1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



267 



QUITTOB IN THE HOKSE'S FOOT. 



Perhaps there is not one of our numerous read- 

 ers that does not own a horse ; at any rate, there 

 is not one, we trust, that does not regard the horse 

 as one of the most obedient and valuable servants 

 of man ; nor one who does feel interested in his 

 welfare, and who would not be glad to promote 

 his comfort in any possible way. 



We are glad to observe increasing humanity 

 toward the animals we rear and subject to our 

 service, to know that they are better tended, load- 

 ed with more judgment, and, as a general thing, 

 driven with more feeling and mercy, than they 

 used to be. There are shameful exceptions, we 

 admit, but the general practice toward them, is a 

 better one. 



As serviceable and infdlif/ent animals, we know 

 of none that will compare with the horse. The 

 dog and the elephant may be taught to do certain 

 special things that excite our wonder, — but a 

 horse that has an apt and humane master, one 

 wdio uses him in various kinds of employment, will 

 exhibit, almost every day, evidences of his keen 

 power of observation, memory, and general capac- 

 ity. A book might be filled with interesting inci- 

 dents, showing the high degree of intelligence 

 that he possesses. 



In some other respects, the horse resembles 

 man. He is nervous or phlegmatic — higii-spirii- 

 ed, or of a mild disposition — ambitious, full of 

 pluck and mettle, or of an inert and passive tem- 

 perament. 



They seem also to be liable to similar diseases. 

 They take cold, upon exposure, mach as man 

 does, and when sick, require a similar treatment. 

 The disease mentioned above is much like the 

 "felon," so common among us. That, we sup- 

 pose, is occasioned by some bruise or prick of the 

 part, which causes suppuration to take place near 

 the bone, and the pus, being confined there, 

 causes excruciating pain. "Cuitlor" in the foot 



of the horse, is caused in the same way. It is a 

 terrible disorder, and no one unacquainted with 

 the structure of the horses' foot, can appreciate 

 the dreadful pain which it occasions. 



Mayiiew, in his admirable work on the horse, 

 says "the cause of Quittor is always confined pus 

 or matter, which, in its effort to escape, absorbs 

 and forms sinuses [that is, a little cavity or ab- 

 scess. Ed.] in various directions, within the sen- 

 sitive substance of the hoof. Nature, after her 

 own fashion, proceeds to cast off that which is 

 without vitality ; but the matter thus located can- 



not readily escape through the harsh material of 

 the horse's coronet. It is confined and becomes 

 corrupt, while the constant motion of the foot in- 

 clines the pus to take a downward direction. 

 However, it is more difficult for pus to pierce the 

 horny sole than to penetrate the coronet ; so the 

 effort is renewed above ; numerous pipes or sinu- 

 ses are thus formed ; the fleshy sole is often under- 

 run, and this mischief goes on until the coronet, 

 which becomes of enormous size, at last yields to 

 the increasing evil." 



The "coronet" mentioned above, is tha upper 

 of three bones in the foot. The "coffin-bone" lies 

 below, extending down toward the toe of the 

 hoof, and the "navicular-bonc" is on one side, op- 

 posite the junction of the other two bones. 



Another cause of Quittor is pricking the sensi- 

 tive part of the foot with a nail in shoeing, and 

 another cause is "com," as the horses' corn is 

 nothing more than a bruise. 



The leading sign of Quittor, before it breaks, 

 is a large swelling at the coronet, attended with 

 heat and excessive lameness. 



No cure can be effected until an opening allows 

 the pus to pass out, and this should be done at 

 once by skilful hands. 



How TO Water Plants. — This is usually bad- 

 ly done. Water is poured upon the surface — 

 enough, perhaps, to wet down an iucli or two. 

 The water washes the fine earth into the chinks 

 and interstices, and there the plant stands, with 

 dry or only soil moist below, but with a baked 

 mass on the surface which shuts out warmth, air, 

 and the moisture that would be derived from its 

 free circulation. One of two methods should be 

 adopted. Remove the surface earth and pour on 

 water enough to reach the wet subsoil, and when 

 the water has soaked in, replace the dry surface 

 soil, to be moistened from below ; or, make a hole 

 OS near the plant as you can without disturbing 

 the roots, and fill this with water two or three 

 times, and afterwards fill it with the dry earth first 

 removed. At ail events, when you water at all, 

 water freely, and with the foot or a hoe throw a 

 iittlle dry earth over the surface as the water set- 

 tles away. These are important hints. A few 

 plants thus well cared for will yield more than 

 three times the number carelessly treated. 



Depth ok Ploiguing. — A writer in the Ag- 

 ric'illitral lUriaw, says : "Deep cultivation is in- 

 applicable in the case of sandy soils, exce|)t when 

 thoy rest upon a stiff subsoil, which, however, is 

 rarely tiie case. If there be simply a thin stratum 

 of stiff clay beneath the sandy t>oil, it should not 

 always be broken through, as it may prevent the 

 moisture passing away too rapidly as diainage. 

 When friable soil rests on chalk, gravel or sand, 

 deep ploughing should not be performed. We 

 have often known manure to be j)loughed in so 

 dee])ly that its decomposition took place only af- 

 ter the lapse of several years. Manure, to be ef- 

 ficient, must be as close to the surface as jK)ssible. 

 in order that the nourishment afforded by it may 

 be within easy access of the rootlets of the plants." 



