18 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[January, 
If one visits one or more of the many Poultry Ex¬ 
hibitions, now being held in widely separated parts 
of the Union, he will be convinced of its truth. 
There are breeds upon breeds, and varieties almost 
without number, some of them being quite new to 
the trade. To the making of new varieties of poultry, 
there seems to be no end ; but with it all, the stock, 
as a whole, is getting better. Division of labor has 
come in, and some breeds are noted for their sitting 
powers, while others, so to speak, furnish the 
eggs, while others still, furnish the best flesh. It 
is pleasant to think that outward beauty, and in¬ 
ward usefulness, can be thoroughly combined in 
these birds; to know that in some cases, “ fine 
feathers,” do make “ fine birds,” and that a grace¬ 
ful form, and proud bearing, does not of necessity 
exclude solid and useful qualities. 
Training of a Kicking Horse. 
A method of curing a kicking horse, or of train¬ 
ing a colt to withstand any unusual pressure or 
contact of the harness behind, is described as fol¬ 
lows : The animal is harnessed, as usual, to the 
shafts of a buggy or wagon; the shafts are then 
separated from the vehicle, being kept from trailing 
on the ground by straps or cords from the crupper, 
Eig. 3. 
DRIVING A KICKING HORSE. 
as shown in the engraving. The horse or colt is 
then driven in* the usual manner, the driver walking 
behind, and occasionally pushing the shafts to cause 
the breeching to press on the hind-quarters, or 
pulling them sidewise to interfere with the crupper, 
or in any way that may be possible, endeavoring 
to disturb the animal and train him to remain quiet 
under the disturbance. The horse may kick as he 
pleases, the shafts can not be hurt, as they are 
raised at every attempt. In time the horse will 
understand the matter, and refrain from kicking. 
The Sheep’s Foot—Care and Neglect of It. 
Foot-rot is a most destructive disease of the sheep. 
There is an incipient, and easily preveDtible, and 
curable form of this disease, and there is a malig¬ 
nant and contagious Foot-rot, which infects and 
poisons the soil, and spreads sometimes with most 
frightful effect, among large flocks, destroying the 
sheep by hundreds and thousands. The malignant 
form grows out of the other, and it is questionable 
if it could not be prevented from spreading among 
the sheep, even from infected ground, if their feet 
were only in good condition. But the sheep’s foot 
is seldom in good condition naturally, because the 
shepherd rarely thinks it necessary to examine it, 
until something wrong is evident, from the lame¬ 
ness caused by it.” Then precaution comes too late. 
The manner of growth of the sheep’s foot is peculiar, 
and upon this depends its proclivity to damage 
and disease. The walls 
of the hoof grow from 
abovedownwards,meet¬ 
ing the growth of the 
sole at the junction; 
the outer layers of the 
former being produced 
indefinitely, and if not 
worn away by contact 
with the ground, pass 
the sole and spread be¬ 
yond it, turning under,and forming a loose covering, 
beneath which, moisture,filth,sand,stones,and other 
foreign matter find a lodgement. These foreign mat¬ 
ters soften the horn of the sole, or otherwise in¬ 
jure it, so that disorganization, or distraction occurs, 
and carries the injury into the interior of the foot. 
Stones or gravel that may be enclosed under the 
excess of horn, press upon the softened sole and 
irritate the sensitive tissues under it, and although 
as yet, no actual damage may have occurred, yet 
the sheep is unable to walk upon its feet, and 
moves about on its knees. When this is seen, no 
time should be lost in examining the flock, and 
==~ —■ _ remedying the mis¬ 
chief, while this can 
yet be easily done. The 
feet will probably ap¬ 
pear as shown at fig¬ 
ure 2, the walls of the 
foot having out-grown 
the sole, and not only 
turning under at the 
sides, but turning up at 
the toes (figs. 2 and 3), 
thus preventing the 
natural use of the feet. 
This is to be remedied 
by the use of a pair of 
toe nippers, made ex¬ 
pressly for trimming 
the feet, and also by 
the use of the knife. 
The walls of the feet 
are trimmed at the 
sides with a knife, and all superfluous horn is 
removed. The toes are clipped with the nipp’ers, 
figure 4 ; a pair of common pincers may be used, 
if the edges of the claws are filed and ground sharp. 
The hoofs then appear as at figure 5; the toes 
being clipped, to reduce the sole from the distorted 
form, to the rounded form, as shown at figure 3. 
Neglect of these precautions, has ruined many 
flocks, while the pastures have become so poisoned 
with the diseased and infectious matter, that no 
healthy sheep could be kept upon them, until after 
an interval sufficient to rid them of the contagion. 
The result of neglect may be described as follows : 
The horn of the sole being softened and decomposed, 
as previously mentioned, and the sensitive inner 
portions of the foot being injured, inflammatory 
and suppurative action is caused within the foot; 
Fig. 4.— sheep’s toe nippers. 
escape of the products of inflammation being im¬ 
possible through the sole at first; intense suffering 
results, and a generally disturbed condition of the 
animal ensues. This is the first stage of malignant 
foot-rot. In course of time the sole is decomposed, 
and fetid pus escapes, by which the herbage and 
soil are infected. The disease spreads through the 
whole foot, and appears at the coronet. Fungoid, 
or mushroom-like excrescences appear on the sole, 
and at the coronet, and if neglected at this stage, 
the whole foot may be lost and the sheep ruined. 
In this condition, radical treatment is needed.. 
The sound animals should be removed at once to 
new* and clean pastures, or into a clean yard. The 
diseased sheep are to be treated, by means of caus¬ 
tic dressings of the feet; Hydrochloric (Muriatic) 
Acid, diluted with three times its bulk of water; 
a solution of one dram of Chloride of Zinc, in a 
pint of water, or Carbolic Acid should be used to 
destroy the diseased growths, and persevered in, 
until sound parts are reached, when the usual stim¬ 
ulant dressings may be substituted. The sheep 
should be kept on a clean floor, covered, or well 
dusted with fine air-slacked lime, or in a dry, clean, 
soft pasture, which should be plowed, so soon as 
its use by the sheep is no longer necessary. 
The Boys at Work. 
Interesting Experiments in Com Raising by 
138 Blaine Boys.—An Example 
Worthy of Wide Imitation. 
Stillman B. Allen, Esq., for many years*past in 
successful business in Boston, retains a lively in¬ 
terest in the place where he spent his boyhood, a 
quarter of a century or more ago—York County, Me. 
One of the ways of manifesting this interest is in 
stimulating the boys of the present day to observa¬ 
tion, thought, and experiment. Last spring he 
offered $200 in seven prizes—one of §100, one of 
§50, and five of $10 each—to the boys in the County 
under 17 years of age, who should produce the most 
Indian com upon one-eiglith of an acre. Each boy 
intending to compete was to send his name before 
May 1st, to the President of the County Agricultural 
Society, who had charge of awarding the prizes. 
About 200 boys reported. A committee of one or 
more men was appointed in each town to measure 
every parcel of ground, and to be present at the 
harvesting, husking, and weighing of the crop, and 
report at the Town House in Alfred on Oct. 25. 
Each boy was required to fill out the blanks fur¬ 
nished, giving a full account of the time of plowing, 
planting, kind of seed corn, and full particulars as 
to manure, cultivation, etc, (These blanks will be 
bound in book form by Mr. Allen, and kept in the 
archives of the County Agricultural Society for 
reference and use.) We have before us the report 
of Mr. John Hall, President of the Society, giving 
a full account of the results obtained by 138 of the 
boys, some 75 of whom were present with their 
parents and many others, at the time of making the 
reports. We regret not to have been among the 
number to have seen the displays of the specimens 
of com, and especially to have seen the bright¬ 
eyed, enterprising boys. We have space for but an 
epitome of some of the results. The ears were 
reckoned at 70 lbs. for a shelled bushel of 56 lbs. 
The average yield of the whole 138 trials was just 
about 100 bushels of shelled corn per acre. The 
first prize was awarded to Moses Milliken, of Bidde- 
ford, for 160 bushels per acre. 2d to David J. 
Morrell, of Cornish, 153 bushels. The next five 
prizes went to A. O. Bennett, of Waterboro, 145 
bushels; Cyrus H. Smith, of Dayton, 144 bushels ; 
Willie B. Moore, of Limerick, 142 bushels ; Charlie 
G. Austin, of Lebanon, 141 bushels ; and Arthur M. 
Deering, of Waterboro, 140 bushels. Six boys raised 
131 to 137bushels per acre; 12 raised 120 to 127 
bushels ; 23 produced 110 to 119 bushels ; 24 pro¬ 
duced 100 to 109 bushels—making 72 boys who 
grew 100 bushels and upward. 22 others produced 
from 90 to 99 bushels per acre. 29 obtained 75 to 
89 bushels, and only 15 fell below 75 bushels of 
shelled corn per acre. Doubtless, owing to poor 
soil, lack of fertilizers, etc, many of the boys getting 
the lesser crops were entitled to high praise for 
their efforts. Indeed we commend every boy who 
had the intelligence and spirit to enter the contest. 
This shows what can be done in producing corn 
in a county in Maine, lying between 43° and 44° of 
