Live Stock. 



[April, 190». 



take diseases to the provinces, guarding 

 the interests and shipment of diseased 

 animals, and promptly isolating infected 

 and exposed animals whenever the 

 disease makes its appearance. 



The opinion expressed by Dr. Koch 

 as to the possible time under the most 

 favourable conditions within which the 

 disease might be placed under control is 

 not overdrawn. These conditions, how- 

 ever, are practically impossible at the 

 present time. It would be a very opti- 

 mistic view for those who have the 

 responsibility of placing the disease 

 under control to suppose that the work 

 will be accomplished within one year. 



On the contrary there is every indi- 

 cation that it will be a work of several 

 years if the conditions surrounding the 

 work do not materially change. 



The restoration of depleted fortunes 

 after a destructive war, the reclaiming of 

 waste lauds, the natural increase of the 

 small herds left after the ravages of 

 rinderpest so recently experienced, the 

 building and rebuilding; of ridges and 

 roads all require time. Then there is the 

 modernizing of education, agriculture, 

 industry and commerce in an oriental 

 colony which learned its best lessons 

 years ago from a European nation, now 

 in its turn learning anew the same 

 lesson from the more progressive nations 

 of the world. — Philippine Agricultural 

 Rcvieiv, Vol, I., No. 11, November, 1908. 



THE BEST TIME TO WATER 

 HORSES. 



By F. W. Culver, m.d.c, 

 Colorado Agricultural College, Fort Collins. 



A horse should be watered before feed- 

 ing, and never given a large quantity of 

 water after a meal, for the simple reason 

 that the water will wash the food out of 

 the stomach before stomach digestion 

 has taken place and the food will not 

 be well prepared for absorption ; and 

 besides it is sometimes the cause of colic. 



There is a popular idea that a warm 

 horse should not be allowed to drink 

 and, unlike a great many other popular 

 ideas, there is a little truth in it. If you 

 water a warm horse in the ordinary way, 

 letting him drink all that he will, you 

 are likely to have a foundered horse on 

 your hands. This is especially so if, at 

 the time, the horse is fatigued. Never- 



theless, it is always safe to allow him 

 from six to ten swallows, no matter how 

 warm he is. If this be given on going 

 into the stable and he be allowed to 

 stand and eat hay for an hour and is 

 then offered water, he will not drink 

 nearly so much as he would had none 

 been given before. 



The danger is not in the first swallow, 

 as we often hear it asserted, but in the 

 excessive quantities he will drink if not 

 restrained. The most dangerous time to 

 give a horse a full draft is when he has 

 cooled down from fatiguing work and 

 has partaken of a meal. 



John Splan, the great trainer, writes : 

 " As to water, I think that a horse should 

 have all that he wants at all times. A 

 man says : ' Why ; will you give your 

 horse water before a race ? ' Yes ; before 

 the race, in the race, and after the race, 

 and any other time that he wants to 

 drink." When I say give your horse all 

 the water he wants before the race, I do 

 not mean that you shall tie him in a 

 warm stall where he cannot get a drink 

 tor five or six hours and then give him all 

 that he wants. What 1 mean is a hot 

 day, and then take him to the pump and 

 to give him water often and, in that way, 

 he will take only a small quantity at a 

 time. 



After long, continuous exertion the 

 system is greatly depleted of fluid. 

 Nature calls for its replacement, and 

 this is the cause of a thirst which is so 

 intense that, if the animal is not restrain- 

 ed at this time, he may drink much more 

 than he needs. 



The general custom, almost universally 

 followed, of giving the morning meal 

 before water, is not very objectionable, 

 either theoretically or practically. At 

 this time there is no depletion of fluid, 

 consequently the horse is not very thirsty 

 and does not drink rapidly or excessively, 

 and apparently very little evil results 

 from this method. However, the writer 

 much prefers that the horse should have 

 an opportunity to drink before the 

 morning meal. 



Personally, I much prefer keeping 

 horses, both summer and winter, in an 

 open shed, with a large water tank in 

 the yard, to tying them by the head in 

 a barn. This brings us to the arrange- 

 ment of farm buildings, which I hope to 

 discuss in some subsequent papei.— 

 Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manu- 

 facturer, Vol. XLI., No. 26, December 26. 

 1908, p. 414. 



