1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



225 



THU HORSE "WITH A "COLD." 



When we see how 

 horses are used in a 

 pleasant day in a season 

 of good sleigliing, or on 

 any one of the "Holi- 

 days," in the streets of 

 a city, or in its neigh- 

 borhood, we are sur- 

 prised that the stable- 

 keeper is ever able to 

 'say, with truth, that he 

 has a single sound horse 

 in his stalls ! 

 A horse, even one with a mild disposition, one 

 whose natural gait would not exceed five or six 

 miles an hour, may soon be taught to start at 

 once into a ten or twelve-miles gait, and continue 

 it with a little urging until his breath is nearly ex- 

 hausted, and his sides are reeking with persj)ira- 

 tion. In this condition, the thoughtless and cruel 

 driver often leaves him exposed to cold blasts, or 

 permits him to drink freely of cold water. No 

 wonder that the horse takes cold. Some care and 

 a proper humanity would ordinarily prevent this ; 

 but like human beings, the horse sometimes takes 

 cold, when it cannot be traced to any neglect. 



Mayiiew, in his excellent work on the Horse, 

 from M-hich we copy the engraving accompanying 

 tliis article, says, "a mild cold, with care, is readi- 

 ly alleviated. A few mashes, a little green food, 

 an extra rug and a day or two of rest, commonly 

 end the business. When the attack is more se- 

 vere, the horse is dull ; the coat is rough ; the 

 body is of unequal temperatures, hot in parts, in 

 places icy cold. The membrane of the nose at 

 first is diy and pale, or leaden colored ; the facial 

 sinuses are clogged ; the head aches ; the appe- 

 tite has fled ; often tears trickle from the eyes, 

 simple ophthalmy being no rare accompaniment to 

 a severe cold ; till at length a copious defluxion 

 falls from the nostrils without immediately improv- 

 ing the general appearance of the animal." 



In such a case all bleeding should be avoided ; 

 the invalid should be comfortably housed ; should 

 have an ample bed, and the body should be plen- 

 tifully clothed. If the head and breath are hot, 

 take a thick bag, put four or five quarts of saw- 

 dust into it, and pour upon it a bucket of boiling 

 water ; ])lace the animal's head in the bag, and tie 

 it over the neck. Renew the water every twenty 

 minutes. The bag must be sufficiently long to 

 prevent the horse's nose from coming near the 

 sawdust. If the bag seems too heavy, let it rest 

 upon a chair or bench. This is a cheap and sim- 

 ple remedy, and is sometimes quite efficacious. 

 After this, the horse needs care similar to that 

 given a person after taking a sweat. 



Where colds continue for a long time, and will 



not yield to mild remedies, the advice of a skilful 

 person should be obtained, as such colds lead to 

 the most fatal results, ending sometimes in that 

 dangei'ous and loathsome disease, glanders. 



FiiT the ^'eir l-'mjlaml Farmer, 

 CULTURE AND USES OP THE KOHL 

 RABI. 



Seeing that "O. K." of Rochester, in the Feb- 

 ruary number of this journal, is inclined to regard 

 this plant as an impurtnnt addilinn to our farm 

 crops, and that he asks for the experience of those 

 who liave raised and used it, and knowing that 

 it has been grown by few in this country, save 

 those who received parcels of seed from the Pa- 

 tent Office, it lias seemed quite ])robable tliat in- 

 formation derived from farmers in Great Britain, 

 where it is grown much more extensively than in 

 this country, might be both acce])tal)le and useful 

 to such as may have some intention of making a 

 trial of it. Accordingly we quote the following 

 from a book, not likely to be in the possesf^ion of 

 many formers, viz.. The Fumicr's and Planter's 

 Enci/clopcedia, "This curious variety of cabbage, 

 is a native of Germany, where it is much cultivat- 

 ed, and whence it was first introduced into Eng- 

 land by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt. The stem is swol- 

 len like a tuber, (turnip,) and when divested of the 

 leaves, may readily be mistaken tor one. The 

 produce is nearly the same as that of Swedish tur- 

 nips, and the soil that suits the one is equally good 

 for the other. It may either be sown in drills, or 

 raised in beds, and transplanted like cabbages, in 

 which case the beds require to be made and sown 

 the preceding autumn. Two pounds of the seed 

 will produce a sufficiency of plants for one acre of 

 ground. Hares, (probably rabbits also,) are so 

 fond of it, that, on farms where these animals 

 abound, the culture of this plant is found to be 

 impracticable." 



Under the heading of cabbage, in the Encyclo- 

 pci'dia, it is stated that, vhile one pound or 7000 

 grains of early York, and also of Drumhead cab- 

 t)age yields, on analysis, 430 grains of nutritive 

 matter, the same weight of kohl rabi furnishes 

 400 grains in a pound of the bulb, and 2o2 grains 

 in a pound of the leaves or tops. We may infer 

 from this, and from the fact that this ])lant is a hy- 

 brid production between cabbage and turnip, that 

 kohl ral)i is considera!)ly more nutritious than tur- 

 nips, and nearly as much so as cal)l)age, whose nu- 

 tritiousness maybe seen in the vigorous frames of 

 immigrants from Germany, the Germans being 

 proverbially fond of it. 



Glandeks. — The following paragraph occurs 

 in Dr. Dadd's new book on the Horse : 



Whoever undertakes to attempt the cure of this 

 awful malady must remember that he is running 

 a great risk of losing his own life, for the absorp- 

 tion of the hast particle of the virus will cause 

 death in one of the most horrible of ail forms ; 

 and many cases are on record going to show that 

 whole families have been destroyed by absorbing 

 the glandered virus. 



Patienxe in Milking. — A writer says that a 

 cow was cured of holding up her milk by i)atient- 

 ly milking until she ceased to hold it, and by con- 

 tinuing the practice, she has jecome an easy, 

 regular, and goul cow. 



