274 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



Septembek 



Do Bots Kill Horses ? 



From a very interesting article in Wilkes' Spirit 

 we glean the following : 



A lawyer had a case to defend, and called on 

 his friend Dr. B. as a yi^tness^o prove that bots in 

 horses is a deadly disj?ase. The Dr. replied that he 

 was not the man to call upon for that purpose, in- 

 asmuch as it was his opinion that no horse ever 

 died of the bots. He had looked into the subject, 

 and h inded the lawyer a manuscript, of which the 

 following is an outline : 



"The manuscript desciibed the bot-fly, which 

 has its habitation generally in the country, and is 

 seldom found in cities. It deposites its eggs on 

 the hair, accompanied with a glutinous subtitance 

 which adheres the eggs firmly to the hair. These 

 nits are generally deposited about the knees and 

 flanks of the horse, and by the slightest attention 

 can be easily seen. The fly deposites the nits at 

 tihese points because they are accessible to the 

 mouth and tongue of the horse. After the depos- 

 it the fly watches the horse, and as the nits are 

 liielets, they give no disti rbance, and as the fly 

 observes no licking at the place of deposit, and be- 

 ing armed with a weapon by which it can call at- 

 tention to its desires, it darts to the several places 

 of deposit and stings the horse. The irritation 

 caused by the sting induces the horse to lick the < 

 spot pierced by the fly ; the warm mucous, or sali- ! 

 va, of the mouth and tongue, dissolves the glutin, j 

 the nit is taken on the tongue into the mouth, and ' 

 with the food passes into the stamach ; there the 

 nit is warmed into life, becomes a bot, and com j 

 mences its growth and lives on the food taken in-' ' 



nous, and lived by suction — it would neither bite 

 nor bore more than an oyster. When the horse 

 is well fed, the grub eats so voraciously, that, 

 gorged, it becomes torpid, and in this condition 

 lets go its hold by the tail, and passes with the fae- 

 ces. Country horses almost always have more or 

 less of these grubs, especially those that run to 

 pasture. If the horse he kept with a full stomach, 

 the bot gives no disturbance, and through the win- 

 ter will void them, to sufifer a return, if let to pas- 

 ture, the following summer. The reason why no 

 medicine will eject them arises from their holding 

 on by the hook, and their refusal to partake of the 

 medicine. Dietetics alone must be resorted to. 



The statement generally made by persons recom- 

 mending a horse, 'He is a good feeder,' probably 

 arose from this circumstance, and that owners of 

 horses had discovered that such horses would be 

 able to withstand the bots, whilst the horse which 

 had no appetite, or ate but little, became useless 

 and died from its effects. Strong, healthy children 

 in the same way, void them by keeping th^Ir stom- 

 achs full, whilst the weak and poor feedei?^ become 

 rickety and feeble, lose the appetite and die." 



Top Dressimg Grass Lands. — The New England 

 Farmer gives some good advice on this subject, 

 from which we extract the following : 



It is the practice of many farmers to top-dress 

 their grass lands with composted manure as soon 

 as they conviently can after getting off the hay 

 crop. It is a good practice. The manure protects 

 the roots a little from the rays of the sun, and the 



- , . ^ , , - . . . first shower washes some of its nutritious proper- 



to the stomach or upon the food prepared for it in ; ^j^^ j^^^^ ^^^ ^^jl ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ 



the process of digestion. It is provided with a ^^ that they are stimulated to throw out new sets 



of leaves, which afford a still further protection, 

 both to plants and the manure. The surface is al- 

 so sufficiently hard in summer to allow the teams 

 to pass over it without cutting ruts, or being poach- 

 ed by the feet of the animals drawing the load. 



We refer to the matter at this particular time in 

 order to suggest to those who have grass lands 

 newly laid down — that is, that have been mowed 

 only one or two years — not to postpone the appli- 

 cation of some sort of dressing, if they desire to 

 continue cutting a remunerative crop for several 

 years. The mistake made by most farmers is, in 

 postponing the top-dressing too long. K clover is , 

 allowed to seed, and is then cut, the roots die and 

 there can be no further crop from them. If the 

 clover is cut while in blossom, there will be a sec- 

 ond crop the same year, and perhaps two crops the 

 succeeding year, if the land is rich. Red top and 

 herd grass will continue longer than clover, but 

 the roots of both of these gradually die out, or 

 yield to stronger grasses, until the whole crop is 

 changed from the sweet and nutritious grasses just 

 named to the wiry "June grass," weeds, or some 

 other plants of litle value. All this comes from 

 not top-dressing in season. If this were done, even 

 though but slightly, after the first crop is cut, and 

 afterwards each year, the roots of the grasses sow- 

 ed would be kept in a vigorous condition, and our 

 mowing fields would not "run out" as they do now. 

 Under such a practice, moist, and naturally good 

 lands would yield a ton or a ton and a half of hay 

 per acre for eight or ten years in succession, with 

 more certainty than they now yield two- thirds that 

 amount. 



process ot digestion. It is provided 

 small horny or bony hook at its tail, which it in- 

 serts into the mucous membrane or inner lining of 

 the coats of the stomach, and so retains its place. 

 The horse does not seem to be at all pained by 

 this operation, perhaps because this membrane is 

 said to be insensible. If the horse be a -good feed- 

 er and his master gives him plenty to eat, the horse 

 and bot thrive together. If he is ill fed, the ne- 

 cessary nutriment is unprovided, and here the 

 troubles of the horse begin. The bot is a cormo- 

 rant ; from the empty stomach of the horse it is 

 unable to procure its aliment; holding by the 

 hooks at the tail, it throws its head abo'it in search 

 of food ; finding none, in the agony of hunger it 

 beats its head against the sides or coats of the 

 stomach, applies its mouth to the mucous mem- 

 brane. This rubbing and violence produces irrita- 

 tion and inflammation, the stomach contracts, the 

 horse becomes fretful, suffers intense and unendu- 

 rable pain, bites at his flanks and at last dies of 

 his torture. The death of the animal shuts up the 

 portals of respiration, and the air bursts through 

 the stomach in every direction, perforating it with 

 holes ; the bot at once appreciates its condition, 

 and in the hope of escape from the fallen ruin, re- 

 laxes its hold by th« tail, makes for the holes, 

 crawls into and through them, and so, on opening 

 the animal, appear to have eaten through. 



If I remember, he said it was a small white 

 worm with a black or brownish head, and upon dis- 

 section it was found that it was provided with no 

 instrument or tool with which it could make, eat, 

 scratch, bore, or in any manner make a hole for 

 itself. It had a smooth mouth and lips, membra- 



'.j^ 



