The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-07-12
AGRICULTURAL.
Care of Horses in the Summer.


Under ordinary circumstances farm horses
suffer greatly from neglect during the warm
weather. After days hard work in the
field a horse needs good nights rest, as well
as sufficient feed, and this cannot be procured
without good management. The horse is
the most useful Of our brute assistants;
without his help the worlds work would
stop, and we should be put to sore shifts to
procure food. BY reason of neglect and bad
management his life of usefulness is consid-
erably shortened, and in place of 30 years of
possible usefulness, it is rare to find a sound
active horse of more than half that age.
Food is provided sufficiently and in the ma
Jorty of cases generously; but so far as re
CARDS sanitary care there is a sad lack. Sta
bles are too often FOUL ill-ventiated' and
badly arranged; the horse itself is rarely
cleaned, and the skin is left to natural acct
dents of summer showers for an occasional
washing The bedding aud litter is nearly
always unclean, and the skin of the animal
is usually so saturated with excrement that
the odor is insufferable to any sensitive per-
son. The mere handling of horse in its
harness is sufficient to odorize the person
and the clothes to most disagreeable eX-
tent, and the farmers house is frequently
fouled with the pungent scents of the stable
thus introduced. Cleanliness is indispensa-
BILE to health, and health is indispensable to
comfort and long and useful life. In a pc
cuniary point of view this matter looks seri-
GUS when we consider that the value of our
horses is not far from $500, 100000, and of
this large portion is yearly sacrificed for
want of proper care. This want of care is
most conspicuous in ~cgard to the construc-
ton and management of stables. Generally
they are close and inconvenent. But it will
be easier to point out what they should be
than to say what they are, for the requisites
of 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 inch
spaces 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
sunny side, it should be shaded by blind or
shutter There should be ample means of
ventilation by openings at the bottom and
the top, covered with wire gauze to exclude
flies. The doors should be double, so that
the upper half may be 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 arrangements. The
bedding should be fine; cut seraw will be
found economical, even counting the cost of
the labor to prepare it. Sawdust is the best
of all bedding, and pine saw-dnst is better
than hardwood on account of its resinous
odor and its repelant effecl against vermin.
Physical cleanliness, however, is the great
matter to be observed. There is no reason
why horse-stabe should be so powerfully
odoriferous. Nothing is easier than to keep
it clean and sweet. A gutter should be pro-
vided to carry off the drainage, and a tank
or pit filled with absorbents should be made
to receive it. Once a day few pailfus of
water should be dashed on to the floor to
wash it off. Then a 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 a pair of horses in
a year, for the urine is worth more than the
solid excrement, 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 stables. The result of
this care will be to keep the stable free from
those odors which attract the flies in vast
numbers and which have very injuriously-
Initiative effect upon the eyes and lungs of
the occupants. The flies which nfest sta
bles are not the common horse-fies, as is
generally supposed, but a savage biting fly,
called from its annoying attacks CdIcitrdns,
VI callSer Vi I0lS Is us Spe-
cific name, its generic name being st0naOrys.
jim full Stonoaps cdlcitrdns,) while the
hOsefiy is Mltscd dOmestcd. Those who
have experienced the sharp bite of this say
age fly can appreciate to a feeble eXt9nt the
sufferings of a tired horse exposed the whole
night to its incessant blood-thirsty attacks
1t is this which causes the constant stamp
ing which murders Sleep in the home
stead upon those nights when the air is
nln nd and f1a fop,, !,
upon his bed, ignorantly matchmaking
the noise made by his suffering team. This
may be prevented by a few minutes work
in the evening. The horse may be brought
into the yard and pailful of water, a sponge,
and piece of carbolic or whale-oil soap pro-
vided. First with corn broom the legs of
the horse should be washed down and then
the whole body rubbed off with handful of
straw dipped in water; the sponge is then
well-soaped and then passed over the whole
body, leaving some soap-suds to dry upon
the skin. This cools the horse, removes the
filth from the hide, and drives off flies, all of
which are conducive to its comfort and rest
The change will be both conspicuous and
agreeable, and the team refreshed with a
good nights rest, will do better work the
next day with far less eXhaustation.
A point that should not be neglected at
this season is to see that the harness does
tentionaly cruel or inhuman, and the sorely-
CALLED backs and shoulders which result
from ill-ftting or unclean harness and col
lars are permitted, under many mental
protest, it may be, because it is supposed
they cannot be helped. But they may be
prevented by washing or scraping the col
lars and pads when they are taken off, and
rubbing little harness oil upon them, and
by Washing the parts of the skin exposed
with strong salt water. This cleanses and
softens the harness. hardens the skin, and
heals chafed spots. ''The righteous man is
merciful to his BEAST" ard the converse
may follow-that he that is merciful to his
beast is righteous man. Tits certain. how
ever, that the cultivation of kindly feeling
and attentive care to ones domestic animals
from the harmless, necessary cat upward
to the noble horse, is conducive to higher
culture of the best disposition toward ones
neighbors and family, and thus a man mer-
ciful to his beast may be a truly upright and
generous man in all the business of his daily
life.-N. Y. Times.