Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1879-07-05
FARM TOPICS.
Care of Horses in the Summer.

horses SUITE. greatly rom nesioC' w.
ing the warm weather. After q Gays
hard work in the field horse needs q
GOOD nights rest, rs well as sufficient
feed. and this can not be procured with
ont GOOD management. The horse Is
the most useful of our brute assistants
without his help the worlds work would
stop. and we would be put to sore shifts
to procure food. By reason OF neglect
and bad management his life OF useful
ness is considerably shortened, and, IN
place of 80 years of possible usefulness,
i is rare to find sound, active horse OF
more than half that age. Food IS pro.
vided sufficiently, and in the majority OF
cases generously; but so far as REGARDS
sanitary care there is sad lack. ota,
bIes are too often foul, ill-ventilated, and
badly arranged; the horse itself is rare
" cleaned, and the skin is left to natur-
al accidents of summer showers for an
occasional washing. The bedding and
litter is nearly always unclean, and the
skin of the ANNA. is usually so saturat-
ed with excrements that the odor is in
siderable to any sensitive person. The
mere handling of a horse in its harness
is sufficient to odorize the person and
the clothes to q most disagreeable ex-
tent, and the farmers house is frequent
" fouled with the pungent scents OF the
stable thus introduced. Cleanliness Is
indispensable to health, and health is in.
dispensable for comfort and long and
useful life. In pecuniary point of view
this matter looks serious when we con-
slider that the value of our horses is not
far from $500, zoo, 600, and of this large
portion is yearly sacrificed for want
of proper care. This want of care is
most conspicuous in regard to the con-
straction and management of stables.
Generally they are close and inconve-
nient. But it will be easier to point out
what they should be than to say what
they are, for the requisites OF a good
stable are but few. 1t should be dry
and well drained. The floor should
slope little to the rear and it should be
covered with narrow strips having. half
an inch space between them, through
which the liquids could escape. The
ceiling should be high, nine feet at the
least, and should be of matched boards
to exclude dust from above. The light
should come from near the top, at least
above the level of the horses head, and
should be abundant; if the window is
on a sunny side, it should be shaded by
blind or shutter. There should be an
ample means of ventilation by opening
at the bottom and the top, covered with
wire gauze to exclude flies. The doors
should be double, so that the upper half
may re left open at night, or they may
be made Of strips with half-inch spaces
between them, protected with gauze or
netting. The interior should be kept
whitewashed and perfectly clean and
free from vermin. All these requisites
need only attention, and cost no more
than the ordinary ill-adapted arrange
ments. The bedding should be fine !;
cut straw will be found economical.
even counting the cost of the labor to
prepare it. Saw-dust is the best of all
bedding, and pine saw-dust is better
than hard wood on account of its resin
Gus odor and its repellent effect against
vermin. 2E
Physical cleanliness, however, is the
great matter to be observed. There is
no reason why horse-stable should be
so powerfully odoriferous. Nothing is
easier than to keep it clean and sweet.
A gutter should be provided to carry OH
the drainage, and a tank or pit filled
with absorbents should be made to re-
ceivs it. Once day few pailfuls OF
water should be dashed on to the floor
to wash it off. Then shovelful of
plaster should be scattered about before
fresh litter is spread. This will add at
least 800 to the value of the manure
from pair of horses in a year, for the
urine is worth more than the solid ex-
crement, and would thus all be saved,
even that portion which escapes into
the air or is carried into the house and
elsewhere by those who attend the sta
bles. The result of this care will be to
keen the stable free from those doors