1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
623 
sons, two varieties that should be more generally 
grown, as Damsons are ever in demand, and it 
is in evidence that the fruit buds of these sorts 
are well calculated to withstand cold of >a greater 
degree than many of our old standard varieties. In 
this, the Farleigh, an English sort imported a 
few years since, is, certainly, in the lead, and is 
destined, sooner or later, to be in demand by the 
orchardists. The display of this sort at the New 
York State Fair just held, made by T. C. Maxwell & 
Bros, of this place, was a sufficient testimonial in its 
favor. 
The fruit buds of the plum and peach were killed 
by the cold of the winter past; yet, in my opinion, 
the extreme drought that prevailed here throughout 
the autumn and into the early winter, was an import¬ 
ant factor in this matter, as moisture is an essential 
that can hardly be dispensed with safely by the or- 
chardist. Another such long period of intense drought 
at that season of the year, I can scarcely call to mind. 
The cherry crop also came in for its share of loss ; 
sweet cherries were nearly an entire failure in this 
section, while the more hardy sorts such as Mont- 
morenci, Early Morello, and Richmond made but a 
partial crop. The season, however, of 1896 has been 
especially favorable for the development of a perfect 
foliage on nearly everything in the shape of fruit- 
producing plants, all of which points to a crop for the 
coming year, of great promise, except it may be the 
apple, of which there is such an overproduction at 
the'present time, that it would seem that the orchards 
must rest in 1897 to recuperate from the exhaustion 
incident to the production of the largest and most 
perfect crop of fruit grown in western New York in 
many years. Many apples, however, will be small 
because of neglect at the proper time to thin or take 
off the surplus, and the usual complaint of “ no profit 
in apple growing,” will be heard from many quarters. 
Notwithstanding this, I undertake to say that the 
expense is trifling, and the investment a good one. 
While engaged in this work, I selected one greatly 
overloaded Baldwin from which, during the last week 
in June, were picked off three bushels of small apples. 
Again in the first week in August, we took off six 
bushels, while to-day (September 7) the tree is loaded 
with a crop running about 2% to 3 inches in diameter, 
which, I am sure, will till more barrels, all of which 
will be marketable, than others that were subjected 
only to the one thinning done in June. This was an 
experiment, and one that has afforded me great satis¬ 
faction as well as profitable returns for the labor. 
Ontario County, N. Y. 
AN AMERICAN SHETLAND PONY. 
A WORTHY RIVAL OF THE BICYCLE. 
A Popular Piece of Horse Flesh. 
Part II. 
Last week, we gave some of the reasons why Shet¬ 
land ponies have a right to stay on the American farm. 
They are trained and cared for much the same as 
larger horses, except that they may, if need be, run 
in herds like sheep or goats. On Mr. Nash’s farm, the 
ponies run in pasture until they are taken up and 
fitted for sale. When asked how he found them on 
their native island, Mr. Nash said : 
“ Back in the country, the ponies get little or no 
care, scarcely ever any grain, unless in some few cases 
where they are kept up ; they run wild on the moor, 
and eat the leaves of a bush that grows two to four 
feet high. Vegetation on the Shetland Islands is very 
short, and I don’t think that I saw, while there, a 
shrub or tree more than four feet high. In the winter, 
the ponies live largely on seaweed that washes up 
along the beach. The ground is seldom covered with 
snow for more than a day or two at a time, as the 
salt air soon takes the snow away. I was told that, 
when they had heavy snow storms, if the snow did 
not disappear in the course of a day, they would draw 
out some coarse fodder and throw it on the ground 
for the ponies to eat. They were sheltered mainly in 
crevices, under ledges, and in holes where people had 
taken out peat to burn. Of late years, however, and 
in the vicinity of villages, and especially among large 
breeders, the ponies get much better care, and great 
care is used.in breeding and fixing certain peculiari¬ 
ties. They are bred mainly for use in the coal mines 
in England and Wales, and the aim is to keep the 
size down to about 42 inches, and to breed for blocky 
ponies. Good, blocky Shetlands cost more on the 
Shetland Islands to-day than they do here, so that it 
is simply out of the question to import, excepting, of 
course, for breeding purposes.” 
Of course, as was said last week, such treatment is 
sure to produce a hardy dwarf. Jn fact, all the in¬ 
habitants of these islands, from humans to plants, are 
tough and hardy with great vigor and force. One 
great characteristic of the Shetland is that it will eat 
anything, and is seldom “ off its feed”. It will thrive 
and grow on sea weed and coarse pasture, and step 
off the Atlantic steamer and go to eating oats and hay 
with good relish. 
I asked Mr. Nash if he advised parties to keep the 
ponies tied in stalls, or to let them run in roomy 
boxes. He said : 
“ The more care they get, the better off they are, 
and as they will soon become great pets in a family, 
they will generally get a good deal of attention, and 
a good deal more feed than they ought to have. It 
certainly is better to keep ponies, as well as all other 
horses, in box stalls when it can be done ; but as a 
rule, I think that you will find that they are kept 
A HERD OF SHETLANDS. Flo. 195. 
tied. A box stall 6x6 feet is large enough for the 
ordinary sized pony.” 
“ How much do you feed a mature pony ?” 
Of course, it depends upon circumstances ; ordi¬ 
narily, when the pony is in use much, one quart of 
oats a day ; if used considerably, two quarts a day ; 
sometimes, when the pony is quite large, three 
quarts, but never more than one quart a day unless 
the pony is used continuously. If the pony is not 
used for any length of time, he is a great deal better 
off with no grain at all. Pony colts, in my judgment, 
should have no grain at all until they are three years 
THE SHETLAND STALLION, DUNCAN. Fig. 196. 
old, unless it may be just after weaning, especially if 
weaned in the fall.” 
“ What do you estimate will be the cost of keeping 
a fair-sized pony one year ? ” 
“ I can hardly give you a fair estimate ; but if fed 
one quart of oats per day 365 days in the year, at one 
cent a quart, we get $3.65 ; seven pounds of hay 365 
days in the year, would make one ton and a quarter, 
and if we estimate the farm value at $10 a ton, we get, 
say, $12 50, or $17 a year. Much more, of course, can 
be fed, but the above is about the proper ration for 
the average pony.” 
“ How much driving will they stand—how many 
miles—and what weight will they carry ? ” 
“ If worked steadily right along, they can do a 
READY FOR A DRIVE. Fig. 197. 
great deal of work ; but I am not able to say how 
many miles a day. Ponies measuring 40 to 46 inches 
high will carry, on good roads, two grown people, 
and they don’t seem to tire under it.” 
“ What age would you suggest as the best for the 
average purchaser ? ” 
“ It depends upon circumstances ; if to be used by 
boys, the older the better, because, you know, a boy 
is the cruelest animal on earth. However, a well- 
developed Shetland pony is ready to go to work at 
three years; it would be better, however, not to put 
him to full work until he is four. With proper care, 
he will last from 20 to 25 years. I recommend for 
very young children, buying weanling or yearling 
colts, so that they can grow up with the child, but, of 
course, that won’t do where the purchaser wants to 
have his child have the immediate use of the pony.” 
“ What will your ponies average in weight ? 
“ Ponies, when fully matured, measuring 42 to 46 
inches high, will, probably, average 470 to 500 pounds.” 
“Is the demand generally for broken, or solid 
color ? ” 
“ The majority seem to want broken or mixed 
colors, and such bring from $15 to $25 more. I think, 
however, that there seems to be a change now, and 
I believe that, ultimately, solid color will be the 
fashion.” 
A herd of ponies at pasture is an interesting sight. 
Mr. Nash is also breeding large horses—pure blood or 
high-grade Percherons. He now has a fine French 
Coach stallion that he is breeding to thoroughbred 
Percheron mares of good breeding. This cross ought 
to make big carriage horses with good style and ac¬ 
tion, and even temper. That is what the finest mar¬ 
ket now demands. At Figs. 195, 196 and 197 are shown 
some of the ponies on Mr. Nash’s farm. The stallion, 
Duncan, shown at Fig. 196, is at the head of the herd. 
He is a beauty in color and shape, and has been re¬ 
markably successful in the stud. h. w. c. 
IS THE TUBERCULIN TEST DANGEROUS? 
I am a firm believer in the value of the tuberculin 
test; it is the best and most accurate aid to a correct 
diagnosis of tuberculosis, we have yet had. If care¬ 
fully used on proper subjects, at a suitable time and 
place, I believe it to be free from harmful results to 
the animal, and nearly infallible as a diagnostic 
agent. I admit that, in some instances, an animal 
will not react on the first test, as in the case reported 
from the New York Farmer (page 608), and will, if 
tested later, give a reaction ; but I fail to see that this 
is an argument against the test. It is simply an 
argument in favor of testing a cow a second time, 
if she comes from a herd where a purchaser knows, 
or suspects, tuberculosis to exist, before keeping her 
in contact with a healthy herd for any length of 
time. 
It is very doubtful whether “tuberculin injected 
into such an animal converts the latent and harmless 
tubercle into an active, dangerous and contagious 
case.” Tuberculin was first introduced into human 
practice as a remedial agent, and there are still many 
scientists who believe in its having a curative effect. 
Certain it is that it produces an area of inflammation 
around a tuberculous process soon after injection, and 
that this inflammatory area has a tendency to organ¬ 
ize into connective tissue, and still further encyst the 
tuberculous deposit, rather than to hasten a chronic 
case into an acute one. I do not think, from what 
experience I have had, that the tuberculin test renders 
healthy cows any more liable to the disease after 
being tested than they were before. It is quite as 
likely that it acts as a protective inoculation, as that 
it predisposes the animal to the disease, with the 
chances in favor of its being protective. 
In one herd I have in mind, that I have tested a 
number of times, there are cows that did not react in 
June, 1894, neither did they react in January, 1895 
(with a single exception), and those that were healthy 
in 1894 and 1895, were still healthy in August, 1896. 
This is in an old barn that could not be disinfected thor¬ 
oughly, so tuberculosis has existed there right along; 
yet while new cows have from time to time developed 
cases of tuberculosis, the old guard has stood right 
up and laughed at the enemy. This simply shows 
that some animals have constitutions that render 
them comparatively immune from tuberculous infec¬ 
tion, while others may be naturally predisposed to it. 
Tuberculin injections certainly do not predispose 
animals to become tuberculous, and it is not unfair 
to assume that they may, to a slight degree, exert a 
protective influence. dr Austin peters. 
Massachusetts. 
DRIED GRASS OR HAY? 
It seems to me as though the experiment station 
officials, page 574, must have been so deeply absorbed 
by their pet, “carbohydrates,” as completely to forget 
all about the prime essential of securing a tiptop 
article of hay. This, as well illustrated by Mr. Clark 
in the same issue, consists in rapid curing. Cut a 
prime piece of beef in two, put one piece in cold 
water, and the other in boiling water, cook both over 
the same fire, and if you do not prefer to eat the 
latter, you will never have occasion to say that your 
wife’s mother-in-law was the better cook. Evaporate 
one-half of a lot of apples, sun dry the rest, and how 
many of the latter will it take to enable you to realize 
as much as you do for one pound of the former ? 
Why ? In like manner, to make good hay, we must 
dry up or close the outer pores of the grass as quickly 
as possible, in order to retain and preserve the pala¬ 
table juices within instead of allowing them to escape. 
This is the difference between “ drying ” grass and 
making hay. Rain, particularly successive showers, 
not only retards the closing of these pores, but also 
