the hocks. 



No apology is offered for not giving here a de- 

 scription of these two operations ; they are so 

 barbarous and so senseless, that they are going 

 very rapidly out of fashion, and it is to be hoped 

 that they will ere long have become obsolete, as 

 has the cropping of the ears, formerly so common 

 in England. 



A more humane way of setting up the horse's 

 tail, to give him a more stylish appearance, is by 

 simply weighting it for a few hours each day, in 

 the stall, until it attains the desired elevation. 

 This is done by having two pulleys at the top of a 

 stall, one at each side, through which are passed 

 two ropes which come together and are fastened 

 to the tail, the ropes having at their other end, 

 weights, (bags of sand or shot are very good for 

 the purpose) which must be light at first, and 

 may be increased from day to day. The weighing 

 should be continued until the tail has taken a per- 

 manent position, as desired. It is true that this 

 method requires a somewhat longer time than 

 that of cutting the muscles, but while it is being 

 done, the horse is never off his work, and he suf- 

 fers infinitely less pain. 



The method of nicking or pricking, as usually 

 performed in this country, is not quite so cruel, 

 nor so hazardous as the cutting of the muscles. — 

 Herbert's Hints to Horse-keepers. 



THE CORN BAKN. 



This term is as familiar to New England ears 

 as any household words. On most farms, where 

 a few acres are cultivated in corn and the smaller 

 grains, the proprietor thinks he must have a gran- 

 ary, or, as he terms it, — a corn barn. And 

 such a building is necessary ; for it is as impor- 

 tant to protect and preserve the grain that has 

 been raised, as it is the hay on the scaffolds, the 

 fruits, vegetables, or other things that have been 

 produced. Grain attracts rats and mice, and 

 when kept in the common barn, the hay and the 

 numerous places where they can make their nests 

 and retreat to after feeding upon the grain, great- 

 ly facilitate their multiplication, and they some- 

 times are so numerous as to become a most ex- 

 pensive Euisance. They are also destructive to 

 buildings by undermining and gnawing them, 

 and are frequently disgustingly filthy. The corn- 

 barn, therefore, should stand by itself — be pro- 

 tected against the ingress of mice, and then be 

 kept scrupulously clean ; and even with this care, 

 should be annually emptied of all its contents 

 and thoroughly purged. Then the bread upon 

 the table, or the grain in the horse's crib, will be 

 likely to possess all the nutriment and sweet- 

 ness which it had when it came from the field. 



We have visited many "corn barns," but have 

 not found a dozen in such condition as we thought 

 properly protected the farmer's property, and re- 

 flected credit upon him as a systematic econo- 

 mist. If they were not Pandora's boxes, from 

 whence flowed every evil, they certainly readily 

 suggested that myth. Let us walk into one of 

 them and see. At the right is a narrow bin for 

 the corn. On the farther end is an old pair of 

 broken sleigh runners, and the remnants of an 

 ancient cheese press, not over-nicely cleansed 

 when its further service was dispensed with. 

 Hard by these hangs the battered body of an old 

 "tin-kitchen," reminding one of the days of large 

 fire-places, roasted sirloins, turkeys and saddles 

 of mutton. Three casks stand in a corner, the 

 aggregate amount of hoops on which would not 

 equal those of a Miss of sixteen of to-day. In 

 one of them is a peck of two-years old beans, the 

 second is filled with cobs, while the third has a 

 miscellaneous collection of old hoes, horse shoes, 

 broken whiffietrees, the greasy "spit" that be- 

 longed to the aforesaid "tin-kitchen," the "head 

 and distaff" of a linen wheel, and various other 

 things that had seen their day and generation. 

 Two broken, rusty plows, are perched on the end 

 of the beam in another corner — while between is 

 a bundle of catnip, another of mullein, and a 

 handful of dock roots, hung there for the pious 

 purpose of assuaging fevers, agues and cramps, 

 when — well, when the proprietor can't work any 



