the remaining and finer portions of dust from the hair, and it is cleared from the brush by a few rasps along the curry-comb. The wisping and brushing, if done with some force and dexterity, with a combing of the tail and mane with the comb d,

Fig. 109.

THE CURRY-COMB, BRUSH, FOOT-PICKER, AND MANE-COMB.

no

should render the horse pretty clean; but there are more ways than one of grooming a horse, as may be witnessed by the skimming and careless way in which some ploughmen do it. It is true that the rough coat of a farm-horse in winter is not easily cleaned, and especially in a workFig. 110. stable where much dust floats about and horse-clothes are in use; but, rough as it is, it should be clean if not sleek; and it is the duty of the steward to ascertain whether the grooming has been efficiently done. A slap of the hand upon the horse will soon let you know the existence of the loose dust in the hair. Attendance at this time will give you an insight into the manner in which farmhorses ought to be cleaned and generally treated in the stable.

THE COMMON STRAW FORK.

1420. The straw of the bedding is

then shaken up with a fork, such as in fig. 110. This figure has rather longer

Fig. 111.

prongs, and too sharp for a stable fork, which is most handy for shaking up straw when about 5 feet in length, and least dangerous of injuring the legs of the horses by puncture when in a blunted state. The united prongs terminate at their upper end in a sort of spike or tine, as seen in fig. 111, which is a steel pronged fork of the form used in Lincolnshire, and is an excellent instrument for working amongst straw, driven THE LINCOLNSHIRE into a hooped ash shaft. This mode of mounting

STEEL STRAW FORK.

a fork is much better than with socket and nail, which are apt to become loose and catch the straw.

1421. The horses then get their feed of oats, after which the lights are removed and the stable doors barred and locked by the steward, who is custodier of the key. In some stables a bed is provided for a lad, that he may be present to relieve any accident or illness that may befall any of the horses; but, where the stalls are properly constructed, there is little chance of any horse strangling himself with the collar, or of any becoming sick where a proper ventilation is established.

1422. In winter it is customary to give farm-horses a mash, once at least, and sometimes thrice a-week. The mash consists of steamed potatoes or boiled turnips, boiled barley, oats or beans, mixed sometimes with bran, and seasoned with salt. The articles are prepared in the stable boiler-house, Plate II., in the afternoon, by the cattle-man, a field-worker, or other person appointed to do it, and put into tubs, in which it is carried to the stable by the men, and dealt out with a shovel, for supper at night, in the troughs used to carry the corn to the horses. It is warm enough when the hand can bear the heat. The quantity of corn put into the boiler is as much as when given raw, and in its preparation swells out to a con

siderable bulk. The horses are exceedingly fond of mash, and, when the night arrives for its distribution, show unequivocal symptoms of impatience to receive it.

1423. The quantity of raw oats given to farm-horses, when on full feed, is 3 lippies a-day, by measure, and not by weight; but taking horse-corn at almost the greatest weight of 40 lb. per bushel, each feed will weigh 24 lbs., the daily allowance amounting to 114 lbs.; but the lippy measure, when horse-corn is dealt out, is most frequently not striked, but heaped, or at least handwaved, so that the full allowance will weigh even more than this. As horses work only 7 or 8 hours a-day in winter, their feeding is lessened to perhaps 2 full feeds a-day or 74 lbs., divided into three portions-namely, a full feed in the morning, a feed at mid-day, and a feed at night; and on the nights the mash is given, the evening -feed of raw oats is not given. Some small farmers withdraw the corn altogether from their horses in the depth of winter, giving them mashes of some sort instead; whilst others only give them one feed a-day, divided at morning and noon, and a mash at night, or raw turnips or potatoes at night. One of the sorts of mash alluded to consists of barley, or oat or wheat chaff, steeped for some hours in cold water in a large cistern, made for the purpose, and a little light barley or oats sometimes put in, to give the appearance of corn. But a greater deception than such a mess, in lieu of corn, cannot be practised upon poor horses,-for what support can be derived from chaff steeped in cold water? As well might the mess be mixed up at once in the manger. No doubt horses eat it, but only from hunger; and when obliged to live upon it, exhibit thin ribs, pot bellies, and long hair-characteristics which bespeak poverty of condition. A neighbour farmer. to myself, faithfully as the winter came round, fed his horses, as he phrased it, upon this steep, and the consequence was, that they went like snails at their work; and when returning home from delivering a load of corn at the market-town, with even the support of a half-feed of corn, one leg was like to knock over another. A farmsteward recommended this steep to me, as effecting a great saving in corn, and showed me a fine set of cisterns, made of pavement,

which he had advised his master, a landed proprietor, to erect for the purpose of making it. Instead of eulogising his fine cisterns, I proposed to do any number of days' work of any sort he pleased with my horses against his, on their respective modes of feeding, and it would then be seen which was best able to support the horses in working condition. He declined the trial, as he had frequent opportunities of seeing my horses pass his way with single carts, stepping out at 4 miles an hour, with a load out and home. No doubt the steep is economical, in as far as saving in corn is concerned; but the saving is effected in substituting bad food for good, and at the expense of the horses' condition. One season, as a mash, I tried steamed potatoes, with salt alone, of which the horses were excessively fond, and received three times a-week, and on which they became sleek in the skin, and fat, notwithstanding much heavy work; but in spring, when the long days' field-work was resumed, they were all affected by shortness of wind. Should cooked potatoes necessarily have this effect upon horses? I may mention that oats and barley, and every other species of grain, when desired to be cooked, must at least be macerated, and to do this effectually warm water must be used, so that cold water cannot effectually draw out the nourishing portion of grain.

1424. The price of a curry-comb ranges from 8d. to 1s. 6d. a-piece: brush, 3s. 6d. : mane-comb, 6d. : foot-picker, 1s., and one to fold for the pocket, 1s. 6d. Shears to trim the mane and tail, 5d. to 1s. 4d. Plain nose-bags, 1s. 6d., with leather bottoms, 7s. each.

1425. I have often thought that the usually careless manner of placing the lights in the stable in the evening is highly dangerous to the safety of the building; and yet, in the most crowded and dirty stables, no accidents of fire almost ever happen. Sometimes the candle is stuck against a wall by a bit of its own melted grease; at other times, it hangs by a string from the roof in an open lantern, set apparently on purpose to catch straws. A good stable lantern is still a desideratum; and it should hold a candle, and not an oil-lamp, as being the most cleanly mode of carrying about light; and if the candle

could be made to require no snuffing, it would be perfect. A tin-lantern, with a horn glass, is what is commonly in use to carry the candle in the air; but when it becomes blackened with smoke in the inside, it is of little use to give light outside. The globe lantern of glass, made very strong for use on board of ship, has an oil lamp in it, and is, perhaps, the best yet contrived. It has one invaluable property, that of perfect safety. It is fig. 89.

1426. From the stable the steward takes the lantern, and, accompanied by a few of the men, or by all-and of necessity by the cattle-man-inspects all the courts and hammels to see if the cattle are well; and if it be moonlight, and any of the cattle on foot, apparently desirous of more food, gives them a few turnips. The byres in which cattle are feeding are also visited, and the fresh windlings of straw, laid up in reserve by the cattle-man, are now given them, any dung in the stalls drawn into the gutter, and the bedding shaken up with a fork. The cows, both the farmer's and servants', are visited and treated in like manner. The bulls, heifers in calf, and young horses, all are visited at this time, to satisfy the mind, before retiring to rest, that every creature is well and in safety.

1427. This is the usual routine of the treatment of farm - horses in winter, and, when followed with a discernment of the state of the weather, is capable of keeping them in health and condition. The horses are themselves the better of being out every day; but the kind of work they should do daily must be determined by the state of the weather and the soil. In wet, frosty, or snowy weather, the soil cannot be touched; and the thrashing and carrying of corn to market are then conducted to advantage. In frost, the dung from the courts may be taken out to the fields in which it is proposed to make dunghills. When heavy snow falls, nothing can be done out of doors with horses, except thrashing corn, when the machine is impelled by horse-power. In very heavy rain the horses should not be exposed to it, as every thing about them, as well as the men, become soaked; and before they become again in a comfortable state, the germs of future disease may be engendered.

When it is fair above, however cold the air or wet the soil, one of the out-door works mentioned above should be done by the horses; and it is better for them to work only one yoking a-day than to stand idle in the stable. Work-horses soon show symptoms of impatience when confined in the stable even for a day-on Sundays, for example; and when the confinement is much prolonged, they even become troublesome. When such occasions happen, as in continued snow-storms, the horses should be ridden out for some time every day, and groomed as carefully as when at work. Exercise is necessary to prevent thickening of the heels, a shot of grease, or a common cold. Fat horses, when unaccustomed to exercise, are liable to molten grease. Such weather affords a favourable opportunity for cleaning harness, the bushes of cart-wheels, the implement-house, or any neglected place in the steading.

1428. It is advisable for a farmer to breed his own horses; and, on a farm which employs 6 pairs, two mares might easily bear foals every year, and perform their share of the work at the same time. without injury to themselves. The advantage of breeding working stock at home is. that, having been born and brought up upon the ground, they not only become naturalised to the products of its particular soil. and thrive the better upon them, but also become familiarised with every person and field upon it, and are broke into work without trouble or risk. The two mares should work together, and be driven by a steady ploughman; and their work should be confined to ploughing in winter and spring, when they are big with young, for the shaking in the shafts of a cart, or going round in the horse-course, is nothing in their favour. Their driver should plough with them, when ever that operation can be performed; and when it cannot, he should assist the other men at their carts with manual labour.

1429. There is a good arrangement as regards the horses adopted by some farmers, as well as being adapted to married ploughmen of different strengths and ages, which is, the keeping a pair or two of the horses always at home, ploughing and doing other works at home, and never bearing cart-loads upon the high-way. Old horses, mares in foal,

and ploughmen advancing in life, are kept at home; and the others, consisting of the youngest of the horses, and the most active of the men, are appointed to drive all the loads to and from the farm. This subdivision of labour has the advantage of causing the sorts of work best adapted for the capacities of the men to be executed most perfectly.

1430. Supposing, then, that one or two mares bear a foal every year, these, with the year-olds and two-year-olds, should be accommodated in the hammels N, Plates I. and II., according to age-where there are more than one of the same age, the older being apt to knock the younger about; but where one only of every age is brought up, they may be placed together for the sake of companionship, and horses, being social animals, learn to accommodate themselves to one another's tempers. Where blood foals are bred as well as draught, they should have separate hammels, the latter being rough and overbearing, though the bloods generally contrive in the end to obtain the mastery. Young horses never receive any grooming, and are even seldom handled; but they should be accustomed to be led in the halter from the period they leave their mothers.

1431. The food usually given to young horses in winter is oat-straw for fodder, and a few oats; and where they are wintered among the young cattle in a large court, they have only the chance of picking up a little corn from the corn-barn, or the refuse of hay from the litter of the work-horse stable in spring-when they seldom get corn. The fact is, young horses are unjustly dealt with; they are too much stinted of nourishing food, and the consequences are smallness of bone, which deprives them of the requisite strength for their work, and dulness of spirits which renders their work a burden to them. I speak of what I have seen of the way in which a large proportion of the farm-horses of this country are brought up when young. Their treatment seems to be derived from the opinion that little nourishing meat should be given to young horses. Instead of this, they should receive a stated allowance of corn, and if bruised, so much the better, according to their ages; and when a mash is given to the work-horses, the

young ones should always have a share. For the purpose of receiving corn and mash, mangers should be put up in the inside of each hammel, apart from each other. Attempts at domineering will be made by the artful over the simple colt or filly; but proper correction administered at times, and justice done to all on every occasion, will put an end to overbearing conduct. The steward cannot be better employed than in giving corn to the young horses; and the cattle-man should attend to their fodder and litter: and were the mash for the horses prepared before daylight departs, the messes could be given to the young horses immediately after the men leave the stable in the twilight. Should a mash be deemed too expensive for young horses, they should get Swedish turnips or carrots. every day-moist food being as requisite for them as dry fodder and corn.

1432. The names commonly given to the different states of the horse are these:— The new-born one is called a foal, the male being a colt foal, and the female a filly foal. After being weaned, the foals are called simply colt or filly, according to the sex, which the colt retains until broken in for work, when he is a horse or gelding, which he retains all his life; and the filly is then changed into mare. When the colt is not castrated he is an entire colt; which name he retains until he serves mares, when he is a stallion or entire horse; when castrated he is a gelding; and it is in this state that he is chiefly worked. A mare, when served, is said to be covered by or stinted to a particular stallion; and after she has borne a foal she is a brood mare, until she ceases to bear, when she is a barren mare or eill mare; and when dry of milk, she is yeld. A mare, while big with young, is in foal. Old stallions are never castrated.

1433. There are various ways of employing ploughmen in winter, when the horses happen to be laid idle from the state of the weather. Some farmers always employ them to dress the corn for the market, with a view to economy. Ploughmen may certainly be employed in thrashing corn with the mill, when not engaged with their horses; but to lay horses idle for the sake of employing their drivers at barn-work, is poor economy. Men gene

rally cannot riddle corn well, and in every other respect are too rough in their mode of work for the nicer work of the barn. In deep snow, when all the roads of the farm are blown up, the men may be usefully employed in cutting open roads to the most frequented place for the time, such as to the field of turnips, to the one where the sheep are feeding on turnips, to that in which it is proposed to make a dunghill. Their services of this sort may even be required on the public highway, to the extent it passes through the farm, when it is determined to cut open the road for the public convenience. In the severe snowstorm of 1823 this had to be done oftener than once; and unless the farm-servants had rendered assistance upon that occasion, the opening of the roads would have cost more money, and taken a longer time to be opened, than they did. In that state of the weather, the men are usefully employed in assisting the shepherd to open channels in the snow, among the stripped turnips, to allow the sheep to get at them, and in carrying hay to the ewes. In heavy falls of rain, and sudden breaking up of snowstorms, rivulets and ditches often become more full of water than they can conveniently contain, and are therefore apt to overflow the arable ground on each side, to the injury of new wheat, or souring of the ploughed land, as the case may be. It is the duty of the hedger to attend to the state of the ditches, and see that no injury arises from the water, in its course through the farm; but the exertions of one man, in such an emergency, are quite inadequate to stem the torrent of water. The men, therefore, all turn out, with suitable implements, and assist in removing the obstructions the water may have raised against its own course, and cut gaws, where necessary, for leading off the water from the ploughed soil. Small rivers, on the sudden breaking up of a season of frost, bring down shoals of ice, which, on accumulating at the sharp turns of the river, form dammings there, obstructing the pas

sage of the water, which, only finding a vent over the banks or embankment, destroys the soil on either side. Where such an incident is likely to happen, the men should be prepared with proper instruments, as poles, long forks, sledge-hammers, and mallets, to

break and guide the shoals, and prevent their accumulation at any place. A timely preparation of this kind may be the means of averting much damage. Such occupations as I have mentioned, are quite befitting stout men; and if the steward be on the outlook for every casualty which may reasonably happen, and take the lead to avert them, he will feel the satisfaction of having been the means, by the exercise of forethought and judgment, of saving much valuable property to his master.

1434. The horse thrives well on cooked food. He has a single or simple stomach, which must be filled at once with well masticated food, before the gastric juice can act upon it in a proper manner; and should any food which enters it in an insufficiently masticated state, escape beyond the influence of the juice into the bowels, it may analogous disease of horen in cattle, namely, decompose there, generate gas, and produce the flatulent colic or batts. To render food in such a

state at first as shall save the horse the trouble

of mastication, is therefore to do him a good service; and hence cooked food is in a proper state for feeding a horse, and has been proved to be economical. Still, the cooking will be carried to an injurious degree, if it shall, by dint of ease of deglutition, prevent the flow of a sufficient quantity of saliva into the stomach, which is necessary to complete digestion,-" the quantity of which," says Professor Dick, "is almost incredible to those who have not had an opportunity of ascertaining it, but which the following fact will testify. A black horse had received a wound in the parotid duct, which became fistuof eating hay, I had the curiosity to collect in a lous. When his jaws were in motion, in the act glass measure the quantity which flowed during 1 minute, by a stop-watch; and it amounted to nearly 2 drachms more than 2 oz. in that time.

Now, if we calculate that the parotid gland on the opposite cheek poured into the mouth the same quantity in the same time, and allow that the sub-lingual and sub-maxillary glands on each side combined, pour into the mouth a quantity equal to the two parotids, we then have no less than 8 oz. of saliva passing into the mouth of a horse in 1 minute, for the purpose of softening the food and preparing it for digestion."* it is impossible for any horse to swallow food, in

Yet

the most favourable state it can be made for

swallowing, without moving his jaws to a certain saliva entering his stomach. degree, and this insures a certain quantity of

1435. But more than this, cooked food may be presented in too nutritious a state for the stomach; and there may be, on the other hand, too little nutriment in the food given: For "the digestive organs of the horse, like those of the ox," says Professor Dick, are very capacious,