Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1872-02-14
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Stable and FARM
CLIPPING HORSES.

/ consider cupp1ng nlghly DenencIal
to horses that are called on to perform
fast work, such as road horses, etc.
From my observation they imme-
diately commence to improve in condi-
ton, feel better; the lean horse will
get fat they will not perspire so much
when worked hard can perform more
work with greater ease than before be
ing clipped.
Clipping has such happy result
that [ consider it tonic superior to
any that can be found in the pharmaco-
poeia it strengthens the absorbents OF
the skin allows the animal to perspire
with greater freedom is not so liable
to take cold after hard drive he re-
turns to his stable with beautiful glow
over his whole frame is easily rubbed
dry, and will not break out in a sweat
when blanketed and placed in his
stall.
The horse with a long coat of hair,
that is driven at q rapid gait on the
road, viii return to the stable in pro
fuse state of perspiration The groom
endeavors to rub him dry; he may
keep rubbing him with all his might
for an hour and will not succeed. He
blankets him up, places him in his
stall, and returns in the morning to
find the animal in worse state of per
SEPARATION then he was the night pre-
viots. Hence the loss Of many vaIua-
bic horses.
The trotting- horse that is clipped is,
as a general rule, well taken care of.
His owner provides him with warm
blankets, and when he stops on the
road he is wrapped up in them and the
greatest of care is taken to prevent him
from taking cold. I do not advocate
sthe clipping of horses that have only
to perform slow work, nor the 'hack -"
that has to stand for hours on the
public squares, his owner waiting for a
job but for the gentlemans road
horse I consider it as an act Of human
ity to relieve him of the heavy coat.
Clipping horses has been pract1sed for
q number of years, and has now be-
come popular. 1t has had fair trial,
and If gentlemen did not find it bene-
fetal they would not run the risk of
adopting it on horses that cost them
thousands of dollars
CARE OF HORSES LEGS.
Few men who handle horses give
proper attention to the feet and legs.
Especially is this the case on farms.
Much time Is spent of a morning in
rubbing, brushing, and smoothing the
hair, on the sides and hips, but at no
time are the feet examined and properly
cared for. Now, be 1t known that the
feet OF the horse require more care than
the body. They need ten times as much;
for one respect they are almost the en-
tire horse. All the grooming that can
be done won't avail anything If the
horse is forced 80 stand where his feet
viii be filthy. In this case, the feet
viii become disordered, and then the
legs will get oadlY out of fix: and with
bad feet and Dad legs, there is not much
else of the horse fit for ANYTHING. Stable
prisons generally are terribly severe
on the feet and legs of horses and I'M
less these buildings can afford lrv
room, where the horse can walk around,
lie down, or roll over, they are not half
so healthy and comfortable to the horse
as the pasture, and should be avoided
by all good hostlers in the country.
NORTH British Agriculturi8t.
SPRING CHICKENS.
vi. CI1ChGuS are gen
orally dear, and pay extraordinarily
well for raising, and they are much
easier brought through the latter part
of February and the following month,
than people suppose, and as practical
knowledge IS worth much more than
aught else, what [ am going to say can
be done, and has been ACCOMPLISHED
extensively by the writer and his better
half. Having little birds, rather larger
than pigeons, to sell for seventy-fve
cents each in April and May, giving a
dollar couple clear profit, is making
money fast enough to satisfy reason
able people. The way to do it is to
have the hens all comfortably lodged
IN a warm roost by the 1st of January.
Have some nice, snug, warmly situated
nests near the roost, for the hens to
lay IN, and contrive that they can go to
ana 1ro without going out into bad
weather, and II they have been well fed
they viii be laying when the new year
peglns, and II Brahma blood be in them
nall VIII do) they will sit by the end
OF the month; after Matching, put
them IN coops which can be closed and
made dark by fastening I'D q front
board-then in bad weather the chickens
can be fed by letting down the hoard
and be shut up again as soon as thew
have eaten, which will cause the hen to
5 sit still and nurse them till thew are fed
again; have no bottoms to the cooDs
and move every day, putting dry fine
: straw or any kind of litter under the
2 coop when the ground is wet, but in
moderate weather, or whenever drv-
leu tnem be on the sod. Keep the hen
confined TIL the chickens are a month
old, unless unusually mild, and let
these coops be on a slope facing the
south, and away from the haunts of tho
old fowls. There are many DAYS in
February when the chickens viii RIM
around the coop picking up blades Of
grass, &e, enjoying the sunshine.
when puts them IN strong health to
pear closer confinement in cold spells
and during snow-storms, which with
these eoops, do not hurt them at all:
and there will be no dropping WINGS
5 and no crying as there invariably is
when little chickens are raised in GLASS
hot-houses, or in any kind of houses or
barns; for IN any OF these places thew
miss the fresh ground to be daily moved
on, and the fresh air and Sunshine
which gives them an appetite out-of-
doors which they lose indoors, however
spacious the apartments may be. [
have had to dig the snow away from
the coops several times in one season,
and brush places for them to be placed
on, which is quickly done by having "a
{ spare coop and going from one to the
=. other with a basket; and by 10 or II
o'clock the whole Of the broods, from
thirty to forty coops, would be seen as
oflsk as bees, dozen or more in each
coop, and racing to meet the feeder
Inc iced requires variation and should
oe gwen every two or three hours-say
I. one DAY scalded meal at seven-wheat
oarIey at nine-cracked corn at
ffm Eve e or other meat, chopped
me, at tWo-and bread sopped in mi Tx
With oats or any dry grain at fonr. and
then shut up: Next day, egg-shells
broken tine, mixed the morpi6@'s ffrs+