188 THE COTTAGE GARDENER. December 8. 
the cost of a heavy mortgage on the fore legs—the most 
valuable part of horse property. 
The trot is not so good a pace for a pony as the walk, 
though he should do his mile in about eight minutes. I 
usually let him walk one or two miles in the horn', accord¬ 
ing to the road or the weight. Next to the walk he excels 
at a hand-gallop. More work is to he got out of one hour, 
at an average rate of five miles ail hour, a little more or less, 
than at any other speed. 
I have no doubt that in time the whip will be entirely 
given up on the driving-box and in our public schools, and 
in the army and navy. The voice, so far as the pony is 
concerned, is far the safer and more reliable means of en¬ 
forcing command; but I despair of carrying more than half 
of my horse reforms, and, in the meantime, I must beg 
that the whip be used considerately. When punishment 
has to be inflicted it should be done decisively, and so 
that it may be remembered, but never in a passion. The 
best discipline, however, is always where there are fewest 
punishments. 
In making a pony’s mouth, I leave him to the breaker, 
only seeing that the breaking-bit is not wriggled altogether 
to one side, which is easily managed by looking early to it. 
If you unfortunately get a horse with his mouth tender on 
one side only, it becomes needful to have one comer of 
your bit wrapped either with soft cotton or light wire until 
it is righted. As soon as the pony has got anything of a 
mouth, I at once put the breaker into the groom’s place, 
aud make him go through all the routine of my work fox- 
some weeks, Caleb Balderstone being the lord for the time. 
This greatly diminishes the cost of breaking, which is a 
consideration; besides, I believe the best way to learn to 
do any sort of business is to get fairly in harness as soon 
as possible. So much for the mouth and breaking-in, 
written at the instance of a con-espondent. 
Since pony came up from his summer’s run in the pad- 
dock, or his long vacation in the aftergrass, which has been 
unusually prolonged on account of the pi-ice of oats,* he 
has got, as we will suppose, a very rough coat, looking quite 
as zoological as an alpaca. If it is to trot about much this 
winter in the miry roads all this will encumber him sadly, 
make him cough, and puff, and snort. (Though if he has 
to work only in the fields it will not inconvenience him 
much.) Many advise to have a good deal of long hair singed 
off; and, from my experience, I should say it is best to be 
done with a coai-se-liaii-ed one, but not with a thin-skinned 
one. It expedites the natural process of moulting; gives 
great relief to the animal’s system, as he is rather feverish 
when first kept in-doors; seems to be very agi-eeable to him; 
and saves nearly an hour a-day to Caleb. Pony should 
be very little singed about the nose, eai-s, or throat; only 
once over the body, and twice underneath, and over his legs 
and ai-ms. A small quantity of simple, cooling medicine 
may be given at the same time. The object is to protect 
him from damp, and to help his condition and wind. It is 
curious, however, that we should begin to cherish our own 
j beards and moustaches, and singe off our horses’ coats at 
l the same time ! 
Since these very small and unpromising pony essays of 
| mine were commenced, I am glad to have noted so many 
| gallant efforts, more or less in the same direction. We 
have had an excellent set of hints from Abdel Kader, on 
the natural treatment of the Arabian horses. A cavalry 
officer has come out strong on the false system of over¬ 
grooming our ti-oop horses, and saddle horses generally; 
and the poor Lord Mayor’s show has elicited a torrent of 
eloquence on needless displays of equipage. But, seriously, 
I think a Lord Mayor’s show, as a show once in a year, is 
a very fine thing, and that there ought to be one. If many, 
or any, of our ‘ honourable friends’ chose to read them¬ 
selves a lesson froixx the Lord Mayor’s show, and just ask 
themselves whether their own equipages are not too cum¬ 
brous and portentous by half, taking much more valuable 
and bigger horses to set them a-going than the fitness of 
tilings requires, the Lord Mayor’s show is a very good thing 
in that point of view too. And then, what I have endea¬ 
voured to do for the 1 carriage,’ another utilitai-ian is essay¬ 
ing about the ‘ cottage ’ itself, and the pigeon is to be made 
* Mem. We must cultivate an acre or two of oats this year, and con¬ 
sult Mr. Blundell anent it. 
decent, and brought out in good society along with the 
pony. I will conclude, at least for the present, with the 
following homely l-hymes. The first is called “ The Horse’s 
Prayer ; ’’ and the second contains a scarcely less touching 
appeal to certain feelings I should wish to see rather more 
practically expressed— 
Up hill spare thou me; 
Down hill take care of thee. 
On level ground spare me not, 
Nor give me water when I’m hot. 
The Protestant flogs me, and gives me no grass; 
The Catholic tires me with riding to mass. 
But now I have come to the hands of a Quaker, 
Aud I can roam over a rood and an acre. 
POULTRY-YARD REPORT. 
If the report of my poultry-yards be of sufficient 
moment to be admitted in your very useful publication, I 
beg to place it at your disposal. I have several varieties ; 
each variety is kept separate. The following, may, there¬ 
fore, be considered a correct statement of the cost and pro¬ 
duce of one hen of each sort, from the 1st of April to the 
30th of September, both inclusive 
VARIETIES. 
NO. OE 
EGGS. 
WEIGHT. 
COST. 
Bantam . 
01 
Ounces. 
76 
S. D. 
1 1 
Black-beai-ded Pole . 
60 
167 
2 4 
White-crested Pole . 
89 
190 
1 8 
Cochin-China. 
03 
125 
2 9 
Dorking . 
48 
109 
2 8 
Golclen-spangledHamburgh.. 
119 
297 
2 2 
Silver-pencilled Hamburgh .. 
84 
148 
1 0 
Spanish . 
78 
224 
2 6 
Total .... 
591 
1336 
16 8 
Several of my Cochin hens have sat three times this year, 
while the Dorking hens only sat once, the Bantams twice. 
The others ai-e non-sitters. I should mention, in reckoning 
the above cost, the average has been taken including 
cocks, but it is merely my actual outlay for corn; green 
food is supplied from the garden; rent and expenses of 
looking after the poultry is not taken into account; the last- 
named item is more than compensated for by the pleasure 
of superintending them. At the present high prices, the 
cost would be from ten to twenty shillings per year more 
than shown above, still, the cost of the eggs is very small, 
the average being a fraction under three-farthings each, or 
four Bantams, orfour-and-a-lialf Golden-spangled Hamburgh 
eggs cost only one penny. The winter keep has to be 
added, but then the eggs will be under one penny each, as 
some will be produced during the next six months. Should 
the foregoing meet approval, I shall be happy to com¬ 
municate other information.—B. P., Shoreham. 
THE CULTURE OE A ROOD OF GROUND. 
DECEMBER. 
This being the closing month of the year, but little is to 
be done in the way of sowing and transplanting, yet there is 
much work to be attended to, when the weather permits, in 
digging and trenching all vacant ground; it being very im¬ 
portant, at this season of the year, that every advantage 
should be taken to prepare the soil for future ci-ops. If the 
weather should be frosty, and the ground too hard for the 
spade, let the manure be carried to the plots that require it. 
This is the proper time to trim and repair fences where 
required, and to cleanse the ditches, the emptying of which 
will make a valuable addition to the manure-heap. Leaves 
should be carefully collected at this time, as they are now 
rapidly falling from the trees. In some localities, where 
woods abound, a very large quantity might be gathered with 
