4888 THE RURAL WEW-YORKER. 488 
9)&x$man. 
THE ENGLISH HUNTER. 
Like the English Hackney or the American 
Trotter, the English Hunter usually belongs 
to no particular breed, though in each case the 
class is quite distinct. Probably one-tenth of 
the Hunters are Thoroughbreds which have 
proved too slow for the race-course in their 
younger days; but which after having been 
discarded from the racing stables are found, 
with increased age, to possess power enough to 
carry heavy weights, fleetness enough to keep 
well up with the hounds, and temper and cour¬ 
age enough to make them take to jumping. 
When a slow race-horse of stout blood has a 
frame sufficiently strong to stand the shock of 
hunting over a rough country, and the cour¬ 
age and disposition to take high leaps, he is 
sure to fetch the highest price in the market 
for Hunters. Fully nine-tenths of the Hunters, 
however, are cross-breds, many having fully 
seven-eighths of pure Thoroughbred blood, 
and perhaps few of the best have less than that 
proportion. There is always a great difficulty 
in obtaining the bones and joints in a Thor¬ 
oughbred of sufficient size to stand the shocks 
of the hunting field, and the Thoroughbred is 
not as well calculated as the half-bred to get 
over standing jumps, for his legs are not so 
well under him. Hence the breeder of Hun¬ 
ters naturally avoids the risk, especially as 
he must pay high prices for Thoroughbred 
brood mares of the size and substance 
likely to produce the kind of Hunters 
that will bring big prices in the market. 
Accordingly, he looks out for a sound half- 
bred mare with big legs and joints, without 
paying much attention to her pedigree. In 
choosing a Hunter, the more open the country 
which he has to cross and the lighter the 
weight he has to carry, the more highly-bred 
he should be. In any case, however, he should 
have the free use of his legs, and should be 
able to gallop over a rough country without 
stumbling or swerving—in other words, with¬ 
out a “mistake.” The points in a Hunter are, 
first, he must have a good shoulder-blade, 
placed obliquely to sustain the heavy shock of 
falling from a hight, and to enable him to get 
away quickly thereafter. It should be well 
seamed with muscles, for otherwise he will 
soon tire. For the same reason, the muscular¬ 
ity of the fore-arm is of great importance. 
Next come the hind-quarters, which should 
be powerful in proportion to the weight the 
animal has to carry. Wide hips are especially 
necessary in a Hunter intended to carry weight 
Large, muscular haunches and thighs can 
alone give sufficient propelling power. 
The hocks should be well bent, and the sti files 
high and wide. Below the hocks and knees 
the canna bones should be large, and the sus¬ 
pensory ligaments and tendons strong, clean 
and free; while the pasterns should be strong 
and shorter than in the race-horse, terminat¬ 
ing in feet large enough to avoid sinking in 
deep ground. In the body a greater width is 
desirable than in the race-horse. The back and 
loins must be strong and well united at the 
hips by the back-ribs. An'excellent specimen 
of a Hunter is shown at Fig. 201. This is 
the gelding Champion, sixteen hands high. 
He was first in the class of weight-carriers 
to carry fifteen stone and upwards at the 
Horse Show at the Royal Agricultural Hall, 
Islington, London, in June, 1888, and was 
awarded the champion prize as the best 
Hunter. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
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PARTURIENT APOPLEXY OR COLLAPSE—MILK 
FEVER. 
G. H., Jefferson , N. Y.—l had a cow that 
calved last Thursday. She drank her first 
milk, cleaned all right, and to all appearances 
was all right. Friday morning she gave a 
fine mess of milk, ate her hay, grain and shorts. 
Friday night when she was milked she only 
gave two quarts of milk and five minutes af¬ 
ter being milked she dropped down in the 
stanchion. I gave her a dose of saltpeter and 
castor oil as nothing had passed her all day 
Friday, and on Saturday I gave her more oil. 
Saturday she lay flat on her side with her 
head on the floor. Her ~eyes]looked^bad,land 
still I could not get her bowels to move, so I 
gave her soot, eggs and cider. Then I gave 
her pulverized chalk and vinegar. I gave 
her injections of warm soap-suds and raked 
her and got hard dry lumps the size of hens’ 
eggs. Sunday she was very much better and 
tried to get up. She did not make water, and 
Saturday night I gave her two ounces of 
niter. She passed some water on Saturday 
night. Monday she seemed to be better. I 
gave her plenty of milk to nourish her, as she 
would not eat at all. Her bag was soft and 
she milked out easily every time I milked her. 
See was in good order, fat enough for beef, 
and ten years old. This morning she was 
worse, seemed to be in great pain, would lie 
down flat on her side and then spring up (not 
on her feet, but to the natural position for a 
cow when lying down) and she soon died. 
What was the matter with her? The best cow 
doctor about here said the trouble was milk 
fever; another said it was horn distemper; 
another inflammation; while another thought 
she had taken cold. 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNK. 
The disease was what is most commonly 
called “milk fever,” but it is more properly 
known as parturient apoplexy or collapse. 
The name “fever” is a misnomer, since often 
there is no fever at all, even in rapidly fatal 
cases, and very rarely is there a high fever. 
While certain conditions are known to favor 
its development, the true nature of the disease 
is not well understood. Various authorities 
have advanced theories from time to time to 
explain the nature and cause of the disease, 
but none of them are entirely satisfactory. It 
is especially a disease of plethora, and most 
commonly attacks heavy milkers that are in 
prime condition, or have been fed liberally 
before calving. Cows that are costive at par¬ 
turition are particularly liable to an attack. 
Hot weather is also favorable to the disease. 
It almost always follows a rapid, easy deliv¬ 
ery, and very rarely occurs either after a dif¬ 
ficult parturition, especially if there is much 
loss of blood, or if there is a retention of the 
after-birth. It never occurs with the first 
calf, and rarely before the third; but most 
commonly at the fourth or fifth parturition, 
when the animal is in her prime. In addition 
to the above conditions, there is apparently an 
individual predisposition to the disease, as 
there is in other cows a predisposition to abor¬ 
tion. But this apparent individual predisposi¬ 
tion may be due to causes which we are unable 
to determine,rather than to a natural tendency 
to the disease on the part of the animal. Want 
of exercise also predisposes to the disease. The 
attack almost always occurs during the first 
week after calving, most commonly from the 
first to the third day, when it is very liable to 
be fatal After the third day a more favora¬ 
ble termination may be hoped for. An ani¬ 
mal that recovers from one attack is very lia¬ 
ble to a second attack at the next calving, un¬ 
less special precautions are taken to prevent 
its recurrence. In the present case, as in nearly 
all others, the disease was evidently due to 
plethora—the animal being kept too fat and 
well fed up to the time of calving—and costive¬ 
ness. If you had read the simple precaution 
required. 
for the prevention of the disease and the pro¬ 
per treatment, both of which have frequently 
been given in the Rural, you might in the 
first place have prevented the attack, and in 
the second place you would not have followed 
the irrational, contradictory course of treat¬ 
ment which you did. Unfortunately many of 
the readers of the Rural will never “lock the 
stable-door until after the horse has been 
stolen;” likewise they will not heed the pre¬ 
cautions given to others until often thoy have 
lost a few valuable animals themselves. While 
I am of the opinion that the treatment was 
not the cause of the cow’s death, it is quite ev¬ 
ident that it did her no good, and was there¬ 
fore worse than no treatment whatever. 
To move the bowels there should have been 
given two pounds Epsom salts, or preferably 
one pound each of Epsom and common salts 
with two ounces of ginger. The oils are not a re¬ 
liable laxative for cattle, and are rarely given 
except in inflammation of the bowels or other 
special cases. Judging from the history of the 
case, the cow might have recovered if the 
salts had been given at the outset and followed 
by frequent injections of warm water or warm 
soap-suds until the bowels had been freely 
moved, then ounce doses of sweet spirits of 
niter every three or four hours for the kid¬ 
neys. Four drams of carbonate of ammonia 
and one half dram powdered nux vomica may 
be given cold with advantage every four 
hours if the case is a severe one. Over-dosing 
is to be avoided, and after the bowels have 
been freely moved, careful nursing is better 
than much medicine. Owing to the comatose 
or drowsy condition into which the animals 
often quickly pass, medicines by the mouth 
must be given slowly'and with caution, other¬ 
wise the patient will be strangled from her 
inability to swallow. See that the animal i 
kept in a comfortable position, with the head 
elevated, and bundles of straw to the back 
and shoulder, to keep the cow in as nearly the 
natural position as possible. It is also desir¬ 
able to change the position three or four times 
daffy. 
Treatment of the disease is so uncertain 
that prevention is the only safe remedy, 
and fortunately the disease can usually 
be prevented by exercising a little 
care before and at calving time. Plethora 
and costiveness are to be'avoided. Cows that 
are fat and those on flush feed or receiving a 
full grain ration should have their rations 
reduced from one to three weeks before par¬ 
turition. This precaution alone will almost 
always prevent the appearance of the dis¬ 
ease if the bowels are moving freely. But as 
an additional precaution, especially in heavy 
milkers, following au easy, rapid delivery, it 
is desirable to give a good active purgative 
as soon as possible after the calf is dropped. 
One half to one pound each of Epsom and 
common salts, with one or two ounces of ginger, 
according to the size and condition of the ani¬ 
mal, will usually answer the purpose. The 
dose may be repeated in 10 to 18 hours if no 
effect is produced. 
Following a difficult parturition or a 
retention of the after-birth, and especially 
if the cow is much weakened, the salts are 
not necessary and should not be given to 
weaken an animal already exhausted. 
Plenty of exercise is also very desirable. 
Free access to salt and good drinking water 
will tend to keep the bowels from becoming 
costive, and thus remove one source of 
danger. 
RIDICULOUS NOTIONS. 
W. K., Ontario , Kansas. —1. A farmer told 
me a few days ago, that there was a small hole 
in the fore-leg of a hog, and if that hole be¬ 
came stopped up the hog would die, but that 
if it was kept open the hog would remain in 
good'health and do3velC"?‘and also, that if[tho 
sac forming that hole was cut out the hog 
would never get sick. What is the truth about 
it ?” 
2. An agricultural paper published in Ohio 
lately published the following: 
A farmer up In Madison County thinks he has found 
a sure preventive against the death of ho«s by the so- 
called “cholera ” He explains it thus: “Between the 
front teeth and the «rinders there Is a space of two or 
three inches, and in this space under the Kum of every 
diseased hog will be found a pocket of poisonous sub¬ 
stance To remove this, take a cold chisel and ham¬ 
mer and cut this bottle of poison out”. He says that 
previous to adopting i his device he had lost 73 hogs, 
but since adopt ing it ho has not lost a single hog. and 
those of his neighbors who have tried the samo oper¬ 
ation report the same favorable results. 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
1. The above statement is so plainly ridicu¬ 
lous that it must have been intended as a hoax 
aud not as a statement of fact. From its ab¬ 
surdity it is evident that if made seriously it 
was the result either of dense ignorance or a 
disordered brain. For I cannot believe that 
any [intelligent stock-owner would ever try 
any such foolish experiment with an idea of 
producing the result therein mentioned. I 
am often surprised that the editors of any of 
our leading agricultural journals will pub- 
lis K such ridiculous communications with no 
comment whatever. While I am well aware 
that editors are not responsible for the opinions 
of their correspondents, they are responsible 
for the good repute of their papers. They 
should remember that a large portion of their 
readers are less fortunate than themselves 
in possessing the requisite knowledge to 
enable them to distinguish the good from the 
bad, the plausible from the ridiculous; so that 
such publication can but lessen the confidence 
of those readers in the more trustworthy or 
reliable communications. Another recent 
good example of such communications ap¬ 
peared in the Country Gentleman of April 26, 
page 329, on the cause of gapes in chickens 
It is there stated that “gapes are caused by 
a louse that is always hatched with the chick, 
and will soon crawl down to the nostril and 
form the small red worm, that has always 
killed the chicks for me.” The editors make 
no comment whatever, and it is not unlikely 
that a number of their readers may be misled 
into believing that to be the real source of the 
gape-worm. Perhaps it might not be policy 
for editoi’s to express their opinion on every 
communication of this kind; but they could 
certainly make some comment to the effect 
that it was an “original idea,” or the state¬ 
ment that it “needed confirmation.” This 
would indicate to their readers that it was 
the opinion of that particulor writer and not 
a generally accepted statement. While I do 
not wish to assume the role of an editorial 
critic, I desire to enter a protest against the 
unqualified publication of such communica¬ 
tions. 
PRUNING AN APPLE ORCHARD. 
Subscriber (address mislaid.) —1. Are wood 
ashes a good application around the trees in an 
old apple orchard? Would it be well to mix 
them with hen manure for trees generally, or 
should they be used separately? 2. What is 
the best time for pruning old apple trees that 
show signs of dying, and should the limbs be 
pruned much or little? 
Ans.— 1. Nothing is better than unleached 
(Continued on page 488.) 
Woman’s Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
Some months ago “ Chat By the Way ” told 
a little about that great and noble organiza¬ 
tion known as the'King’s Daughters, It was 
a new idea to many ; manifold are the ques¬ 
tions asked about it by the far-off Rural 
readers. They all want to know, so we will 
say something more about the order. 
* * * 
The King’s Daughters, now numbering over 
14,600, is the remarkable spectacle of a great 
society without either constitution or by¬ 
laws save such as each individual branch 
may select. It has the widest possible lati¬ 
tude for doing good, whether far-reaching 
charities or simple acts of kindness and sym 
pathy “ In His Name.” That is the watch¬ 
word of the society ; the King’s Daughters 
count their duty and service to lie in the foot¬ 
prints of their Master, who went about doing 
good. 
* * 3 = 
The prime idea of the society is simple 
enough — ten times one is ten. Therefore, 
when one woman begins to look about her for 
the duty that lies nearest her, having found 
it, she also finds nine like-minded workers 
and they start a Ten, devoted to some special 
work. Each group of workers is called a Ten 
though occasionally there are more or maybe 
less. 
One of our bright Texan sisters writes 
to ask what the King’s Daughters are and what 
they propose to do? 
They are doing so many things already 
HUNTER GELDING CHAMPION. (Re-engraved from the London Live St' ck 
Journal.) Fig. 261. 
