Jak. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



33 



are conceded. He is qnick, enduring, and 

 spirited ; and were it. not for the difficulty of 

 procuring good specimens of that almost ob- 

 solete race — in this part — the ox-driver, I 

 would commend him to all concerned. Worked 

 until about eight years old and then fatted for 

 beef, be makes ^ profitable animal to the 

 grower. 



Beyond these points of merit, I find the 

 Devon a hardier animal than any other of our 

 cattle kind — hardier even than our natives. 

 He endures extremes of cold and heat with an 

 equaniujity that his great vitality alone ac- 

 counts for. The Durham requires special at- 

 tention to endure our cold winters, and does 

 not thrive in the drougth and heat of our sum- 

 mers, but the Devon goes through all, hearty 

 and thriving. 



In face of all these facts, it must be con- 

 cedtd that the Devon is not the popular breed. 

 His well-balanced merits of beauty of form 

 and color, excellence of beef, richness of milk, 

 and superiority as a work animal, do not seem 

 to tell against the bigness of the Short-horn. 

 Just as the popular and superficial choice fixes 

 upon the bigness and bright color of fruits as 

 criteria in selection and purchases, 'BigRo- 

 mauites" in preference to Newtown Pippins, 

 and Concords instead of Delawares, so I some- 

 times think the big and clumsy draught-horse 

 and the large and artificial Durham are pre- 

 ferred for the very insufficient reason of supe- 

 rior size. 



But for many, perhaps most, parts of our 

 country, I am strongly inclined to think that 

 the common farmer who grows cattle for his 

 own use and to sell in the markets, and who is 

 not doing a fancy business in taking premiums 

 at lairs and selling over-fed calves at exorbi- 

 tant prices as breeders, will find the Devon a 

 more profitable animal than the Short-horn. 

 I am afraid it may be considered very hetero- 

 dox, possibly blasphemous, to say so, but such 

 is the drift of my conclusions thus far, afrer 

 some experience and some observation. — W. 

 G. Flagg, in Hearth and Hume. 



SHOSINQ HOB8B3. 



If the shoe does not sit perfectly level all 

 around, and if it extends so far outside the 

 hoof that the nails are prevented from enter- 

 ing the crust in the exa't spot, and in the 

 very direction, which they should, there will 

 be a constant straining on the nails, which is 

 injurious to the foot, and will be liable to chip 

 pieces off the hoof. The shoe ought to be 

 made wide across the foot, at the peint where 

 the two front nails are situated. The greatest 

 mistake frequently lies here. In pluce of 

 turning the shoe, at the toe, very carefully on 

 the horn of the anvil, the smith generally sets 

 it up on its side and Aien strikes it with his 

 hammer. The consequence is it yields at the 

 ctntre of the arch, and, instead of being nicely 

 and regularly rounded in front, whilst the 



breadth from side to side is preserved, the 

 nail holes on each side are brought nearer to 

 the centre of the shoe than they ought to be. 

 As a necessary result, the shoe at the front 

 nail holes is too narrow for the hoof, and, 

 when it is nailed on, the crust presses injuri- 

 ously on the internal sensible parts of the foot. 

 It is difficult to convince the smiths of the 

 possibility of laming a horse, by having the 

 shoe too narrow in front. They generally 

 think the whole difficulty lies about the heel. 



In putting on the shoe the nails should be 

 driven with a gentle hand, and they ought not 

 by any means to be clenched very tight. 

 Hard driving and tight clenching will bend 

 the hoof, at the place where the clei^hes are 

 turned, inwards and downwards towards the 

 shoe in such a manner as to injure the tender 

 parts contained within the cavity of the foot. 

 Besides, it is not necessary for a man to for- 

 get he is working with the foot of a living ani- 

 mal. The shoe will remain on a sufficient 

 length of time with gentle driving and clench- 

 ing, provided it is properly fitted to the foot. 

 If it has a thoroughly even bearing, there will 

 be little stress on the nails. The nails are 

 often made so coarse that they split the hoof, 

 and thus keep it constantly broken. A fine 

 nail will answer all the purposes required if 

 it is made of the right sort of material. 



We know of no worse fashion, in connec- 

 tion with the application of the shoe, than the 

 one which the smith has, of hammering the 

 shoe on the one side or the other after three 

 or four nails have been driven, for the pur- 

 pose of putting it straight on the foot. 1\n^ 

 is a speedy method of making up for his total 

 want of accuracy in placing it at first ; but it 

 should never be suffered to be practiced. It 

 strains all the nails which have already been 

 driven, and is thus calculated to do serious 

 damage to the foot. 



Shoeing has been regarded by some as a 

 necessary evil ; still we are certain, it is an 

 evil in the horse or in the man only when it is 

 improperly performed. We are confident in 

 both cases it w«uld be advantageous, rather 

 than the reverse, if the artisan could alwa\s 

 be made sufficient acquainted with the theory 

 of his profession, and had hands, or rather a 

 head, for its due performance. — Pra. Farmer. 



For the New Knglavd Farmer, 

 MA.NAQEMENT OJP PASTUHES. 

 "Water. 

 During the winter inonth.s the need of water 

 is evident, and many farmers are at great ex- 

 pense to provide it ; but in summer, it is 

 niu(;h the custom to depend only upon natural 

 supplies. 



Fortunately the springs and brooks in New 

 England are so abundant that the majority of 

 pastures .ire well provided, and it is only hfr, 

 for us to consider how to remedy the defi- 

 ciency in a few exceptional cases. 



