9 
tunity of study from living specimens and 
listening to lectures illustrated by numerous 
diagrams. 
The ninth and tenth years could be profit¬ 
ably occupied in traveling. A rapid trip to 
the East would give a knowledge of the pe¬ 
culiar yet beautiful architecture of those 
countries. A Winter in Italy and Greece 
would be essential to the formation of correct 
horticultural and architectural taste ; a few 
months would be sufficient for the rest of 
Continental Europe, and not leas than six 
months for England. For the liigliest exist 
iug development of art, in the imitation of 
nature, England surpasses all else, and is an 
epitome of the whole world. Here the gar¬ 
dener has the finest study possible under 
every beautiful phase which the combination 
of taste and wealth can furnish. 
Two or three Summers could be very profit¬ 
ably spent there in studying t he finest places. 
Our student, however, is desirous of speedy 
practice in liis profession, and cannot spare 
these three Summers. His taste, however, 
can be further cultivated by devoting his 
seasons of recreation in each year to travel¬ 
ing in the most beautiful parts of our own 
country, and thus making himself familiar 
with Nature in all her forms. Mount Desert, 
the Adirondack-;, the Alleghaniea, the prairies 
and oak openings of the West., each afford a 
different and attractive study. 
Now, you will doubtless say that few men 
are sufficient for these things—that few men 
can afford to sustain u son in such a course of 
study for ten years. Except the traveling, 
however, it is no more expensive, nor does it 
require more time, than the study of the law. 
He will come out of tills training a thorough¬ 
ly well-skilled man in all the requisites of his 
profession ; and if wealthy gentlemen could 
be made to appreciate such ability, his pro¬ 
fession would be remunerative. 
Their success and their zeal would go to¬ 
gether, and their earnestness would, in time, 
so infect their employers that these would 
feel a recognition of something higher and 
better than merchandize or stocks. 
Men now who have spent their best years 
in trade, have no scales wherewith to weigh 
such improvements, and they cannot under¬ 
stand their value. With a skilled gardener, 
however, acting under their notice and furn¬ 
ishing, daily, evidence of his skill, each em¬ 
ployer, however iguorant, would find himself 
insensibly educated, and would soon desire to 
take an active part in Horticultural Societies 
and Rural Clubs. Thus we, with them, would 
find our ranks filled with active and intelli 
gent men. 
I intended, when commencing, simply to 
suggest a subject for discussion, and 1 know 
of none more important in its results, and in 
connection with the object of our Club, than 
the education of gardeners. There is a wide 
field for discussion ; and, trusting that it may 
be amply filled by those at your table, I re¬ 
main Yours very truly, 
S. B. Parsons. 
Horseman, 
“TO HALTER AND BREAK A COLT.” 
Being a subscriber to your valuable paper 
for a number of years, and profiting by the 
many good things contained therein, which, 
on the whole, are generally' solid facts, I was 
taken a little aback on perusing an article en¬ 
titled, - To Halter and Break a Coll.” There 
are many persons owning colts who do not 
know how to teach otheis to break them, let 
alone the idea of knowing the process them¬ 
selves. Your correspondent on the above 
subject, ill Rural. Feb. 15, over the signa¬ 
ture ot E. A, C., after getting his colt in a 
suitable enclosure, provides himself with “a 
whip with a long lash,” and gives him a few 
sharp cuts around the hind legs to begin with. 
Now, what, iu the name of common seme 
does E. A. C. do that for ?—unless ho wishes 
to teach him to kick ; for that wouid be 
the proper method to inaugurate that per¬ 
formance. Says E, A. C., as soon as he turns 
his head toward you, go toward him, talking 
to him gently; if he turns from you, apply 
the lash ; in a short time he will follow you 
and let you handle him. What nonsense I 
Imagine a colt put into a small enclosure, and 
ashed around as E, A. C. advises ; would you 
expect him to be humbled, become docile, and 
approach you to be fondled f Not a bit of it ! 
Instead of being rendered docile, lie would 
become more shy or spirited (and sometimes 
even stubborn); in the former case, he would 
make his best endeavor to get the other way. 
So much for E. A. C.’s doctrine. 
Next, E. A. C. would take a strong cord, 
a jout ten feet long, and fasten one end 
around his (the colt’s) under jaw, as you 
would around a cow’s horns, so that it will 
not slip, so as to form a halter, &c. One 
would think, from the above stylo of halter¬ 
ing a colt, that E. A. C. had been used to 
roping swine. Surely this is getting along 
admirably [ Should Mr. Be nun be on hand, 
E. A. C. would be relieved from inflicting 
needless and further cruelty. But Mr. Beroii 
not being present, E. A. C. steps to one side 
and gives a sharp pull on the rope, and says, 
the colt may go the other way the first 
time” (I think he would) ; “ do not try to hold 
him ; go up to him and pat him, and try him 
again, saying, ‘come here !’ ” &e. 
Now, all this sounds “fine” to E. A. C., no 
doubt.; but I would like to sec any one get. 
his hand on the animal now, whipped mid 
abused as he haa been, with a rope around 
his jaw, and find him anyway broken or sub¬ 
dued to gent leness. The colt is knocked about 
iu this manner for some time; then E. A. C. 
says: — “ When he wifi follow you any¬ 
where,” (which [ am positive he will not, hal¬ 
tered in the manner described) “put on a 
well-fit ting strap-halter, and hitch him in the 
stable.” Well, well ! the last act caps the 
climax ! Hitch a colt up in a stable when 
he is not as yet halter-broken ' The very 
idea is preposterous, let alone the act. But 
perhaps he would be broken according to 
1'-. A. C. s notion of it; for he would surely' 
hang himself—I mean the colt. 
A Lover of the Horse. 
—-♦♦♦-- 
A KNEE-SPRUNG HORSE. 
M. asks “how to treat a young horse 
whose knees are a little bent, or sprung.” In 
response, we give the opinion of Rc^ert Jen- 
rtiNOs, V. 8., who says “ This trouble does 
not always result from an injury of the leg 
or strain of the tendons ; it is more often 
found In horses that have bad corns on the 
teot, or are troubled with navicular diseases, 
than any others. The animal raising his 
heels to prevent, pressure upon the tender 
parts, bends the knee, which bonding be¬ 
comes, finally, from the altered position of 
the limbs, a permanent, deformity. Horses 
with sprung knees arc unsafe for saddle pur 
purposes, owing to their consequent liability 
to stumble. 
“Respecting the treatment, it may lie said 
that six out of every ten knee-sprung horses 
will be found to have corns. If these be of 
recent growth, there is u fair prospect of 
straightening the limbs by removing the 
corns. By the removal of these, the heels 
are brought to the ground and the limbs be¬ 
come straight, finder any other eircum 
stances, all treatment proves useless. 
“ To remove the corns, the hoof around the 
corn should be cut, away, so as to prevent 
pressure from the shoe ; the corn (which any 
educated farrier can find) should be well cut 
out, and burnt with a hot iron, butter of an¬ 
timony’, muriatic acid, caustic silver, or the 
permanganate of potash. The horse should 
then be carefully shod, and, if the frog is 
elastic, a bar .-dice, nicely fitted, with a per¬ 
fectly level bearing, would be beat; if, how¬ 
ever, the frog is hard and unyielding, such a 
shoe may prove injurious. Flaxseed poultices 
frequently applied to the feet, together with 
the use of hoof ointment, will be found effec¬ 
tual ; a run at grass, without shoes, will also 
prove beneficial.” 
-••”*--*- 
CHANGING A HORSE’S GAIT. 
In Barbary, pacing horses are held in such 
high estimation that the method of making a 
spirited trotter shackle like a boat in a chop 
sea is reduced to a science. To make him 
rack easily, a ring of lead, covered with leath¬ 
er, is put m ound each hoof ; a cord from each 
weight ascends, and Is fastened to the saddle, 
front and rear ; next, a strap runs horizontally' 
from the fore to the hind foot on both sides. 
Being rather short, it is impossible to make a 
long step. Restraint compels the animal to 
practice anew gait to progress at all. As 
soon as a habit is established of going ahead 
thus tethered, the desired amble is fully and 
permanently accomplished. 
-♦-*-♦- 
PROUD FLESH ON A HORSE. 
<§aii[!| Huskwlrg. 
CHARCOAL FOR RENNET-FACTORY DIS¬ 
INFECTANTS. 
Please inform G. H. A. (page 74) of North 
Conway, N. 11., that if lie will apply common 
soft soap to the proud flesh on ins horse’s 
foot, he will find relief after a few applica¬ 
tions. I know from experience of twenty- 
five years.—I. Gould, Cayuga Co., N. V. 
G. H. II., North Conway-, N. II., says he 
lias a valuable horse with a bad wound on 
one hind foot with proud flesh in it. Coperas 
and gunpowder, equal parts in a little water 
will cure it. Wet the wound as often as he 
thinks proper with this ; it will take out the 
proud flesh and heal the wound very soon.— x. 
At the late session of the American Daiiy- 
men’s Association, I noticed a suggestion 
made by a member, ttiat a small bag of char¬ 
coal in a rennet-jar would keep it free from 
any unpleasant smell. 1 am not troubled 
much in that way, still I would like to adopt, 
anything that is a real improvement. Allow 
me to ask you if you deem it. would be bene¬ 
ficial ; also, would there be auy harm result¬ 
ing from its use iu that way to the cheese i 
How often do you think it would be necessity 
to change the coal '( What do you think 
would be the cheapest and best article to use 
about the factory as a disinfectant ? I use 
lime a good deal, but cannot, of course, put. 
it into the whey spouts and conductors ; at 
least I have not felt as though I ought to, as 
it would hurt the hogs.— F. A. Morrison, 
Craigs Mills, N. T. 
Charcoal flit e is have been recommeuded 
for purifying bad rennet, and small bags 
containing charcoal for keeping rennet-jars 
sweet aud the rennet in good order; and 
although those suggestions have been urged 
by some, we regard them—or at least that 
for restoring putrid rennet—as of doubtful 
utility. The use of charcoal bags for the ren¬ 
net-jar, in tho way proposed, can have no in¬ 
jurious effect upon the coagulating principle 
of rennet, and doubtless may act u~s a deodor¬ 
izer to some extent; but what seems to us to 
be the most practical course to be recom¬ 
mended is the employment of good, sweet 
rennet in the first instance, and afterward 
such attention to steeping and keeping, or its 
preparation for cheese making, as will insure 
all freedom from objectionable taint. In 
line, we do not believe in the practice of doc¬ 
toring up putrid and rotten rennets so they 
will not stink, and then using t hem for man¬ 
ufacturing a palatable and healthy article of 
food. We know of no long and well con 
ducted experiments in the use of such deodor 
ized or restored rennet for cheese making 
that prove it to be perfectly harmless; and 
we should not care to run the risk of making 
a large quantity of cheese with such rennet. 
Granting that putrid rennet can be deodor¬ 
ized, or restored in the way suggested, and 
that such rennet coagulates the milk, and 
lias, apparently, no immediate effect in doing 
injury to the curds, is it not more reasonable 
to suppose that the use of good, sweet, 
healthy rennet would be likely to produce 
the most desirable results ? Would not tho 
putrid rennet, though apparently restored, 
have an ultimate effect upon the keeping 
qualities of the cheese, rendering it short¬ 
lived and liable to lose in flavor i These are 
questions which we have not as yet seen sat¬ 
isfactorily answered by those who advocate 
tho theory, 
Theoretical cheese making may all be very 
fine, but in real work we must all get down 
to the solid, rugged principles that, will stand 
the test of practice. We do not say but that 
it. may be possible to restore slightly tainted 
rennet so that its use may be admissible in 
cheese making ; but we cannot recommend 
it; and no word of ours shall be given to in 
duce dairymen to slacken their vigilance in 
the curing and preparation of rennet, under 
the impression that putrid taints may be de 
stroyed, and the article made sweet and 
healthy. Putrid rennet is often in the market, 
and has not unfrequently been the means of 
heavy losses when used for cheese malting. 
The place for such rennet is in the compost 
heap, and not on the cheese vats. Wo know 
that- good, healthy rennet will make good, 
healthy cheese. We know that good, sweet 
rennet, properly prepared and cared for, can 
be kept sweet and free from putrid taints, 
and we deem it better to adhere to first prin¬ 
ciples and accept a certainty, than to fall 
into evil practices and then attempt to rem¬ 
edy neglect by doctoring up rotten rennet 
and putrid taints by charcoal filters. 
This is a common-sense view of the matter, 
and we must await further developments in 
science and further experiments with rennet 
before adopting other views. 
The great remedy to be relied on in the 
dairy for the prevention of foul odors is at¬ 
tention to cleanliness iu every department— 
the free use of boiling water, scrubbing-brush 
and broom, vigorously applied ; lime can 
often be used to good advantage. Somewhat 
recently w e hear of chloralum as one of the 
best articles for cleansing and purifying all 
agents to which decomposing matters may 
adhere. It is highly recommended for the 
dairy. We have made no direct tests with 
1 
this article, but are informed by those who 
have had it in use during the past, season, 
that it gives a freshness and HW’eotness to the 
air, and insures a more complete purifleation 
than many other disinfectants, which charge 
the air iu such a way as to create discomfort. 
If we mistake not, this preparation is of 
English origin, but is now manufactured in 
this country, or at least furnished by our 
leading druggists. 
- 
BUTTER MAKING, ETC. 
We have a letter from Mr. 8. Wheat, in 
which he attempts to tell us why butter is 
sometimes long in churning. In referring to 
some remarks of ours on the subject in the 
Rural New-Yorker of Jan. llth, he says : 
“ Tho doctrine that butter cannot be made 
from the milk of cows kept on corn stalks, 
frost-bitten grass, &c,, &c., amounts to pre¬ 
cisely nothing. Mere theory is unsafe coun¬ 
sel. Butter of good quality and color can be 
made from cows fed on corn fodder at any 
season of the year when they need fodder ; 
but coni fodder may be so damaged as to 
seriously injure the flavor of the butter, but 
the cream can be churned and butter made 
from it,” &e., &e. 
Our correspondent must have read very 
carelessly, or else he draws his inferences 
“ with a pretty long bow.” We did not ad¬ 
vocate “ the doctrine that but tor cannot bo 
made from the milk of cows kept on core 
stalks,” &c. The only allusion made to com 
stalks in tho article referred to was us fol¬ 
lows :—“ In the Fall, when cowb are eating 
frozen grass from the pasture, supplemented 
with core stalks or other coarse fodder, the 
cream sometimes is of a character that will 
not be readily converted into butter.” 
Frozen grass and moonshine, with a spar¬ 
ing bite of blcached-out corn stalks, given to 
cowb occasionally, late in Fall or just before 
cows go into Winter quarters, as la practiced 
by some, wo do not regard as t he best kind 
of food for producing butter. We do not 
wish to undervalue the merits of good core 
fodder when cut, cured and stored in a proper 
time and manner ; and we arc glad our cor¬ 
respondent has a due appreciation of this 
kind of food, and can give his testimony that 
he can make “ butl er of good quality and 
good color” from it ; and more especially at 
this time, when some people are talking ex¬ 
travagantly against corn fodder as an almost 
worthies- kind of food. Subjoined is Mr. 
YWs statement of his procedure in churning, 
which we give in lull, except the name of 
the patent churn thermometer, which cannot 
have a free advertisement, in these columns, 
but should appear in its proper place on the 
advertising pages of the paper. He says : 
“The temperature of the cream in warm 
weather should be 58” to CO* never more 
than (JO*; in Winter, 62* to 68*. I have the 
misfortune to be making butter this Winter. 
By putting the cream on these figures, I do 
a churning inside of an hour. A few days 
ago, by neglecting the cream while wanning, 
it reached 65’. 1 knew my best way was not 
to cool it, but churn it in that, condition. I 
had butter in forty minutes; but it wus a 
trifle paler, and I think a little less in quan¬ 
tity than if it had been churned at 62* or 88*. 
“Great care and caution are all important 
in tempering tho cream, for without them 
much is lost and much hard labor thrown 
away. Cream should bo wanned in tin ves¬ 
sels by the stove, or by use of warm water, 
(externally applied,) as most convenient. But 
during the process of warming, it should be 
constantly stirred, and the thermometer ap¬ 
plied as often as necessary. While churning, 
I preserve the same temperature through the 
entil e process. For this purpose I use a cheese 
thermometer, which is fastened in tho cover, 
and will give the temperature at any mo¬ 
ment while churning. Butter may be dam¬ 
aged in Winter by tho milk getting too cold 
while set for cream. It should be sot not far 
from a coal stove, or one that will keep fire 
through the night.” 
-•--*-♦- 
“CREAM GATHERER.” 
Having heard my neighbors speak of an 
invention called a “Cream Still,” or “Port¬ 
able Cream Gatherer,” which, report states, 
half as much more cream can be collected by 
it during the year, from the same quam.it v 
and quality of milk than ordinarily, I am 
naturally anxious to hear, through the me¬ 
dium of the Rural New-Yorker, from those 
W'ho have given this invention a fair trial, 
whether the above statement is overdrawn 
or not. If it be true that by this process an 
equal quantity of cream can be got from 
four cows as from six in the usual way, the 
advantage to butter manufacturers and per¬ 
sons requiring cream must be incalculable. 
C. J. Laws®n. 
