1881.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
281 
voided whole, particularly by a greedy feed¬ 
er. The use of chaif, to about twice the bulk 
of the grain, and mixed with it, in a measure 
forces horses to grind its food properly. 
To give cut feed altogether is probably a 
matter of questionable benefit. The opera¬ 
tion may save a little hay, which, when 
chaffed, is swallowed more quickly than when 
long. For animals working during many 
hours this is claimed as a merit. This speed 
is at the expense of a deficient admixture of 
saliva with the food, and is consequently a 
source of indigestion. With horses, indiges¬ 
tion frequently means colic, and colic—death. 
A comparatively idle horse should be al¬ 
lowed to take all the amusement he can get 
out of his hay, instead of shortening the time 
required for its consumption, by putting it 
through the cutter. It will tend to save the 
manger and stable fittings from his teeth. 
The hours of feeding will depend so entire¬ 
ly on the work to be done, that specific direc¬ 
tions cannot be given, but the most regular 
hours possible must be adopted. Recollect 
that the horse’s stomach is but a small one, 
and requires to be frequently replenished. He 
should not go more than four, or at the out¬ 
side five hours without feeding. Give about 
half the daily ration of hay, and one-third of 
the grain, in the evening, and the remainder 
at the most convenient times during the day. 
It is thought that more good is derived from 
the grain if fed after the hay has been eaten. 
A lump of rock salt should be within the 
reach of every horse, one might almost say 
of every animal, to be licked when inclina¬ 
tion prompts. If rock salt is not attainable, 
a little common salt should be given occasion¬ 
ally in the feed. 
Water and Watering. 
The safest plan of giving water, is to have 
it within reach at all times, of course except¬ 
ing when a horse is over-heated. Then half 
a pail of water, with the chill off (not warm), 
in which half a pint of oat or Indian meal 
has been stirred, is at once safe and refresh¬ 
ing. This is also useful on a journey, as on a 
long one a horse cannot feed every twelve or 
fourteen miles without cloying the appetite. 
Something is then wanted immediately be¬ 
tween feeds, and a drink of meal and water 
is the thing to be given. 
If water cannot be supplied constantly to 
a vessel in the stable, the next best way of 
watering is at a tank or brook, to which the 
horse is led, and where he can take as much 
as he pleases. This ad libitum use. of water 
cannot be indulged in when fast work is re¬ 
quired, but this is not written for the racing 
stable. In ordinary work it is safe and com¬ 
forting. Very many horses are seriously in¬ 
jured from the absurb notion that restraint 
is necessary in drinking, and many are killed 
by it. A horse so restrained will surely, some 
time or other, get the opportunity for a big 
drink, an opportunity he will as surely make 
use of, and perhaps fatally. The animal that 
habitually has access to water, will not con¬ 
sume so much, nor evince that desperate, 
eager desire shown by those that are restrain¬ 
ed, and may usually be allowed, and with 
safety, to take it at any time. If the oppor¬ 
tunity of a watering place presents itself, a 
mile or so before reaching home, and the horse 
allowed to drink there, even if somewhat 
warm, he will be ready for his feed immedi¬ 
ately after being unhitched. 
A good bed keeps a horse clean when lay¬ 
ing down, and aids his rest. Wheat straw 
is the best article of which to make it, and 
about five cwt. per annum will be needed. 
Diseases of tlie Horse. 
Horses are liable to many ailments, and 
some that run their course very rapidly. It 
is not possible, within the limits of this article, 
to discuss them, and their treatment should 
be left in the hands of the Veterinary Sur¬ 
geon. To treat diseases empirically is highly 
objectionable, either for man or beast. It is 
better to maintain health by careful and regu¬ 
lar feeding, cleanliness, and the avoidance of 
draughts and chills, than to have to resort to 
doctoring. Should a horse seem unwell, a 
little judicious inaction is often the best 
course. A day’s rest, stoppage of the grain 
rations, and restraint in the matter of hay, 
will be likely to put him quite right again. 
Three bran mashes, given on alternate nights, 
in which 1 oz. Flowers of Sulphur, 1 oz. 
Cream of Tartar, 1 oz. Nitre, and y 4 oz. of 
Black Antimony have been mixed, will proba¬ 
bly cure trifling ailments, and be specially use¬ 
ful for hide-bound, surfeit, itchiness of the 
skin, cracked heels, or similar disorders, and, 
in conjunction with topical treatment, effect 
a cure. If there is indigestion and its conse¬ 
quent flatulence, the addition to each mash 
of 1 oz. of Ground Ginger will be useful. 
An unthrifty horse will receive great bene¬ 
fit from 3 oz. cold-drawn Linseed Oil, given 
every alternate night, for a fortnight, in a 
cold mash. It will not produce any immedi¬ 
ate effect, but in a month the skin should be 
soft, loose, and glossy, and a manifest im¬ 
provement in flesh be visible. Boiled barley, 
in which a little molasses is mixed, is a fine 
help in bringing a horse into flesh. 
Young horses, when shedding their teeth, 
or cutting the bridle teeth ; and older ones, 
when put on higher feeding than they are ac¬ 
customed to, sometimes suffer from a swel¬ 
ling of the mouth called lampas. The ridges 
or bars project below the teeth, and prevent 
or interfere with mastication. For constitu¬ 
tional treatment, give the mashes previously 
described, and either scarify the bars with a 
sharp knife, or rub them with a stick of lu¬ 
nar caustic. Horses to wdiorn the mashes 
have been given, and whose mouths have had 
no other treatment than frequent rubbings 
with coarse dry salt, have rapidly got rid of 
the lampas. Other swellings of the mouth, 
or rather inside the cheek, called bags, or 
“ barbs,” can be reduced in the same way. 
Attacks of Colic most frequently are the 
result of carelessness, tthd generally may be 
traced to a horse having drank cold water 
when heated, or immediately after being fed, 
by being gorged with food after long fasting, 
or being chilled by currents of cold air. 
Some horses are constitutionally more liable 
to it than others. The first symptoms are a 
general fidgetiness, accompanied by lifting 
of the feet, very quickly, followed by violent 
rolling. These symptoms also indicate other 
disorders, requiring very different treatment 
from colic. There are two that distinguish 
colic from inflammation of the bowels. In 
the former, the horse will strike his belly vio¬ 
lently with his feet, and will feed between 
the paroxysms of pain ; but in the latter, 
though he may lift his feet, he will not strike, 
and the pain is continuous. 
When colic symptoms are accompanied by 
constipation, the first care must be to empty 
the bowels by “back-raking” and injections 
of warm water. Here, clearly, the stimulat¬ 
ing medicines proper to flatulent colic would 
be inappropriate, and most likely produce in¬ 
flammation of the bowels. Flatulent colic is 
the more frequent and sudden form, requir¬ 
ing prompt treatment, and perhaps with what 
may be at hand in a country place. A horse 
got quickly well after the administration of 
y 4 pint of Gin, and 2 oz. of Ground Ginger, 
mixed with water to fill a soda-water bottle, 
from which it was poured down his throat. 
Equal parts of Whiskey and Milk, and from 
half a pint to a pint at a time has been useful. 
A veterinary prescription for colic, is : 
Spirits of Turpentine, -1 ounces, 
Linseed Oil, 12 ounces, 
Laudanum, li ounce, 
to be mixed, and given every hour until the 
pain ceases. Bathing the belly with hot wa¬ 
ter, and friction, are both useful. If a horse 
is led about quietly, not galloped, as will be 
done by ignorant grooms, it will aid the ac¬ 
tion of the medicine, and prevent a horse 
from hurting himself by rolling, as he will 
be apt to do, during the paroxysms of pain. 
Worms are a bite noir to horse owners, and 
probably get credit for doing more mischief 
than they really cause. They are chiefly of 
two kinds : one, pinkish in color, and like an 
angle worm in appearance, and the other 
much smaller, and resembling a short piece 
of thick thread, or fine twine. The first is 
found chiefly in the small intestines, and the 
latter in the parts near the vent. A horse in¬ 
fested with the larger kind of worms w T ill 
have an irregular appetite, eating voracious¬ 
ly at times, but without deriving benefit from 
his food; and is apt to be weak and thin, 
sliow T ing that certain sign of unthrift, a star¬ 
ing coat. It is this variety that is most mis¬ 
chievous ; the smaller ones being more an¬ 
noying than injurious, causing, as they do, 
very considerable itching and irritation. A 
scurfy appearance about the vent, and under 
the tail, indicates the presence of worms. 
A medicine composed of 2 drachms of 
powdered Sulphate of Iron, and */ 3 drachm 
of powdered Ginger, mixed with Linseed 
Meal into a ball, to be given every morning 
for a week, and followed by a dose of Lin¬ 
seed Oil, is a recognized mode of treatment 
for the larger pink worms. The smaller ones 
are best dislodged by the daily injection of 
a pint of Linseed Oil, mixed with a little 
Turpentine. Occasional washes are useful, 
as the appetite and the bowels may indicate. 
Bots may be killed by giving medicines 
sufficiently strong to be fatal to the horse, 
and so get rid of both together. Their at¬ 
tachment to the stomach is mechanical, and 
they will remain there until the season of 
their escape arrives. To prevent them, let 
the eggs from which they proceed, and which 
may be seen as yellow nits attached to the 
hairs of the legs, and some parts of the body 
in summer, be removed, so that the horse can 
not get them into its stomach by licking. 
(concluded next month.) 
S.oading Elay. —To properly dispose of 
the hay as it is pitched upon the wagon, re¬ 
quires considerable skill. Long, wide, and 
low loads are much better than the opposite, 
for both the pitcher and the loader ; besides, 
there is much less danger of the load slipping 
off, or the wagon being upset by an unequal¬ 
ity in the surface of the field. If a horse- 
fork is used for unloading, the person who 
manages the loading should bear this in mind, 
and so place the hay as it is pitched to him, 
that the fork will work to the best advantage. 
