bie DAMA MOEA Ys et i Aan ue NS ny a ea Ra () SEE este i Ls eae, ibe oF i i a iar ite) vf b EAN 4 C Ne Hees 0 A CUP nae Tre Bie ue) a i , 8 i et, ‘i i as u ¥ ‘ ted panes ee ese preets - ARES HY Ot ene Dy 5 ee ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY NEw York STATE COLLEGES OF AGRICULTURE AND HoME ECONOMICS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY Cornell University Library SF 65.J19 1886 ‘ii ill vie DOMESTIC ANIMALS. PUBLICATIONS OF GEO. E. & F. W. WOODWARD, 87 PARK ROW, N.Y. Woodward’s Country Homes. A practical work, with 122 Designs and Plans of Country Houses of moderate cost, with illustrated deseription of the man- ner of consiructing Balloon frames. Extra binding. $1.50. Woodward’s Graperies and Horticul- tural Butidings. A practical work on the Design and Construction of all classes of Buildings for Growing Plants and Ripening Fruit under Glass. 60 illustrations, $1.50. The House. A New Manvat of Rural Architecture; or, How to Build Dwellings, Barns, Stables and Out-Buildings of all kinds. With a Chapter on Churches and School-Honses. Cloth. $1.50, The Garden. A New Manvat of Practical Ilorticulture; or, How to Culti- vate Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers, With a Chapter on Orna- mental Trees and Shrubs. Cloth. $1.00. The Farm. A New Maxvat of Practical Agriculture; or, How to Cul- tivate all the Field Crops. With an Essay on Farm Manage- ment, ete. Cloth: $1.00. The Barn-Yard. A New Masvav of Cattle, Horse, and Sheep Husbandry; or, How to Breed and Rear the Various species of Domestic Animals, Cloth. $1.00. Hither of the above sent post-paid on receipt of price. ESTABLISHED 1846. RHE RORTICULTURISE. Two Dollars and fifty Cents per Annum, A MONTHLY MAGAZINE For every one who has a grapevine, a city yard, an acre lot, a garden, 4 vineyard, an orchard, a country seat, a farm, who has a house to build, outbuildings to erect, or a home to embellish and beautify. GEO. E. & F, W. WOODWARD, Publishers, No. 37 Park Row, N. Y. 2318 BARN-Y ABD: A MANUAL 0; Cattle, Horse and Sheep Husbandry; OR, HOW TO BREED AND REAR THE VARIOUS SPECIES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS: EMBRACING DIRECTIONS FOR THE BREEDING, REARING, AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF HORSES, MULES, CATTLE, SUEEP, SWINE AND POULTRY; THE GENERAL LAWS, PARENTAGE, AND HERIDITARY DESCENT, APPLIED TO ANI- MALS, AND HOW BREEDS MAY BE IMPROVED; LOW TO INSUEE TNE HEALTH OF ANIMALS; AND HOW TO TREAT THEM FOR DISEASES WITHOUT TIE USE OF DRUGS; WITH A Chapter on BeeeHeeping, By D. H. JACQUES, Avutnor or “THe Home,” “Tue Garver,” “THe Farm,” “How Tro Wxrre,” “How to Do Businsss,” ETO. A Our power ovor the lowor animals, if rightly exercised, redounds to thelr elevation and happiness no less than to our convenience and profit.—Tuz Autyor. REVISHD HDITION. 7 New Dork: GEO. E. & F. W. WOODWARD, No. 87 Park Row, Orrice or “Tur HortiovLTvnist.” , nee: Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by D. H. JACQUES, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southora District of New York. ell UNIVERS oe The President White ; Le Library 0 etven © NEW YORK: EDWARD O. JENKINS, PRINTER, 20 NORTH WILLIAM ST. PREFACE. We commenced this little manual with the intention of making the most useful compilation possible, within the space allowed us, from the great number of larger works on the subjects treated to which we had access. In the progress of our work, however, we found occasion to depart, in some degree, from our original plan, and introduce more new matter and re-write and condense more that is, in substance, derived from others, than we at first in- tended ; but our claims on the scoré of originality will not be 1arge. If the matter and arrangement of our book shall prove acceptable to the public, and serve the purposes intended, we shall be satisfied. The humble merit of having presented, in an attractive and available form a mass of useful information, prac- tical hints, and valuable suggestions, on a number of important topics, is all that we purpose to insist upon. This the great pub- lic, for whose good we have labored, will, we are sure, readily accord to us. We have given credit in the body of the work, whenever prac- ticable, to the authors from whom we have derived aid in the various departments of our labor ; but we here gladly make an additional record of our indebtedness to the works of Youatt,. Martin, Stuart, Randall, Wingfield, Dixon, Bement, Browne, Quimby, etc. The Country Gentleman, the American Agriculturist, the Southern Cultivator, and other agricultural papers, have been examined with satisfaction to ourselves and with profit to our readers. vi PREFACE. We have endeavored to make our little work thorough and re- liable, so far as it goes, and to give the largest possible amount of useful information that can be condensed into so small a num- ber of pages. We have occupied a large field, we are aware, and can not hope to have been so full on all points as many readers will desire. We have not aimed, of course, to render the larger works on the special topics to which our chapters are devoted un- necessary. We hope rather to create a demand for them; but there are thousands whom this little manual will furnish with all the information they desire on the subjects on which it treats, and on whom the details with which the larger and more expen- sive works are filled would be thrown away. To such, in an es- pecial manner, we commend it, hoping that it will not wholly fail to meet their expectations. CONTENTS. L—THE HORSE. A Historical Sketch—Range of the Horse in Reference to Climate—Effects of Climate and Food—Varieties or Breeds—The Race-Horse- Origin and Characteristics—Half-bred Horses—The Arabian Horse— Wonderful Gene- alogies—Description—The Arabian “Tartar’—The Morgan—Opinions in Reference to the Morgans—Sherman Morgan—The Canadian Horse—The Norman—“ Louis Philippe’—The ‘Cleveland Bay—The Conestoga—Tho Clydesdale Horse—The Virginian—Wild Horses—American Trotting Horses —Points of a Horse Ilustrated—Color, and what it Indicates—Common Terms Denoting the Parts of a Horse—Stables—Stables as they are—Situation of Stables—Size—Windows—Floors—Draining—Racks and Mangers—Ven- tilation of Stables—Warmth, etc.—The best Food for Horses—Work and Di- gestion—Bulk of Food—Quantity—Water—-General Management of the Horse—Air—Litter— —Grooming—Exercise—Vices and Habits—Restiveness —Backing and Balking--Biting—Kicking—Running Away—Rearing—Over- reaching—Rolling—Shying—Slipping the Halter—Tripping—Hints to Buy- vers—Warranty—Form of a Receipt Embodying a Warranty - Wha: a War- ranty Includes—What constitutes Unsoundness ................-+06- Page 9 Il.--THE ASS AND THE MULE. Why the Ass has been Neglected and Abused—Eastern Appreciation—The Ass compared with the Horse—The Ass in Guinea and Persia—The Mule— Adaptation as a Beast of Burden—Trade in Kentucky—Use on a Farm— How to have large and handsome Mules......- spose hela resenacei coeeees 45 TI.—CATTLE. Historical Sketch—Breeds—The Devons—New England Cattle—The Hereford Breed—The Sussex Breed—The Ayrshire Cattle—The Welsh Breeds—Irish Cattle—The Long Horns—The Durham or Short-Horned Breed—Alderney or Jersey Cattle—The Galloway Breed or Hornless Cattle—Other Polled Cattle—The Cream-Pot Breed—Points ‘of Cattle—General Management of Cattle—The Cow-House Feeding--Rearing Calves—Milking—How to Esti- mate the Weight of Livestock........-...- sss ee cece cere eeee gale eralaretersis'ste 49 IV.—SHEEP. Characteristics of the Sheep—Mutton—Breeds in the United States—The Na- tive Breed - The Spanish Mecrino—American Merinos—Saxon Merinos—The New Leicester Breed—The South-Downs—Mr. Taylor's Facts and Figares —The Cotswold Breed—New Oxfordshire Sheep—The Cheviot Breed—The . viii ConTENTS. Lincoln Breed -On the Choice of a Breed—The Improved English Varieties as Mutton Sheep—The Merinos as Wool-Producers—General Management —Barns and Sheds—Feeding Racks— Feeding — Salt —Water — Shade— Lambs—Castration—Docking—Washing—Shearing— Value of Sheep to the Farmer—An Anecdote. ..........-2...- aicGtaxgnesye. Wie Mepshanne Siptaricaveys Gieheatate . 3 V.—SWINE. Natural History of Swine—The Wild Boar—Opinions Respecting the Hog— The Hog among the Grecks and Romans—Swine Breeding in Gaul ana Spain—Abhorrence toward Swine’s Flesh among the Jews, Egyptians, Mo- hammedans, and Others—Cuvier’s Opinion—Unwholesomeness of Swine’s Flesh in Warm Climates—Breeds of Swine—The “Land Pike”—The Chi- nese Hog—The Berkshire Breed—The Suffolk Breed—The Essex Breed-- The Chester Hog—Points of the Hog —Feeding—The Piggery........... 95 VI.—IMPROVEMENT OF BREEDS Selection of the Sire and Dam—How the Cream Pot Breed was Produced— In-and-In Breeding—Youatt’s Opinion—Crossing—Origin of La Chamois Sheep—The best Breeds most Profitable—How to Improve One’s Stock— How Improvements may be bred Out as well as In ..................6 108 VIL—DISEASES AND THEIR CURE. About throwing Physic to the Dogs—Wild Animals seldom Sick—The Reason why—Causes of Disease among Domestic Animals—How they may be kept in Perfect Health—Treatment of their Diseases—The Water-Cure for Ani- MAI ce: sean vieareters ef eatasav ofa lalens edataesv otis aWarov ap colo¥erelelaros NG's) Ov nie aca oisieraretaleteietgralt 114 VIH.—POULTRY. The Domestic Fowl—Wild Origin Unknown—General Characteristics of the Domestic Fowl—The Spanish Fowl—The Dorking—The Polish Fowl-The Hamburg Fowl—The Dominique Fowl—The Leghorn Fowl—The Shang- hais and Cochin Chinas—The Bantam—The Game Fowl—Mongrels—Choice of Breed—Accommodations —Incubation—Rearing Chickens—Five Rules— The Guinea Fowl—The Domestic Turkey—The Principal Requisites in Turkey Rearing—General Directions—The Domestic Goose - How to Rear Geese—Shearing instead of Plucking--The Domestic Duck—Best Varicties —How to Rear Ducks—Fattening—Preparing Poultry for Market ...... 118 IX.—BEE-KEEPING. Wonders of the Bee-Hive—The three kinds of Bees—The Queen and her Du- ties—Curious Facts—How the Cells are Made—Bee-Bread—Ventilation by the Bees on Scientific Principles—The Apiary—Bee-Hives—How to Make them—Sectional Hives—Mr. Luda’s Hive—Swarming—Robbing the Hive— Wintering—Feeding—Killing the Drones. ........... 0020s cee ceee eres 148 APPENDIX. Horse" Vamingis a, 24 wicciwyeeieemes ue ca/erieneeseieeienears treatises os tenets 161 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. zr THE HORSE. A horse! a horse! My kingdom for a horse !+Shakepeare. I.—HISTORY. HE horse is probably anative of the warm coun- tries of the East, where he is found wild in a ay/ considerable state of perfection. Its use, both Eas abeast of burden and for the purposes of war, early attracted the attention of mankind. Thus when Ji Toseph proceeded with his father’s body from Egypt into Canaan, ‘there accompanied him both chariots and horsemen” (Gen. xix.) ; and the Canaanites are said to have gone out to fight against Israel “with many horses and chariots” (Joshua ii. 4). This was more than sixteen hundred years before Christ. The horse was early employed on the course. In the year 1450 B. o. the Olympic games were established in Greece, at which horses were used in chariot and other races. No horses were found either on the continent or on the islands of the New Worid; but the immense droves now ex- isting in parts of both North and South America, all of which have descended from the two or three mares and stallions left by the early Spanish voyagers, prove very clearly that the climate and soil of these countries is well adapted to their propagation. Professor Low says: “The horse is seen to be affected in his * 10 Domestic ANIMALS. character and form by the agencies of food and elimate, and it may be by other causes unknown to us. He sustains the tem- perature of the most burning regions; but there is a degree of cold at which he can not exist, and as he approaches this limit his temperament and external conformation are affected. In Iceland, at the Arctic Circle, he has becume a dwarf; in Lapland, at latitude 65°, he has given place to the reindeer ; and in Kamt- schatka, at 62°, he has given place to the dog. The nature and abundance of his food, too, greatly affect his character and form. A country of heaths and inuutritious herbs will not produce a horse so large and strong as one of plentiful herbage; the horse of the mountains will be smaller than that of the plains; the horse of the sandy desert than that of the watered valley.””* II.—BREEDS. The genus Hyuus, according to modern naturalists, consiste of six different animals—the horse (4. caballus); the ass (2. asinus); the quagga (E. guagga); the dziggithai (2. hemionus) ; the mountain zebra (Z. zebra); and the zebra of the plains (E. burchelli). Of the horse there are many varieties or breeds. Ineffect- ual attempts have been made to decide which variety now existing constitutes the original breed ; some contending for the Barb and others for the wild horses of Tartary. It is of the latter that Byron thus speaks in ‘‘ Mazeppa:” With flowing tail and flying mane, With nostrils never streaked with pain, Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein, And feet that iron never shod, And flanks unscarred by spur or rod, A thousand horse—the wild, the free— Likes waves that follow o’er the sea, Came thundering on. The principal breeds of horses now bred in the United States are the Race-Horse, the Arabian, the Morgan, the Canadian, * Tilustrations of the Breeds of Animals, Tue Hogse. 11 the Norman, the Oleveland Bay, the Conestoga, the Virginia Horse, the Clydesdale, and the Wild or Prairie Horse. 1. The Race-Horse.—‘‘ There is much dispute,” Mr. Youatt says, ‘with regard to the origin of the Thorough-bred Horse. By some he is traced through both sire and dam to Eastern pa- rentage; others believe him to be the native horse, improved and perfected by judicious crossings with the Barb, the Turk, or the Arabian. The Steed Book, which is an authority with every English breeder, traces all the old racers to some Eastern origin; or it traces them until the pedigree is lost in the uncertainty of an early period of breeding. “Whatever may be the truth as to the origin of the race- horse, the strictest attention has for the last fifty years been paid to pedigree. In the descent of almost every modern racer not the slightest flaw can be discovered.” The racer is generally distinguished, according to the same authority, by his beautiful Arabian head; his fine and finely- set neck; his oblique, lengthened shoulders; his well-bent hinder legs; his ample muscular quarters ; his flat legs, rather short from the knee downward, although not always so deep as they should be; and his long and elastic pastern. The use of thorough-bred and half-bred horses for domes- tic purposes is becoming common in England. The half-bred horse is not only much handsomer than the common horse, but his speed and power of endurance are infinitely greater. “The acknowledged superiority of Northern carriage and draught stock,” the editor of the New York Spirit of the Times says, “‘is owing almost entirely to the fact that thorough-bred horses have found their way North and East from Long Island and New Jersey, where great numbers are annually disposed of that are unsuited to the course.” For the farm, the pure thorough-bred horse would be nearly useless. Helacks weight and substance to give value and power for draught. For road work the same objections will apply, although not to the same extent, perhaps. The best English road horse is a cross of the thorough-bred and the Cleveland. _ 12 Domezstio ANIMALS. 2. The Arabian Horse.—The genealogy of the Arabian horse, according to Arab account, is known for two thousand years, Many of them have written and attested pedigrees ex- tending more than four hundred years, and, with true Eastern exaggeration, traced by oral tradition from the stud of Solo- mon. A more careful account is kept of these genealogies than of those of the most ancient family of the proudest Arab chief, and very singular precautions are taken to prevent the possi- bility of fraud, so far as the written pedigree extends. The head of the Arabian horse is inimitable. The broadness and squareness of the forehead, the shortness and fineness of the “muzzle, the prominence and brilliancy of the eye, the smallness of the ears, and the beautiful course of the veins, are its char- acteristics. In the formation of the shoulders next to the head, the Arabian is superior to any other breed. The withers are high and the shoulder-blades inclined backward, and so nicely adjusted that in descending a hill the point or edge of the ham never ruffles the skin. The fineness of the legs and the oblique position of the pasterns may seem to lessen his strength; but the leg, although small, is flat and wiry, and its bones uncom- monly dense.* Richardson says: “‘Often may the traveler in the desert, on entering within the folds of a tent, behold the interesting spec- tacle of a magnificent courser extended upon the ground, and some half dozen little dark-skinned, naked urchins scrambling across her body, or reclining in sleep, some upon her neck, some on her body, and others pillowed upon her heels; nor do the children ever experience injury from their gentle playmate. She recognizes the family of her friend, her patron, and toward them all the natural sweetness of her disposition leans, even to overflowing.” The Arabian horse Tartar, whose portrait we give on the next page, is thus described in the New England Farmer: “This beautiful horse was bred by Asa Pingree, of Topsfield, Mass. * Youatt. 14 Domestic ANIMALS. He now stands fifteen and one fourth hands high; weighs nine hundred pounds; is of dark-gray color, with dark mane and tail. He was sired by the imported, full-blood Arabian horse ‘Imaum,’ and is seven years old this spring. This engraving, copied from life, gives the figure of ‘Tartar,’ but can not represent the agile action, flashing eye, and cat-like nimble- ness of all his movements. It shows the beautiful Arabian head and finely-set-on neck; his ample muscular quarters; his flat legs, rather short from the knee downward; and his long and elastic pastern. All his motions are light and exceed- ingly graceful, and his temper so docile that a child may handle him.” 8. The Morgan Horse.—This celebrated American breed is probably a cross between the English race-horse and the com- mon New England mare. It is perhaps, all things considered, the very finest breed for general usefulness now existing in the United States. Mr. 8. W. Jewett, a celebrated stock breeder, in an article in the Cultivator, says: “I believe the Morgan blood to be the best ever infused into the Northern horse. The Morgans are well known and esteem- ed for activity, hardiness, gentleness, and docility ; well adapted for all work; good in every spot except for races on the turf. They are lively and spirited, lofty and elegant in their action, carrying themselves gracefully in the harness. They have clean bone, sinewy legs, compactness, short, strong backs, powerful lungs, strength, and endurance. They are known by their short, clean heads, width across the face at the eyes, eyes lively and prominent; they have open and wide under jaws, large windpipe, deep brisket, heavy and round body, broad in the back, short limbs in proportion to size (of body); they have broad quarters, a lively, quick action, indomitable spirit, move true and easy in a good, round trot, and are fast on the walk; color dark bay, chestnut, brown, or black, with dark, flowing, wavy mane and tail. They make the best of roadsters, and live to a great age.” All do not agree, however, with this estimate of the Morgans. Tue Horse. 15 A distinguished judge of horses in Vermont, quoted by Randall in his Introduction to Youatt on the Horse, says: “They [the Morgans] are good for an hour’s drive—for short stages. They are good to run around town with. They are good in the light pleasure-wagon—prompt, lively (not spirited), and ‘trappy.’ There is no question among those who have had fair opportunities of comparing the Morgans with horses of purer blood and descended from different stocks, in regard to the relative position of the Morgan. He is, as he exists at the present day, inferior in size, speed, and bottom—in fact, in all those qualities necessary to the performance of ‘great deeds’ SULRMAN MORGAN. on the road or the farm, to the descendants of Messenger, Du- roc, imported Magnum Bonum, and many other horses of de- served celebrity.” Sherman Morgan, whose portrait we are permitted to copy from Linsley’s “‘Morgan Horse,” was foaled in 1835, the prop- erty of Moses Cook, of Campton, N. H. Sired by Sherman, g sire, Justin Morgan. The pedigree of the darf not fully estab- lished, but conceded to have been a very fine animal. and said to 16 Domestic ANIMALS. be from the Justin Morgan. Sherman Morgan is fifteen hands high, weighs about 1,050 Ibs., is dark chestnut, and very much resembles his sire Sherman, but heavier, stockier, and not ag much action. A fine horse, and is now kept in the stable at Lancaster, N. H., where the Sherman died. He is owned by A. J. Congdon. 4. The Canadian Horse.—This horse abounds in the Cana- dian Provinces and in the Northern States of the Union, and is too well known to require a particular description. Itis mainly of Norman-French descent. It is a hardy, long-lived animal, is easily kept, and very useful on a farm, although generally too small for heavy work. A cross between stallions of this breed and our common mares produces a superior horse, and such crosses are finding favor among farmers. 5. The Norman Horse.—The French or Norman horse, from which the Canadian is descended, is destined to take a more prominent place than has hitherto been assigned to it among our working horses. We introduce an engraving of one of this breed, called Louis Philippe, which was bred by Edward Harris, of Moorestown N. J., by whom the breed was imported from France. The Norman horse is from the Spanish, of Arabian ancestry, and crossed upon the draught horses of Normandy. Mr, Harris had admired the speed, toughness, and endurance of the French stage-coach horses, and resolved to import this valuable stock, and deserves the thanks of the American public for his perseverance and sacrifices in this enterprise. The Norman horses are enduring and energetic beyond description, and keep their condition on hard fare and brutal treatment, when most other breeds would quail and die. This variety of horse is employed in France to draw the ponderous stage-coaches, called ‘“‘diligences,” and travelers express astonishment at the extra- ordinary performances of these animals. Each of these huge vehicles is designed for eighteen passengers, and when thus loaded are equal to five tons weight. Five horses are attached to the clumsy and cunibrous carriage, with rude harness, and UdaIINY SNOT AAO NVWUON NO HONDA, ART - ae I be eM ao fi \ i int 18 Domestic ANIMALS. their regular rate of speed with this enormous load is seven miles an horr, and this pace is maintained over rough and hilly regions. On some routes the roads are lighter, when the speed is increased to eight, nine, and sometimes to ten miles an hour. 6. Cleveland Bay.—According to Mr. Youatt, the true Cleve- land Bay is nearly extinct in E>gland. They were formerly employed as a heavy, slow coach-horse. Mr. Youatt says: “The origin of the better kind of coach-horse is the Cleveland Bay, confined principally to Yorkshire and Durham, with verhaps Lincolnshire on one side and Northumberland on the other, but difficult to meet with pure in either county. The Cleveland mare is crossed by a three-fourths or through-bred horse of sufficient substance and height, and the produce is the coach-horse most in repute, with his arched crest and high action. From the thorough-bred of sufficient height, but not of. so much substance, we obtain the four-in-hand and superior curricle-horse. Cleveland Bays were imported into western New York a few years since, where they have spread considerably. They have often been exhibited at our State (airs. They are mon- strously large, and for their size are symmetrical horses, and possess very respectable action. Whether they would endure on the road at any but a moderate pace, we are not informed, and have some doubts. Whether they spring from the genu- ine and unmixed Cleveland stock, now so scarce in England, we have no means of knowing. The half-bloods, the produce of across with our common mares, are liked by many of our farmers. They are said to make strong, serviceable farm beasts—though rather prone to sullenness of temper.* 7. The Conestoga Horse——This horse, which is found chiefly in Pennsylvania and the adjacent States, is more remarkable for endurance than symmetry. In height it sometimes reaches seventeen hands; the legs being long and fhe body light. * Randall. Tue Horss. 19 The Conestoga breed makes good carriage aud heavy draft horses, 8. The Clydesdale Horse.—The Clydesdale horse is descended from a cross between the Flemish horse and the Lanarkshire (Scotland) mares. The mare is derived from the district on the Clyde where the breed is chiefly found. Horses of this breed are deservedly esteemed for the cart and for the plow on heavy soil. They are strong, hardy, steady, true’ pullers, of sound constitution, and from fourteen to sixteen hands high. They are broad, thick, heavy, compact, well made for durabil- THE OLYDESDALE HORSE. ity, health, and power. They have sturdy legs, strong shoul- ders, back, and hips, .a well-arched neck, and a light face and head. 9. The Virginia Horse.—This breed predominates in the State from which it takes its name, and abounds to a greater or less extent in all the Southern, Western, and Middle States. It derives its origin from English blood-horses imported at various times, and has been most diligently and purely kept im the South. The celebrated Shark, the best horse of-his day, 20 Domestic ANIMALS. was sire of the best Virginian horses, while Tally-ho, son of Highflyer, peopled the Jerseys.* 10. The Wild or Prairie Horse.—In the Southwestern States wild horses abound, which are doubtless sprung from the same Spanish stock as the wild horses of the pampas and other parts of the southern continent, all of which are of the celebrated Andalusian breed, derived from the Moorish Barb. The prairie horses are often captured, and when domesticated are found to be capable of great endurance. They dre not, however, recommended by the symmetry or elegance of ap- pearance for which their type is so greatly distinguished, being generally rather small and scrubby.t 11. The American Trotting-Horse—“ We can not refrain,” H. 8. Randall says, in the Introduction to Youatt on the Horse, already referred to, ‘from calling attention to our trotting- horses, though in reality they do not, at least as a whole, con- stitute a breed, or even a distinct variety or family. There és a family of superior trotters, including several of the best our country has ever produced, the descendants of Abdallah and Messenger, and running back through their sire Mambrino to the thorough-bred horse, old Messenger. But many of our best trotters have no known pedigrees, and some of them, without doubt, are entirely destitute of the blood of the race- horse. Lady Suffolk is by Engineer, but the blood of Engineer is unknown (she is a gray mare, fifteen hands and two inches high). Dutchman has no known pedigree. Other celebrated trotters stand in the same category—though we are inclined to think that a decided majority of the best, especially at long distances, have a greater or less infusion of the blood of the race-horse, “The United States has undoubtedly produced more superior trotters than any other country in the world, and in no other country has the speed of the best American trotters been equaled.” * Farmers’ Register. + Farmers’ Encyclopedia. Tue Hors. 21 III.—POINTS OF HORSES. Every one who has anything to do with the horse should know something of the “poirts” by “means of which a good animal is distinguished from a bad one. It is necessary to understand this, no matter for what particular service the horse may be required; and the qualities indicated by these points are universal in all breeds. To illustrate this subject and teach the uninstructed how to correctly judge the horse, we introduce the accompanying let- tered outlines. It is evident that to be a good judge of a horse, one must have in his memory a model by which to try all that may be presented to his criticism and judgment. Fig. 5 represents such a model. It is a thoroagh-bred horse, in which the artist has endeavored to avoid every fault. Fig. 6 is designed to represent a horse in which every good point is suppressed. It may not be common to see a horse totally destitute of every good point; but injudicious breeding has so’ obliterated the good ones, that the cut fig. 6 is not a caricature, though we confess that its original is little less than a caricature on the true ideal of a horse. Such a head is com- mon, so is such a shoulder, such a back, quarters, and legs; and if they are not very often all combined in one animal, they are, unfortunately, often found distributed among the common breeds in such abundance as to mar the beauty and the service of three quarters of all the horses in ordinary use. The letters are alike on both figures, and will enable the reader to draw a comparison between the respective points of each. We copy the description of the cuts from the Farmer’s Companion: “The most important part of all is probably the direction of the shoulder, from Ato B, Next to this, the length from the hip to the hock, C to D. The point which next to these prob- ably most contributes to speed and easy going, is the shortness of the canon bone between the knee and the pastern joint, E to F, a point without which no leg is good. A horse which has all these three points good will necessarily and infallibly 22 Domestic ANIMALS. stand over « great deal of ground, W to X, that is, the distance between his fore and hind feet will be great; while one which is deficient in all of them, or, indeed, in the two first, will as Fig. 5. A : LSP Y assuredly stand like a goat with all its feet gathered under him, and will never be either a fast horse or safe under saddle. A Fig. 6. att . WN ENR NNN horse, not in motion, may be more speedily judged of by this feature than by any other. One consequence of a fine receding shoulder is to give length in the humerus, or upper arm, from Tue Horsz. 23 B to P, without which a great stride can hardly be attained, but which will seldom if ever be found wanting if the shoulder- blade be well placed. A prominent and fleshy chest is admired by some, probably because they think it indicative of powerful lungs and room for their use. We object to it as adding to what it is so desirable to avoid—the weight to be lifted forward in the act of progression—while all the space the lungs require is to be obtained by depth instead of breadth, as from A to H, in which point, if a horse be deficient, he will seldom be fit for fast work. The other points which we have marked for comparison are G to E, or the width of the leg immediately below the knee, which in a well-formed leg will be equal all the way down; in a bad one it will be narrowish immediately below the knee, or what is called ‘tied in.’ The shape of the neck is more important than might at first thought be supposed, as affecting both the wind and the handiness of the mouth; no horse with a faulty negk and a head ill-attached to it, as at Q to K in fig. 6, ever possesses a good or manageable mouth. The points of the face are not without significance, a feebly developed countenance generally showing weakness of courage. if not of constitution, We therefore like to see a large and bony protuberance above the eye, as at L in fig. 5, giving the appearance of a sinking immediately below, followed by a slightly Roman or protruding inclination toward the nose. These when present are generally signs of ‘blood,’ which is in some proportion or other a quality without which no breed of horses will ever improve or long entitle itself to rank as other than a race of drudges, fit only for sand or manure carts.” Bearing these points in mind, you may, by observing and comparing the different animals which fall under your eyes, soon qualify yourself to give an intelligent opinion of a horse. One can not become perfect in this branch of knowledge in a week orinayear. Certainly no careful student of this little book will allow himself to be imposed upon in the purchase of an animal having many of the bad points represented in fig. @. The perfect horse (fig. 5) you will not expect to meet every day, 24 Domestic ANIMALS. A badly formed horse is not profitable for any purpose; because, if so formed, they are either clumsy, inactive, dull in mind, or tender and easily broken down. It costs just as much to breed, raise, and keep a poor horse as a good one, and the poor one is low in value and unsalable; besides, he is un- able to do good service in any sphere, or to endure. We copy from Lavater six heads of horses, which indicate Fig. 7. different temperaments and a great diversity of character and disposition. The accompanying remarks are from the American Phrenological Jour- Pe nal : “Fig. 7 has a slow, heavy temper- ament; is without spirit, awkward in motion, lazy, stupid in intellect, diffi- § = cult. to teach, bears the whip and needs it, though it is soon forgotten. He is too lazy to hold up his ears or under lip, and is a regular hog-necked, heavy-footed animal. “Fig. 8 has more intelligence and spirit, a more active temper- ament, and is disposed to anger, (¢ will not bear the whip, and shows & his anger, when teased or irritated, in a bold, direct onset with the teeth. “Fig. 9 is a very active temperament; is a quick, keen, Fig. 9. active, intelligent animal, but is sly, z cunning, mischievous, and trickish; will be hard to catch in the field, in- clined to slip the bridle, will be a great shirk in double harness, and will re- quire a sharp eye and steady hand to drive Lim, and will want something besides a frolicsome boy for a master.” Tar Horsr. or “Fig. 10 is obstinate, headstrong, easily irritated, deceitful, and savage; will be hard to drive, Fig. 10. unhandy, unyielding, sour-temper- g ‘ ed, bad to bick, inclined to balk, disposed to fight and crowd his mate, and bite and kick his driver.” “Fig. 11 has a noble, proud dis- position, and a lofty, stately car- viage, but he is timid, restive, and easily irritated and thrown off his mental balance. Such horses should be used by steady, calm men, and on roads and in business which have little variety, change, or means of excitement. Fig. 11. Fig. 12. “Fig. 12 is a calm, self-possessed animal, with a noble, eleva- ted disposition, trustworthy, courageous, good-tempered, well adapted to family use, but not remarkable for sharpness of Fig. 18. mind or activity of body. f} “ Figs, 18 and 14 showa great contrast in shape of head, expression of coun- tenance, temperament, dis- position, and intelligence. The first is a most noble animal, , “Fig. 18 is broad be- ) tween the eyes, full, round- ) ed, and prominent in the 2 26 Domestic ANIMALS. forehead, indicating benevolence and intellect ; broad between the ears, showing courage; broad between the eyes, evincing quickness of perception, memory, and capacity to learn. He can be taught almost anything, can be trusted, and loves and trusts man; is not timid, will go anywhere, and stand without Fig. 14. fastening ; never kicks, bites, or runs away. “Fig. 14 shows a marked contrast with fig. 13 in almost every respect; his narrow and contracted forehead shows a lack of intelligence, kindness, and tractability; is timid and \ shy in harness, vicious, un- W friendly, disposed to kick, bite, balk, or run away, and is fit only for a mill or horse-boat. For all general uses he should be avoided, and by no means should such an organiza- tion be employed for breeding purposes.” IV.—COLOR. W. C, Spooner, author of several veterinarian works, has the following remarks on color as a sign of other qualities in the horse: “We have found both good and bad horses of every color, and the only rule we can admit as correct is, that certain colors denote deficient breeding, and therefore such animal is not likely to be so good as he looks, but is probably deficient in bottom or the powers of endurance. These colors are black, which prevails so much with cart-horses, and sorrel, dun, pie- bald, etc.; the possessors of which come from the North, and possess no Eastern blood. Black horses, unless evidently high bred, are very often soft and sluggish, with breeding insuf- ficient for their work; the pedigree of the majority of thei may be dated from the plow-tail, whatever admixtures there may have been since. White hair denotes a thin skin, which Tux Horses. 27 is objectionable when it prevails on the legs of horses, as such Common TeaMs DENOTING THE Parts oF a Hoxsx. animals are more disposed to swelled legs and cracked heels than others, Bay horses with black legs are greatly esteemed, yet we have known many determined slugs of this hue. Their constitution is, however, almost invariably good. Chestnut is the prevailing color with our race-horses, and conse- quently chestnut horses are gener- ally pretty well bred, and possess the good and bad qualities which obtain most among thorough-breds, The Suffolk cart-horse is also dis- tinguished by his light chestnnt col- Sroron of 4 Hozsz’s Foor. 8 Domestic ANIMALS. no or; and it is no small recommendation to find that this breed has, for several years past, carried away the principal prizes at the annual shows of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. Gray is a very good color, and generally denotes a considerable admixture of Eastern blood.” V._STABLES. We condense from Stewart’s admirable “Stable Book” the larger portion of the following useful hints and suggestions in reference to stables and their management. 1. Stables as they Are.—Stable architects have not much to boast of. When left to themselves they seem to think of little beyond shelter and confinement. If the weather be kept out and the horse be kept in, the stable is sufficient. If light and air be demanded, the doorway will admit them, and other apertures are superfluous, The majority of stables have been built with little regard to the comfort and health of the horse. Most of them are too small, too dark, too close, or too open; and some are mere dungeons, destitute of every convenience. 2. Situation of Stables.—When any choice exists, a situation should be chosen which admits of draining, shelter from the coldest winds, and facility of access. Damp places are especially to be avoided. It is in damp stables that we expect to find horses with bad eyes, coughs, greasy heels, swelled legs, mange, and a long, dry, staring coat, which no grooming can cure. Take every precaution, then, against dampness in your stables. 3. Size of Stables—They are seldom too large in proportion to the number of stalls; but are often made to hold too many horses. Horses require pure air as well as human beings; and the process of breathing has the same effect in their case as in ‘ours—changing it to that poisonous substance, carbonic acid gas. With twenty or thirty horses in a single apartment no ordinary ventilation is sufficient to keep the air pure. Large stables, too, are liable to frequent and great alterations of tem- perature. When several horses are out, those which remain Tux Horse. 29 are often rendered uncomfortably cold, and when the stable is full the whole are fevered or excited by excess of heat. Effi- cient ventilation—a very important object—is also much more difficult in a large than in a small stable. In width the stable may vary from sixteen to eighteen feet ; and in length it must have six feet for each stall. Large cart- horses require a little more room both in length and breadth of stable. The number of stalls should not exceed sixteen, and it would be better if there were only eight. Double-rowed stables, or those in which the stalls occupy both sides, require least space, and for horses kept at full work are sufficiently suitable, but for carriage horses single-rowed stables are better. If the double-rowed are used, the gangway should be wide, to prevent the horses from kicking at each other, as they are apt to do, when they grow playful from half idleness. 4. Windows,—Windows are too much neglected in stables, and where they exist at all are generally too few, too small, and ill placed. Some think horses do not require light—that they thrive best in the dark; but many a horse has become blind for the want of light in his stable. When side windows can not be introduced, a portion of the hay loft must be sacrificed and light introduced from the roof. Side windows should be so arranged that the light will not fall directly upon the eyes of the horse. Ns 5. Floors.—Stable floors may be of stone, brick, plank, or earth. One of the best kinds of stable floor, where the soil is dry, is made of a composition of lime, ashes, and clay, mixed up in equal parts into a mortar and spread from twelve to fif- teen inches deep over the surface of the ground forming the bottom of the stable, It will dry in ten days and makes a very smooth, fine flooring, particularly safe, easy, and agreeable for horses to stand upon, and free from all the objections to stone, brick, and wood.* * A,B. Allen. 30 Domestic ANIMALS. 6. Draining.—A gutter or other contrivance fer carrying off the urine should always be made in a stable, otherwise it will be foul and damp. It should be conveyed into a tank and care- fully saved as manure. 4. Racks and Mangers.—These should be so placed that the horse can eat from them with ease. The face of the rack next the horse should be perpendicular, or as nearly so as possible, Sometimes the face is so sloping and the rack so high that the horse has to turn his head almost upside down to get at his food. The mangers or troughs from which the horse eats his grain are now sometimes made of cast iron, which we deem a great improvement over wood. The manger should be concave and not flat at the bottom. Mangers are generally placed too low. The bottom should be from three feet and a half to four feet from the ground, according to the height of the horse. 8. Ventilation of Stables—Impure air, as we have already remarked, is hurtfulto the horse as well as to the human being inducing disease and shortening life. To avoid it in our own case, we (sometimes!) ventilate our houses. If we would have our horses healthy we must do the same for the stable. Aper- tures, one fur each stall, should be provided for carrying off the impure air. These should be so near the top of the building as practicable. It should be eight or ten inches square. Smaller apertures near the floor or not far from the horse’s nostrils will serve to admit fresh air.* 9. Warmth, etc.—If you wish to have your horses thrive and continue healthy, you can not pay too much attention to their comfort. Their stables should be warm in winter and cool in summer. To secure these conditions, they should be properly constructed. [For plans, see ‘‘The House.”] To keep stables sufficiently warm, no artificial means are required. It is enough that the outside air, except so much as is required for ventilation, be excluded during the coldest weather. Warm blankets should of course be used at the same time. ® See Chap‘er on Barns and Stables, in “ The House ” Tur Horsz. 81 VI—FEEDING. 1. The Best Food for Horses.—Considerable care and system are necessary in feeding horses, so as to keep them in the best health and the highest working order. “The best food for ordinary working-horses in America,” A. B. Allen says, “‘is as much good hay or grass as they will eat, corn-stalks or blades, or for the want of these, straw, and a mixture of from sixteen to twenty-four quarts per day, of about half and half of oats and the better quality of wheat bran. When the horse is seven years old past, two to four quarts of corn or hominy or meal ground from the corn and cob is preferable to the pure grain. Two to four quarts of wheat, barley, rye, buckwheat, peas, or beans, either whole or ground, may be substituted for the corn. A pint of oil meal or a gill of flax-seed mixed with the other food is very good for a relish, es- pecially in keeping up a healthy system andthe bowels open, and in giving the hair a fine glossy appearance. Potatoes and other roots, unless cooked, do not seem to be of much benefit in this climate, especially in winter—they lie cold upon the stomach and subject the horse to scouring; besides, they are too watery for a hard-working animal. Corn is fed too much at the South and West. It makes horses fat, but can not give them that hard, muscular flesh which oats do; hence their softness and want of endurance in general work and on the road, in comparison with Northern and Eastern horses, reared and fed on oats and more nutritious grasses.” 2. Work and DigestionSlow work aids digestion, empties the bowels, and sharpens the appetite. Hence it happens that on Sunday night and Monday morning there are more cases of colic and founder than during any other part of the week. Horses that never want-an appetite ought not to have an un- limited allowance of hay on Sunday; they have time to eat a great deal more than they need, and the torpid state of the stomach and bowels, produced by a day of idleness, renders an additional quantity very dangerous. Farm and cart horses are fed immediately before commencing their labor, and the 82 Domestic ANIMALS. appetite with which they return shows that the stomach is not full. During fast work digestion is suspended. In the general commotion excited by violent exertion, the stomach can hardly be in a favorable condition for performing its duty. The blood circulates too rapidly to permit the formation of gastric juice or its combination with the food; and the blood and the nerv- ous influence are so exclusively concentrated and expended upon the muscular system, that none can be spared for carry- ing on the digestive process. 8. Bulk Essential Condensed food is necessary for fast- working horses. Their food must be in less compass than that of the farm or cart horse. But to this condensation there are some limits, Grain affords all, and more than all, the nutri- ment a horse is capable of consuming, even under the most extraordinary exertion. His stomach and bowels can hold more than they are able to digest. Something more than nu- triment is wanted. The bowels must suffer a moderate degree of distension; more than a wholesome allowance of grain can produce. When hay is very dear and grain cheap, it is customary in many stables to give less than the usual allowance of hay, and more grain. The alteration is sometimes carried too far, and is often made too suddenly. The horses may have as much grain as they will eat, yet it does not suffice without fodder. Having no hay, they will leave the grain to eat the litter. When the ordinary fodder, then, is very dear, its place must be supplied by some other which will produce a wholesome distension, though it may not yield so much nutriment. Straw or roots, either or both, may be used in such cases. The ex- cessively tucked-up flank, and the horse’s repeated efforts to eat his litter, show when his food is not of sufficient bulk, and this indication must not be disregarded. 4, Quantity of Mood.—The quantity of food may be insuffi- cient, or it may be in excess, The consumption is influenced by the work, the weather, the horse’s condition, age, temper, Tur Horsz. 33 form, and health; these circumstances, especially the work, must regulate the allowance. When the horse has to work as much and as often as he is able, his allowance of food should be unlimited. When the work is such as to destroy the legs more than it exhausts the system, the food must be given with some restric- tion, unless the horse be a poor eater. When the work is moderate, or less than moderate, a good feeder will eat too much. When the weather is cold, horses that are much exposed to it require more food than when the weather is warm. When the horse is in good working condition, he needs less food than while he is only getting into condition. Young growing horses require a little more food than those of mature age; but, as they are not fit for full work, the dif- ference is not great. Old horses, those that have begun to decline in vigor, require more food than the young or the matured. Hot-tempered, irritable horses seldom feed well; but those that have good appetites require more food to keep them in condition, than others of quiet and calm disposition. Small-bellied, narrow-chested horses require more food than those of deep and round carcass; but few of them eat enough to maintain them in condition for full work. Lame, greasy-heeled, and harness-galled horses require an extra allowance of food to keep them in working condition. Sickness, fevers, inflammations, all diseases which influence health so much as to throw the horse off work, demand, with few exceptions, a spare diet, which, in general, consists of bran-mashes, grass, carrots, and hay.* 5. Watering—tThis is a part of stable management little regarded by the farmer. He lets his horses loose morning and night, and they go to the nearest pond or brook and drink their fill, and no harm results, for they obtain that kind of water * Stewart's Stable Book. Q* 34 Domestic ANIMALS. which nature designed them to have, in a manner prepared for them by some unknown influence of the atmosphere, as well as by the deposition of many saline admixtures. The difference between hard and soft water is known to every one. There is nothing in which the different effect of hard and soft water is so evident as in the stomach and di- gestive organs of the horse. Hard water drawn fresh from the well will assuredly make the coat of a horse unaccustomed to it stare, and it will not unfrequently gripe and otherwise injure him. He is injured, however, not so much by the hardness of the well-water as by its coldness—particularly by its coldness in summer, and when it is in many degrees below the tempera- ture of the atmosphere. The water in the brook and the pond being warmed by long exposure to the air, as well as having become soft, the horse drinks freely of it without danger. If the horse were watered three times a day, and especially in summer, he would often be saved from the sad torture of thirst, and from many a disease. Whoever has observed the eagerness with. which the over-worked horse, hot and tired, plunges his muzzle into the pail, and the difficulty of stop- ping him until he has drained the last drop, may form some idea of what he had previously suffered, and will not won- der at the violent spasms, and inflammation, and sudden death that often result. There is a prejudice in the minds of many persons against the horse being fully supplied with water. They think that it injures his wind, and disables him for quick and hard work. If he is galloped, as he too often is, immedi- ately after drinking, his wind may be irreparably injured; but if he were oftener suffered to satiate his thirst at the intervals of rest he would be happier and better. Itis a fact unsuspect- ed by those who have not carefully observed the horse, that if he has frequent access to water he will not drink so much in the course of the day as another will do, who, to cool his parched mouth, swallows as fast as he can and knows not when to stop. On a journey a horse should be liberally supplied with Tur Horst. 85 water. When he js a little cooled, two or three quarts may be given to him, and after that his feed. Before he has finished his corn, two or three quarts more may be offered. He will take no harm if this is repeated three or four times during along and hot day.* VIIL—GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 1. Air.—We have spoken of the necessity of ventilation, Hear what that great authority, Youatt, says: “If the stable is close, the air will not only be hot but foul. The breathing of every animal contaminates it; and when in the course of the night, with every aperture stopped, it passes again and again through the lungs, the blood can not undergo its proper and healthy change; digestion will not be so per- fectly performed, and all the functions of life are injured. Let the owner of a valuable horse think of his passing twenty or twenty-two out of the twenty-four hours in this debilitating atmosphere! Nature does wonders in enabling every animal to accommodate itself to the situation in which it is placed, and the horse that lives in the stable-oven suffers less from it than would scarcely be conceived possible: but he does not, and can not, possess the power and the hardihood which he would acquire under other circumstances. “The air of the improperly close and heated stable is still further contaminated by the urine and dung, which rapidly ferment there, and give out stimulating and unwholesome vapors. When a person first enters an ill-managed stable, and especially early in the morning, he is annoyed not only by the heat of the confined air, but by a pungent smell, resembling hartshorn; and can he be surprised at the inflammation of the eyes, and the chronic cough, and the rlisease of the lungs, by which the animal, who has been all night shut up in this vitiad ted atmosphere, is often attacked; or if glanders and farcy should occasionally break out in such stables? It has been ascertained by chemical experiment that the urine of the horse * Youatt. 36 Domestic ANIMALS. contains in it an exceedingly large quantity of hartshorn; and not only so, but that, influenced by the heat of a crowded stable, and possibly by other decompositions that are going for- wird at the same time, this ammoniacal vapor begins to be rapidly given out almost immediately after the urine is voided.” 2. Litter—tThe facts just stated in reference to the plenti- ful escape of ammoniacal gas from the urine, show the necessity of frequently removing the litter which is soon saturated with it. It rapidly putrefies, emitting noisome odors and contami- nating the air. Everything hastening decomposition should be carefully removed where life and health are to be preserved. Litter that has been much wetted and has begun to decay should be swept out every morning. No heap of fermenting dung should be suffered to remain during the day in the corner or any part of the stable. 8. Grooming.—Of this little need be said to the farmer in reference to his working horses, since custom, and apparently without ill effect, has allotted to them so little of the comb and brush. “The animal that is worked all day and turned out at night,” Youatt says, “requires little more to be done to him than to have the dirt brushed off his limbs. Regular grooming, by rendering his skin more sensible to the alteration of temperature and the inclemency of the weather, would be prejudicial. The horse that is altogether turned out, needs no grooming. The dandruff or scurf, which accumulates at the roots of the hair, is a provision of nature to defend him from the wind and the cold. “Té is to the stabled horse, highly fed and little or irreg- ularly worked, that grooming is of so much consequence, Good rubbing with the brush or the curry-comb opens the pores of the skin, circulates the blood to the extremities of the body, produces free and healthy perspiration, and stands in the reom of exercise. No horse will carry a fine coat without either unnatural heat or dressing. They both effect the same purpose; they both increase the inscnsible perspiration; but the first does it at the expense of health and strength, while Tur Horse. 37 the second, at the same time that it produces a glow on the skin and a determination of blood to it, rouses all the energies of the frame. It would be well for the proprietor of the horse if he were to insist—and to see that his orders are really obeyed —that the fine coat in which he and his groom so much delight is produced by honest rubbing, and not by a heated stable and thick clothing, and, most of all, not by stimulating or injurious spices. The horse should be regularly dressed every day, in addition to the grooming that is necessary after work. “When the weather will permit the horse to be taken out, he should never be groomed in the stable, unless he is an animal of peculiar value, or placed for a time under peculiar circumstances. Without dwelling on the want of cleanliness, when the scurf and dust that are brushed from the horse lodge in his manger and mingle with his food, experience teaches, that if the cold is not too great, the animal is braced and invig- orated to a degree that can not be attained in the stable, from being dressed in the open air. There is no necessity, however, for half the punishment which many a groom inflicts upon the horse in the act of dressing; and particularly on one whose skin is thin and sensible. The curry-comb should at all times be lightly applied. With many horses, its use may be almost dispensed with; and even the brush needs not to be so hard, nor the points of the bristles so irregular, as they often are. A soft brush, with a little more weight of the hand, will be equally effectual and a great deal more pleasant to the horse, A hair-cloth, while it will seldom irritate and tease, will be almost sufficient with horses that have a thin skin, and that have not been neglected. After all, it is no slight task to dress a horse as it ought to be done. It occupies no little time, and demands considerable patience as well as dexterity. It will be readily ascertained whether a horse has been well dressed, by rubbing him with one of the fingers. A greasy stain will detect the idleness of the groom. When, however, the horse is chang- ing his coat, both the curry-comb and the brush should be used as lightly as possible. 38 Domestic ANIMALS. “Whoever would be convinced of the benefit of friction to the horse’s skin and to the horse generally, needs only to ob- serve the effects produced by well hand-rubbing the legs of a tired horse. While every enlargement subsides, and the pain- ful stiffness disappears, and the legs attain their natural warmth and become fine, the animal is evidently and rapidly reviving; he attacks his food with appetite, and then quietly lies down to rest.” 4, Hzxercise.—Of this the farm horse generally has enough. His work is tolerably regular, not exhausting, and he generally maintains his health and has his life prolonged to an extent rare among horses of “leisure.” But a gentleman’s or a trades- man’s horse suffers a great deal more from idleness than he does from work. A stable-fed horse should have two hours’ exercise every day, if he is to be kept free from disease. Noth- ing of extraordinary, or even of ordinary, labor can be effected on the road or in the field without sufficient and regular exercise, It is this alone which can give energy to the system or devel- ope the powers of any animal. The animal that, with the usual stable feeding, stands idle for three or four days, as is the case in many establishments, must suffer. He is predisposed to fever, or to grease, or, most of all, to diseases of the foot; and if, after three or four days of inactivity he is ridden far and fast he is almost sure to have inflammation of the lungs or of the feet. VIII —VICES AND BAD HABITS. The vices and bad habits of the horse, like those of his mas- ter, are oftener than otherwise the consequence of a faulty ed- ucation. We are convinced that innately vicious horses are comparatively few. Wecondense from Youatt the following hints on this subject. 1. Restivencss.—At the head of all the vices of the horse is restiveness, the most annoying and the most dangerous of all, It is the produce of bad temper and worse education; and, like all other habits founded on nature and stamped by edn- cation, it is inveterate. 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