FOREST AND STREAM 
151 
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(character known as the pony built horse, but of course the 
perm “pony” means only that chunky style of horse where 
Sifore and hind legs are close together, with a round barrel, 
gust sufficient to let all the equine machinery work well to¬ 
gether. Big horses, if leggy, with too much day light 
| t under them, would be useless for'the*business. The shaft 
‘horse must be able to stand no end of shock, and if not 
^steady and well on his legs, would often be thrown off his 
llfeet. 
, t The horses come mostly from Pennsylvania and Onio. 
r Formerly a large proportion came from the first named 
instate, being of the old Conestoga breed, but of late years 
[(this fine style of horse is hard to find. Price is no very 
great consideration with the safe people, and $800 is fre¬ 
quently paid for a fine animal. Their feed is sixteen 
quarts of oats a day, with occasional use of soft food in 
1 winter. Entire horses were once used in the team, but as 
;] at times they were qarrelsome, they are now rarely employ- 
zed. The most intelligent horse is always put in the lead, 
. and obeys by the word of mouth;, ‘gee” and “wo” are used 
| for the left or right, and at the signal “back” the horses, 
I stop. A green horse is generally put somewhere in the mid¬ 
dle, and lie becomes quickly broken in to the work. In 
fact, even if he is ugly or awkward, he gets into a school 
. where the other horses soon teach him how to behave, for 
what can one horse do with four horses before him and 
three behind him ? It has happened that a sensible horse, 
i'& little obstreperous at first and ignorant of his duties, after 
■having been thrown off his pins once or twice, suddenly 
"gets the hang of working in the team, and such a horse has 
/in some occasional cases been promoted within a week to 
take Ike lead. With a truck weighing 6,700, carrying a 
ponderous safe of 16,000 pounds through Broadway, turn¬ 
ing- sharp corners with a well calculated curve, it can be 
^’understood how much depends on the strength and intelli¬ 
gence of the animals. Think of the power to be exerted in 
‘/backing up such a dead weight of iron to the sidewalk, and 
yet Mr. Herring- assured us that he had a shaft horse who 
,had backed up a safe weighing eight tons into position. Of 
.course good, kind and intelligent horses always presuppose 
* a manager or driver having some extraordinary amount of 
' judgment and intelligence, and exactly of this kind we 
‘ found Mr. Hilliker, who has the horses under his charge. 
,‘“Tliey keep straight on,” said Mr. Hilliker, “and never 
turn to the right or left until I tell them to. Of course if it 
happens that the}' - are taking a load up Broadway near their 
Kstables, it is in their horse nature to want to go home, but 
a single word keeps them steady. It is wonderful, though 
I am used«to them, to see how Dan, our lead horse, picks 
pus way along. Mo skeer or nervousness about him. If 
'there is a team before him going about his gait he will fol¬ 
low straight behind; but if he sees a chance, or it goes too 
slowly, he will take to the right or left, as his judgment 
■directs. Truck drivers who get tangled up on the streets 
often say that your horse Dan can make his way through a 
‘block’ in the streets a great deal better than they can! It’s 
quite a trial of temper for our horses sometimes. When 
the truck gets at the place where the safe has to be put in and 
hauled up the horses have to stand for hours in the streets, 
and they get stared at, and patted and touched, and some¬ 
times pinched by the boys, but they don’t seem to mind 
■ ‘Ait what age do you buy your horses?” we asked. 
“At five or six years’ old. We want them fully develop¬ 
ed and well broken before we use them. A horse that has 
been forced too young never will answer our purpose. Mr. 
|’ Herring can tell you that we had one horse which was twenty- 
jl'four years’ old, and which worked over twelve years’ with 
ns. We think when a horse has worked for us six to eight 
[[(years he has done us full service. We see no difference as 
to usefulness between the horse and the gelding. There 
Mr, now take a look at Dan in the truck, he is our best 
Ahorse.” 
f Accompanied by Mr. Herring, the senior of the firm, we 
ndrad a good look at Dan, who was standing motionless in 
( the van. From the sidewalk, such was the compactness of 
[‘‘the form of the horse and his symmetry, that his huge size 
/was not perceptible, especially as the street was a foot lower 
i than the pavement, and it tended to diminish the rise of 
Jftlie horse. 
S “You must mount on the truck and look down on him in 
!»order to appreciate him,” said Mr. Hilliker, and scrambling 
i ; up on the seat of the truck we did look down on Dan. 
([/Such a huge barrel, such a ponderous rump, such a regular 
valley, running through the top of the hind quarters, such 
i?a massive neck, with the points of two fine ears peering 
/through the shaggy top-knot ! It was like appreciating a 
landscape from some eminence, and not a horse. Mr. 
^Herring loves his big steeds, and by care and good judg- 
j nient, has collected a team of horses which would be hard 
i/to equal in the United States, for size, strength, docility, or 
^condition. 
Ill ^ - 
i d he Louisiana Jockey Club inaugurated their spring 
^meeting on April 11th. The weather was delightful, the 
attendance large and the track in fair condition. The first 
I'lace w as one mile and a quarter, for all ages; club purse, 
^oOO; first horse, $400; second horse, $100. Ortolan came 
, m fir8t > followed by Sallie Watson, Port Leonard, B. F. 
‘.Carver, Cllris - Doyle, Nellie R, John McDonald, I.’o. U., 
and Falmouth, in the same order. Time—2:17q. The sec- 
‘,} orul race > flte Pickwick stake, mile heats, for colts and fillies 
three years old; $25 entrance, play or pay, with $1,000 
added; second horse to receive $200, and the third $100. 
j, Tilere were thirty-two nominations and six starters. Bona- 
, venture won. Time—1:51, 1:50£, 1:54. The third nice, 
distance three miles for all ages with 100 pounds on each; 
club purse, $700. The race was won by Silent Friend, 
beating Bessie Lee, Capt. Hutchinson, Carrington, and 
Fannie, in the same order. Time—5:49-£. 
—A trotting match came off at Augusta, Ga.,.on April 
lltli, between Hickory Jack and Basil Duke, mile heats, 1 
best three in five, to harness, for a purse of $1,000. Jack 
Chambers entered Hickory Jack, and James W. Crawford, 
Basil Duke. The latter won the race in three straight 
heats. Time—2:41£, 2:35i, 2:39^. A large crowd was in 
attendance, and about $6,000 changed hands on the result of 
the race. 
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Brood Mares in Spuing. —Having for twenty years 
been a breeder, to some extent, of our noblest domestic 
animal, the horse, I thought a short article on the care and 
general management of the brood mare at this season of 
the year might not be uninteresting. The best feed for the 
brood mare is corn stalks, or good timothy hay, with four 
quarts of ground oats and wheat bran, equal parts each 
day. The ground oats and bran not only enable the dam 
to make all necessary preparation to supply the coming foal 
with nourishment at the time when most needed, but. it 
keeps her healthy and strong, and enables her to furnish 
the growing fcetus with the very best kind of material to 
make the best bone and muscle. The dam should have 
moderate exercise, but it should be regular. If she is used 
in a team, she shorld not be driven faster than a walk, nor 
loaded too heavy, for in either case there is danger of in¬ 
juring the dam and ruining the foal. She should be housed 
or sheltered nights, and in all stormy weather. 
As foaling time approaches, she particularly needs the 
practiced eye of the careful and experienced breeder. For 
she should be watched by day and night, as many a valu¬ 
able colt has been lost, that two minutes’ labor, at the par¬ 
ticular time, would have saved. As soon as the colt is 
dropped, the attendent should see that its head is free from 
the blanket, as it will otherwise soon smother or drown. 
The next thing is to sever the umbilical cord about five 
inches from the foal, and tie the end next to the young colt 
with a string, to prevent bleeding; this, if possible, should 
be done before the dam rises, as many a foal has been 
ruptured at the navel by the dam rising before the string 
was severed. After the above has been promptly attended 
to, leave the dam alone with the .foal for half an hour. If, 
at the end of that time, through weakness or any other 
cause, the young foal has been unable to secure hs natural 
nourishment from its dam, the attendant with whom the 
dam is most familiar, should lose no time in rendering the 
necessary assistance by holding the colt at the side, and by 
putting the nose to the teats of the dam. 
After the colt is able to draw its nourishment from the 
dam without the aid of the attendant, little need be done, 
but furnish a shed, if the weather is inclement, and a good 
liberal supply of hay or stalk, and a peck of ground oats 
and bran per day until there is a full bite of green spring 
grass.— Cor. Michigan Farmer. 
Care of Team Horses. —The following good advice to 
teamsters has been published in the form of a showy poster, 
and sent out by the Massachusetts Society for the Preven¬ 
tion of Cruelty to Animals. It is signed by Daniel H. 
Blanchard, and endorsed by several veterinary surgeons, 
agents of railway and express companies, and by Chas. A. 
Currier, special agent of the society:— 
WHAT CONSTITUTES A GOOD DRIVER. 
1. A man who sees that good care is‘taken of his horse in 
the stable, by being well fed with ‘ wdiolesome food, of 
cracked corn, and oats, with plenty of good hay. 
Potatoes or carrots may be given once or twice a week to 
good advantage. 
See that lie is kept clean, warm and comfortable, with 
plenty of bedding. 
A piece of rock salt should always be left in the manger. 
2. He should see that his harness is kept, soft and clean, 
particularly the inside of the collar, which ought always to 
be smooth, as the perspiration, when dry, causes irritation, 
,and is liable to produce galls on the shoulder. 
The collar should fit closely, with space enough at the 
bottom to admit a man’s hand. If too large, it has the bad 
effect of drawing the shoulders together. 
On no consideration should a team, or any work horse be 
compelled to wear a martingale, as it draws the head down, 
and prevents him from getting into an easy and natural 
position. 
The check-rein may be used, but onty tight enough to 
keep the head in a natural position, and it should never be 
w ound around the hames. 
See that the hames are buckled tight enough at the top to 
bring the draught iron near the centre of the collar. If too 
low, it not only interferes with the action of the shoulder, 
but gives the collar an uneven bearing. 
( Caution should be taken that the girth is not buckled too 
tight, particularly on string teams, for when the traces are 
straightened, it has the tendency to draw the girt against 
the belly, and distress the horse. 
3. See that the horse is kept well shod with a good stiff 
shoe, always calked at toe and heel on the hind feet, as it is 
there where all the propelling power comes from when 
heavily loaded. 
Keep the feet good and strong, by not allowing them to 
be cut away too much by the blacksmith. 
4. The best of judgment should be used in loading, tak¬ 
ing into consideration the condition of the street, and the 
distance to be traveled. 
Never overload, for by so doing, you only distress, strain 
and discourage your horse, and do him more injury than 
you can possibly gain by carrying the extra load. 
When your load is hard to pull, stop often, and give your 
horse a chance to breathe. 
No good driver will ever resort to the cruel practice of 
whipping or beating his horse. A light whip may be car¬ 
ried, but there is seldom use for it. Much more can be ac¬ 
complished by kind treatment and good judgment. 
Bemember the horse is a very intelligent, proud, sensi¬ 
tive, noble animal, the most useful known to man/and is 
deserving of the greatest kindness. 
—There is a bill before the Massachusetts Legislature de¬ 
fining the close season for trout, land-locked salmon and 
salmon trout, between the 20th August and the 20th March 
in each year. 
lnmer§ j$.a (fcoriiezyondmtg. 
We shall endeavor in this department to impart and hope to receive 
such information as may be of service to amateur and professional sjxrfs- 
men. We will cheerfully answer all reasonable questions that fall within 
the scope of this paper , designating localities for good hunting, fish¬ 
ing, . and mapping , and giving advice and instructions as to outfits , im • 
plements, routes, distances, seasons, expenses, remedies , traits, species 
governing rules, etc. All branches of the sportsman's craft will receive 
attention. Anonymous Communications not Noticed. 
C. E. T., Washington, D. C.—Will reply in our next issue. Too 
crowded this week. 
C. Van D.. New Jersey.—We refer you for the answers to your letters 
to Wilkes Spirit of the Times. 
Kittridge, Ayer.—Will you please inform me what size rifle you con¬ 
sider the best for shooting in Maine? Ans. 45-100. 
Carl Hodge, New Haven.—What is the price of Laverack puppies? 
Ans. £10 10 s. each, not including transportion, &c. 
W S. J.-We can send'you Thoreau’s hook by mail; cost $2; think it 
the best. For fishing, seeHallock’s “Fishing Tourist.” 
G. B. J., Boston, Mass.—What rifle do you think the best to shoot 
with in California. What is the price of a good one? Ans. If you will 
look at our advertising columns you will find an ample choice of 
weapons; calibre, 45-100; price from $35 to $60. 
Dauphin, Harrisburg, Penn.—Please give me the title and price of a 
good work on fishing. I want a book concerning preparation of lines, 
flies, bait, knots, &o., and yet not so expensive a work as Norris’? Ans. 
Roosevelt’s Superior Fishing, or Scott’s Fishing in American 
Waters. 
H. E.—Please tell me the best medicine for purifying the blood of a 
terrier dog? Ans. Buttermilk alone is a good but slow alterative in 
cases of a heated, itching skin, or other cutaneous affections short of ac¬ 
tual mange. Nitrate of potash (nitre) is a very useful alterative to dogs, 
in doses from four grains to ten. 
M M. B., Philadelphia.—What is considered the best American made 
breech-loading shot gun? Ans. We do not know which is the best 
Buy one of each and test them thoroughly. Is the Ward Burton 
breech-loading shot gun a "reliable, hard shooting weapon, and 
what do they sell for? Ans. We do not know a shot gun with that mak¬ 
er’s name; there is the Ward-Burton rifle. 
Natty, Central City,Colorado.— Please tell me if the Remington breech 
loading shot guns are good guns. T notice the report of their trial in 
your last issue, but don’t know enough about target, shooting to learn 
from that. How do they compare with the shooting of Scott’s guns at 
the gun trial? Ans. Highly creditably and good all round guns.^ 
F. C., Cleveland. Ohio.—Would it be possible to use a glass eye to 
improve the appearance of a large setter dog that had lost one? Ans. 
Certainly. Do any of the crack long range shooters take other posi¬ 
tions than the standing or kneeling? Ans. lip to 200 yards from the 
shoulder, standing; over 200 yards, any position; some flat on their 
backs, others on their stomachs. 
G. T. H.,Hartford.Conn.—I am anxious to obtain as good a gun as pos¬ 
sible for general shooting, such as quail, grouse, woodcock, &c., and one 
I can use for duck occasionally, perhaps ouce a year. Will you kindly 
advise me in this matter as to the weight, length of barrels, stock, gauge, 
&c.? Ans. The weight should be about 7}- lbs., length of barrels, 28 in. ’ 
stock depends on length of your arm and neck; gauge, 12 bore. ’ If you 
can carry a little heavier gun, say lbs., we should advise you to buy a 
10 bore, you would then be able to kill an extra duck or two. 
Piscatoraltst. Philadelphia.—Will any ordinary pond do for breeding 
gold-fish? Where is the best place to get them for breeding? vghen do 
they spawn, and how many would you putin a pond 40 feet square? 
When hatched will they be red or black? Ans. Any pond will do, pro¬ 
vided all the catfish and pickerel have been taken out, as they are very 
destructive to the young fish. Their spawning season is during May and 
June. Your pond will hold from one to five hundred. Good breeding 
fish can be had of J Bagot. 31 Fulton street, N. Y. The color varies* 
some are red from birth, others do not get so until they are three or four 
inches long. 
E. S. H., Grand Rapids, Mich.—Please inform me in your Answers to 
Correspondents if there is a work on icthyology giving full descriptions of 
the fishes of America, and taking the same place with reference to fish 
that Gray’s Manual of Botany does to plants and Coues’ Key does to 
birds; if not, what is the nearest approach to it? Ans. Do not know of 
any work that embraces all the fishes of America. There is DeKay’s Re¬ 
port on the Fishes of the State of New York, and “Arrangement of the 
Families of Fishes,” by Theodore Gill. Address Naturalists’ Agency, 
Salem, Mass. 
Zoologist, Providence, R. 1.—Consult‘articles in back numbers of 
Forest and Stream or purchase the “Naturalist’s Guide, ” price $2 
Address Naturalists’Agency. Salem, Mass. Would advise you to take 
a few small wide-nosed bottles with rubber stoppers, filled with alcohol 
to pntyour insects in. Use a small pair of pincers or tweezers for secur¬ 
ing the caleoptera and other insects, and a small gauze net for butterflies 
moths, &c. For preserving bird’s skins, use dry arsenic and fill them 
out with cotton, and make some shallow wooden trays that will fit i n a 
box and rest on each other to keep them in. Take with you a few pieces 
of canvas or two or three rubber ponchos to throw over provisions 
specimens, guns, ammunition. &c., during rainy weather when in camp’ 
For collecting geological specimens, use a heavy hammer with a long 
handle, a square head and a flattened nose, the edge running at right an¬ 
gles with the handle. 
R. B. W.-Will you please answer the following questions- 1st 
Are there more than one variety of the dusky duck? About the" 1st of 
October 1 shot a pair of ducks (on a fresh meadow at the head of tide 
water) with markings similar to the dusky duck, but only about two 
thirds the size.and with bodies larger in proportion to their size than the 
dn,sky duck. Unfortunately I did not save the birds, and never have 
been able to get any information regarding them from the duck shooters 
2 d. 1 have remarked, and have often heard it remarked that the fish 
hawk (osprey) never increase in numbers in localities; from year to vear 
they occupy the same nests, but their young do not return to build nests 
Can you inform me what becomes of them? Ans. 1st. The Gadwall is 
the dusky duck, aud there is but one species. The black ducks and fe 
male mallards are sometimes called dusky ducks by gunners The bird J 
you killed were probably young black ducks. 2 d. The osprey generally 
breeds in one locality, and often uses the same nest for several years in 
succession. The young birds seek new breeding grounds in any local 
ity that suits them, near some lake, river, or the seaside. 
I tnougni uiai iuck- ..*£> .“<= ms ear. but ca 
animation proven the contrary. He is in good health, appears ]j 
shows no tenderness upon careful manipulation about the) 
neck, but persistently drops his head over to the right side. Hp 
valuable animal, which'makes me desirous of obtaining all t 
mationregardingthe probable cause of the trouble. Imayadr 
is not overfednor very fat, and has regular exercise. He pW, 
cations of discomfort whatever. If any of your corresponded 
light upon the nature of the trouble and its treatment it will l 
valued by one who is not only a subscriber, but who takes m 
sending your admirable paper to many portions of the con 
which it is remuneration enough to hear, as one writes to Z 
“sot up all night a readm’of it.” Ans. We could onlv 
most likely has occurred to our correspondent S., namely 3 
Could any of our readers give any remedy ? y > gal 
