1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



63 



FINE HOGS. 



I killed two hogs last week, that weighed, after 

 hanging over night, and without the rough fat, 

 503 pounds, and 618 pounds. They were hoth 

 pigs of the same litter and fed together, and were 

 nineteen months, eight days old, when killed. I 

 prefer to feed shelled corn considerably when fat- 

 ting, rather than cob meal, and can do it easier 

 with Nourse's shelling machines than to go to mill 

 and lose the toll. A. G. D. 



Dec, 1862. _ 



VEEMIN ON COLTS AND CALVES. 



What is the surest and safest remedy for lice 

 on colts and calves ? c. N. A. 



Chelsea, VL, Dec, 1862. 



Remarks. — Clean, soft oil, of any kind, rubbed 

 upon the skin, twice a week, is safe and often suc- 

 cessful. Unguentum, in the hands of a careful 

 person, who will not allow the animal to be ex- 

 posed while using it, will destroy vermin. 



COTSWOLD EWES — BRAHMA POOTRA FOWLS. 



Where can there be found pure Cotswold ewes, 

 and Brahma Pootra fowls ? A Subscriber. 



Remarks. — We do not know where the sheep 

 can be obtained. Mr. John S. Ives, of Salem, 

 Mass., has the Brahma Pootra fowls. 



For the Nete England Farmer. 

 THE HORSE AN INTELLIGENT ANIMAL. 



Both ancient and modern writers agree that the 

 horse is an intelligent animal. 



This intellectual development is far greater in 

 some instances than in others, varying in degree, 

 according to natural endowment, from a mere pos- 

 session of instinct to the more wonderful faculties 

 occasionally seen in a well-trained animal. 



I own to a natural fondness of the horse, and 

 but few objects are more gratifying to my eyes. 

 Not a high-boned, grisly-haired, coarse-limbed 

 and high-gaited steed, such as is too often im- 

 posed upon innocent buyers as a "perfect family" 

 horse, but a compact, bright eyed, light stepping 

 nag ; such an one as is pictured by the poet : that 



"O'er rocks, and woods, and crappy mountains flies. 

 And neighing, on the aerial summit takes 

 The exciting gale.'' 



Many anecdotes are told of the horse in which 

 sufficient testimony is adduced to prove that the 

 principle of affection, also, is latent in his nature ; 

 that his fondness of and attachment to his master 

 are often strong and marked. 



I think 1 have seen numerous evidences of it in 

 my own experience ; and, to my mind, it is a mat- 

 ter of no slight importance to possess the confi- 

 dence of the horse that one is accustomed to ride 

 or drive. Not only is he likely to be less timid, 

 but he will approach objects that appear to him 

 unusual and strange, and can be managed in cir- 

 cumstances of sudden difficulty with far less prob- 

 ability of accident, than a horse that has been 

 harshly used, and forced to unwilling obedience 

 by the lash. 



It is wonderful how docile he will become under 

 the frequent caresses of childi-en. Females ac- 



customed to ride and manage favorite horses, 

 have, in times of peculiar danger, been successful 

 in guiding them after ail eflbrts to do so on the 

 part of the master had failed. 



The case of a little girl, which fell under my ob- 

 servation several years since, I can cite as an evi- 

 dence of the power the female voice will have, if 

 rightly used, in restraining a horse when under 

 the influence of sudden fright. 



On the occasion referred to, this little girl was 

 left in charge of a span of English, high bred 

 horses, while the owner, — a generous Scotch i>hv- 

 sician, long since gone to his account,— could 

 make a professional call at the house of a sick 

 neighbor. 



The horses were harnessed to a light phaeton, 

 and, though young and spirited, were (juite gentle. 

 The child was given the ruins, and duly cautioned, 

 but the doctor had hardly left the carriage when 

 the fluttering of a noisy parrot, at a window, 

 caused the horses to start, and in an instant after 

 they were off' at a dashing speed. For a long dis- 

 tance they rushed over the road as if on wings, 

 avoiding, fortunately, everything in their way. 

 The child kept firmly to her seat, and by skilful 

 management of the reins and words uttered in a 

 kindly and soothing voice, she at length succeeded 

 in bringing the frightened animals to a halt. 

 Doubtless, all would have terminated well, had it 

 not been for the interference of some kind-hearted 

 peo])le, who, seeing the situation of things, shouted 

 to the child to leap from the carriage, which obey- 

 ing, she had the mortification to witness both 

 horses and carriage flying over fences and ditches 

 to their complete destruction. 



More than forty years ago there lived in ihe 

 town near my father's farm, an eccentric genius, 

 widely known as Uncle Tim. At the time to 

 which I refer, he had u])on his farm one of those 

 tougli, close-knit animals, which, though without 

 known pedigree, bore unmistakaljle marks of the 

 French Canadian breed. Weighing scarcely nine 

 hundred pounds, and at times faring none too 

 well, she was always fat, and, as Uncle Tim would 

 good-naturedly remark, would "thrive on hob 

 nails without any mixin' o' shorts." The mare 

 was the chief dependence on the farm, and was 

 kept almost constantly in harness. 



Tugging before oxen all the forenoon, and with 

 little time to cool ofl", she was, not unfrequently, in 

 the afternoon, tackled to the old square top chaise 

 and driven to the "middle of the town," or to 

 some adjoining village and back again, whe'» she 

 was sent to the common ])asture to pick up the 

 little left after an overstock during the day. Tiie 

 mare had a peculiar aversion to strangers, and w;is 

 unsafe in harness unless driven l)y one of the fam- 

 ily. None other could approach very nearly to 

 her in the pasture, and any trap or device to catch 

 her would signally fail. It was not in the j)ower 

 of man to hold her by the bit, for her mouth was 

 as tough as a rhinoceros' hide, and unpliable as a 

 smith's anvil ; yet Aunt Susan would manage lier 

 with the utmost ease, simply by talking to her. 

 My recollections of the old mare are various, and 

 some of the most ])leasing incidents of my boy- 

 hood were due to the frolics I have had while rid- 

 ing with Uncle Tim, borne along by this faithful 

 creature. 



How often have I seen, packed into an old-fash- 

 ioned pung, hitched to the old mare, the children 



