The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1877-07-05
TOPICS FOR THE FARM.

Remedy for Kicking COws.-Rural
New Yorker: A great many remedies
have been suggested, from time to time,
for breaking heifers from kicking while
being milked And now the statement
comes that the best plants to tie the ami
mails head up high. A writer in the New
England Farmer says he has tried all
kinds of plans to cure his heifer of this
bad habit, but finds none so effectual as
tying the head up high, as the animal
must lower her head in order to kick. /
This is very simple remedy, and as it is
less barbarous than many plans thatha |
been suggested and are practiced, we |
hope it may prove all that is claimed for !
it. We neutrality-suspicious. advice, |
in this connection, in regard toa uniform |
practice of kind treatment to milch |
stock, and especially toward heifers when |
breaking them to the pail. In nine cases |
out of ten cows get the habit of kicking
from harsh and injudicious management
and as it is always better to avoid an evil
habit than to contract it, and then run
the risk of curing it, SO we say care
should be taken that COWS do not learn
this habit of kicking from those who have
them in charge.
Care OF Horses Feet. The New
York Times says when the foot is gone
there is no horse left. There is an old
adage to this effect, the truth of which is
incontrovertible. Yet no part of a horses
anatomy is worse used than the foot, and
there are no more frequent diseases to
which the notice of the veterinary sur
geon is brought than those of the feet.
This comes of the unwise yet obstinately
maintained fashion of cutting, burning,
tarring, and greasing the hoofs. 1t would
occupy too much space here to describe
the anatomy of the foot fully; but it is a
very timely matter just now to consider
the structure of the horny outer covering
or crust of the foot, by which the delicate
inner parts are protected.
Horn is fibrous substance, which con-
tains twenty-five per cent. of water. The
fact that it contains water in its normal
composition is a very important one, and
needs to be stated here, because, unless
! specific reasons are given, very little
weight is generally accorded to all that
may be written or said about the proper
treatment of the horses foot, by either
horse owners, farmers, blacksmiths or
professional horseshoers When horn is
| deprived of water it becomes dry, hard,
and without elasticity, precisely like
piece of dry glue, which breaks and
splinters into CLASSY fragments. 1t is ne
cessary, therefore, that this water should
be retained, to keep the horn in good con-
dition. The common practices OF burn
ing the sole to procure a fit for the shoe,
or rasping the outer surface TO get good
shape, and of tarring and greasing the
hoof, all tend to drive the water out of
| +ho ,,,1 o,,1xr 70 hor nd
contract it, but to make it brittle. In this
condition its usefulness as a protection
for the foot is at once impaired and
burned by contact with hot shoe it is
obvious that the water in the portion of
the horn that is heated must be driven off.
This is so obvious that no more need be
said about it. When the smooth, pol
ished, hard surface of the horn is rasped
away the softer inner fibrous portion is
exposed to all the evil influences of
evaporation and degradation, and the
numberless pores and cells or interstices
of the horn are enabled to give up the
water they contain. The horn in this
case is also made dry and brittle, and, of
course, contracts. Tar contains an acid
and volatile oil, which evaporates and
leaves a hardened, pitchy mass. When
tar is applied to a hoof the acid acts
chemically upon the horn, and hardens
or disintegrates it, and the OIL evaporat-
ing, leaves a space between the fibers
filled with hardened residue. 1t operates
precisely in the same manner as when II
is applied to leather-as sole of shoe
for instance as preseryat1ve; the
leather in few days becoming hard and
unyielding, imperviOus to moisture and
dry. As with tar, SO with grease; both
) these substances drive out the water from
, the horn and occupy its place, in time
r hardening and acidifying the substance
1 of the hoof crust, rendering it brittle anC
: contracting it.
The substance of the frog is horn, bu
it is of a softer and more open texture
than the sole and crust of the hoof. L
is, therefore, more easily affected by in
e furious conditions, and when it become
/, deprived of its water it shrinks more THAI
9 the more solid horn. From this explana
e tion of the character of the horny cover
ing of the foot any reasonable hors
owner may learn how to treat the hoof
and how to avoid injuring it. When
t shoe is to be fitted, the edge or wall sol
should be prepared by cutting or rasping
r and not by burning. Instead, the sho
r should be fitted to the foot, and not tn
n foot fitted to the shoe. When, from ba'
d management, the sole and frog have be
r. come dry and contracted, no grass or ia
f. should be used freely, and then the hoo
!, should be dressed with glycerine, whic
= will mix with water, and does not dis
place it. Glycerine contains no acid O
acrid qualities, but is soft, bland, emo
d lient, and does not evaporate. 1t there
l. fore softens the horn, and allows tn
fbers to expand. Contraction is thu
" prevented or overcome when it hs
actually occurred.