Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1876-05-11
agricultural department.

generally arises from timidity, but sometimes
it is united with cunning, and induces the an
imal to assume fear of some object for the
sole purpose of finding an excuse for turning
aside. The usual cause of shyness is, doubt
less, the presence of some object to which the
horse has not been accustomed, and if he has
defective eyes, which render him short-sight-
ed, it will be difficult to convince him Of the
innocent nature of the novel object. There
are endless peculiarities in shying horses,
some being dreadfully alarmed by one kind
of object, which to others is not at all formid-
able. The best plan Of treatment, which can
be adopted, is to take as little notice as posi-
BILE of the shying, and to be specially careful
not to show any fear of its recurrence when
the alarming" object appears in the distance
When the horse begins to show alarm, but
not till then, the driver should speak encour-
agingly to him, and if necessary with a Sc
we're tone, which may even be supported by
the use of the whip if his onward progress
cannot be otherwise maintained. The princi-
pie, which should be carried out, is to adopt
such measures as will get the horse to pass
the object at which he SHES, somehow or other,
and this should be effected with as little vio-
lence as possible, always commanding in an
encouraging tone as soon as the purpose IS
gained. Nothing has so great tendency to
keep up the habit as the plan, so common
among ignorant grooms of chastising the shy
er after he has passed the object Of his alarm.
If he can be persuaded to 60 quietly up to it,
and examine it with his muzzle, as well as
with his eyes, great good will be effected, but
this can seldom be done with moving vehicles,
and heaps of stone or piles of sand are gener'
ally only alarming from defective vision, so
that each time they assume a new phase to
the active imagination of the timid animal.
Punishing-bits only make high couraged
animal worse, and the use of "overchecks"
rarely, if ever, prove beneficial.
SHOULD HORSES WEAR BL1NDERs?-This
is still a mooted question among horsemen.
The following, from foreign paper, makes
some good points on the negative side: awe
never could see what vice of deformity lay in
the horses eye that should make it necessary
to cover it, and shut out its owner from at
least two-thirds of bis rigbtful vision. The
poets say that old age looks backward, but We
never heard such an idiosyncracy charged
upon horses. The theory that a horse is less
likely to be frightened when shut out from ev-
erything behind him, we suspect to be fallacy,
else saddle and war horses would be duly
blinded. Every horse is as familiar with his
own carriage as with his own tail; and, as far
as "personal" fortitude is concerned, is no
more afraid of being pursued by one than the
other. AS for other scarecrows that come be-
hind, they are mostly so familiar to the ami
NAL that the more fully the animal can per-
ceive them, the more quietly does he submit
to their approach. Then it is such pity to
cover up one of the most brilliant features of
this beautiful creature. The horse has borne
such hand in the civilization of this rough
and-tumble world that it seems not so much a
cruelty as discourtesy, as we'll as disgrace,
to hide his form with embarrassing toggery.
No wonder we estimate the force in the world
as horsepower. No wonder the Romans and
the Germans, each in their own language, des-
ignate their aristocracy as riders, no wonder
their descendants made chivalry a synonym
for their highest virtue. Let the horse be
given his due sight and unblinded. The
check-rein is another nuisance in harness wear
which has almost entirely disappeared from
England, the army having at last given it up,
by order of the commander-in-chief, Sir
George Burgoyne."
RooT CRoPs-When an Englishman comes
to this country and inspects our system of
farming, he is forcibly struck with the fact
that root crops are but little grown here for
feeding to live stock, while in England they
would think it impossible to get along with
out their "swedes'' and "mangolds," in other
terms, sugar beets. We consider man
very poor farmer who does not grow root
crops for his cattle, horses and sheep. A peck
or half bushel of carrots, or sugar beets, fed
to COWS per day is better as milk.producing
food than double their value in meal. Horses
that are not worked much in winter will
thrive on hay and carrots, with little
grain when they work. Then the fiat, Dutch
turnips' may be sliced up for the sheep /;
and hundreds of bushels may be grown among
your corn, sowed Immediately after the last
hoeing, and brushed in-that is-cut few
brushy branches of trees, lash them together,
and hitch on your horse and 60 between the
rows, and November 1st you will be able to
gather tons of turnips that have cost but a
mere trihe. We manage our carrot seed as fol-
lows: We mix it with sand, then place in
the sun by day, and near fire at night, ap-
plying warm water occasionally and as soon
as it begins to germinate we spread it where
it will dry, and Immediately SOW the mixture,
sand and all and before the weeds have time
to grow the carrots are up.
DRIVING NA1Ls.-Every farmer who has
had occasion to drive nail into seasoned oak
posts knows its liability to bend and break.
If the point be moistened in the mouth it will
usually drive more kindly. Oil is still better
but then it is inconvenient to dip each nail
separately into it. Another point observed is
that boards become loose eventually from the
rusting of the nails, which, communicating to
the wood, causes not onl y an enlargement of the
nail hole, but the wearing away of the nail it.
self, rendering the fence or the building sbaky
and insecure. This may be prevented by
heating any rough grease until it smokes, and
then pouring it over the nails to be used. The
grease will penetrate the pores of the iron,
and cause the nails to last, without rusting, an
indefinite period. Besides this, no trouble will
then be experienced in driving them into the
hardest wood. The reason is that the coating
of grease prevents contact of air, and conse-
quently oxidation.
GUINEA FowLs.-The guinea fowl is OBJ
jected to by many farmers on account of its
noise, its depredations on chickens, its roam
ing tendencies and its disposition to conceal
its nest. These faults are, however, in the
opinion of experts, more than counterbalanced
by its LAYING qualities, its watchfulness, its in