1891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
359 
THE STORY OF TOM. 
When our Tom was born, though only 
a colt, the event created almost as great a 
sensation in our family as if he had been a 
boy. He was a bright, good-natured little 
fellow, and before he was a week old came 
to meet us as eagerly as did his mother; 
the two faces, so like in outline and alert 
intelligence—the one a diminutive minia¬ 
ture of the other—are a pleasant memory 
picture yet. He delighted in being fondled 
and never showed us the bottoms of his 
feet unless we turned them up for our¬ 
selves; this last we did so often for his 
hind feet, pretending to shoe the tiny hoofs, 
that he never forgot, and when old enough 
to really wear shoes the blacksmith found 
no difficulty in shoeing them, but the fore 
feet he strongly objected to having 
handled; patience and careful handling 
overcame this, however. Tom proved 
very tractable in harness, though at first 
when driven on the road, he wanted to. fol¬ 
low every woman he saw, because of the 
petting the women folks at home gave 
him. One day during the breaking period 
—translated training in right vocabulary— 
Tom was harnessed with an older horse to 
break him double; just at starting, some¬ 
thing startled them, and both sprang for¬ 
ward throwing the driver from his seat, 
and the reins, not yet firmly grasped, from 
his hands, the older horse being a bit 
frisky, thought this a good time to take a 
little run with the colt; but though both 
started bravely, Tom had to halt and turn 
his head so often to see what his mistress, 
who followed, meant by her call of Tom 1 
Tom ! that they did not make much head¬ 
way and were soon overtaken, to the evi¬ 
dent disgust of Frisky, who came back 
crestfallen enough. Tom had his own idea 
of fun, but running away from home was 
no part of it. If he could take hat or bon¬ 
net from some unsuspecting owner’s head, 
his eyes just dancing with mirth, and giv¬ 
ing it a good shaking, he was happy ; when 
expostulated with, he would shake his 
head in a most knowing fashion, as if to 
say he, “Just couldn’t help it.” His “ beg¬ 
ging” for eggs—of which he was very fond 
—and apples, when he could either see or 
smell them, was quite irresistible. 
One day Tom was driven to town two 
miles away, and his master, having but a 
few minutes’ busines, tied him in an open 
shed instead of a stable as usual; in some 
way Tom got loose, though his halter was 
not broken, and he came directly home, 
where he created quite a stir by coming 
home alone, as he could give no account 
that we could understand of what had 
become of his master. The reins were care¬ 
fully tied over the dashboard, the cushions 
were in place, and he showed no traces of 
fright; later, people who had met him on 
the road told us that he had turned out in 
most orderly fashion, as if he had been 
sent alone. 
Tom learned to neigh an answer to our 
dinner bell, whether in stable or at work in 
the fields, as did his mother and grand¬ 
mother and great-grandmother before him, 
and never hCj-trd his mistress’s step or voice 
without a whinney of recognition. We 
learned more fully than ever before to 
appreciate Talmage’s saying, that “ there 
must be something most radically wrong 
with a man who doo3 not love a horse and 
enjoy his society.” The “ mate” we hoped 
to have for Tom, died; but after quite a 
search we secured a yoke fellow that we 
said, jokingly, must have been created to 
be Tom’s mate, he looked so very like him, 
and they took to each other at first sight, 
and were truly devoted ever after. 
One day we had a photographer come 
from town to photograph the pair ; Tom’s 
mistress held one with each hand, but 
though they could understand a great deal, 
they failed to understand that they would 
“show off” best by standing still, and they 
danced and played like two mischievious 
boys, so that only a badly blurred picture 
was the result for that day. Later we se¬ 
cured a fair picture. This photograph en¬ 
larged and touched up by a skilled artist, is 
now all we have, save a worn shoe and a 
wavy foretop, to remind us of this faithful, 
affectionate, dumb friend. For, when in 
only his eighth year, one day, but an hour 
after seeing him and his mate driven past 
the door in seemingly high spirits, the call 
came, “ Tom is down;” we went to him at 
once, but he was past all help or pain, 
though we fancied for a minute that we 
saw faint recognition of the tender hands 
that caressed him, in the fast glazing eyes. 
Bitter tears fell, of which we need not be 
ashamed. He had honorable burial, and 
deserved it more than many of the so called 
higher order of beings since he did as well 
as he I new. 
“ Only a horse ! ” you say, “ and not a 
Thoroughbred ” at that; but he left warm 
friends as do many commonplace people 
when Death claims them. Will George 
MacDonald’s belief, as put in the mouth of 
old “ Grizzle ” in “ Warlock o’ Glen War- 
lock ” be amiss here? “ There is no word 
in the haille (whole) Bible that can make 
ye think that that wee bit foal of an ass 
that carried the Maister along the hill road 
frae Bethany to Jerusalem came to such an 
ill end as to be forgotten by him He carried. 
Ye ken Who sits by the dying sparrow ? If 
I have any power to read thetrowth (truth) 
o’ things the life that is given is not taken; 
whatever may come of the creature, the 
love it waukent (wakened) in a human 
breast will no more be lost than the object 
of it. That a thing can love and be loved 
is a’ one to sayin’ that it is immortal.” 
JEAN. 
ABOUT BATS. 
The interior organism of the bat very 
much resembles that of the mouse. It has 
a stomach, liver, gall, kidneys, heart and 
intestines. Its stomach is very small, and 
its intestines are fine in structure, white 
and covered with fat. On its back, just 
under the skin, is very fine fat; so fine, in¬ 
deed, that pure oil runs out by merely 
tearing away the skin. This oil will burn 
without taking it off the bat. It has teeth 
very much like those of other small ani¬ 
mals. It has two sharp, keen teeth in front, 
all the others being flat, enabling it to 
chew the small insects which it feeds upon. 
It has no eyelids, and cannot shut the eyes 
but its proportionally large ears hang 
down and- nearly cover them. In the 
daytime it lets its ears hang down over 
its eyes, but at night it raises them to 
admit as much light into its eyes as possi¬ 
ble, as we all know it is a nocturnal ani¬ 
mal. Its ears are dark and very thin, being 
of the same substance as the membranous 
wing. Its head somewhat resembles that 
of the mouse, though not so keen at the 
end of the nose, but rather blunt, enabling 
it to catch small insects in its flight. 
The whole nervous tissue of the bat 
could be placed in a capsule large enough 
to hold an ordinary dose of quinine. It has 
a small tail, about an inch long, the thin 
membrane of which extends nearly to the 
end, and which reaches across from its 
legs, (and it has but two) if you may call 
them legs. On the end of each leg are five 
little toes, and on the toes are very sharp 
claws, enabling it, with the aid of the two 
on the tops of the membranes or wings, to 
suspend itself from trees, rocks, etc. The 
hair or fur of the bat is much like that of 
the mole, though not so fine. Its color is 
dark brown on its back, and lighter on its 
belly. Its ears and membranous wings are 
nearly black. The bat has a squeaking, 
squealing voice, very much resembling the 
cry of the mouse. The chinch bug infests 
corn and other crops more in tropical and 
semi-tropical climates, where bats are more 
numerous, than in temperate and cold cli¬ 
mates. Bed-bugs are much more numerous 
in places frequented by bats than else¬ 
where. 
In general, the bat is an offensive animal; 
it is offensive to the smell, and is by no 
means cleanly ; it was so claseed by the 
Jews. It never lights to drink water, but 
skims across the surface of the water on 
ponds, lakes, etc. In tropical and semi- 
tropical countries the bat dwells in the 
towers of large churches and colleges dur¬ 
ing the daytime, and especially in caves, 
sometimes thousands of them congregating 
together. The bat goes into winter quar¬ 
ters late in the fall, staying principally in 
caves, hollow trees, etc., until early In the 
spring. j. e. H. 
Georgetown, Texas. 
They Like Sweet Apples.—F ather 
always had lots of company and many 
work hands around him, and we always 
baked a good many sweet apples, and few of 
them were ever wasted. Now, if so few 
like sweet apples, why is it so many people 
in passing the orchard climb the fence and 
go straight to a sweet apple tree ? And why 
was the fruit from a particular “ sweet ” 
tree stolen several seasons in succession ? 
And why is it that when we bake a large 
pan of sweets for breakfast they quickly 
disappear? In short, why do so many 
eat sweet apples if they don’t like them ? 
Nashville, Indiana. r. d. b. 
Barley as Feed. —From an experience 
of over 15 years in the feeding of barley to 
all kinds of stock, I am persuaded that 
there is no better or more economical feed. 
It will produce as much and as fine pork as 
corn; will make more milk than corn fed in 
the same quantity, and certainly as much 
beef. It is excellent feed for horses when 
mixed with oats in equal quantity. I never 
knew a horse to have colic or bellyache 
when fed a judicious quantity of barley. 
The straw from an acre is worth nearly as 
much as an acre of corn fodder. The grain 
yield usually is from 25 to 45 bushels to the 
acre. It can be raised with half the labor 
needed for corn, and it matures early, 
thereby escaping droughts that usually oc¬ 
cur in August and September here. 
H. A. w. 
Pi<sccttaucou,$ ^tlvcrtisiing. 
Always name The R. N.-Y. in writing to 
advertisers. 
Bee-Keepers’ Guide. 
Sixteenth l,t)<H) just out. Price reduced to 
S1.00. Every Farmer and Bee-Keeper should have it. 
It Is plain, practical and scientific. Liberal discount 
to the trade. Address 
A. J. COOK, 
Agricultural College, Michigan. 
KING OFTHE ROAD MAKERS 
Forster’s Patent 
ROCK BREAKER 
FOR MACADAM 
properly cubed. No gear wheels to 
break. Product 10 to 200 tons ter 
day, according to size. Over 450 
in use. FOR COAKSE AND KINK 
CRUSHING. Does the work of any 
other breaker with one-half the 
power and one-third the expense for 
keeping in repair. 
Only manufacturers. Correspond¬ 
ence solicited. 
TOTTEN & HOGG FOUNDRY CO., 
23d Street and Railroad Ave., 
PITTSBURGH, PA. 
I. I. 
RACIKTE, - - WIS., 
MANUFACTURERS of 
IRONSIDES AGITATORS 
RORSE POWERS, SWIHGIHG STACKERS, 
TREAD POWERS and SAWJRAMES,J>AW MILLS and ENGINES. 
They Are Far Ahead of All Others in (loot! Work and Durability. Catalogue FREE. 
formerly called 
us “TIUUMVH 
ORGAN 
Angie of Teeth Adjustable 
to work at desired depth. 
LATEST AND GREATEST 
PULVERIZER 
IN THE WORLD. 
Witt do work no other can. 
SPADING 
HARROW 
For SUMMER FALLOW. 
FALL SEEDING and 
STUBBLE GROUND. 
Style A lias two gangs. 
Style II has four gangs. 
Leaves No Furrows or Ridges. 
AGENTS 
WANTED. 
For circulars 
and testimonials, write D. S. MORGAlxA, CO., Brockport, N.Y. Mention this paper. 
THE NEW QR1NDEFV 
A SOLID STEEL FENCE. 
MADE OF EXPANDED METAL. 
For RESIDENCES, CHURCHES, CEMETERIES, FARMS GARDENS, Gates, Arbors, Window Guards, Trellises, 
Write for Illustrated Catalogue. No. IO. CENTRAL EXPANDED METAL CO. 
hardware Men keep it. Give name of this oaper. 116 Water St., Pittsburgh, l*a 
UNIVERSAL WEEDER^CULTIVATOR 
Greatly improved for 1891. Endorsed by leading agri¬ 
culturists throughout the country. 
“ I must havs two next year.”—T. B. TERRY. 
“ 1 regard Breed * Universal Weeder aa one of the most valuabk, 
implements a farmer can afford to employ.” J. J. THOMAS, inventar 
of the Smoothing Harrow. 
“ We are using the Weeder to-day on a field of potatoes a foot high, 
and does the best work it has done yet."—WALDO F. BROWN. 
“ Your Weeder is about all that can be asked for as a weed killer 
and surface pulverizer.’’—JOHN GOULD. 
_ THE UNIVERSAL WEEDER CO., North Weare, N. H. 
Where we have no Agents. Machines will be DELIVERED at retail price. 
