Vol. LXVI. No. 3009. 
WEEKLY. I1.0U PEK YEAR. 
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 28, 1907. 
HEN MANURE AND WOOD ASHES. 
A GOOD FARM AND CARRIAGE HORSE. 
How Shall We Treat and Care for Him ? 
Some time ago I saw a farmer go by my house with 
a load of grain. The mud was deep and it was a hard 
pull. The horses were very poor and weak; so poor 
that they were little more than skeletons. The farmer 
sat on the load, with a big whip, and by its use was 
able to make his horses draw his load a few rods at 
a time. I hardly knew which to be the most sorry for, 
the man or the horses. Such a being is not yet a man; 
he is lacking in almost every attribute of manhood, and 
manifests less of the humane than the animals that 
serve him. He is almost as far down in the moral 
scale as Edward Markham’s “Man with the Hoe.” Yet 
I am sorry for this kind of a man, and I would like 
to reach him in a way that will bring out the dormant 
good in him; a love for his animals, so he will want 
to treat them well. I have always noticed a very close 
similarity between the horse and its owner. A good 
man drives a good horse, and if I would form an opin¬ 
ion of a man’s character, 1 would, as one means, look 
at his horse. The condi¬ 
tion and temperament of 
his horse would, to me, 
be the best testimony. In 
his horse I would see the 
reflex of its owner. 
One of my near neigh¬ 
bors owns a pair of grade 
Percherons. They were 
the colts from native or 
what some call scrub 
mares, of good size, bred 
to purebred Percheron 
stallions. The Percherons, 
because of their good dis¬ 
position, or mild tempera¬ 
ment and intelligence, are 
easy to train and educate. 
They are able to eat more 
of the roughage of the 
farm than smaller horses, 
and I believe they would 
keep in a very good con¬ 
dition on clover or Al¬ 
falfa hay, if kept only at 
farm work. This team is 
shown in the Fig. 348; I 
made picture, just as he 
and his wife were driv¬ 
ing away, and I have ob¬ 
served that the large 
horses are equal to all the needs of the average 
farmer for carriage horses. This man loves his team, 
and they are always well cared for. I have a mare 
that I have owned since a colt. She is from a Coach 
mare and Percheron stallion, and is a good road horse, 
and can do any kind of farm work. She knows noth¬ 
ing about the whip, as an instrument of punishment, 
or loud and harsh talk, and is the pet of the family. 
I have learned that if I want to keep her economically, 
I must keep her in good flesh, and treat her kindly, 
and I know that with these conditions, she needs less 
grain. A few years ago, I wrote some reminders, and 
printed them on a card, and tacked them up in my 
stable, for my children and others to read. These 
ideals may help some of my readers, as they have us. 
THE OWNER.—I will keep a good horse and learn 
to love him; giving him proper work and care. I will 
bear in mind that the horse I care for will manifest 
some of the characteristics I possess. If I want an 
ideal farm horse I will breed and educate him myself; 
and, to that end, will read the best literature on the 
subj ect. 
ENVIRONMENT AND CARE.—I will try to pro¬ 
vide my horse with a bedroom, or box stall, that is 
warm and well ventilated, having windows admitting 
plenty of sunshine. I will make his bed every night 
with plenty of straw, on a clean, dry floor. He shall 
be well groomed every morning; and I will not clip 
him, but will allow him to wear the Winter overcoat 
nature provides for him. Besides, he shall have a 
warm blanket to wear when he must stand out on cold 
days. 
I'OOD.—I will know that to do my best work, I 
must be well fed, hence I will feed my horse exactly 
according to the same principles that I do myself. I 
will feed him sufficient grain (balancing the more con¬ 
centrated kinds with bran), to keep him in good condi¬ 
tion. That the hay may be as nearly like grass as 
possible, it shall be good, clean and early cut. I will 
never allow him to become poor in flesh. I will bear 
in mind that he likes green food and vegetables, and 
that they are as needful to him as they are to me. 
He shall enjoy good pasture at least a part of the time 
in Summer, and whatever he seeks for and eats will 
indicate the way he is to be fed. I will kno\y that my 
horse never needs any condition powders or medicine, 
if he is properly fed and used; also that he will require 
less food if always treated well and kept in good flesh. 
HARNESS.—I will harness my horse in that way in 
which he can most easily perform his work; having 
no unnecessary parts to burden him. If he wears a 
check-rein, it will be so loose that he can carry his 
head in a natural position. The collar shall fit the 
neck, and shall, with any other parts that may chafe, 
or irritate, be kept well padded and clean. 
WORK AND TREATMENT.—I will change the 
Golden Rule to read “As you would that horses should 
do to you, do ye even so to them.” When working 
my horse I will think of myself as in his place. I will 
train him to be a fast walker, and this will generally 
be his pace when I drive him. I will not over-tax his 
strength, but will always so work him that he will have 
a surplus of energy left. I will always encourage him 
with a kind word, and will never speak harshly or 
loudly to him; but will so treat him that he will regard 
me as his friend. When my faithful servant has passed 
a long and useful life, I will provide for him and make 
him comfortable in hi s old age. He shall never be 
sold to a callous stranger, w. H, jenkins. 
New York, 
Replying to your correspondent’s inquiry about mix¬ 
ing hen manure and wood ashes, I would say that the 
latter, depending on its source, contaihs' from 2'.) to 35 
per cent of carbonate of lime and about five per cent 
carbonate of potash; it is the caustic effect of this 
form of potash that drives off the ammonia and never 
the carbonate of lime, as this form of lime has a strong 
affinity for nitrogen. A perusal of Hilgard’s new 
treatise “Soils” will show this and more. He is un¬ 
surpassed authority, and asserts that carbonate of lime 
is the most favorable element known for promoting 
nitrification, not only concentrating it, but increasing 
the store of it in the soil. I have known of thousands 
of tons of fertilizer made by mixing human excrement 
with carbonate of lime, with remarkable beneficial re¬ 
sults, because tests showed every iota of nitrogen to be 
conserved. On account of the small percentage of the 
potash in the ashes the ammonia loss from the mixing 
with hen manure will not be serious, but yet appreci¬ 
able ; if, however, the ashes are leached there will 
not be the slightest loss. 
It will be better to apply 
the ashes to the land 
separately at a different 
time, or use a true car¬ 
bonate like chalk, calcare¬ 
ous marl or oyster shell 
dust, not merely crushed, 
but entirely powdered. 
Then the benefits obtained 
will be found to be very 
satisfactory, for again to 
quote Hilgard: “Lime 
carbonate stands foremost 
in proportion of ingredi¬ 
ents for fertility. Its pres¬ 
ence exerts a dominant 
and beneficial influence in 
many respects, as is readi¬ 
ly apparent from the 
prompt change in vegeta¬ 
tion whenever it is intro¬ 
duced into soils deficient 
in it. For in general, we 
find that lower percent¬ 
ages of potash, phosphoric 
acid and nitrogen are 
adequate, zvhen a large 
proportion of lime car¬ 
bonate is present 
FRANKLIN NOBLE. 
R. N.-Y.—We think Mr. Noble is right in one sense, 
but that it is still not good advice to mix hen manure 
with wood ashes. It is true that carbonate of lime, 
that is, chalk, ground limestone or ground oyster shells 
would not have a tendency to set free ammonia if 
mixed with the manure. If put in a pile with the 
manure and kept moist it will help to bring about 
nitrification. 1 he trouble is that wood ashes, as a 
rule, contain more or less caustic lime and caustic 
potash, both of which will surely drive off the am¬ 
monia. 1 hat they do so will be quite evident to anyone 
who possesses an average nose, for the smell of 
ammonia is quite evident when they are mixed. The 
fact that we do not know how much caustic lime may 
be in the ashes is reason enough for not advising this 
mixture. It is true that Hilgard shows that carbonate 
of lime will promote nitrification in soils, but it is not 
fair to compare the use of lime in soils with its effect 
upon the manure. Of course, even caustic lime would 
not set free ammonia when mixed with soil as it would 
in manure. The amount of lime in the soil would be 
very much less than in the ashes mixed with manure, 
while the amount of nitrogen in the soil is very much 
less than that in the manure. 
