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382 



THE ILLIISJ^OIS F^R]MER. 



Society; raspberry plants raised from 

 seeds 1600 or 1700 years old." 



But in selecting seeds, fresh ones 

 should be had if possible. Where, how- 

 ever, the vegetable is cultivated fur the 

 sake of its flower, or its fruits, it is some- 

 times better to select old seed. Thus 

 balsamincs (the touch-me-not) and the 

 cucumber, squash and melon tribe do 

 better on seeds three or four years old; 

 for fresh seeds produce plants whose 

 growth will be too luxuriant for produc- 

 ing fruit; whereas from old seed, the 

 plants have less vigor of growth but a 

 great tendency to fruit well. 



We insert a table, exhibiting the years 

 which different seeds will retain their 

 vitality : 



Ye»rs.[ Year*. 



Aaparngns 4 or 13j ^fa^JoraIn 4 



Balm 2 (Melon S or 10 



Basil \ or 3 



Bean') 1 or '2 



Bents 8 or 10 



Biiratfe 2 



Cabbage 6 or 8 



Carrot I or 7 Poa. ....'. '2 or 3 



Cflery 6 or 8 Pumpkin 8 or 10 



( orn 2 or 3 Poi'Ptr 5 or 6 



CriBn 2 i Raildish fi or 8 



Onctiraber 8 or 10! Rno 3 



Vtimtarl 3 or 4 



VaRrnrtiiim 2 or 3 



Onion 3 



ParBlov 5 or 6 



Parsnip 1 



Caraway 4 



Kennel 5 



Oarlic 3 



L.'ek 3 or 4 



Ruta Baga 4 



Sal-sify 2 



«avory 3 or 4 



Spjnai!« 3 or 4 



Lfittnce 3 or 4:*qii»8h 8 or 



Mangol Wurtzel 8or 1(1 Turnip 3 or 4 



How to Detect Imperfect Yision or BlindiiPf^s in 

 Horses. 



The novice in horse-flesh may have 

 good grounds for suspicion as to the ex- 

 istence of imperfect vision or blindness 

 when the horse moves his ears in a con- 

 stant and rapid motion, directing them 

 in quick succession to every quarter 

 from whence the least sound proceeds. 

 His action is lofty and faltering, and he 

 lifts his feet and replaces them on tlie 

 ground as if stepping over some obstacle, 

 when there is actually nothing to impede 

 his progression. But. notwithstanding 

 that these symptoms would be suflicicnt 

 to creat'^ suspicion, there are other causes 

 (besides imperfect vision) by wliich the 

 same, or similar symptoms, would ap- 

 pear in horses. For instance, if a horse 

 with the most perfect pair of eyes 

 were led from a dark stable into the blaz- 

 ing sunshine, the sudden contraction of 

 the pupil of his eye would render it im- 

 possible, for a few moments, for him to 

 see but very indistinctly ; hence would 

 arise the same symptoms of uncertainty 

 in his movements, until the pupil becomes 

 steady after the sudden contraction. — 

 The dilation and contraction of the pu- 

 pil of the horse's eye furnishes the prin- 

 , cipal means of ascertaining whether the 

 blindness exists in one eye or both, as 

 the pupil varies in size, according to the 

 dcfrrec of light which is brought to bear 

 upon it. In a dark stable the pupil if 

 expanded, so that a greater portion of 

 ilght falls upon the corner ; but if the 

 horse be led to the door of the stable, 

 the pupil will contract, so as to exclude 

 more light than could be endured, and 



if suddenly exposed to the sun, the aper- 

 ture will be all but closed ; therefore the 

 novice should carefully notice these va- 

 riations in the pupil, whether they con- 

 tract or expand equally by the increase 

 and decrease of the light — which he may 

 readily preceive by advancing the horse's 

 head to the open door or window of the 

 stable, and backing him again into the 

 darkness, until he is satisfied as to the 

 perfection or imperfection of the horse's 

 vision. But if the horse should be ex- 

 amined in the open air, the novice should 

 first notice whether both pupils are of 

 exactly the same size. After this he 

 should carefully place his hand, so as 

 not to alarm the horse, over each eye, to 

 shade of the light, and hold it there for 

 a short time, noticing tiie extent to 

 which the pupil dilates, then passing his 

 hand over the other eye, and ascertain 

 whether it also dilates to the same extent, 

 and if he should still be uncertain, let 

 him place both hands in the position of 

 shades over both the eyes of the horse, 

 and ho will at once perceive (if his own 

 vision be good) whether they are perfect, 

 and if not, which of the two are imper- 

 fect. 



I would suggest to all owners of horses 

 the importance of admitting plenty of 

 light and pure air into their stables ; for 

 I am satisfied that nothing tends more 

 to injure the eyes of a horse and impair 

 his vision than dark or badly-ventilated 

 stables. Every man who keeps horses 

 for the purpose of assirstinghim in earn- 

 ing his livelihood would be neglecting a 

 very important portion of his business, 

 by inattention to lighting, draining, and 

 ventillation of his stables, to say noth- 

 ing of his imperative duty to treat his 

 horses in the manner they so richly de- 

 serve. 



I maintain that horses are as deserting 

 of pure dwellings as the best of God's 

 creatures. The eff'orts of our Society for 

 the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 

 and the activity of its officers, is suffi- 

 cient evidence of their philanthropy ; 

 put I have never known a conviction for 

 shutting up a horse, and half smother- 

 ing him in the rank, pestiferous amos- 

 phere of a non-drained or ventilated sta- 

 ble, and still this will be admitted by all 

 men, possessed of common sense, to be 

 gross cruelty 



In every town and village in the Uni- 

 ted Kingdom may be found stables with- 

 out drainage, and even at this season of 

 the year, with very little, if any ventil- 

 ation. I have at various places in my 

 travels, frequently been present at the 

 opening of those badly-ventilated dwell- 

 ings for horses, the first thing in the 

 morning, as I have no doubt some of my 

 read^*rs have also ; therefore they will 

 agree with me in saying that the atmos- 

 phere is sufficient to stitle many a mnn, ' 

 and quite sullicient of itself toengcniler 



a variety of diseases among the miserable 

 occupants. 



There are thousands of stables in 

 which the door is the only aperture for 

 the ingress of pure air; and even this 

 is, in most instances closed, both when 

 the horse is at rest, as at work or exer- 

 cise ; thus he has, while in the stable, or 

 rather, horse oven, to breath the same 

 air over and over again, inhaling the 

 ammonia which is constantly rising from 

 the interstices of the irregular pavement, 

 or mud floor, and this is not only a con- 

 stant cause of misery to the horse, but 

 by acting most injuriously on his eyes, 

 entails a serious loss to his owner, by 

 decreasing his value. 



There are a few respectable builders, 

 now-a-days, who do not understand the 

 erection of well-ventilatcd stables ; but 

 where owners of horses cannot afford to 

 have their old stables rebuilt, they might, 

 at least, break out windows to admit 

 light and air, and also, at a trifling ex- 

 pense, drain the floors ; and thus, by 

 keeping the air cool and sweet, they 

 would, to a certain extent, neutralize 

 the effects which a stifling and impure 

 atmosphere will sooner or later entail up- 

 on their horses. — London Review. 

 «•• 



Milk wliich docs not Yield Butter, and llie 

 Means to Remedy It. - 



The author calls the attention of those who 

 are chiefly interested in such cases, in which 

 theoe is no disease of the mammary gland 

 nor loss of milk, but a want of oleaginous 

 matters in the fluid. In the causes of this 

 deficiency of butter-making quality, he con- 

 cludes that there are two principal ones, viz: 

 idiosyncrasy and alimentation ; but there is 

 another which cannot be so easily defined, 

 and which occurs in animals that are well 

 kept, and whose milk has beeu previously 

 rich in butter. It is these that the remedy 

 is principally directed. The remedy consists 

 in giving the animal two ounces of the sul- 

 phuret of antimony, with thaee ounces ot 

 coriander seeds, powdered and well mixed. 

 This is to be given as a soft bolus, and fol- 

 lowed by a draught corauosed of half a pint 

 of vinegar, a pint of water, and a handful of 

 common salt, for three successive mornings, 

 no an empty stomach. 



This remedy, according to the author, 

 rarely fails, and the milk produced some 

 days after its exhibition is fround to be richer 

 in cream. The first churning yicldi^ a larger 

 quantity of butter, but the second and third 

 are still more satisfactory in their results. 



A letter from a farmer states that he had 

 fourteen cows in full milk, from which he 

 obtained very little butter, and that of a bad 

 ■quality. Guided by the statements of M. 

 l)encubourg, which had appeared in the An 

 iialcs Vctcrinaries, lie had seperately tested 

 the milk of his cows, and found that the bad 

 quality of it Was owing to one cow only, and 

 that the milk of the others yielded good and 

 abundant butter. It was, therefore, clearly 

 established that the loss he had so long sus- 

 tained was attributed to thiscow only. He 

 at once administered the remedy recommen- 

 ded by M. Beueubourg, which effectep a cure 



