Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1872-01-26
fiel6 ans GaeSen.
Care Of Parn, and Cart IEsrSes.

Equal importance with the feeding
Of horses is the management of them,
when their daily labor is performed
but concerning the best mode Of do
ing this a considerable difference of
opinion prevails. BY some it is re.
marked, that the keeping of horses
in stables, with separate stalls for
each, 70 that they may feed quietly
and be expcditiously harnessed, is. in
every respect, the preferable method.
provided the stable be well ventilated.
By ventilation We do not mean the
admission Of draughts Of air from va
rious quarters, as is too often the
case in carelcssly-constructed farm
stables, but that means shall be Ia.
ken to facilitate the removal Of the
heated and impure air. is by tubes,
tunnels, or perforated ceilings and
where the bay-lOft is over the stable,
every precaution should be taken to
prevent any of the foul air from per-
meating into the loft and saturating
the food with noxious gases. 9th
ers, on tie contrary, asserts that
sheds, open to the front, with racks
and managers fixed below, and having
pump and cistern, as we'll as
small yard in which the horses may
run at pleasure, are superior to the
stable method because, il well-liter-
ed, they will not require any other
dressing than is usually given by
farmers servants. Since, however,
fil:ese animals arc very susceptible
of cold, it is most advisable to keep
them in stables, in exposed and bleak
situations; but in mild and sheltered
places, the shed-system may at times
DC found the most profitable. Where
the practice has been followed, it
has been generally found successful,
and horses thus managed are by
some considered not only to be more
healthy than those kept i'll stables,
but also attain greater age,
in stables every horse should have
a stall to himself. and roomy as pos
sible, not less than six, or from that
to eight feet in width. Thus
greater degree of supervision can
be maintained it will be instantly
perceptible when an animal is off his
feed, and each will get his own due
share of food. There should be win
dows to light and air the stable when
required, but these should be furnished
with shutters, for many horses will
not lie down to rest while the stable
is light,
Transfers are often very negligent
not, indeed, of feeding their horses,
for they will seldom hesitate to steal
corn for the purpose of pampering
them-but of that care which requires
labor; and masters too commonly
permit their servants to manage the
teams nearly as they please. The
consequences Of this are frequently
injurious to the animals health. 1t
is not necessary that farm-horses
should be groomed like trotters, and
too free a use of the currying- comb
might indeed, be rather prejudicial,
in Winter, to cattle that are constant
ly employed at slow work for many
successive hours in all kinds of
weather, for it would take from them
too much Of the long coat with which
nature provides them as protection
against the inclemency Of the season
but that argument will not hold
against the necessity of cleanliness.
4 certain degree of grooming is
highly necessary to promote health
and keep in action the functions Of
the skin and no dieting, nc amount
of ever so well chosen food, will gi;e
horses that sleek look of condition
they should have, unless they are
also regularly rubbed down with
wisps when they come in, and we'll
brushed. and their legs and feet
cleaned, before they are shut up for
the night.
The fetlocks of cart horses are us
ually covered with profuse quanti-
ty of hair. and in flinty soils, a mod
crate portion of it formes very desira-
BILE protection against injury but if
not daily cleanSed from the dirt
which is collected, the accumulation
at length occasions that unsightly
and stubborn disease, grease" In
like manner perspiration mats the
coat and clogs the roots of the hair
with scurf, and produces eruptions
on The skin that are often difficult
of cure. 1t should, therefore, be
settled rule, that whether the horses
are kept in the stable or not, their
feet should be regularly washed on
their return from labor and dried,
and the legs well wisped or hand rub
bed; this fiction tending to restore
warmth to the extremities of the
tired animal, and relieve swelling or
soreness. Merely to wash off the
dirt from the fetlocks. and feet. ami
leave them to dry gradually, is even
more perniriOns than to let the ami
NAL remain in the state in which it
comes from work.
The hoofS should be occasionally
oiled and stopped For the latter
purpose cow-dung is the best applica.
ton in common use. Clay hardens,
and becoming dry soon, heats and
otherwise Injuries the hoof; but the
common felt stopping, now sold by
Saddlers, is far neater, and quite
as effectual when merely wetted.-
The feet require more care than is
usually bestowed upon them in farm
stables, and scarcely anything occa'
sions them more injury than the rep
rehensible practice of letting horses
stand upon solid. litter until it fer
ments; and the common, but very
mistaken economy Of not shooting
sufficiently often. If litter is too
scarce to allow Of that part which
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