BREEDING HORSES AND MULES.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1695, 17 May 1883, Page 4

BREEDING HORSES AND MULES.

{Contiit'tttl.) Hoksks should be waieicd, if convenient, during the afternoon, ami ccitainly at noon, 'and' v(\\on they return at night should be cleaned, watoicd, and have tlioir oats and h.iy without fail. Two 01 three pecks of clean carrots, turnips, beets, or potatoes, a few at a time, will be. grateful to them, and invaluable in regulating the bowels and cooling the blood. A mash of stowed bian and oatb once a-week is not too much to ask foi such a faithful slave, and will lend to his health ami usefulness. (To make bran mash in the beat style, put the dry hi .in into a bucket, see that the bucket be fice from <lirt and giease, take a kettle of boiling watet ovei, stu the bi an, see it be all wet, then cover with a clean bag, let it remain until snfHciently cool, ini\ the oats with the bran in the mangel. If you perceive the noioo doe> not stale, freely give with the niish a little nitie. — A.C.) If he is to be put to >-c\eie w 01 k, Ihe amount of gt am must l>e lneieiscd, and of hay deminished. The condition in •which the hay and grain is gneins another important consideration. The natural food of the hoi&e is soft and juicy; hay, oats, and corn are haul, harsh and dry. Onc-thild loss fodder is necessary where it is moistened and softened. All hay for the horse ought to be chopped and moistened an hour befoie feeding. Oats should be ground and nnx-ed with the hay in the form of provender. Corn should never be given whole, unless steamed or soaked, and the same with oats. We repeat that this is economy, as two- thirds of the amount will give the horse as much 01 nioie sustenance than before, and the teeth and digestive organs will last much longer. The best of the grasses for the hoi so is timothy, then heids glass and clover. The only gi.un suitable is the oat. (Join should alwa\s be used spaiingly, as also lye, bailey, wheat and bran. (One thud com, twothirds oats, I eonsidei good feed for farm or diay hoises.— A (J ) If any of tlic^e aie used, it should be mound with oats or chopped ficd. Sonic attention should be paid to th" taste of the hoi so. It aftci a long f oding with one continual round of the siino tood, he loses his appetite ; make a change. Do not allow your hois" to inn down dining tlie cold weather, it is then that he needs the best of food and <meltei. If iie woiks haul for you through the spun", summer, and fall, you owe him a good wintci . keep, and you lessen his \lgoul and shoiten his term of usefulness, it \.ou deny it to him. The natural age of the hoise is foity years, and at twenty a hoise should be in his ptiine. Stead} and se\eie l.iboui need not wear out the hoise bcfoic Ins time, if he lie propeily cued for from the hour of his conception, through all the stages of his existence. This sounds strange, because the .carelessness and cruelty, the meanness and ignorance of man, has shoitened by mote than onehalf the natural term of his existence The hoise delights to be the faithful seivnnt, slave ami fneiiil of man 110 will tax his htiength and poweisof enduiancc to the utmost at tin bidding of hismastoi. Such faithfuhu ss should be returned by kiuhus-, and attention Haish woids, kick-, and bious foi e\ci\ supposed C'iK'iiee of the unicasoiiing eieatiiic, an 1 nui!vio[ a most tonti mptihlc chaiactci. In addition to stabling and feeding', glooming the hot^o is of moic importance than is usually allowed among farmei ({morning is.i haul, tedi ous, disagiei able business, and is, then fore, \eiy inucii nogliel'-d Daily giooming is absolutely < ss< nlial to the health of the hois( in his impugned stite. The dust ot the stable and the mini of the sheet will soon stop pp the poies of the skin without L'i"O mug Km 1 (it in cold ami .stoimv ueitl.ei, tin 1 hoi-e should be gloomed out o! do us Iklni-oii hi> feeds in the 11101 niir^ (him air m". ualadAanlagi s gained b\ gioomingoutside the fiist is, if othoi hoist ■, ,uc in the slible, the d.inrliull floats in the .111 onto the othei how-i, and th gioom Kimci a gw.it quantity 1:1 the m.mth and nose. A good thick mon-l ithe is \l l \ iiicful in glooming opeiation — AC) Every portion of the bilv should hn combed and biuslnd, and in w .11 111 wiathei .sponged And hie we pioh .t against tlic unisei.sd v c of the cuny eoirb, S )ine hoi-,,-, do not mind it, and like it, but to soni'j hoise-, with tender skins it is an instrument of toitiii< , mil instead of being glad to be gi domed, tin > shiink and shy, anr pcihap, kiA and lute, and aieseveicly punished as \ieious. (For tendei skinned hoises 1 recommend the wire curry comb sold by Mr Wiseman's firm, it laises the dandiull' tioiu the skin without giving any annoyance to the most sensitive hm^c — A.C ) '111 1 y the Baine implement on 30111 own .skin, and nee how you like it. When a hoise is thus sensitive to the eiii,y comb, it should be used t.> com!) (lie mane and tail, and sciatdi the leg-, and .1 hair cloth and brush u->ed ioi gi ooming (1 tlemurr agiinst u-ing a emiy comb on any iioise's l«'g->, they should be denied with the d.indiull buisii, 01 a good whi^p of str.lw or Iny.— A.C.) *s.ijs Heibeit, "In oidinaiy ekamng m the morning fchc head shoald be 1 in->t dusked. The hair should be lifted and disaiianged lightly, not stietelicd or torn with the cuuy comb, and then mblied well In all diiectious, both against and across the giaiu of the hair, as well as with it, until it is cntnely fiee fioni da'idiulK The i3ais should bo gently -jliiped and pulled with the hand fi 0111 th" loots to the points, and the whole he. id should then be ■washed smoothly andiviiily as the hair ought to lie ihe ncek, back, shoukleis, loins, cioup, and (jiait'-ih follov\, the same plan being u-ed except that in die=^ing these pu t-,. w lule the c o.llb is used lightly and do\ten>iislv v\ith one hand, thebiu^h is employed in lemov ing th' 1 scuif with the othei. The II • .iih iot the blvin at the lnseition ot the limbo aie paits that wqiihe '-pcei.d (aie, as the dust is most apt to colki I m these ])lacts. " This done the hoi -c must In; thoi ou^hly wisped all over AMt'i batches of diy straw till his coat is quite clean and glossy, u'hen it miidit be gone over ioi the Li^t time with a li.ie, sott biu^h or a light dustei " When he \-- bionght 111 fiom his daily toil and stabled foi the night the pi oeess -should lie cauiully lepeatcd ; all mud, •■and, an<l dnt must be removed fioin the h g-- and bi'll\, and the legs rubbed by hand until they aie waim. The hoise should have a good bed of clean, litter stiaw, 01 suwdirt not deep, but with room foi him to lie in any position that suits him. Mn-,t hoiscs should be blanketed in cold wi.ithci, but to some hoises a blanket is an annoyance, and prevents lest. As ust is what the house needs after his daj s hibuui, he should be accommodated by allowing him to go without his blanket. The puietie* 1 of singeing and clipping hois<.s m the hill in aboininable and dang'Mous. Just as his master is about to put on his llannels and great coat his horse is depiived of his ■warm hair that has been glowing tor his protection against th'. 1 winter chills, and disease is almost .sun ly the consequence. This practice of clipping the fetlocks is undoubtedly bad, as the lied of the hoise is tender, and when exposed is subject to many diseases. Xatuie has piovidcd the fetlock as a protection, and such let it remain. Nevci in glooming dash cold water upon the legs of the hoi&e Use water with a sponuc, 01 a' tor washing with soap and waim water cold ■water may be turned on the back f 10111 a watering pot to rince off the suds and shut the poieS?. This should never be done in the stable where the hoise has to sleep unless there bo a chance to air it and diy it before night.

HOW TO BUY AND srXL A ITOU^i:. It is useless to tiy to buy a very good horse at a low pi ice. People do not exchange gold dollais for dimes. A perfect horse, thanks to bad breeding, B,ul training, and bad caie is a laic thing, and is not parted with for a fail equivalent. If the horse is well and sound, and is offered low, be sure he his been spoiled in training, and will foil you when you need him most. Men will prevaricate and

deceive in regard to a lioimc who would not in other tilings, for such is the common custom —so the b.iyer must always judge for himself. The eye should he examined from the front, with liih head a little shaded. (If in the stable, lake him from the stall towards the t'oor, allowing his head to project n little outside, the purchaser should be outh'do, then he will clearly rind out any defect that may be ill the eyes. — A.C.) If there are any white filmy spots or streaks on the eje, it denotes inflamation, which is likely to return, and detiacfc f loin the value of the animal. Next to the eyes, or rather befoie them, in import nice, is the condition of the lungs. Owing to our miserable stables, a laige piopoition of our hoises aio more or less diseased iii the 1 tines Bioken wind will be detected by galloping a horse up a lull , i bundled yards, and jumping off, apply the far to the chest, and a double (■Npiiat'on will be he.nd. Thick wind ion in<.' and whistling arc only the eailiest bt.iges of bio Ken wind, and dan In detected by the abose process. Anothu method of detecting these defects is to giasp the throat from the fiont. and compress until he is forced to cough. A sound hoi'tio Mill cough once, and lecover bis Mind with a clear, ■»onoious rattling inhalation and exhalation. The diseased horse will utter a broken, rattling cough, and recover his breath with a long, wheezing, 1 iborious rattle. Defects in the legs and feet cannot always be disco\ered, but there are cci tain marks that surely indicate them. White spots on the knees show that the horse lias bioken hjs knees at some time or other, and as it is usually by falling, the cbauces aie that a broken-kneed hoise is a stumbler. Says Herbert, "In examining the legs of a horse the purchaser -should first stand with his face to the bioadiido of thehor.se as he stands on Hat gionnd, and obseive whether he ic-ts pel pendiudnr on all his lego, having the natiual piopoition oi his weight on i .ich leg stiaighlly, squarely, and dneetly ; oi w bethel he stands with all hi-3 legs straddled outside of their true plumb ; or with all drawn together under tl'c ceiitio of Ins belly, as if he were ti\ing to stick them all into a hat ; or, lasth, \\h"tlu'i he favours either one or moi c of his legs by pointing it forward, oi pluimj it in any position m Mhich no weight at all, or a \ery small stress of weight is tin own upon it. (To be (OHtunteil.)

It may not v. oik in o\ery case, but it's woi th hying, Fn st make sine that the old l.ul y vho owns the pa.uot dosen't undci-tand Portugese, then go to her and say .' I'm nullity glad jou don't und'ji stand the language that l>nds often sp< .ik-5 Why, he'd shoi k the denizens of the forecastle of a Poiluguesc ship by his nl) ildry. " If she's really a religious woman she'll sell or kill the fowl. —Boston ZW. A^ indignant landloid writes, demanding the name of the party who first suggested putting coilsof rope in sleepinglonuu as a niotcction against file. — Re say j \\o pi o\ i<h'd every huihoom in Ins house with a coil of lope, and the fiist night tin coot lii> guests louoied their baggage fiom tlit' sixth stoiy window and skipped, leaving slum. il days' boaid bill unpaid. 110 allow s that licing bin ned to death is bad cuougn, \>\\i 1 mining a hotel for fun is a good deal , woi ,c. — lluibrster Vost L 1L 1 pi 1 <•■>. Tin m. is no depaitment of natural histoiy 111010 obscure than the length of animal life in a wild state. At one time the o.ily guide upon which reliance was pined was the length ot time lequned to all, mi inatiiiity, \\ hioh is was assumed boic aceil.nn piopottion to the lite of the cicatme. This, however, docs not hold g'f d, even lo thegieitei mammalia ; foi .1 liii ■-(.•, nss>. lining it to be matuie at loin \cii-, will li\c hvcor .six" matin itie&, while man, it assumed to be matin c at t\\L!it\, leldom lAcudsfom or tour and ■1 h ilt J.idyinrr the hippopotamus by tli.s stand ud, its life, in the Zoological (Jciid'ii. at lc.iit, is not so long in piopoitK'ii as that of a man. The lesser innni'ii ilia aic, so far as can be '-ecu, di»-piopoi tionately long lived. Dogs enjoy gieatoi piopoi tional longevity than iiimkind, ai.d tliere is aKo pro\cibiiil authoiity foi a cat's tenacity of its life.— ll»H). Liti'li, do the Ameiieans know what was the cause of their Civil War, and of the a-ia-jsinations of President Lincoln and of pi evident Gat field. Mr Nevvdegite, M P.. however, enlightens them on this subject in a speech to Ins constituents : ' Look, 1 observes this philosophical historian, ' at the condition of the United States. You remember her bloody Civil War ; and, piosperousas the countiy is, .since then two Presidents have been assassinated. Does not thia show that Washington was light when he proposed, immediately after the separation, that, like the mother* country, they should recognize God by some special foi m of religion? Washington way beaten by Jellerpon, who was actuated by Carrol, the. Jesuit, and for liis sueuss'tluit Jesuit was made a Bishop.' The chain is slightly lengthy,and perhaps a little faulty in its links — bit I what of thai ? At the bottom of the Civil War and of the Presidential assassination, we find — can any one doubt it ? — a Jesuit. Had it not been foi the baneful influence which the Jesuit Canol cxeiciscd over the mind of Jefferson, they would have been no -iciF J)a\ is, no Booth, no f4uiteau, no comiption in the Civil Seivice, no lobbying at Washington, and very pos-ibility no per-oin burnt in hotels or killed 111 laihvay accidents." — Truth. Dn Mythic, of Konigsberg, read a paper befor the German Millets' Association rccents on the " Cultivation of wheats 1 ich in gluten and producing a lame yield." The speaker said his attention was fiist ntti acted to the subject 111 187!). His lahouis and experiences weie extended chiefly in two diiections : lo the chemical composition and per centage of gluten and nitiogen in the sample-- examined, and to the means of mci easing the quantity of gluten or niliogcn. In 18S2 he had devoted his attention to the cultivation of the earlier vaneties of wheat as they wcie of most importance in East I'lii&Ma. He did not confine hise.xpeiiments to aseeitaining the amount of gluten, but also found out the amount of nitiogen m each sample. The spring wheats showed a proteino percentage of 10'G per cent to 17 03 per cent, according to their 01 igin, the Russian vaiietics being 1 ichor in gluten (the greatest percentage of pioteine) : then followed the llungaii.in and .South German, while the poorest varieties came from East Piussia and Scandinavia. In 1881 he c.x immed 72 varieties of winter wheat, which showed enormous variations in the peiccntage of piotcmo, fiom 7 "8 per cent, in the lowest, to 21'S per cent, in the highest. Sherifl's sijuaie-head wheat had 18*88 per cent, of pioteine, The English rarities diifciud much, but did not belong to the poorest in gluten, from which the speaker concluded that the locality in which the wheat was grown affected the pet centagc of gluten and proteine. This he had pioved by experiments with the same kind of seed grown in different paits of the eountiy. He looked upon a definite characteristic of the varieties rich in gluten as extremely difficult, almost impossible under these circumstances. The specific weight was not a chaiacteiistic tor the percentage of gluten ; the smaller berries appeared to contain more nitrogenous matter than the large ones. The weight per measure, to which so much importance was attached to commerce, was not reliable either to give the percentage of nitrogen, but smooth, glassy wheats contained, in general, more nitrogenous matter than the floury ones. In his experiments he found that by liberally manuring the ground he could, with spring wheats, increase from 10 per cent, the percentage of proteine up to 18 per cent., the nitrigenous matter increasing in proportion to the amount put into the soil. With winter wheats he found this was not the case. — Adefaitk Qty<niffl\ v