THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February f 
9o 
HORSE TALK BY AH OLD TIMER. 
The warlike peoples of eastern Europe 
and Asia have long had the horse at his 
best, so far as intelligence, dash, spirit 
and other qualities desirable in a war- 
horse go. Xenophon lived about 2,300 
years ago. He was an expert horseman, 
taking an active part in the expedition 
of Cyrus against his elder brother, the 
King of Persia. After his experience in 
war and public life, he seems to have 
retired to a quiet life in the country and 
devoted a part of his time to literary 
work. Perhaps something of interest in 
these days may be learned from this 
man’s treatise on horsemanship. He 
gives some instructions as to how “a 
man may be least deceived in purchas¬ 
ing a horse.” There is a bit of humor 
in that word least. Evidently horse 
deals then were not representations of 
crystallized honesty any more than now. 
He says that one should first look at the 
feet, for, “as a house without an ade¬ 
quate foundation is of but little use, no 
matter how fine the upper part, so a 
warhorse with badly-shaped feet is 
worthless, for none of his other advan¬ 
tages can be brought into action.” 
Soundness of feet depends upon thick¬ 
ness or thinness of hoofs, and whether 
they are high or low before ana behind, 
the high ones being best, as they pro¬ 
tect the tender inside of the foot. A 
hoof that gives a hoilow sound when 
struck is considered best. The uones of 
the leg should be thick, but not covered 
with fat fiesh or large veins, for, when 
going through rough roads, the veins 
become distended with blood, and trou¬ 
blesome swellings of the legs result, 
l^'lexible knees are most desirable, as 
horses of this type are less liable to 
stumble. The arms should be large and 
fieshy, chest wide, and legs considerably 
separated, so that there is no danger of 
their striking when traveling. The neck 
should not lean forward like a hog’s but 
be upright from the chest, and slender 
at the arch; the head bony with a small 
jawbone, and the inside of both jaws 
either hard or tender, for those with 
dissimilar jaws are hard to manage. 
Wide nostrils and prominent eyes ren¬ 
der the horse more terrible in appear¬ 
ance (a point considered of especial im¬ 
portance in Old-time warfare) and more 
vigilant. He should have high shoulder 
points, and broad and fieshy loins and 
haunches. In estimating the grown-up 
height of a young colt, he states that it 
is invariably true that the one with the 
longest shank bones turns out to be the 
largest. Though most of his rules for 
training refer to animals intended for 
use under the saddle, he gives some gen¬ 
eral principles. The foal must be made 
to understand that hunger, thirst and ir¬ 
ritation are the result of solitude, and 
that food, drink and freedom from irri¬ 
tation are procured through men. Prob¬ 
ably some misused work horses nowa¬ 
days would reverse this, and prefer to 
take their chances in running wild. 
When the colt once learns this lesson, 
he has no dread of man. Then the 
groom should lead him through a crowd 
and make him approach all kinds of 
sights and sounds, teaching him by gen¬ 
tleness instead of harshness that which¬ 
ever of these he dreads most is not dan¬ 
gerous. In judging a riding horse it is 
necessary to see how he receives the bit 
in his mouth, whether difficult to man¬ 
age while riding, and if he can be 
stopped readily or turned quickly when 
going at full speed. However, an ani¬ 
mal that cannot do all of these things 
perfectly may fail simply from lack of 
experience. Excessively timid horses 
should be guarded against, and also 
those that are fierce toward other horses 
or man. He thinks that the best stable 
fioor is one in which tapering stones 
about the size of the hoof are placed 
close together. When not in use the 
animal should not stand by the manger 
all of the time, as he will go to his meals 
with better relish If he has been away 
from the feeding place for some time. 
All grooming ought to be done outside. 
and he considers it a good plan to have 
the outer yard covered with several 
loads of round stones, as standing on 
these part of a day gives him about the 
same exercise as going over a stony 
road. He protests against using the 
currycomb on the parts of the horse 
where the bones come near the surface, 
brushing or washing being the better 
plan. Hundreds of horses that suffer 
needless torture by being scraped on the 
head, backbone and legs by a rough 
currycomb handled by a still more rough 
human being, would appreciate the 
mode of cleaning suggested by Xeno¬ 
phon. The brutal treatment they re¬ 
ceive is what makes many horses in 
such dread of being cleaned. Those that 
are not hurt needlessly enjoy this dry 
bath. There is a great difference in 
horses about this also_ and those that 
are very nervous or thin-skinned should 
have most consideration. He believes 
also in allowing a horse to have his full 
mane and tail, as these were given him 
by Nature to help in removing fiies and 
other troublesome things that he can¬ 
not get at in any other way. 
SOME ROTES OR STOCK FODDER. 
The R. N.-Y. asks what price silage 
brings at an ordinary sale. Some time 
ago—I think about the time The R. N.- 
Y. asked the question—a lot of silage 
was sold in Illinois for 60 cents a ton. 
A fair price, 1 think, for the seller, con¬ 
sidering the difficulty and cost of mov¬ 
ing it. 1 don’t think I would have given 
that price for it, and moved it. In the 
same issue The R. N.-Y. calls the cow 
an agrostologist; that is, an authority 
on grasses, scientifically speaking. My 
cows and mules when turned loose in a 
five-acre lot kept for an exercising 
ground chiefiy, I notice are eating the 
bunches of the so-called broom sedge 
whicn have come up green and fresh 
after the mature grass has faded and 
dried, in preference to the Timothy and 
clover; the mules especially gnaw it 
down to the roots. In the Spring the 
sheep feed wholly on the first growth of 
this sedge in preference to all other 
grass. A farmer in North Carolina who 
came from a northwestern Siate, and 
bought an oid run-down farm covered 
with the much-maligned Johnson grass. 
Sorghum Halapense, wrote me that after 
a good deal ot trouble in trying to get 
rid of it, finding it to grow faster and 
more luxuriously the more he tried to 
kill it, thinking that such a persistent 
grass nad some excuse for living, he cut 
it for hay and made of one crop more 
than the cost value of the land. The 
hay when cut early is of excellent qual¬ 
ity, and two crops may be cut in one 
season. A noted philanthropist once 
said that there wei’e better uses for the 
worst of men than hanging them, and 
it seems that this remark will apply to 
this much-maligned grass. Once, when 
living in New Jersey, I had a field badly 
overrun with Panicum sanguinale, the 
common Crab-grass, and I mowed it for 
hay, also fSr feeding as soiling for cows. 
For the latter use 1 found it the best of 
all the feeds I was giving to my cows 
for making milk and butter, beating Or¬ 
chard grass quite out of the list. Rape 
is quite a common weed in parts of 
North Carolina, where I have been per¬ 
sistently trying to kill it out of my gar¬ 
den, and now it is the most valued feed 
for sheep in use. Have we not some 
uses for these persistent weeds which we 
are trying ineffectually to eradicate? 
Several years ago I got some of my fields 
here well stocked with the ox-eye daisy, 
and after years of unavailing work I 
gave it up and put my sheep in the field. 
Now in three years the field has not a 
living daisy in it, and the sheep thrived 
on it. H. s. 
Get Bigger Crops 
and still 
Sow Less 
Seed. 
You can do it if 
you use the 
Broadcast 
SEEDER 
really the most 
practical hand 
seeder made. Saves four-fifths of the 
labor of seeding and one-third the seed. 
Insures a bigger crop because it 
distributes the seed evenly. 
Any one can use it. Sows C to 8 acres per 
hon'r. Ask you r dealer for it. Send to us for 
discriptive circulars. 
GOODELL COMPANY, 14 Main Street, Antrim, N. H. 
CREAM SEPARATORS 
always the best. 
IHK SUIKPLES 00. P. K. S1URPLB3, 
CtaiOfo, III. VTut Chester Pa, 
Profitable Cows 
will quickly be found by ueing our 
ADJUSTABLE DIAL 
HAND SCALE 
Weighe quickly and accurately in pounds 
and twentieths. Write for new catalogue. 
Everything for the Dairy. 
THE DAIRYMEN'S SUPPLY CO., 
1987 Market 8t., Philadelphia. 
THE MIETZ & WEISS 
KeroseneEngines 
Cheapest and Safest 
Power known. For 
Pumping water, grinding 
corn, separating cream, 
sawing wood, and aU power 
purposes, ^nd tor Catalog. 
A. MIETZ, 
128 Mott Street, New York 
CHARTER 
iasoline Engine 
1 Trvf'<f\ Any Place 
I Sr 11 Any one_ 
Stationariet, Portable, JBlnginet 
and Pumps, Holsters 
State yonr Power Needs. 
Charter Gas Engine Co., Box 26, Sterling, Hi. 
^ WEBSTER’S! 
“Handy 
P9i 
GASOLINE ENGINE 
with walking beam Pump Jock and gasoline 
supply tank, all on one base. It Is the handiest, 
most complete, economical and efficient small 
power made. Engine IK nctual h. p. Bv discon¬ 
necting pump jack and putting belt on flywheel 
pulley it Is ready for grinding, shelling, eutting 
feed, sepurnting cream, churning, cutting 
green bone—anything not requiring more than 
IK h. p. Costs little for fuel and requires no exwr- 
len 'etooperate. We also make other glees of vertical ami hori¬ 
zontal engines for all purposes. Send for large catalogue. 
Webster Mfg. Co., 1091 West ISih Si., Chicago, Ill- 
New York office 38 Dey St., New York, N. Y. 
COOK YOUR FEED and SAVB 
Half the Cost—with the w 
PROFIT FARM BOILER 
with Dumping Oaldren. Empties its 
kettle in one minute. The eimpleet 
and best arrangement for cooking 
food for stock. Also make Dairy and 
Laundry Stoves, Water and Steam 
Jacket Kettles, Hog Soaldera, Cafe 
drons, eto. s^ Send for oiroolan. 
D. B, SFEBBY k 00., Batavia, lU. 
Aet US lend 
you a skimmer 
to prove that you can do 
your skimming easier, 
better, cheaper, with a 
NATIONAL 
Hand Separator 
We want you to use 
one 10 days {without 
paying a penny for 
it). Compare it with 
any other separator 
and return it in 10 
days if you're not 
convinced that it is 
the best machine to 
boy. Write to-day. 
latioDkl Dairy Bacbint C«. 
lewark, I.J. 
Use Sense and 
Save Dollars 
:BY BUYING- 
The Improved 
U. S. Separator 
The Best Paying Invest¬ 
ment for the Dairyman. 
For particulars, write to 
VT. FARM MACHINE CO. 
BELLOWS FALLS, VT. 
X96 
CREAM 
SEPARATORS 
The KEID Is light running, close 
skimming, simple and durable. 
Send for Catalogue No. 3. 
A. H. REID, 
SOtb & Market Sts., Phila., Pa. 
Save$ 10 perCow 
KVKRY YEAR OF USE. 
De Laval Cream Separators 
Prices, $50 to $800. 
“Alpha” and “Baby”st/les. Send for Catalogue 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CO., 
Randolph and Canal Streets. I 74 Cortlandt dtreet, 
CHICAGO. I NEW YORK. 
WIlllAHl 
You Wouldn’t Hunt for Bear 
with Bird-shot. It’s the right thing 
that does untold good. Every man who 
owns or works horses should know of 
the vital potent healing power of 
Veterinary Pixine 
The onlj' scientific antiseptic veterinary 
ointment. The one positive unfailing 
cure for speed cracks, chronic scratches, 
grease heel, sores and .skin disease. 
Money back if it fails. 
2 oz., 25c.; 8 oz., 50c.; 5~lb. pkge., $4. 
At all Druggists and Dealers, or mailed postpaid 
TKOY CHEMICAL CO., Troy, N.Y. 
