228 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



October, l9l3 



The Horse's Fool — Soil and 

 Climate. 



With regard to the right and 

 pra]>er growth of the horse's foot, 

 there would almost appear to be 

 a certain amount of contradiction 

 in the laws of Nature. The Arabs 

 of the desert must have had their 

 earliest experiences on dry, if not 

 hot, sands, where there can be but 

 little moisture from year's end to 

 year's end. There is nothing to 

 show, however, that the Arabs do 

 not treat their horses in a manner 

 calculated to counteract the dis- 

 advantages of heat and soil. They 

 ffonerally live npar wells that give 

 a never-failing supply of water, 

 and the chiefs know their way 

 from one siet of wells to another. 

 Their colts, supposed to wander 

 about the settlements that are 

 free of all pasture, mav have thei'r 

 feet washed and attended to for all 

 anyone knows, and the supposition 

 that a very dry soil is the best for 

 the healthy condition of horses' 

 feet may be based on no better 

 grounds than those believed in bv 

 a well-known trainer who shorten- 



ed his supply of water to his 

 horses because they descended from 

 an Arab source. And so must we 

 come down from those accustomed 

 to work on scanty supplies of the 

 liquid elements. At any rate, 

 when allowing that Arabs have 

 generally hard,, serviceable feet, 

 they ' are no better than horsies 

 bred elsewhere. It is possible that 

 Australian horses might take the 

 palm with respect to qualities as 

 durable feet, but they may only 

 be from management on the part 

 of Knelishmen to suit them for 

 the spil and climate. 



Such considerations can be ex- 

 tended to every part of the United 

 Kingdom, as there are different 

 conditions, no doubt, in almost 

 every country of England, Ireland, 

 vScotland and Wales. There is 

 much to show the shallow soil on 

 the tops of hills ar on plateaus 

 that are dried up much b}' sun- 

 rays is the worst of conditions for 

 the horse's foot. 'It does not 

 grow there. The late Doctor Free- 

 man, of Bath, was fond of chalk 

 soil for the well-being of his yoimg 

 thoroughbreds, but he did not like 

 it for their feet, and would have 



changed his stud farm if he could 

 ha\e done so without interfering 

 with his great professional duties. 

 Those who purchased the Lans- 

 down yearlings will vote that the 

 doctor's fears were well conceived, 

 as they nearly always failed 

 through having small, contracted' 

 feet. There are many other studis 

 in England of thorojughbreds. 

 Shires, Hackneys, etc., that "have 

 been found out as possessing the 

 same disadvantages, and when one 

 hea'rs of thi^ or that breeder 

 changing his abode and taking his 

 stud wdth him, it is nearly always 

 because the primary value of his 

 stock is threatened by the growth 

 of small, upright, donkey feet, in- 

 stead of the wide, healthy foot, 

 possesising plenty of good, hard 

 horn, it being an imquestionable 

 truism that where there is no foot 

 there can be no horse. 



— The Horse in Nature. — _ 



Now, what can be adduced from 

 a consideration of the condition of 

 the horse in nature ? The moor- 

 pony lives on what might be 

 called the most unhealthy soil im- ^ 

 aginable, bogs that had never been 



-1 



"CYCLONE" 



DOUBLE DRIVEWAY 



GATE 



Cjrelona Cote* So not m(; 



(Registered Design.) 

 Fig. 178. 



'I'ey •»« no' •ffected by the weather, they are light, perfectly balanced, and secure, 

 ao ideal gate for the Garden, the Street, the Carriage Drive, or the f^arm. 



is only one of the 

 many beautiful de- 

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 for suburban resi- 

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 specified in our 

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Cyclone Gate 

 f- rames are made of 

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 Unless specially or- 

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 small hand-gates of 

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 larger openings up 

 to and including 

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 (outside measure- 

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 i ;3 in. steel tubing 

 (outside measure- 

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Rigidity is effec- 

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 only by the braces 

 or mesh, as the 

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 no joints in the top 

 corners. 



A Cyclone Gate U 



I 



CYCLONE FENCE & GATE CO. 123-126 Waymouth Street, Adelaide 



