248 



NEW ENGLAND FAJRIMER. 



Aug. 



acre per hour, and no walking. Do you think I 

 can ever again walk behind a plough, when the 

 spader will work ?" 



Another correspondent who witnessed this trial 

 adds : 



"Tlie land was well adapted to the purpose of 

 testing the machine, being part slough, with 

 patches of blue grass. Mr. Comstock makes no 

 pretension of working in sod, still it is well to see 

 wliat it will do in any place. Corn grew on the 

 dry portion last season, the stalks of which had, 

 previous to the trial, been dragged into piles and 

 burned. Willi the exce])tion of the blue grass, 

 the work was performed in a satisfactory manner 

 on both dry and wet land. The weeds were cov- 

 ered equal to ordinary ploughing immediately har- 

 rowed. It is not uncommonly I'lborious for the 

 team. The land was better pulverized than a 

 plough could have done it, especially in the slough. 



A Portable Feeding Rack For Sheep. — 

 A sheep farmer of Columbiana county, Ohio, who 

 has tried several kinds of racks, gives the follow- 

 ing description of one which prevents crovv ding, is 

 every way satisfactory, and so simple that any 

 farmer can make one. It consists of four posts 

 three feet long, and if made of three by three 

 scantling, will be heavy enough. Two bottom 

 boards one inch thick and ten or twelve wide, ?nd 

 two for the top, one inch thick and five or six 

 wide. These boards are placed horizontally for 

 the sides of the rack, and similar boards two feet 

 long are nailed to the posts at the ends. The 

 rack may be about twelve feet long, and tvro feet 

 is a very suitable width. Upon these horizontaJ 



niNGBOHB Olf THE HORSE'S FOOT, 



This painful, and often fatal disease, is occa- 

 sioned by the violent efforts the horse makes, in 

 obedience to the commands of the driver, when 

 dragging a heavy load up some sharp ascenfc 

 The entire force is then thrown upon the pastern, 

 inflammation ensues; lymph is effused; the lymph 

 becomes cartilage, and the cartilage is converted 

 into bone. Then a morbid enlargement of tlie 

 bone is established, and a ringbone is the conse- 

 sequence. 



THE PASTERN AND PEDAL BONE OF A HORSE AFFECTED WITH 

 SEVERE RINGBONE. 



1. The joint hetween the pastern 

 bones, showing the groove m 

 which the tendon of the extensor 

 pedis muscle reposed. 



2. The joint between the lower pas- 

 tern and the bone of the foot. 

 This cut represents the foot 



and a portion of the leg after 

 death. The cut below repre- 

 sents the foot of a living horse 

 with aggravated ringbone. 



An animal thus affected might move an easy 

 load upon even ground ; but when 

 the weight had to be drawn up hill, 

 the creature would obviously be 

 unable to use the toe ; the foot, 

 . placed flat upon the ground, or so 

 . , LS^shod as to have an even bearing, 

 xJ^'jiyskM^ would be of comparatively little 

 such a case. So, also, in descending an 



boards are nailed uprights, six inches wide, and j inequality, the horse with severe ringbone v/ill be 

 placed six inches apart. This makes a cheap, per- | unable to bite the earth. Eingbone, therefore, 



does incapacitate the animal for many uses, be- 

 sides interfering with the free employment of the 



table rack, which we like in every respect. 



Cattle. — 



Cause akd Cure of I^ce ox 

 Some of the washes and applications recommend- 

 ed for the destruction of lice on cattle are danger- 

 ous or positively injurious to the health of the an- 

 imal. Wliatever may be thought of the cause of 

 lice so confidently asserted in the annexed extract 

 of a communication in the Boston Cullivafor, there 

 need be no fear of the bad results of the applica- 

 tion of the remedy proposed : 



No one ever saw an animal in good condition 

 lousy, and no one ever saw a poor one, that v/as 

 so for any length of time, that was not. Tills I 

 consider proof enough ; but if any one doubts, let 

 him try the remedy of good feed, and he will 

 soon see how much superior it is to all the washes 

 80 highly recommended. The decay of the skin, 

 consequent on the change from tat to lean, pro- 

 duces lice, and the way to cure a disease is to re- 

 move the cause. 



1^^ The Canadian government is about introduc- 

 ing a new patent law, which will be found of great 

 importance to American inventors. Under the 

 present system patents are granted only to resident 

 Canadians ; under the new, it is proposed to extend 

 the protection to inventors of all nations, without 

 distinction in favor of natives. 



muscular energy. 



We have seen a yearling colt utterly worthless 

 by ringbone, transmitted, undoubtedly, by dis- 

 eased parents. We hope the time is not distant 

 when all diseased horses, of both sexes, will be 

 rejected as breeders. Until that is done, we can- 

 not reasonably expect sound and valuable animals. 



Maijliew, — from v.'hom we have already freely 

 quoted, — says that when a horse first shows ring- 

 bone, we must first seek to ailay the pain. Ap- 

 ply poultices, on which one drachm of pov,dered 

 opium and one of cam[)hor has been sprinkled. 

 Hub the disease, with equal parts of oil of cam- 

 phor and of chloroform. The pain having ceased, 

 have applied, with friction, to the seat of enlarge- 

 ment and around it, some of the following oint- 

 ment, night and morning : 



Iodide of lead one ounce. 



Lard ..eight ounces. 



Mix thoroughly, and continue treatment for a 

 fortnigiit after all active symptoms have disap- 

 peared, and allow the animal to rest. When work 

 is resumed, mind it is gentle, and be careful how 

 the horse goes to its full labor. 



