298 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
excesses of any kind is sure to suffer from fre¬ 
quent and violent attacks of illness, and end 
his days prematurely. It is hardly less so 
with man’s favorite animal, the horse. 
Change of diet, cleanliness, and good shelter 
should not be overlooked. For the horse run¬ 
ning at large, as in the wild state, the diet 
which nature gives him is all-sufficient, but for 
one confined, stabled, and worked, much atten¬ 
tion should be given to his food. Hay and oats 
are doubtless the best food, all things consider¬ 
ed, but even these should have an occasional va¬ 
riation. Carrots, potatoes, bran, fresh cut grass, 
should be given him in their place and time. 
During Summer it seems only simple justice that, 
when practicable, the horse* should be treated 
for a time to that food which is most natural to 
him—fresh grass. If every stabled, hard work¬ 
ing horse could have a summer vacation of sev¬ 
eral weeks in a pasture, it would soften his dry 
and cracked hoofs, correct his digestion, im¬ 
prove his wind, his skin, and indeed renovate 
his entire system. But where this indulgence 
can not be enjoyed, a horse should have fre¬ 
quent messes of loosening food, such as roots, 
bran mashes with cut straw, fresh grass, etc. 
As to cleanliness, both good looks and health 
demand this. A horse well curried will make a 
peck of oats go much further than one un¬ 
groomed. Good shelter saves many a horse 
from taking cold when coming in from work, 
aud adds much to his health and daily comfort. 
Diseases in Animals—A Useful Society. 
Announcement is made in English Journals 
of the formation of a “ Society for the Preven¬ 
tion of Disease among Domestic Animals.” 
The prospectus declares that in Great Britain, 
live stock to the amount of $30,000,000 is annu¬ 
ally destroyed, principally by contagious dis¬ 
eases. It is proposed by the Society to aid in 
reducing this enormous loss, by collecting infor¬ 
mation and statistics concerning the diseases of 
animals; by affording advice and assistance to 
stock-owners, wherever general outbreaks of 
disease occur ; by ascertaining periodically the 
health of stock in the countries from which for¬ 
eign animals are derived; by stimulating in¬ 
quiry as to the most advantageous means of 
disposing of diseased animals or their produce, 
so as to secure the largest amount of salvage 
for stock owners, and by adopting all possible 
means to check such a traffic in diseased ani¬ 
mals as tends to the spread of plagues, or to the 
sale of diseased meat to .the public. 
This movement is not without interest to 
stock breeders on this side the Atlantic. The 
importation of cattle and sheep to the United 
States is yearly increasing, and already we have 
had in the pleuro-pneumonia excitement, an 
experience of the disastrous results which may 
come without some proper precautionary meas¬ 
ures. It would undoubtedly be a proper sub¬ 
ject for legislation to devise means whereby the 
importation of diseased animals could be pre¬ 
vented. Quarantine laws are very stringent as 
regards persons coming from unhealthy ports, 
and it need not be stated that the sale of dis¬ 
eased animals often proves of fearful detriment 
to the public health. But, as all are aware, 
years of agitation and discussion of a subject 
are usually required before legislative action 
can be bad, and meantime, the evil may be 
upon us. We know of no way in which the 
matter can better be brought before the public, 
ami if needed, the enactment of proper laws 
be finally secured, than by the formation of a 
society similar to the one referred to above. 
This subject may well claim the attention of 
State Agricultural Societies, and to their espec¬ 
ial notice we commend it. 
-■*»—« 0—Ge- 
Glanders in the Horse. 
The most marked symptom of this fatal mal¬ 
ady in horses, is a discharge from one or both 
nostrils. As, however, the same appearance 
may follow other less severe disorders, no horse 
should be condemned as glandered, unless other 
well marked indications of this disease are ob¬ 
served. Mayhew in his “Illustrated Horse 
Doctor,” gives in substance the following direc¬ 
tions for making an examination of a suspected 
case. The animal’s head should be turned to¬ 
ward the sti'ongest light attainable. The exam¬ 
iner should then place himself by the side of the 
horse’s head, not in front, but in a situation 
where, if the animal snort, the person is in no 
danger of having the ejected matter thrown 
upon him. Such an occurrence might be fol¬ 
lowed by the most serious consequences, as the 
discharge from glanders is very poisonous, and 
if absorbed into the system would cause death. 
The examiner should raise the wing of the nos¬ 
tril and inspect particularly the membrane sit¬ 
uated more internally than the skin, seen at the 
commencement of the nostrils. This membrane 
is easily distinguished by its fleshy and moisten¬ 
ed aspect, as well as by its situation, the termi¬ 
nation of the skin being marked by a well de¬ 
fined margin. If, on this membrane, any irreg¬ 
ular or ragged patches are conspicuous, if these 
patches are darker toward their edges than in 
their centers, and if they nevertheless seem shal¬ 
low, pallid, moist, and sore, the animal may 
be rejected as glandered. Should any part of 
the membrane after having been wiped with a 
bit of tow, seem rough, or have evidently be¬ 
neath its surface, certain round or oval shap¬ 
ed bodies, the horse is assuredly glandered. 
The membrane may present a worm eaten ap¬ 
pearance, or be simply of a discolored, and 
heavy hue. In the first case the animal ought 
to be condemned ; in the second, it is open to 
strong suspicion. The other general symptoms 
of glanders are: first, loss of appetite, quickened 
pulse, and a staring coat. Soon after, a slight 
discharge issues from the nostril, and usually 
one of the lymphatic glands grows fast to the 
jaw, becomes hard and insensitive, and from 
being wholly imperceptible in the healthy ani¬ 
mal, enlarges to about half the size of a chest¬ 
nut. Ultimately the discharge thickens, en¬ 
crusting the hairs over which it flows, and ad¬ 
hering to the edges of the nostril. This is final¬ 
ly followed by ulceration of the internal parts 
of the nose, until death relieves the animal. 
ISTo successful treatment has yet been found 
for glanders, and hence the greater necessity for 
prevention. It may result primarily from the 
impure air of ill ventilated and foul stables, 
from neglected catarrh, or from long continued 
exhausting labor, with stimulating food. It is 
also highly contagious, so that the infection 
may be taken from a stable where a glandered 
horse has been kept. An animal in high condi¬ 
tion contracting this disease by infection, will 
usually have it in the most acute form, and die 
within a short period. If it has been engender¬ 
ed by natural causes, it may remain chronic 
and in an undeveloped stage for years. Horses 
in such a case are most dangerous, as they are 
capable of imparting the disease to others, while 
it may not be suspected in themselves. When 
once it is clearly determined that a horse is thus 
afflicted, the sooner he is dismissed from the 
world, the better for him and the community. 
The Bar Horse-Shoe. 
Though it is not advisable to adopt this shoe 
often, or long at a time, there are occasions 
when it is very useful. By continuing such a 
shoe around the heels, the pressure is taken off 
from one part and is equally diffused over the 
whole. Obviously, such a contrivance is bene¬ 
ficial when the hoof is cracked, when corns ap¬ 
pear, and in cases of thrush. After it has been 
worn three or four weeks, or as soon as the dis¬ 
ease abates, it should be dispensed with. If not 
taken off, the frog of the foot will suffer under 
the continued pressure of the bar. Whenever 
this shoe is used, care should be taken in driving 
to avoid slipping. Neither heavy draft nor great 
speed should then be required of the horse. 
-*•-*-»-»-- 
Scratches in Horses. 
C. G. Siewers, Campbell Co., O., gives his ex¬ 
perience as follows : “ The best remedy I have 
every tried is to walk the horse up and down in 
running water two or three times a day, for a 
few days; this always cures my horse. The cause 
I ascribe to a filthy stable, as my horse never 
gets the scratches, unless I employ a certain 
lazy farm hand in the neighborhood for a make¬ 
shift; he and the scratches come together.” 
- - ^-—-»--♦»-- 
How to Send Grain to Market. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist : 
It is unaccountable to me that so many farm¬ 
ers have not yet learned how to send hay and 
grain to market, so as to make them pay the 
most profit. I see boat loads and car loads of 
such produce passing through my neighbor¬ 
hood on its way to your city, hundreds of miles 
distant. It brings prices that would make a 
Western farmer’s pocket jingle merrily, only 
that a large part of the money stops in the 
hands of the transporters, to pay freight. Now, 
railroads and canal boats are excellent insti¬ 
tutions, but I have never yet found so good a 
way to send corn to market, as on the four legs 
of a well fattened animal. A bullock, or a hog 
will pack awa 3 ^ a few bushels of corn more 
snugly than any freight master could do, and it 
brings better prices after they have worked it 
over into beef and pork, than in the raw state. 
With the exception of wheat, and perhaps rye, 
I would not sell a peck of grain from my farm, 
except for seed. Along in the Summer, when 
pasture is scarce, and plenty of cattle are to be 
picked up, I secure enough to consume all the 
corn I can spare, over what will be needed to 
fatten my hogs, (these I raise at home,) and just 
before cool weather commences, I set the beef 
factories to work. The chips give me profit in 
the shape of manure, enough to make the oper¬ 
ation pay, even if I could only get the same 
price for the grain as before feeding it out; but 
there is a gain here, too. When I read about 
Illinois farmers and others using corn for fuel 
because it is cheaper than coal, I think they 
need instruction on this point. If they have 
not capital enough to buy stock to eat up their 
grain, let them borrow the cattle, and agree to 
return so many pounds of fattened beef, for 
each animal, in the same way that sheep are 
taken on shares; it would be mutually beneficial 
to themselves, and to those who have more 
animals than they can keep profitably. I 
