.  ■  ■  .  , 
402-  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  May  6,  ml 
without  first  making  some  discharge.  C&rbolio  acid  and  water 
Mind,  when  the  doctor  has  been  and  given  his  orders  the  book 
should  be  put  away  ;  two  authorities,  however  good,  should  not  be 
consulted  at  once,  and  the  living  man  is  better  than  the  printed 
words.  Circumstances  have  led  us  the  last  week  or  two  to  consider 
(practically)  the  complaints  animals  of  the  farm  are  most  liable  to. 
We  live  many  weary  miles  from  a  good  “Yet.,”  and  horses 
especially  are  often  quickly  ill,  and  unless  promptly  treated  soon 
succumb.  As  a  rule  the  foreman  has  some  rude  knowledge  of 
horse  physic,  and  may  often  be  trusted  to  doctor  an  old  cow  ;  but 
the  best  of  them  work  much  by  rule  of  thumb,  and  pin  all  their 
faith  (and  the  measure  of  that  faith  is  great)  on  some  well- 
advertised  nostrum,  which,  if  not  actively  harmful,  is  likely  to  do 
little  or  no  good,  costs  money,  and  is  the  cause  of  waste  of  valuable  \ 
time.  It  is  so  common  to  hear  a  man  say  he  will  try  such  and  such 
a  remedy,  because  he  has  “  heard  tell  on  it  doing  a  sight  o’  good 
to  Tom  Smith’s  auld  meer,  or  that  it  browt  roond  Bessie  Lane’s* 
coo  that  was  a  sight  warse  nor  this  un.”  In  all  probability  the 
cases  were  not  a  bit  similar.  The  man  tries  his  hand,  finds  the 
patient  does  not  improve,  and  then  grudgingly  sends  for  the 
farrier. 
One  of  our  greatest  veterinary  surgeons,  till  quite  lately  the 
head  of  his  profession  in  England,  we  mean  Professor  Brown,  has 
been  alive  to  all  this,  and  in  a  carefully  written  paper  gives  many 
practical  hints,  most  valuable  as  coming  from  a  man  of  his 
standing. 
The  first  subject  of  which  he  treats  is  a  wound.  How  dearly 
people  love  ointments,  plasters,  and  “  messments  ”  of  various  sorts 
is  seen  every  day.  They  are  so  anxious  to  assist  Nature,  and 
generally  so  irritate  and  aggravate  the  sore  that  it  takes  twice  the 
proper  time  to  heal.  Banish  all  such  rubbish  from  your  drug  cup¬ 
boards.  See  that  the  wound  is  clean,  free  from  dirt  or  other 
foreign  matter,  close  it  up  carefully,  cover  with  a  little 
carbolised  cotton  wool.  Nature  will  do  the  rest  if  you  keep  off 
germs  from  without.  A  horse  is  lame  ;  do  not  bother  to  locate  the 
trouble  in  the  shoulder  ;  look  for  it  in  the  foot.  .Remember  how 
much  the  foot  is  “  put  upon,”  so  to  say ;  think  of  the  constant 
shoeing,  sometimes  by  unskilful  men ;  think  of  the  wear  and  tear 
on  the  ’ard  ’igh  road. 
If  there  is  lameness  in  a  fore  leg  (especially)  remove  the  shoe 
and  pare  the  hoof  carefully,  press  with  the  pincers,  and  in  all 
probability  you  will  find  an  abscess,  caused  sometimes  by  a  care¬ 
lessly  driven  nail,  at  others  from  contact  with  a  hard,  sharp  stone. 
The  matter  must  be  got  away  by  making  a  small  opening,  and 
after  soaking  the  foot  in  hot  water  a  dressing  of  tar  and  tow  should 
be  placed  on  the  wound.  The  shoe  should  be  lightly  nailed  on 
again . 
The  skin  of  the  legs  in  badly  regulated  stables  is  subject  to 
various  disorders.  Prevention  being  better  than  cure,  we  will 
mention  the  ailments,  and  then  s*y  how  they  may  be  avoided. 
Cracked  heels  and  mud  fever  come  first.  Horses  are  brought  in 
after  their  work  oftener  with  wet  legs  than  dry,  plastered  up  with 
mud  and  clay  and  bits  of  grit.  Wash  is  the  axiom  of  the  stable 
boy,  the  drying  process  he  leaves  to  Nature.  The  washing  is  well 
enough,  but  takes  too  much  natural  heat  out  of  the  system  if  the 
horse  has  his  own  legs  to  dry.  It  is  the  standing  quietly  in  the 
stable  that  does  the  harm.  Wash,  if  you  will,  in  a  pond,  and  the 
cold  water  does  not  do  the  harm  that  the  hot  would,  and  the  walk 
home  after  the  bath  assists  the  drying  process.  Hunters’  legs  are 
bandaged  till  the  mud  is  dry  enough  of  itself  to  brush  out.  We 
do  not  keep  flannel  bandages  for  cart  horses,  but  hay  bands  are  a 
cheap  and  handy  substitute. 
If  there  are  cracked  heels  or  mud  fever  exists,  a  remedy  is 
found  in  a  mixture  of  eight  parts  vaseline  with  one  part  of  white 
lead  or  oxide  of  zinc. 
A  bruise  freshly  made,  and  before  any  swelling  has  come  on, 
will  be  benefited  by  a  cold  lotion,  but  the  application  must  be 
continuous.  Where  there  is  heat  and  inflammation  hot  fomenta¬ 
tions  are  absolutely  necessary.  A  bruised  wound  cannot  heal 
make  the  safest  and  easiest  of  remedies  ;  one  part  carbolic  acid  to 
a  hundred  parts  of  water. 
Sprains  are  a  very  common  Bource  of  lameness.  Muscles, 
ligaments,  and  tendons  are  overstretched  by  violent  movements, 
inflammation  and  swelling  follow.  A  ligament  or  muscle  once 
sprained  is  very  liable  again  to  give  way,  and  one  can  hardly  ever 
feel  perfectly  sure  of  absolute  soundness  in  the  limb  affected. 
Cold  water  and  rest  will  do  wonders,  but  the  cold  water  applica¬ 
tions  must  be  regular  and  frequent,  and  the  rest  long. 
In  some  cases  blistering  becomes  necessary.  Then  ointment 
of  the  biniodide  of  mercury  is  most  useful,  and  here  a  farmer’s 
doctoring  must  cease,  as  anything  of  firing  or  setoning  is  only  to 
be  left  in  the  hands  of  a  skilful  operator  ;  indeed,  we  hear  much 
less  nowadays  of  firing  than  we  used  to  do  say  twenty  years  ago. 
There  is  material,  and  more  than  material  for  a  paper  on  diseases 
of  the  digestive  organs,  which  must  be  kept  over  for  a  future  day. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
The  Mangolds  have  not  been  drilled  yet,  as  our  field  to  be  devoted  to 
them  lies  somewhat  low  and  near  water,  and  is  liable  to  suffer  from 
May  frosts.  We  once  drilled  Mangold  in  it  in  April ;  the  plants  came 
up  quickly,  but  were  killed  by  frost,  except  a  few  under  the  shade  of 
some  trees.  We  are  steeping  the  seed  to  soften  the  husk,  and  shall  now 
get  it  in  at  once. 
The  weather  has  been  fine  overhead ,  but  very  cold  ;  nothing  has 
grown  much  except  Wheat,  and  that  has  had  its  exception,  the  best 
piece  in  the  parish  having  begun  to  turn  yellow.  The  fields  which  have 
not  been  too  thick  or  forward  are  now  beginning  to  look  really  well  and 
decidedly  promising. 
Pastures  are  worse  than  ever,  sheep  are  lower,  the  fairs  have  been 
disastrous,  nothing  but  cattle  nearly  fit  for  the  butcher  meeting  with 
anything  like  a  ready  sale.  Potatoes  are  a  little  dearer,  about  10s.  per 
ton.  We  have,  however,  to  be  thankful  for  even  that  small  mercy. 
As  regards  farm  work,  we  have  brighter  prospects  to  record.  Much 
progress  has  been  made  with  the  working  out  and  getting  off  of  twitch. 
Fallows  were  less  foul  than  we  have  seen  them  in  most  seasons,  and 
although  little  or  nothing  but  ploughing  could  be  done  to  them  in  the 
autumn  the  task  of  cleaning  has  not  been  very  formidable. 
Twitch  fires  have  been  visible  in  all  directions  the  last  few  days,  and 
most  fields  are  about  ready  for  ploughing.  If  the  weather  should  become 
very  dry  this  will  be  most  advantageous,  for  the  absence  of  any  necessity 
for  further  cleaning  will  enable  us  to  keep  the  land  quiet,  and  so  retain 
its  moist  condition  until  Turnip  sowing. 
If  the  land  be  light  and  friable  we  would  not  move  it  at  all  after 
ploughing,  but  if  it  be  rough  and  cloddy  we  would  plough  again  in  a 
fortnight  and  roll  after  the  plough.  In  fact,  for  rough  land  the  motto  is, 
“  Plough  and  roll,”  and  if  once  is  not  enough  “  plough  and  roll  again.” 
The  spring  tooth  cultivator  is  splendid  for  pulverising  the  soil,  and  on 
light  and  medium  soils  is  a  most  valuable  implement,  but  we  cannot  do 
without  the  plough  yet. 
We  hear  of  serious  loss  of  the  Wheat  plant  where  chilled  ploughs 
were  used  for  ploughing  lea.  This  is  the  one  operation  they  are  quite 
unsuited  for,  and  we  have  warned  our  readers  against  using  them  for  the 
purpose. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oam den  Square,  London. 
Lat.  81°  IV 40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8/  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  teet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
Rain. 
1897. 
April 
and 
May. 
|  Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
|  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
leg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inch?. 
Sunday  ... 
25 
29-882 
47-4 
44-0 
N.E. 
45-1 
55-9 
36-8 
88-4 
32-2 
— 
Monday  . . 
2b 
29-853 
52-9 
48-3 
N.K. 
45-4 
66-6 
37-6 
108-9 
33-1 
— 
Tuesday  , . 
27 
29-935 
50-9 
49-7 
N. 
47-9 
673 
44-0 
85-1 
37-2 
0-165 
Wednesday 
28 
30-028 
51-9 
51-2 
N. 
44-9 
660 
45-5 
99-9 
38-7 
0-119 
Thursday . . 
29 
30-106 
62-2 
50-4 
W. 
49-1 
65-4 
46-3 
10H-2 
39-3 
— 
Friday 
30 
29-804 
55-7 
50'6 
S.W. 
50-3 
58-6 
44-9 
78-5 
40-1 
0-202 
Saturday . . 
1 
29-897 
47-8 
44-2 
N. 
48-4 
59-8 
37-8 
107-9 
32-9 
— 
29-926 
51-3 
48-3 
47-9 
62-8 
41-8 
96-7 
36-2 
0-476 
REMARKS. 
25th.— Generally  sunny,  but  cloudy  intervals. 
JHth. — Bright  and  mild  throughout. 
27th.— Sun  visible  through  haze  or  slight  fog  almost  all  day,  but  no  bright  sunshine  ; 
thunder  from  5.45  P.M.  to  7  P.M  ,  with  spots  of  rain. 
28th. — Foggy  all  morning,  thick  earl' ,  and  yellow,  with  darkness,  from  11  A.M.  to  noon. 
Rain  from  7  A.M.  to  9.30  A.M.,  and  heavy  rain  at  8.30  P.M.,  other  slight  showers 
at  times  ;  generally  sunny  in  afternoon. 
29th.— Overcast  till  9  30  A.M. ;  generally  sunny  after. 
30th.— Sunny  early,  overcast  from  10  A.M.,  steady  rain  from  1  P.M.  to  5  P.M.,  and  spots 
of  rain  in  evening. 
1st.— Brilliant  early,  and  generally  sunny  all  day. 
Another  average  and  unnoteworthy  week,  the  storm  on  April  27th  being  of  little 
moment,  except  in  the  South  of  London,— Q.  J.  SYMONS. 
A*-  .% 
