THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
399 
1899 
off in a day. These are raked into rows with the 
horserake, and either plowing or digging begins. If 
dug, they are let out to dig, pick and grave down at 
from 85 to 87 per acre. If plowed, two horses draw 
the digger, taking every other row, followed by a 
gang of women and boys, who are employed by a 
“ ganger ” or man who pays them by the day, and 
contracts with the farmer to pick and throw into carts 
by the acre—83 to 85. 
Put in Grave. —Four one-horse dump-carts take 
away the potatoes, one being filled by the pickers, 
one being full end on the way to the grave, one being 
dumped at the grave, and one being emptied and on 
its way from the grave to the pickers. If the graving 
is being done very close to the crop, three carts will 
do it instead of four, two men will round up the grave 
and cover with straw, and two cover with earth. 
When ready to market, the potatoes are riddled over, 
and picked over as they lay in the riddle, and are 
usually sold on a 1%-inch riddle by the ton, delivered 
to the nearest railway station, and dumped loose into 
cars holding seven to nine tons each, or are so sent 
by the grower to be sold by a commission man. Thous¬ 
ands of acres, however, are sold to commission men 
a ad dealers in July and August, by the acre as they 
grow, the farmer finding only horseflesh, and the 
buyer paying all other expenses. k. woods. 
Ohio. _ 
THE CARRIAGE-HORSE S/RE. 
TI'K 6TALLTOX FOR FARMERS TO BREED THEIR MARKS TO 
FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SALABLE HARNESS HORSES. 
The Hackney Horse. —The accompanying figure 
shows an outline drawing 
of a stallion of the Hack¬ 
ney type, such as has been 
used in this country for 
several years among rep¬ 
utable farmers. It will be 
seen that the Hackney 
possesses all the desirable 
points of the typical car¬ 
riage horse. He has a nicely- 
shaped head, pleasant ex¬ 
pression, naturally-arched 
neck, powerful, sloping 
shoulders, wide chest, 
smoothly- rounded barrel, 
level back, not too long, 
tail well set up, nicely- 
rounded hind quarters, 
well-muscled thighs and 
arms, short, stout legs 
with good, flat bone, below 
the knee and hock, pasterns 
of correct shape and slope, 
shapely feet, straight front 
legs that stand firmly and 
thus support the fore end 
of the body, well-formed 
hind legs that are so placed 
as to support the hind 
quarter, the one well for¬ 
ward under the body, and 
the other in direct line 
with the buttock, both, 
looked at from behind, being straight and not 
spreading apart. The whole body of the horse is 
in true proportions, and shows perfection of symmetry, 
so that whether at the walk or trot, the horse can be 
counted upon to move with regularity and precision, 
making no false steps, and having one hind leg always 
underneath him, while his front legs are acting high. 
Style ancl Action. —The Hackney type is admitted 
to be the correct cne where ability to draw weight 
without undue exertion is necessary. A light, long 
and narrow trotting-bred horse or Thoroughbred uses 
up too much nervous or muscular energy when he is 
asked to pull anything heavier than the feather¬ 
weight buggy. The Hackney is a combination of the 
light and heavy horse. He has substance enough not 
to overstrain his muscular energy, and energy suffi¬ 
cient to make full use of his substance. This is the 
reason why one large or two small Hackneys look so 
well in action in front of a brougham or other heavy 
carriage. The vehicle seems to roll along smoothly, 
while the horses trot in the height of style, and pull 
the weight without apparent effort. This easy and 
regular action is the quality which adds value to har¬ 
ness horses, and which makes them sell well and 
quickly. 
Action, true and high, is what the Hackney has 
always been famous for. He has been bred for it 
through many generations. It is in his blood, and 
whrn a Hackney mare and foal are allowed out of 
their box for the first time, the foal will be seen to 
trot alongside of its dam, whereas a Thoroughbred 
foal will lope or canter. This is why it is only neces¬ 
sary for breeders to send such mares as have some ac¬ 
tion, to Hackney stallions when they desire to produce 
foals that are to be trained for stylish harness. Turn 
a Hackney-bred horse loose in the field, and he will im¬ 
mediately throw up his knees almost to his chin. 
Turn a speedy horse out, and he will sweep close to 
the ground. It is natural for the Hackney-bred horse 
to lift his knees, and this is why breeders show them 
to halter at exhibitions, so as to prove that they can 
act high without being bitted and checked up in 
harness. Dealers who try to pass off speedy trotting- 
bred or Thoroughbred horses as high actors, invari¬ 
ably show them in harness and at a high rate of speed, 
because when such horses go slow, they lose their 
action. 
Can Only Trot. —The action of the Hackney is 
free and from the shoulder. The feet, while being 
lifted high, are sent outwards—not popped straight 
up and down. The hind legs are at the same time 
shot well forward, and the hocks flexed to support the 
body and send it forward. It is this kind of action 
that lasts, and that is safe on stones or asphalt pave¬ 
ment, a horse with such action always being well 
balanced and prepared to recover should he slip. 
Horses that pump their knees up and down, and leave 
their hocks behind them, soon pound their front legs 
to pieces, and never have a hind leg under them far 
enough to prevent a fall. A horse with good hind 
action pulls more weight up a hill, and is infinitely 
safer going down a hill than a horse with poor action. 
The Hackney having been for many generations 
made to pull heavy vehicles, and go at an even pace, 
and reined in so as to make it throw its knees up and 
trot at a regular 1, 2, 3, 4 pace, has become a natural 
high actor. The American trotter, on the contrary, 
has, for 100 years, been bred for speed, and taught to 
lower its action so as to waste no time. It has, also, 
been bred for long hind quarters, and taught to carry 
its hind legs forward with a swing, so as to cover a 
great distance at each stride. If you push a trotting- 
bred horse beyond its speed, it breaks into a canter or 
gallop. If you push a Hackney-bred horse beyond its 
speed, it merely lowers its action, but does not break 
its trot, for the reason that it has never been taught 
to do anything except the trot. Its action, even at 
the lowest, will still be higher and more regular than 
the slow action of the trotter or Thoroughbred, and 
as it will always clear the ground, it must be safer. 
The Hackney-bred horse will never spread its hind 
legs, and whether it goes fast or slow, will act in true 
rhythm, putting the hind feet in the spot where the 
front feet are taken from. 
Other Good Points. —The soundness of the Hack¬ 
ney as a breed has always been one of its chief char¬ 
acteristics. It is only gradually trained to harness 
up to its third or fourth year, so that its wind is 
not ruined, or its legs and muscles overstrained before 
maturity. At four years old, the Hackney must, then, 
be better constitutionally than*the trained trotter or 
Thoroughbred, which from two years old is compelled 
to compete in races. Never being asked to draw ex¬ 
traordinary weight, nor to travel quicker than 8, 10 
or 12 miles an hour, it stands to sense that a Hackney 
must be in healthy condition, and is, therefore, able 
to get or produce healthy offspring. Under these con¬ 
ditions, it is not wonderful to find that the Hackney 
is the most tractable of all horses as a race. It is 
easily handled and broken, comes to the call, takes 
naturally to harness, because its progenitors have 
been used for scarce anything else, and a colt used for 
light work alongside of its dam on the farm, will al¬ 
most break itself sufficient to admit of its being sold 
as fairly tractable and mannerly without extra prep¬ 
aration, as it approaches its fourth year. It, there¬ 
fore, costs very little, if anything, for a farmer to get 
his Hackney-bred colts ready for the dealer when he 
comes to make his purchases. 
The Hackney has been ridiculed in this country as 
being simply a “show” horse, because exhibitors 
have over-advertised him as such. If a gentleman in 
town has one or more beautiful, high-stepping horses, 
he likes to keep them always in high condition for 
the show ring or the fashionable promenade. To ask 
such a horse to perform long journeys, would be 
obviously unfair, as he is not in condition for it. The 
untrained trotter or Thoroughbred racehorse would 
make a much worse showing on the track than the 
untrained Hackney would on a long journey. A 
Hackney kept in good hard condition for work on 
country roads, will pull a heavy trap with two or 
more passengers in it, and keep up a regular 10, 12 or 
14-mile-an-hcur gait for hours; and given proper 
training, can be made to do similar feats to those 
for which his ancestors were famous, such as “ 17 
miles in 56 minutes, carrying 182 pounds “ 30 miles 
to market and 30 back again, pulling a heavy cart 
containing a fat farmer and baskets filled with mer¬ 
chandise”; “ one mile in three minutes, carrying 196 
pounds”, etc. The necessity for such endurance and 
work has loDg since disappeared, and the habit being 
disused, has become dor¬ 
mant ; but endurance is 
not necessarily eradicated 
from the blood, 
f The drawing shows a 
stallion with shortened or 
“docked” tail. Many of 
the young stallions that 
are to be turned over to 
farmers will not be 
“docked”, but will be al¬ 
lowed to retain their full 
tails, so that the horses 
shall not suffer from flies 
and other insects, and so 
will not fret and lose flesh 
when turned out to graze. 
A. H. GODFREY. 
Late Asst. Sec. American 
Hackney Horse Society. 
SCIONS . 
Texas Peaches.— I think that 
one cause for poor fruit is our 
habit of planting trees too close 
together, and not thinning the 
fruit. In a favorable season, 
all goes well, but strike a long 
drought, when the trees have to 
hunt for moisture and sunshine, 
and the fruit will surely suffer. 
A tree should have room enough 
for its full and proper develop¬ 
ment. I would plant peach trees, 
in this climate, 24 feet apart 
each way. I can make the trees interlock at this distance, and 
have had from 8 to 10 bushels of fruit per tree. Sometimes people 
think their trees are dying of old age, when they are really 
dying of starvation, the lack of both water and food. A. g. s. 
Mexla, Texas. 
Keep the asparagus beds clean, and encourage thrifty growth; 
it’s the best antidote for Asparagus rust. 
Thin out parsnips, beets and lettuce to four inches, even though 
it does seem a pity to discard the little extra plants. 
Fiei.d mice are often very destructive in and around frames 
and hotbeds. Sweet corn soaked in a solution of strychnine is 
the florists’ remedy. 
The Sultan of Turkey is Interested in progressive agriculture. 
He has sent to this country for experts to study the farming of 
Turkey, and advise and make suggestions about future work. 
Why does he come to America instead of going to Germany, 
France or England ? He wants the “ hustle ” and “ get there ” 
of the American farmer. 
Asparagus in the South.—P rof. Burnette, of the Louisiana 
Agricultural College, tells us that it is quite difficult to raise 
asparagus, even for home use, in southern Louisiana. The sea¬ 
son is too warm and too long to obtain a good sprout. In north¬ 
ern Louisiana, however, in the pine country, truck farmers have 
small patches of asparagus, and farther north, it may be grown 
in larger quantities. It is not, however, the large and luscious 
sprouts that are grown in the North. The southern citizens con¬ 
sume large quantities of canned asparagus, but the majority of 
people, probably, do not know what it is. In southern Louisiana 
the people eat large quantities of greens—mustard, turnips, beets 
and radishes. They have these during nearly all seasons of the 
year, in large quantities, therefore get along nicely without 
asparagus. A limited quantity of fresh asparagus might find 
sale in New Orleans, to be purchased by the wealthy classes. 
The other vegetables, however, are so cheap and plentiful that, 
probably, it would not be possible to work up a large trade. 
Most persons who go to the South are disappointed in not finding 
asparagus, yet there are thousands of people in the North, 
farmers at that, who never know what it is to have plenty of this 
luscious vegetable. 
1. Face. 
2. Forehead. 
3. Ears. 
4. Lower jaw. 
5. Cheek. 
6. Poll. 
7. Throat. 
8. Parotid. 
9. Neck. 
10. Crest. 
11. Jugular Channel 
or Furrow. 
12. Breast. 
13. Withers. 
14. Back. 
15. Ribs. 
16. Girth. 
17. Loins. 
18. Croup. 
19. Bock. 
20. Flank. 
21. Belly. 
22. Point of shoulder. 
23. Elbow. 
24. Forearm. 
25. Knee. 
26. Canon or shank. 
27. Fetlock joint. 
28. Pastern. 
29. Coronet. 
30. Foot. 
31. Ergot and fetlock 
32. Haunch. 
33. Thigh. 
34. Stifle. 
35. Buttock. 
36. Leg. 
37. Hock. 
38. Canon or shank. 
39. Fetlock joint. 
40. Ergot and fetlock 
41. Pastern. 
42. Coronet. 
43. Foot. 
44. Lower thigh. 
45. Point of hock. 
EXTERNAL REGIONS OF THE HORSE—A HACKNEY. 
