FES. 24 
©ORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
425 
Norseman. . 
HORSE WITH TOE CRACK. 
I would ask information through the 
Rural New-Yorker respecting my horse, 
a fine Clydesdale, perfect in every particular 
except his fore feet, which, when unshod, 
crack upward in front of the hoof, for an inch 
or more ; sometimes in traveling seems ten¬ 
der. Now that the feet are plated the under 
part of the foot seems tender, and occasion 
ally, not often, he limps. Is it thrush ? If so, 
what treatment f Is it necessary that he 
stand on boards when stabled ? He is very 
hearty, aud carries full flesh ; is nine years 
old. Any Information will be gratefully re¬ 
ceived by— Subscriber. 
Dadd says The fact that the parts do 
crack, would go to show that there must 
exist some brit tleness in the hoof. This may 
arise from two causes first, from a want of 
healthy action in the nutritive and secretory 
vessels of the foot ; secondly, from the com¬ 
mon custom of rasping the walls of the hoof, 
and otherwise mutilating the foot in shoeing. 
Still it may arise from contraction of the 
parts, from a narrow-heeled shoe, from con¬ 
gestion and deep-seated disease within the 
hoof. In short, any sort of work, manage¬ 
ment or system of shoeing that tends to dry 
up the natural moisture of the foot, may be 
considered a direct cause of contraction. 
Predisposing causes may also exist in breed. 
It is well known that some animals are foaJed 
marked with the parent’s deformity—con¬ 
tracted quarters, for instance ; and such are, 
more especially than others, liable to quarter 
crack. This affords a reasou why horses, not 
predisposed, escape the evils alluded to, and 
others not enumerated ; as in, for instance, a 
dry, sandy country, on shipboard, or in hot 
stables with dry floors. 
Mr. PercIVALL thus alludes to the causes 
of toe crack, or toe Hand crack, as English 
surgeons term it :—“ "Voe mind cracks are 
caused by violence. Shoeing, also, may have 
something to do in its production. The 
horses which are the subjects of it, are those 
which arc employed in laborious or straining 
draughts. The toe of the hind foot is the 
grand fulcrum through which the hind limbs, 
the propellers Df the body, exert their power; 
and it is in some violent and forcible effort 
that the hind hoof, strained as it is to its 
uttermost, aud particularly at the toe, splits, 
commonly first at the coronet ; the same as 
in the fore foot, where the horn, but newly 
formed, is thin and unresisting; the crack 
subsequently extending gradually down the 
wall, even as far as the point of the toe. 
“Digging the point of the toe into the 
ground, or stamping it hard down upon the 
pavement, (and especially when this stress 
upon the fore part of the wall is ah all times 
promoted by high calkins to the shoe,) must 
certainly, one would think, be the main pro- 1 
dueer of toe sand crack—an opinion still fur- t 
ther favored by the observation which has c 
been made of shaft horses in drays being i 
more subject to the accident than trace i 
horses. Still, however, for all this, it be- £ 
hooves iud to say, that with the best judges f 
of such matters, the point is one not yet free t 
from doubt and difference^ thinking. Short t 
and upright pasterns, with clubby, prominent 1 
hoofs, indicate a predisposition to toe sand ! 
crack ; the disease being in no instance seen t 
in flat, shelvy, oblique hoofs.” a 
It is generally customary in this part of t 
the country to call in the aid of the black- 
smith to repair a toe crack, which he does in 0 
the following manner If the fissure is only 8 
a partial one, that is, commences a short dis- a 
tance below the coronet, and only extends 9 
part of the way down the wall, a red-hot 0 
iron, having a sharp edge, is drawn across A 
the upper and lower parts of the crack, and n 
sometimes down the crack itself, with a 
view of destroying any morbid matter that 
may exist in the fissure. A crack fixed after 
this fashion is called cross firing. If the fis¬ 
sure extends from the coronet right down to A 
the toe, two or three pieces of wire are passed | h 
through the edges of each half of the hoof, T 
tlirough holes drilled for that purpose, and w 
the fissure is thus riveted together. The op- oi 
e ration requires some skill on the part of the h 
blacksmith; for if he should bore the holes II 
too deep, the sensitive lamina;, might be g< 
included, and thus protract the cure. Some hi 
physicians recommend encircling the hoof st 
with waxed twine, instead of riveting, with vi 
a view of restricting any tendency to expand 
at the toe, when, by its pressure on the heels, is 
it might favor their contraction, and there- tb 
fore cannot be of much use. Of the two, we ar 
should prefer riveting, if performed by a w 
skillful workman. 
But why not close the crack by interrupted 
sutures, after the following fashion :—Good, 
substantial waxed threads answer the same 
purpose as iron rivets, and are far preferable, 
because they can be so easily removed after 
having fulfilled their intention. We have 
made but one trial of this kind. The case 
turned out well; still a single .experiment is 
not sufficient to establish its superiority over 
other methods. 
The best practice would be, first, to poul¬ 
tice the foot, (supposing the shoe to have 
been removed,) with a view of softening the 
THE AMERICAN FISH CULTURISTS. 
The American Fish Culturists’ Associa¬ 
tion met in this city Feb. 10. Hon. Robert 
B. Roosevelt was elected chairman, who 
gave an interesting account of the work ac¬ 
complished by the New York Commissioners 
of Fisheries, to which we shall refer at an¬ 
other time. A communication from Chah. 
HOME DRESS — (See page 
hoof and removing any extraneous matter 
that may have insinuated itself into the 
crack. When the hoof is sufficiently softened, 
it, should be cleansed, examined, and dressed 
with tincture of myrrh. Select a spot about 
an inch below the coronet, and with a small 
gimlet bore a hole through the two edges of 
the crack, and another one inch above the 
toe. A straight needle, armed witn a strong 
ligature, is to be passed through the upper 
holes, brought over and through a second 
time ; thus closing the two edges of the fis¬ 
sure by what the sailors term a “round 
turn.” The same thing is to be repeated at 
the toe. The assistant, by the aid of pincers 
or otherwise, shuts the crack as close as pos¬ 
sible ; the ligatures are each drawn tight, 
and tied with a surgeon’s knot. A small 
quantity of blister ointment is to be smeared 
over the crack, and bar shoe applied. A 
quarter crack may be treated in a similar 
manner, omitting, however, the sutures. 
--— 
NOTES FOR HORSEMEN. 
Remedy for a Cough. —Inclosed you will 
find a valuable recipe for a horse cough. I 
have used it for six years and it never fails. 
Take one pint of wheat bran, wet it with 
water ; put from five to seven drops of tar 
oil in the bran ; stir it well arid give to the 
hoi-se twice a day, mornings and evenings. 
It is also good for the distemper ; in fact it is 
good ter any kind of a cough a horse may 
have. The tar oil can be got at any drug 
store, it costs but a trifle.—A. H. F., Eggerts - ! 
ville, A'. V. 
I saw in your issue of Jan. 3 notes of what 
is called a large colt. I have one, foaled on 
the same day, that stands five inches higher 
and girths five inches more. Mr. Peeler 
will have to try again. — Henry Foster, 
Cambria Go., Pa. 
Connecticut River, where I made my first 
experiment in hatching shad. At one time, 
when I was upon the verge of success, some 
malicious person destroyed all rny troughs, 
aud l was obliged to recommence my ilives 
tigatinpa. A t. last success cro wnod tuy efforts 
to such a degree that, in 1870, the Connote 
sioners of Fisheries reported, an advance of 
, fixty percent., over the number in the year 
1882 . Soon afterwards I made, experiments 
> in hatching white fish, Otsego bass, wall- 
. eyed pike, red side suckers, creek suckers, 
i shfriers, white amt yellow perch, mullet, and 
striped bass, and in every case was successful. 
Mr. Wilmot of Newcastle, Canada, de¬ 
scribed the culture of salmon, lie said that 
he begun his work in 1865, In a creek that 
ran through his farm, in Canada. When he 
began lie ctould only find a .single pair of «al- 
mon in the crock, and now the stream was 
amply populated with them. Shortly before 
he started for New York fifty two salmon 
came into his “reception house,” twenty- 
seven of which had marks upon them that 
they were put there by him two years be¬ 
fore. Tiiis proved the assertion that salmon 
will return of their own accord to places 
where artificial hatching is carried on. 
Mr. Kent of Baltimore made some inter 
esiing remarks upon the transportation of 
fish. 
Mr. Mather described an experiment he 
had made in transporting trout, as follows : 
1 captured about 1,600 flah in the wilds of 
Canada, which 1 carried in barrels to the 
wharf at Coburg. I had expected to meet a 
steamer there, but was disappointed, and 
my fish lav allday upon the wharf in the sun. 
1 engaged several men to clip water from 
the Jake and pour it into the barrels. The 
steamer arrived at, 8 I 1 . M., but over 300 of 
my fish were already dead. Before L arrived 
at. my destination I lost 100 more. Since 
their arrival none of them have ever spawned 
for me, and I have come t o tlm conclusion 
that their rough usage has made them bar¬ 
ren. 1 never heard of a parallel case, and 
mention it not knowing but t hat some of the 
experienced fish culturists present may bo 
able to explain the cause of the. barrenness 
of the fish. None of the members could ex¬ 
plain the cause. 
Considerable discussion followed concern¬ 
ing the question as to whether the ova were 
in the fish at its birth. One of the members 
said that upon opening a trout that had just 
spawned, he found close against her back- 
hone two rows of eggs about tiie size of a 
pin-head; and ho concluded, therefore, that 
all the eggs the fish were destined to lay 
during its life were in its body at its birth. 
MoBfc of the members were of the same 
opinion. 
H. J. Reeder of Pennsylvania, a son of 
I ex-Gov. Reeder, described the method 
I adopted by the Commissioners of that State 
in transporting bass and salmon from the 
| Potomac River to the Delaware River. In 
I eight months they had transported 63,000 
fish, at an expense of 611,000. 
An essay on “The Protection and the 
Identification of Species,” was read by Chab. 
I Hallock, editor of Forest and Stream. He 
said; 
1 heard one of your most distinguished 
members (Seth Green) assert yesterday that 
protection must, go hand in hand with propa¬ 
gation, and that all efforts in breeding fish 
will be nullified by neglect to protect the 
voung fish and fish spawn. Wo set the 
largest value upon the provisions and penal¬ 
ties to prevent the use of giant powder and 
other articles for the wholesale and indis¬ 
criminate destruction of fish, aud for all 
unseasonable fishing whatever, and upon all 
those wholesome resolutions intended to 
govern angling in leased and open rivers, 
lakes, and streams. All these go far toward 
the consummation of the main objeotdesired 
to be accomplished. But it. is evident that 
the imperfect operation of the existing laws, 
G Atktvs iWnilW ti,.^ m , unseasonable fishing whatever, and upon all 
, ■ ‘ ’ ailing the method of salmon those wholesome resolutions intended to 
breeding at Bucksport, Me., was read, govern angling in leased and open rivers 
Spencer F. Baird spoke in review of the lakes, and stryaius. All these go far towara 
progress of fish culture, and giving figures t'he consummation of the main objeotdesired 
« * **. J* £ th. 
various great fisheries ol the world. J. W. and the great loophole for escape for trans- 
Milnor read an interesting essay about the greasora lies in the fact, that game and fish 
eouraini. a fish inhnhit ino- ntr.iMoi taken in one State may be sold in the mar- 
gouraini, a fish inhabiting equatorial waters. 
Livingston Stone read an essay containing 
a description of his adventures in the collec¬ 
tion of salmon ova in California and the food 
fishes of the Pacific coast. Mr. Stone de¬ 
scribed the difficulties he had experienced in 
gathering the ova on the McCloud River in 
consequence of the interference of Indians 
aud the extreme difficulty attending the 
transportation of ova. The greatest num¬ 
ber of eggs that was lost was about ten per 
cent. Two millions of eggs were gathered 
during this expedition, and nearly one and a 
half millions safely reached their destination. 
Seth Green gave his experience in hatch 
mg spawn as follows:—I have hatched fifteen 
kinds of fish spawn artificially. Of animals 
I have hatched the frog and lobster. My 
first attempt at taking brook trout was in 
1864. I was soon able to discriminate be¬ 
tween t.he impregnated egg and those that 
were not impregnated. My first experiment 
resulted in hatching twenty-five per cent. 
This discouraged me considerably, but 1 soon 
made up my mind as to mv course. I had 
previously used a good deal of water and 
little milk, but 1 now began to use more milk 
and less water, aud my next experiment re¬ 
sulted in a hatching of ninety-five Tier cent. 
I kept rn y experiment a secret as long as i 
remained iu the spawn-selling business, and 
the result was a larger sale for my spawn 
r.ne result was a larger sale for my spawn 
than anyone eLse in the business could boast. 
Soon after this I discovered that, the sun 
was very destructive to spawn, and accord- 
ingly shaded the troughs. Among the worst 
enemies 1 had to contend with were the 
rats. I extracted 304 trout spawn from (he 
stomach of one of them which I succeeded 
in killing. In 1867, at the request of some 
of the Fish Commissioners of the New En¬ 
gland States, I went to Holyoke, on the 
taken in one State may be sold Jn the mar¬ 
kets of another State with impunity. What 
is needed therefore is such a co-operation of 
States as will procure the enactment of a law 
which shall make it illegal to expose for sale 
in the markets of one State lisli illegally 
taken in another Slate, within the periods 
for which their taking is prohibited. A draft 
of such a, bill, 1 am glad to see, has been 
introduced in the. Massachusetts Legislature 
by the Massachusetts Angling Association. 
Let us all hope and exert ourselves to our 
utmust to get such a. bill passed iu the Legis¬ 
latures of all our different States, and thus 
make protection a law. 
A resolution was passed to the eirect, that 
members of the Association would use their 
influence to procure the passage of laws by 
the several State Legislatures to secure the 
object deseribed hy Mr. Halleck. Seth 
Green read a paper narruting his experience 
in raising frogs. Mr. Collins of Caledonia, 
N. x., said that he used liver mixed with 
cream in feeding young trout. Prof. Baird 
suggested the use of dried [fish as food for 
trout. Bv using worthless fish, such as 
sharks and skates, the cost of fish food could 
be reduced. The question waft asked whether 
trout could be raised artificially for the mar¬ 
ket with any prospect of pecuniary success, 
•Seth Green said that, he t hought it could be 
done. Eugene G. Blackford said that 
trout-raising would not be profitable until 
they could be raised so cheaply that they 
could be sold cheaply ’in the market. At 
present the price was 81 per pound, and few 
persons would buy such near fish. 
The following officers were elected for the 
ensuing year Presf.— R. B. Roosevelt- 
Vic.e-PrcHt.-li. S Page; Sec.—A. S. Collins; 
7 m/#,—3. I'r Bowles. fix Cum .—Howard J 
Reeder, M. C. Edmonds, and Alexander Kent. 
The Association adjourned, to meet in the 
same place on the second Tuesday of Febru¬ 
ary, 1875. 
