— lae— 



be rangy to have room for the growth of the foetus, and wide in the 

 hips to allow of easy parturition. The stallion should be rather 

 more compactly built than the ^are. "A short back and a long 

 belly," is an old and correct rale for a serviceable horse. It means 

 good shoulders, good withers, good back and loin, and powerful 

 quarters. The breeder may be assisted by giving some attention to 

 the rule, which has many exceptions, that the male parent gives the 

 external, and the female the internal structure ; that the sire gives the 

 locomotion, and ihe dam the vital organs, that is, the constitution. 

 The mule and the hinny are striking illustrations of this rule. 



I am decidedly in favor of autumn foals. The press of spring 

 work upon the farm demands more service from the foal-bearing 

 mare than she should be required to perform. The flies of summer 

 annoj and often nearly devour the youngster. Both dam and colt 

 often suffer from insufiScient food in short pastures of a drought, and 

 at length the colt is weaned when the frost-bitten grass has lost its 

 nutriment, and the increasing cold demands abundant food. The 

 first winter is a trying time with colts, and many never recover from 

 the injury they then receive from insufficient or improper food. 

 With warm stables and comfortable sheds, the autumn colt can suck 

 the well-fed mare in the winter, and be weaned upon fresh grass in 

 the spring, and never know a check in his growth. He is old and 

 strong enough to withstand the attacks of flies in the summer, 

 and to endure without injury the colds of his second winter. He 

 should receive regular rations of oats and wheat bran as soon as 

 he has learned to eat along with the mare when she is taking her 

 feed. These can best be given him at a little distance from the mare, 

 she being secured in her place by a halter. For the first year he 

 should receive liberal allowance of these foods twice a day, with such 

 mixed hay and pasturage as he can take beside. These with linseed 

 meal must be the main reliance for making him all we hope him to 

 be. They are rich in the elements which make growth, and without 

 these no perfect animal can be reared. Corn should never be given 

 except in limited quantity in winter when warmth from carbo- 

 hydrates is needed. Where corn must be fed, it should always be 

 ground and mixed with finely cut clover hay, slightly moistened. 

 The clover supplies the nitrogenous food in which the corn is so 

 deficient, and also gives the necessary bulk of proper digestion in 



