440 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  25,  1899. 
In  cur  country  neighbourhcol,  as  in  many  more,  it  is  a  matter  of 
six  or  seven  miles  before  a  decent  veterinary  surgeon  can  be  reached, 
and  tlen  the  chances  are  he  is  not  at  home.  Privately  we  have  more 
faith  in  the  prompt  attention  of  a  man  who  has  been  brought  up  in 
the  stables  to  the  more  skilled,  but  often  delayed,  services  of  the 
“  vet.”  One  would  suppose  a  carthorse  foal  was  of  so  stalwart  a 
nature  that  little  would  affect  it,  but  somehow  or  other,  if  we  have  a 
particularly  well-bred  foa',  it  seems  surrounded  by  pitfalls  from  its 
birth  to  the  time  when  it  is  fairly  yoked,  and  takes  its  place  and 
does  its  share  of  farm  work. 
That  many  of  the  risks  are  preventible  we  feel  sure;  prrhaps  we 
are  ourselves  to  blame  in  a  measure  for  the  delicacy  of  our  young  stock 
by  our  persistent  high  breeding  and  our  system  of  forcing  for  early 
maturity.  Competition  is  so  strong,  w’e  have  “  assi^ted  ”  Nature  too 
much,  so  she  takes  her  revenge. 
We  can  hardly  imagine  cur  skin-clad,  woad-painted  ancestors  as 
liable  to  nervous  disorders — indigestion,  gout,  and  stomachic  troubles — 
they  are  the  outcome  of  ultra-civilisation,  and  the  same  applies  to 
our  stock.  We  may  have  symmetry  of  shape  and  form,  but  we  have 
to  pay  for  it  sooner  or  later. 
Let  us  imagine  the  longed  for  foal  safely  arrives.  There  must  not 
be  long  delay  ere  a  meal  is  served,  and  that  meal  its  mother’s  milk. 
There  are  cases,  indeed,  when  the  poor  foal  is  an  orphan,  and  no  foster' 
mother  at  hand.  Then  it  becomes  necessary  to  make  a  “  bottle  baby,” 
and  the  attendant  may  consider  his  hands  full  for  some  days  to  come. 
We  prefer  to  get  a  bottle  with  a  proper  indiarubber  teat,  but  a  quill 
wrapped  round  with  worsted  and  thrust  through  a  cork  into  a  pint 
bottle  will  make  a  good  substitute;  but  absolute  cleanliness  must  be 
insisted  on,  or  without  any  doubt  the  wretched  little  animal  will  be 
seized  with  diarrhoea,  and  our  experience  tells  us  for  that  there  is  little 
or  no  boi^e  of  cure  for  one  so  small.  At  first  the  feeding  must  take 
place  every  half-hour,  and  remember  this  must  be  n’ght  work  too. 
There  must  be  no  shirking.  A  knowing  man  will  soon  be  able  to  see 
when  he  may  lengthen  out  the  intervals  between  meals. 
Cow’s  milk  differs  in  some  essentials  frem  that  of  the  mare,  bo 
cow’s  milk  must  be  treated  with  a  little  water  to  reduce  the  caseine 
and  fat,  and  with  a  little  sugar  to  make  it  as  na'urally  sweet  as 
the  mare’s  milk  is.  The  proportion  of  Avater  may  appear  large,  but 
the  young  stomach  is  delicate,  and  over-richness  in  the  diet  would  be 
fatal.  One  part  water  to  two  parts  milk  at  first  will  be  a  suitable 
proportion,  then  one-fourth  of  water  as  the  foal  grows  stronger. 
5’oungster.  It  should  be  watched  for  a  few  minutes  to  see  whether  it 
really  is  getting  a  meal.  There  are  cases  where  the  milk  does  not 
easily  flow  from  the  teat,  or,  indeed,  where  it  will  not  come  down  at  all. 
It  is  the  worst  of  folly  leaving  these  little  details  unattended  to  till 
the  poor  foal  is  getting  hungrier  and  weaker  every  moment.  Very 
little  delay  and  the  foal  will  be  j^ast  recovery.  Hence  we  see  the 
necessity  for  having  a  really  good  man  wdio  thoroughly  understands 
his  busfness  and  the  manifold  requirements  of  young  stock. 
We  find  we  have  hardly  got  the  foal  more  than  a  step  or  two  cn 
its  life  journey.  There  are  several  other  points  of  great  impcrtance  wo 
would  refer  to,  but  they  must  stand  over  for  a  time. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Farmers  are  never  satisfied,  and  if  they  were  the  great  British  public 
would  not  be  pleased,  for  it  would  not  consider  its  farmer  a  true  John  Bull 
if  he  could  find  nothing  to  grumble  about. 
The  agriculturist  who  complains  of  the  present  weather  we  shoubl 
hardly  blame,  for  the  continuous  rains  must  be  very  trying  to  the  man 
who  has  a  large  acreage  of  land  to  prepare  for  Turnips  and  not  too  nr  tub 
time  wherein  to  do  the  work. 
We  have  spoken  to  several  farmers  this  week  and  only  one  appears  t<> 
be  satisfied  with  the  weather,  and  he  is  more  of  a  stockowner  or  English 
rancher  than  an  ordinary  farmer,  as  we  understand  the  term. 
As  a  fact  little  work  of  any  kind  has  been  done.  Wheat  is  partly 
hoed,  or  rather  looked  over,  for  few  farmers  do  more  than  look  over  their 
Wheat  nowadays.  Barley  and  Oats,  although  both  are  backward,  require 
the  weeds  removing  from  them.  This  must  be  done  as  soon  as  possible* 
but  hands  are  very  scarce  2nd  hardly  to  be  had.  The  women  of  the  village 
who  used  to  be  glad  to  earn  a  few  shillings  by  wielding  the  hoe,  now 
would  scorn  to  do  anj  thing  of  the  kind,  and  although  one  or  two  excep¬ 
tions  might  be  found,  even  these  wmuld  decline  to  face  the  young  corn 
with  rain  or  even  a  heavy  dew  upon  it.  So  the  work  has  to  be  left  undone 
or  rushed  over  in  a  slipshod  way. 
Wherever  we  go  we  see  ewes  that  have  been  through  the  washdyke 
but  have  seen  none  clipped.  There  has  been  no  drying  weather,  and  it 
is  hardly  warm  enough  yet,  though  June  is  very  near. 
We  again  hear  of  serious  losses  amongst  young  calves.  They  die  from 
the  effects  of  grey  scour  when  they  are  two  or  three  days  old.  This 
should  be  preventible.  The  complaint  generally  arises  from  indigestion 
through  havirg  tco  much  milk  irregulaily,  A  newly  born  calf  must 
have  a  strictly  limited  allowance  of  milk,  but  if  scour  does  commerce, 
give  a  couple  of  raw  eggs  and  a  dose  of  cholera  mixture,  and  follow  these 
by  a  dose  of  castor  oil.  We  ourselves  had  heavy  losses  until  we  used 
these  remedies,  which  have  been  entirely  successful,  but  as  we  have 
intimated  above,  prevention  is  better  than  cure  and  much  cheaper. 
See  that  the  milk  is  freshly  taken  from  the  cow  into  a  warmed 
vessel.  Its  own  mother  would  provide  it  with  waim  milk.  We 
have  to  lake  the  place  of  the  mother.  Possibly  few  amateurs  will 
believe  what  difference  there  is  in  milk.  If  it  is  possible  to  get  a 
choice,  take  the  milk  of  a  young  freshly  calved  cow  in  preference  to 
one  that  is  past  her  best.  Were  the  foal  fed  natural'y  the  fresb 
milk  drawn  from  its  mother  would  act  as  a  laxaMve  on  the  bowels; 
failing  this  a  gentle  enema  of  tepid  water  anl  a  little  glycerine  would 
be  equally  effective. 
We  prefer  this  means  to  a  dose  of  castor  oil.  It  is  the  bowel 
that  requires  to  he  emptied,  not  the  stomach  (we  might  remark  that 
an  enema  should  find  a  place  in  every  stable  ;  many  a  valuable  li  e 
may  be  saved  theieby).  If  castor  oil  is  given  the  dose  must  be  small. 
Early  foals,  that  is  foals  born  before  their  mothers  have  had  access 
to  green  food,  are  more  liable  to  obstinate  constipation  than  those 
born  later,  when  there  is  a  full  bite  of  grass.  By  the  time  the  foal  is 
two  hours  old,  the  bowels  should  have  been  relieved.  If  this  is  not 
the  case  help  must  be  given.  Try  the  enema  first,  and  failing  any 
activity  then  proceed  with  the  oil.  Should  the  oil  not  be  effectnab 
send  at  once  for  the  vet,  as  the  case  is  beyond  the  power  of  the 
amateur. 
M  e  have  got  away  from  the  subject  of  the  first  meal.  Most  foals, 
if  strong  and  lively,  will  find  their  own  way  to  the  teat ;  but  of 
course  there  are  cases  where  the  foal  is  backward  at  looking  after  its 
own  interests.  The  attendant  must  be  on  the  alert.  If  the  teat  be 
rubbed  with  a  little  milk  the  smell  will  usually  attract  the  hungry 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Square,  London. 
Lit.  51°  32'  40"  N.;  Loug.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitule  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
1- 
1899. 
May. 
Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
Sea  Level 
Hygrometer 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
inchs 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
inchs 
Sunday  . . . . 
14 
29-620 
56-9 
52  -3 
S. 
53-4 
63-1 
49-6 
89-7 
45-2 
0-402 
Monday  . . . . 
15 
29-399 
48-9 
47-3 
N.W. 
5-2-9 
61-8 
47-6 
104  3 
46-2 
0-031 
Tuesday  . . . . 
16 
29-608 
56-2 
49-5 
iv. 
52-4 
6-2-1 
47-4 
lli-2 
42-9 
0  372 
Wednesday 
17 
-29-775 
54-6 
48-7 
IV. 
52-2 
63-4 
49-2 
113-3 
44-3 
— 
Thursday  . 
18 
-29-915 
60-4 
54-4 
s. 
52-6 
70-2 
49-8 
118-7 
44-3 
OOIO 
Friday  ..... 
19 
30-033 
55 '9 
50-8 
s. 
53-8 
66-6 
47-2 
115-0 
42-8 
0-058 
Saturday. . . 
20 
20-697 
56-1 
54-4 
s.w. 
54-1 
,64-3 
53-7 
101-1 
48-8 
0-223. 
-29-721 
55-6 
51-1 
53-1 
64-5 
49-2 
108-0 
44-9 
1-OCG 
REMARKS. 
14th.— Overcast  day,  dull  at  times  ;  spots  of  rain  at  2.30  P.M.,  gradually  increasing 
to  showers.  •  . 
15th. — Steady  rain  from  5  .\.M.  to  10  .\.vr.,  then  clearing  and  sunny  afternoon. 
lOtli.— Showers  in  .small  hours;  bright  breezy  morning.  Thunder  and  lightning 
at  1.40  P.M.,  heavy  rain  from  2  to  3.80  p.m.,  and  showers  later. 
ITth.— Gale  .and  showers  in  small  hours;  windy  and  generally  sunny  day  ;  cloiuly 
evening. 
ISth.— Cloudy  early  ;  bright  day  ;  spots  of  rain  at  4.30  p.m.  and  a  shower  at  5  p.m. 
19th.— Fine,  but  little  bright  sunshine;  slight  showers  ac  4.30  p.m.  and  in  the- 
evening.  ■  ' 
20th.— Gleams  of  sunearly  ;  showery  morning  and  a  storm  rain  ac  11  a.m.  ;  overcast 
after  noon. 
A  wet  week,  with  uniform  but  somewhat  higher  temperatures.— G.  J, 
Symo.ns. 
