ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 195 



If she strike at the foal, threaten her with the lash, and hold 

 up one of her fore-feet. If she continue obstinate and resists 

 the repeated efforts of the foal so long that he is likely to get 

 exhausted, put the twitch on the mare's nose. But, if possi- 

 ble, she must be managed without this, and every time the 

 foal is to suckle her, she must be patiently tried before apply* 

 ing the twitch. It is not good to meddle with the foal by way 

 of assisting or directing him to the udder. He may be very 

 awkward, but he soon learns. It is sufficient to control the 

 mare, and this often requires a great deal of patience and 

 perseverance. After the foal has been permitted to suckle 

 her, she is reconciled to it in a day or two, and may afterward 

 prove a very good nurse. Confinement in a dark loose box 

 sometimes renders her kinder. 



Unless the mare be very obstinate, or the foal very weak 

 and awkward, no cow's milk should be given to it. If its 

 hunger be appeased by drinks, it will make no attempt to 

 suckle, and it is only by constantly persevering with the 

 mother that she can be brought to her duty. 



Cow's Milk. — Should the mare die, or become unfit, from 

 sickness or a diseased udder, to suckle her foal, it must be 

 fed with cow's milk. If a week or two old, it may be fed 

 from a pail in the same way as calves. The man puts his 

 hand into a pail of milk, with his fingers projecting above the 

 surface. The calf or foal seizes the fingers, and sucks up the 

 milk, which should always be new and warm from the cow. 

 In a little while the young animal learns to drink it. If so 

 young or stupid that it can not be fed in this way, the milk 

 must be poured into its mouth. Take a teapot, or teakettle 

 with a small spout. Surround the spout with three or four folds 

 of linen cloth, sufficient to make it soft, but not too large. 

 Place this prepared spout in the foal's mouth, and it will suck 

 the milk from the vessel. An article might be made for the 

 purpose, of tin. The aperture in the spout should not be much 

 more than an eighth of an inch in calibre, otherwise the milk 

 will come faster than the foal can swallow it. Let the spout 

 rise from the bottom of the vessel, so that the air can not get 

 into it when the foal is sucking. 



I do not know how much milk a foal will consume. It 

 should be given four or five times a day. 



Weaning. — When the foal is to be taken from the udder, he 

 is either shut up in a loose house by himself, or turned to 

 pasture ; in either case his cry must not be heard by the dam. 

 When within hearing, both become fretful, the one unwilling 



