568 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



that the upper strata of the air contain more car- 

 bonic acid tlian the lower wliieli are in contact 

 with plants, and that the quantity is greater by 

 niglit than by day when it undergoes decomposi- 

 tion." — Liebig. 



"Gases, when mixed togetlrer, do not arrange 

 themselves according to their specific gravities, 

 but the particles of each are dilfiised uniformly 

 thro'ughout the whole space occupied by the fluid. 

 From this principle of gaseous dilfusiou it necessa- 

 rily follov;.-:, that at airiuibitable heights above the 

 level of the sea, the air must have a nearly uni- 

 form composition." — Higgins. 



"Carbonic acid increases as we rise from the 

 earth, and is less gfter a rain which washes it down 

 from the au'." — Youmans. 



I. B. ILiRTWELL. 



WilUnsonville, Oct. 21, 18C7. 



CARE OF HORSES. 



After about twenty-two years' experience as 

 a horse owner, I undertake to set down a little 

 of my experience concerning the management 

 of that noble animal. 



Commencing when the foal is a day or two 

 old, I go to it, and pass my hands down its 

 face, along its back, and down its legs to the 

 hoofs, hind and fore, not to mesmerise or 

 charm the animal, but to accustom it to being 

 handled, a thing which cannot be commenced 

 coo soon. Foals are animals that, when quite 

 young, have more sagacity, and are more trac- 

 table and easily taught than any other animal, 

 so whatever you want them to learn, commence 

 before they are old enough to make resistance, 

 and depend upon it, they will never forget it. 

 Put a halter on it, and lead it about, but be 

 careful not to let it break away from you. 

 Be very kind and gentle to it, but show that 

 you are its master. 



I next proceed to the horse's feet. Horses' 

 hoofs are things of the greatest importance ; 

 for who would want to follow a lame horse at 

 either work or pleasure. Many things ruin 

 the feet of horses, which I cannot pretend to 

 touch on, but I will try to point out a few 

 errors which any man can see and correct, the 

 greatest of which is leaving their shoes on too 

 long. This hurts the hoof, strains the legs, 

 and causes lameness in every shape. In the 

 winter this has a worse eliect than in summer, 

 as then the leet are more dry and clean, 

 whereas in sunmier they are wet, and the mud 

 and heat of summer will rot the hoofs and 

 cause the shoe to fall off. I have kuovvn 

 horses' shoes nailed on in the fall, and not 

 taken off until the next summer, when they 

 would fall oil' in the pasture, a practice which 

 seldom I'ails to bring on lameness. A horse's 

 shoe should never be on longer than three 

 montlis, and two months are very often too 

 long, llor-cs' hoofs were meant by nature to 

 go bare, and run on the earth in their natural 

 state, and as long as we drive them on such, 

 they need no shoeing ; but when we drive 

 them on paved streets, hard roads, &e., we 

 Lave to shoe them, and stop the wear that na- 



ture meant should be on their hoofs. The 

 consequence is that the shoe binds the hoof, 

 and often causes contraction and many other 

 evils, when nailed too far to the heel, left on 

 too long, or when the hoof is not sufficiently 

 pared down between shoeings. See that the 

 shoe is not nailed too far to the heel. Any 

 intelligent man can see when a shoe has been 

 on long enough, and take it off, when it may 

 be left off' a day or two, or longer, as the case 

 may be. A drive over soft snow, a favf days 

 ploughing or harrowing, or the like, would 

 spread the foot and help to counteract the 

 effects of shoeing. Always see that the hoof 

 is properly pared down before the shoe is 

 again put on. I have often seen the hoofs of 

 old horses greatly improved by being left bare 

 a few weeks in pasture. There are many 

 other things that hurt horses' feet, as too poor 

 feed, too high feed, too hard driving. 



The most natural feed for the horse is what 

 he can pick for himself, but as we cannot let 

 him run and pick his own living, let his feed 

 be as near natural as possible. Too high or 

 too low feed have both a bad effect, but as 

 different individuals will form very different 

 notions of what high and low feed are, I will 

 try and point out what 1 consider the middle 

 course to be. Hay alone, be it ever so good, 

 is not fit feed for horses, whether working or 

 idle. They need grain, with an occasional 

 feed of roots, bran mash, or something to keep 

 their bowels open. Horses need regular feed. 

 The feed I generally find best for horses is 

 about 12 pounds of hay and from 9 no 12 

 quarts of oats, given in three regular feeds, 

 with a feed of raw potatoes once a week, 

 when idle, or at gentle work ; and a small in- 

 crease when at hard work. The practice of 

 feeding horses all the hay they can eat when 

 idle, has many bad effects ; whereas if they 

 get three small feeds, they will stamp about in 

 the stall, and take exercise between feeds, 

 which will keep their legs from swelling, &c. 

 But remember, I do not advocate small feeds 

 of hay without grain. A very cheap way of 

 feeding horses, and not a bad way, is on straw, 

 with a fair allowance of oats. I have tried a 

 great many experiments, and have found horses 

 always do better on straw, than horned cattle. 

 Horses will do better on straw, provided it be 

 good, than they will on hay only, without grain 

 in both cases; but of course they must not be 

 stinted. The main point with the farmer who ' 

 keeps horses, is to use them in such a way as . 

 will give them all the strength and agility the 

 animal is capable of, and to work them all they 

 can stand without injuring either. The poor, 

 half- starved horse is an animal any man ought 

 to be ashamed of; but on the other hand, the 

 pampered and over-i'ed and half-worked horse, 

 though he may look very nice to some, is an 

 animal 1 would advise the farmer not to keep, 

 as such animals are more liable to loss than 

 any other. — J. D., of Nackawick, in Colonial 

 Farmer. 



