The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1878-10-12
TOPICS FOR FARMERS



How Horses are Spoiled-A CORES
pendent of the Maine Farmer writes
How quickly horse becomes dilapida-
ted and demoralized after it comes into
the possession of some people, 1t makes
no difference how young or how nice
they are when they get them, they all
look alike in less than two years, and
always have that discouraged, destroyed
appearance. ] have seen men who
claim to have great judgment, whom
we looked upon as wise, prudent and
shrewd in business, who did not seem to
have any idea of what treatment and care
horse required. If / had boy ten
years old that was not more capable and
reasonable about such things than many
people, ] should think he was hopeless
idiot.
Many seem to think horse can en-
dure everything, go without food all
day and half the night, and be off on
journey in bad travelling, time after
time. When they get home they put
him into an old, dark, dirty pen, throw
in forkful of hay, the first they come
to, and let them Grip" They never
rub or clean them, and never take any
pains to protect them from cold or damp
ness. They overload them repeatedly,
compel them to labor under difficulties"
when in no condition TO labor. How
many young, stylish horses have we
seen all drawn out Of shape and all
sagged down, their back six inches too
low in front of the hips and a foot and
half too long. A horse needs feed reg
ularly and often--as often as once in
five hours, at least, at regular hours in
the day. They can not bear fasting as
we'll as Illuminating animals; but they
should never be crammed full of hay,
especially after a long drive when they
have been without all day, nor Just be-
fore hard days work or long journey.
| have seen good many horses nearly
spoiled by fasting and examining 1t will
soon spoil their digestive organs, and,
if long continued, it will weaken them
and destroy their vitality 30 that they
will never take on flesh at all, even I'M
der good treatment. And so they al
ways remain, crooked, shapeless mass
of unsightly, useless horse flesh"
But, strange as it may appear, people
never know the difference as long as the
animal has paunch, hair and hoofsl
1t is not all work that brought him
to this. There are thousands Of horses
that look as well as they ever did. 1t is
the general management. 1t is not the
team horse nor the livery horse so much
as the farmers horse that shows bad
treatment. Some pretend that the horse
has poor constitution, or is sick Others
call it lack of vitality. / should call
it lack of common sense in the Uranium
of its owner.
Bee Culture.-Modern improvements,
says the Indiana Farmer, have rendered
the production OF honey very profit
able business; bu, Improvements in pro-
ducing sometimes interfere with the
marketing of the product. This is
especially the case with honey. The
introduction of the Centrifugal Elk
tractor" by returning the empty combs
to the hive, relieves bees from the labor
of making new combs, and thus the
quantity of honey is increased. But,
when the strained honey is offered
in the market, the purchasers are shy of
it. They know how easy it is to adul-
terate strained honey, and having no
ready means of testing its purity, they
decline purchasing. Honey in the comb,
whether in sashes or in boxes, finds
ready sale in this market, while strained
honey is dull, even at low prices.
But bee culture is profitable, and
would continue to be if the production
of honey was doubled, or even quadru-
pied. A better knowledge of the habits
of the honey bee have dissipated many
of the superstitious notions about luck
in Bookkeeping. Forty years ago many
lucky bee-keepers would not sell stand
of bees lest they should sell their luck.
Others would neither sell nor give them
away, but would permit them to be
stolen, if money to their value was left
on the stand where the bees were taken
from, "A little knowledge of the habits
of the insect has dispelled all this
superstition. Luck in Bookkeeping is in
knowing how to do it, and faithfully do
ing what you have learned Bee-keep-
ing is science, and ignorance is always
fatal to success. 1t leads to bad luck.