78 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



STABLING AND MEDICINE. 



There is nothing more common or much 

 more cruel than to see this noble animal, after 

 rendering his master good service, returned fa- 

 tigued to a contracted jind filthy stall, in a dark 

 and unventilated stable, and there tied by the 

 neck with a rope, inviting him to hang himself 

 to get clear of such cruelty. A stable should 

 be constructed so as to afford a free circula- 

 tion of air and light, with large, roomy stalls, 

 (closed stalls are best), but if for want of room 

 it be necessary to tie the horse, have a leather 

 head-stall with a rope rein ; pass it through an 

 augur hole in the manger, attach a weight to 

 the lower end. The horse can then stand up to 

 the trough, or step back and lie down without 

 being entangled with the rope. Pure fresh air 

 is necessary for man or beast, and if a stable 

 be closed the air will be hot and foul ; and be- 

 ing often breathed it becomes contaminated, in- 

 juring the circulation of the blood, impairing 

 the healthful action of the lungs. It destroys 

 digestion and health. Although a free circu- 

 lation of air is essential to the health of the ani- 

 mal, care should be exercised that the wind 

 blow not upon him ; a fresh current of air 

 blowing upon his head will give him cold, cough, 

 &c. We hope the day is past when any lack 

 will be permitted to remain in a stable, from 

 which the horse will fill his eyes with hay seed, 

 and then pull down and waste his hay and fill 

 his trough with litter. There should be good 

 mangers constructed with troughs by their sides 

 roomy and tight that feed be not wasted ; and 

 to insure regular salting, which is very impor- 

 tant, have a box constructed within reach of 

 the horse, and keep in it a constant supply of 

 salt and wood ashes, or a little lime, that the 

 horse may use it at pleasure. We think the 

 lime or ashes promotes appetite, prevents worms 

 and adds to general health. The importance of 

 light in stables is not generally duly appreci- 

 ated. Man or beast confined for a time in a dun- 

 geon and then brought into a glaring light, the 

 eyes will be sensibly affected by it, and a fre- 

 quent repetition of it will produce blindness. 

 There is nothing more injurious to the eyes of a 

 horse than to be confined in a dark, filthy stable, 

 straining his eyes through a crack or small 

 opening to behold the light of day. Hence the 

 propriety of removing all filth and smell from 

 his stable. The ammonia produced from the 

 decomposition of litter, urine, &c, in a close, 

 confined stable, fermented and heated, produces 

 a noxious vapor, very injurious to the eyes and 

 general health of the horse, and if disease, such 

 as cronic cough, inflammation of lungs, break 

 out jimong your horses, where such impurities 

 exist, it is not to be wondered at. 



MEDICINE. 



The old adage of an ounce of preventive be- 

 ing better than a pound of cure, is very applica- 

 ble in the treatment of horses, no less so than 

 in the treatment of the "ills to which flesh is 



heir" in man. There is no doubt but it is with 

 horses as it is with the human family in the 

 hands of quack doctors, that more are killed 

 than are cured by the administration of medi- 

 cine. The common practice among farmers is, 

 when a horse is sick, to say, "Oh ! he has the 

 cholic," or that he has the bots, (a disease, the 

 dangerous existence of which is much doubted 

 by modern writers) and they will go to work 

 without a proper knowledge of his disease, and 

 give him drench upon drench of whiskey, gun- 

 powder, turpentine and other inflammatory 

 drugs to cure him of a cholic or bots, when per- 

 haps the disease is inflammation of the bowels, 

 if so, every drench they have given him is like 

 pouring oil upon fire, and served rather to ag- 

 gravate than to mitigate or allay the disorder, 

 so that the horse is much more apt to die than 

 if left to nature for a cure. But it is not my 

 object to write a treatise on Medicine at this 

 time, but merely to show the danger and cruelty 

 of administering medicine to the noble animal 

 without a proper diagnosis, and the practical 

 advantage of preventing diseases over that of 

 an attempt to cure them by an application of 

 inappropriate remedies. And we now assert 

 without fear of contradiction, that if the horse 

 be properly fed upon judiciously prepared food, 

 regularly watered, stabled, salted, kindly treated 

 and made comfortable as above directed, he will 

 render good service until old age, without much 

 disease. 



The horses used by the farmer, such as saddle, 

 harness and the plough and wagon horse, 

 should receive the same general treatment (and 

 food) with the exception above made, where 

 quick, hard work is required. The voluminous 

 nature of our subject prevents us from giving 

 more than some general outlines in the present 

 essay. Much must be left to the common sense 

 of the farmer, without which he will not suc- 

 ceed well with horses or any other stock. 



L. L. D. 



Jefferson Co., Ky. 



Fertilizers for Fruit Trees. 



In relation to appropriate fertilizers for 

 trees a diversity of opinion prevails. All 

 agree that certain substances exist in 

 plants and trees, and that these must be 

 contained in the soil to produce growth, 

 elaboration and perfection. To supply 

 these, some advocate the use of what are 

 called " special manures," others ridicule 

 the idea. I would suggest whether this is 

 not a difference in language rather than in 

 principle ; for in special fertilizers, the 

 first make simply those which correspond 

 with the constituents of the crop ; but are 

 not the second careful to select and apply 

 manures which contain those elements ? 

 and do they not, in practice, affix the seal 



