: JT 
FEEDING COLTS 
®he Horseman 
farm, is a very disagreeable task to fanners’ 
sous, or the hired men who have it to do. But 
the work has to be clone. No matter how 
deep the mud, or how difficult the job, the 
cattle must have their daily feed. Although 
the ground may be so soft and muggy that a 
team can scarcely move along over it wit hout 
a load, yot the cornfield must be entered and 
and, after it has been 
gj^dsmait 
A correspondent of the Maine Fanner 
thus gives his practice I give colts as many 
oats as they can at once eat up clean, feeding 
three times a day. They manage to take 
good care of about the following quantities in 
a day : 
lbs. oats. lbs. hay. 
Weanlings. 4 8 
Yearlings,.. 5 10 
2 year olds. B 10 
8 year olds,. 8 10 
Once a week they receive a warm mash, of 
bran and oats, and once a week they also 
have three or four pounds of potatoes ; each 
in lieu of a usual feed. They would get other 
roots—preferably carrots—if I had them. Of 
course these quantities vary slightly, with the 
animals, but they show the average feed. -My 
farmer neighbors look at my colts, and won¬ 
der at their size, power, and spirit, when 
there is no cause for wonder, at all. They not 
only have warm, clean, and ample boxes to 
move ubout in, but they are carded and ex¬ 
ercised every day. To this end the young¬ 
sters are daily compelled to half-tm-hour’s gal¬ 
lop in a large yard, while the two and tliree 
year olds receive regular work upon the road. 
They are all handled from their birth It 
may be objected that the fanner cannot af¬ 
ford to feed so highly. I reply that he cannot 
afford to do otherwise. He does not keep his 
growing boy upon a short allowance, but on 
the contrary, Is in a state of chronic astonish¬ 
ment to see the quantity of provender the ur¬ 
chin can stow away under his jacket. We 
ail know that children eat more than “grown” 
people. Why should not the sume truth hold 
good with other animate 1 
1 have not attempted to give any physiolo¬ 
gical reasons for this system, although they 
are many. A common belief obtains that 
colts are often spoilt by graining too much. 
Indeed I have been advised by well meaning 
friends to that effect. I would rather have 
my own experience, however, limn anybody's 
advice. That experience tells mo that extra 
colts may be raised with extra care. If I 
fastened a yearling In a box or a stall, and 
kept him without exercise all Winter, I 
should expect Ids legs to All and “stock? 1 ’ 
but I should attribute the disease to Us proper 
cause, and not to the oats. In conclusion I 
would say, that at intervals we give sheaf 
oats, In lieu of hay; uxul during very cold 
weather, an occasional feed of corn meal. 
HORSE DYING FROM EATING CORN 
WINTERING CATTLE 
F. W. R. (see Rural, Dec. 14, 1873, page 
376) inquires what more could have been 
done for the colt after he had eaten the corn 
when they had given lard, linseed oil, and 
turpentine. In reply, I would Bay you could 
have given your colt 30 drops tincture of ae- 
conite, and thirty minutes afterwards given 
one pound of gluuber salts with one ounce 
pulverized caraway seed, to hasten the oper¬ 
ation of the physic, and kept him constantly 
on the move in order to get a quicker move 
ment of the bowel?. Fifteen drops of aconite 
is a fall dose for a horse ; but when a beast 
haa eaten a large amount of corn or other 
grain more than ordinary doses of medicine 
mast bo given One pound of salts is ftii or¬ 
dinary doRe. 
The horse of a veterinary surgeon that joins 
farms with me got loose in the stable and ate 
all the com he wanted. In the morning the 
horee was found rolling and tumbling on the 
floor with distress. Forty drops of the tine- 
tdre of aconite were given, followed with 
one pound salts and one ounce of caraway 
seed half an hour afterwards and a lively ex¬ 
ercise. In a few hours ho was all right. Do 
not ever give a beast any more than half of 
the amount of the extract of aconite that you 
would give of the tincture. The extract is 
the strongest; it is from the root, aud the 
tincture from the leaves. 
Trenton, N. J. F. J. Wolcott. 
The individual as well as the national loss 
which results fnm the present mode of feed¬ 
ing cattle, during the Winter months, in u 
great portion of oir country, is almost beyond 
belief, yet strange to say no attempt is being 
mado, except by a very few individuals, to 
lmprovo over tlio old method practiced by 
our fathers from the earliest history of our 
oountry. But wo hope th.it the time is not 
far distant, when our slumbering population 
will be aroused to a knowledge of the impor¬ 
tance of true economy in this branch of rum! 
industry. Since the legitimate object ot every 
pursuit or calling is profit, then why not so 
manage our business or occupation that the 
greatest amount of profit will be realized l If 
we do not do this, then we do not study our 
interests as we should, and loss follows as a 
natural consequence. 
While all the care necessary, such as com¬ 
fortable stablhtg, liberal foeding on the best 
food, dally currying, etc., is bestowed upon 
our horses, cur cattle of every grade and age 
—milch cows not excepted— are suffered to 
run at large in the open fields all Winter with¬ 
out any protection whatever from the chil¬ 
ling blasts, the cold rains, the cutting sleets, 
and the blinding snow-storms, incident to this 
season of the year. This is all wrong, and the 
time has come when Americans as a free and 
prosperous people, blessed with a soil n ’id cli 
mate, and facilities surpassed by no other uu 
tion or poojjlo on the globe, should throw 
aside all such old time practices, and adopt 
someb8ttor plan that is calculated to advance 
their financial and personal interests, fis also 
the interest o! them common country. But 
how is t.bU and to be brought about f How 
are fanners going to be induced to adopt new 
principles or change their present mode ot 
farm management ? Of course we cannot ex 
pect a universal adoption of a new idea at 
once, for it seems to be human nature for one 
person to wait until ho sues howanoi he i 
progressing in any new undertaking, before 
he starts himself ; and It is by this united .v. 
manner, that we must oxpect the flu d con¬ 
summation of the end desired, as regard- tin- 
more humane and economical manner ot keep¬ 
ing jattlo during the Winter months 
la many portions of the country we mid 
occasional farmers, whose motto Is “ progress 
and improvement,” beginning to adopi the 
plan of housing their cattle during the h s on 
they are to be fed ; and, so far as wo h ive 
been able to ascortaiu from any of t hem. 
either by correspondence or otherwise, t here 
seems to be universal satisfaction exp; -- sd 
as to the value of the improvement. The suc¬ 
cess attending the efforts of these individuals 
will, in a short time, attract the attention ol 
othor formers in their respective neighbor¬ 
hoods, who will be influenced to try it also, 
which, iu our judgment, will fully convince 
them of its great value and practical utility, 
and finally induce then* to adopt it altogether. 
Aud, as from one to another, a spirit of im¬ 
provement in this branch of farm husbaudry 
will oventually spread itself all over our 
broad and fertile country, utterly abolishing 
the foolish and absurd ideas which at present 
prevail to a largo extent, and in times past 
have prevailed among our farmers, that pro¬ 
tection from tlio sudden and extreme changes 
of temperature, and tho great severity of our 
Winters, ia not necessary for the growth and 
thrift of our cattle. It is true that cattle have 
and do go through our long Winters entirely 
unprotected from the weather, and com*- gut 
m the Spring in ordiuary fair condition ; but, 
it is to bo remembered that, to do this, an ex 
tmorcUnary amount of feed i* required, a* a 
considerable portion of it is demanded to 
counteract against the extreme cold, or to 
keep up animal heat, and therefore amounts 
to little or nothing ao far as laying on fat is 
concerned. As near aa we have been able to 
accertain, wo avo firmly convinced t hat about 
double the quantity of feed is required to 
Winter catclo out-doors, that it takes if sta¬ 
bled In a properly constructed and veutilat 
ed building ; or, in other word?, tho amount 
of feed necessary to keep a given nu moor of 
cattle in a thrifty condition out-doors, will 
sustain twice the number as well when com¬ 
fortably housed. Knowing this to be the case, 
it is very easily soon that there is no economy 
in, or profit to bo derived from tlio present 
manner of wintering cattle, compared to that 
which is the result of proper protection of 
them, from the cold rains and general disa¬ 
greeable weather of the Winter season. 
During the mild spells of Winter, which are 
often accompanied by heavy rains, feeding 
cattle in the pastures or woodlands of the 
fodder hauled out 
hauled and scattered out in the pastures, not I 
over one-half of it it* consumed by the cattle, 
as they run over it and tramp it under foot, 
and soon get It so muddy that it is left uneaten, 
and iB a total waste, bo for as food is con¬ 
cerned. Now upon a well regulated farm, 
where everything is managed In a scientific 
manner, there is no trouble attending the care 
of cattle, or Indeed, anything else tho farmer 
has during the Winter. He has a good build¬ 
ing sufficiently large to house all his cattle, 
including grown steers, ready to be fattened 
for market, calves, yearlings, etc., and capa¬ 
ble of holding all the feed that may be re¬ 
quired for them to eat during the entire feed¬ 
ing season. It matters not with him liow 
much it rains or snows, or how deep the mud 
gets, he has everything convenient and handy; 
and, instead of heing tried to the fullest ex¬ 
tent of liis patience, by being compelled to 
drag his feed about over the tick band through 
the mud, to at last be deposited upon the 
suit ground, where, as a natural consequence, 
it will be run over, and fully as much of it 
tramped under foot and wasted as is con¬ 
sumed, he lias it carefully titered away be¬ 
lies* te a spacious roof, all dry and in good or- 
f i where it is a pleasure to him, instead of an 
aggravation, to ration it out to his cattle. 
oume farmers provide, troughs and racks 
iur their cattle, where they depend on i’eed- 
in;.; [.hem out doors, but during rainy weather 
v Hen they are the moat needed, they become 
m « great degree impracticable on account of 
the great depth of mud tramped up around 
them. Ili such cases the only remedy ia, to 
either dispense with their use altogether, or 
jtii.se. move them occasionally ; which last, we 
'conclude, is but- a very poor remedy, for soon 
latter their removal the ground about them is 
in a- bad condition as it was at first. It is 
agreed by a great many that on small farms 
where but lew cattle are wintered, It won’t 
pay to stable them, aa it is attended with too 
much expense and extra trouble. Now, bo 
far us this is concerned, if an extensive i'arm- 
ler finds it profitable to keep all Iub cattle 
; noused during the Winter, so t wilS be found 
in proportion to the number kept, equally as 
profitable to him who lias but few ; for, if a 
large number are kept, uu extensive building 
has r.o be provided, and extra help employed 
(o i j.ke care of the stock ; but if only u few, 
a small building is sufficient, and no help 
needed. So in our judgment there is nothing 
iu idi argument that can make it appear 
that small fanners cannot make It pay by 
providing comfortable Winter quarters for 
tin r cattle. 
Again, as before mentioned, cattle must 
have their daily food, and every one who has 
auv knowledge of cattle-feeding at all, must 
curt.amly acknowledge that it is much 
easier and more pleasant to feed cattle in a 
budding, where all the hay, fodder, etc., 
winch may be needed for them to oat during 
the whole'I Vinter, is stored, than it is to har¬ 
ness up a team daily, whether the weather be 
dry or wet, pleasant or unpleasant, and haul 
It tor them from the stack or shock in a dis¬ 
tant field. During mild spells it is best for 
cattle to be turned out and allowed to roam 
about a portion of the day for exercise ; but 
wnen the ground is very soft, or the weather 
cool and cloudy, or the wind blowing high, it 
is advisable to keep them up during the day 
BIT FOR UNGOVERNABLE HORSES 
Some time ago, Col. F. D, Curtis, Charlton, 
N, Y,, was talking with us about the man¬ 
agement of horses, when he said lie had in¬ 
vented a bit with which he could manage the 
most ungovernable horse without torturing 
him. It was a simple arrangement consist 
lug simply of a straight bar of iron three- 
eighths of an inch square with the usual 
rings in the end. We herewith give an illus¬ 
tration of it, which is scarcely needed. There 
is no patent upon it, and Col. Ccrtis advises 
every horseman with a liard-bitted or ungov¬ 
ernable horse to use it. 
RASPING HORSES’ FEET 
A CORRESPONDENT of the Canada Farmer 
says Rasping down the feet nicely, as they 
oall it, is quite u passion with some people. 
I have often rasped the hoof, and the owner 
of the home standing by to tell when it would 
suit him. This rasping on a hoof that hap¬ 
pens to be a little illshaped, until it will 
spring under your linger is far to dangerous 
a plan for making things look well. 1 have 
often commenced on hoofs that tuui a beauti¬ 
ful gloss all over, and given them a thorough 
rasping; not that I could make them any 
better, for that was boyond the power of 
human hands, but they had to be rasped 
merely because the owner’s mind was a slave 
to fashion or fancy. This rasping takes the 
strong surface off the* hoof, and nature, try¬ 
ing all she cau to make up for tho evil done 
by judicious hands, forms a hard, glo3sy sur¬ 
face to protect the foot. Tins glossy surface 
takes the’place of the previous tough horu, 
and at tho next shoeing the foot will probably 
split a little at the nails, and not frequently 
the nail punches a piece out before it. 
EMARE WITH SPRAINED SHOULDER. 
I have a young mare that is stiffened in the 
shoulder—done by hard drawing. I think it 
is not a sweeuoy. The skin is loose, und the 
shoulder is full and does not seem to fall in; 
but she is very lame by spells. Her shoulder 
seems quite stiff some days, and then in a 
few days she will be better, or not much 
lame nor stiff It was done the fore part of 
last summer. Can you tell mo what to do 
for the lameness ? Natt. Martin. 
Wk advise you to sponge the parts two or 
three times a day with diluted tincture of 
arnica, and give the mare complete rest— 
that Is, don’t compel her to work. Feed 
Light food and keep the bowels open. If you 
cau put on a bandage of cold water, covering 
tho bandage this cold weather with dry 
cloths. 
JS miVlNa-UiC I'M i-m-m uuiiu^ Uiv uov 
as well us at night. At all times their stalls 
should be kept clean and dry, so as to be al¬ 
ways comfortable, and their feed administer¬ 
ed to them nt. regular hours, while they must 
lx* allowed an abundance of pure, f resh water 
every day. 
Wo are of the opinion that where there is 
plenty of room it is best to allow cattle sepa¬ 
rate stalls, in which they may run loose, as 
it ia more comfortable for them to be free to 
move about a little than to be secur ed in onu 
place by stanchions; blit if they must bo 
fastened, as is necessary where room is 
scarce, we fully recommeutl the Gifford 
swinging, self-fastening stanchion, os being 
much superior to any other device of the 
kind of which wo have any knowledge, as it 
aoes not confine cattle so rigidly In one posi¬ 
tion as tho old-fashioned stanchion but allows 
thorn a slight movement backwards or for¬ 
wards or from side to side. This stanchion 
lias been advertised and recommended 
through the Rural New-Yorker before, 
which was the cause of our securing a farm 
right, to give it a trial. For milch cows, 
wnich should be fastened, it has many very 
superior advantages over the old-fashioned 
stanchion. But, to conclude, we earnestly 
horro that all who may peruse this article will 
give the subject duo consideration, and if 
i,nev have not already adopted the plan of 
housing their cattle during the Winter 
months, we think alter some reflection they 
will be induced to give it a fair trial, which, 
iu our estimation, will be certain to prove 
highly satisfactory to them in every respect. 
W. A. Graham. 
Flemingsburg, Ky., Jan. 11. 
LEATHER BITS FOR HORSES 
CASTOR BEANS FOR HORSES 
Two years ago, the Rural New-Yorker 
published an article urging farmers to substi¬ 
tute leather for metallic bits in Winter as a 
matter of humane treatment. A lady calls our 
attention again to that article and urges us to 
repeat the advice, and protect their horses 
from suffering, and the owners from loss 
which results If the animals month is made 
sore by frozen bits. Wo hope this will be all 
the reminder needed. The harness maker 
can make a leather bit for fifty cents that 
will in most cases serve the same purpose as 
an iron one ; and every man with any regard 
for liis horee will see to it that his animal is 
protected from suffering from frozen iron bits. 
I saw an item in the Rural New-Yorker, 
(Nov. ie,) headed “Castor Beans Death to 
Stock.” I fed one of my horses a dozen in 
July and the consequences were that he came 
near dying. I had to raise him for tliree 
weeks/ He had every symptom of lung 
fever. John H. O’Neil. 
Kearney, Nebraska 
WOUND ON A HORSE 
I have a valuable horse that haa a large 
excrescence of proud flesh on one of his hind 
feet just above the hoof, caused by a c ut 
from the cork of the shoo. It gives no lame¬ 
ness, but looks bad. and I wish to remove it. 
Can some reader of the Rural suggest the 
best method of doing so. o. H. a. 
North Conway, N. H. 
WEAK JOINTS IN COLTS 
I had a sucking colt that walked on its 
ankle Joints till it wore the skm off and left 
the flesh bare. I tried everything to help it, 
but to no avail until I tried burnt pulverized 
alum and the white of an egg beaten to a 
froth and the two mixed together, rubbed on 
the parts, heated in with a shovel or some 
other article. It cured the colt, which is now 
two years old, strong and fat; have never 
seen anything of lameness from it since. 
St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. Charles Cowles 
TO CORRESPONDENTS 
W. S, A. Dickerson. We advise you to 
call a veterinary surgeon if you can obtain a 
good one. Your horee seems badly off; but 
a prescription without seeing him might do 
as much harm as good He is too valuable a 
horee to take risks with. 
