Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1881-03-25
FARM AND PRESIDE.

| FARM AND PRESIDE.
nHOEING HoRsEs.-The shoeing of hor
SEES, as done by the larger portion of tn,
smiths, is an outrage on humanity an(
common sense. Many smiths pare off the
/ heels of horse almost to the very quick
| lowering the hoof so as to cause the ami
NAL to stand annaturally on his feet, and
causing the toe, or front of the foot, when
moving, to strike the ground before the
heel touches, producing an unnatural strain
on the rear tendons of the legs, and ma
king him stumble. Besides, they cut out
all the frog of che feet, that ought to re-
main as cushion for protection from
rocks, etc., and as key to keep them from
slipping. Again, they pare off s.nnecessari-
ty too much Of the under part of the hoof.
leaving too little Of the soft part (the cush-
ion] to protect the foot from the bruising
on frozen ground. rocks, etc Worse and
more ruinous still, when the hoof is thus
pared off allmostlto the quick, is the prac-
tice Of fitting a red-hot shoe by burning
the hoof to q at; and, lastly, after mailing
on a shoe by far too small for the foot, the
shoe resting on the inner soft bart of the
hoof, instead Of the outer hard part.
where the strength ofsthe foot lies, of cut
ting off beyond and outside Of the shoe
this very hard, outside, horny Substance,
and rasping it entirely away, without
which the foot has no strength or can ever
be kept in It's natural shape. The outside
eighth Of an inch or less of this purely
horny substance of the hoof Is to the ami
mails foot its protection and main strength,
and when thus destroyed by careless inhu-
manity, or the want Of common sense to
do the work correctly, according to the
true nature of the foot, should be pun
ishable and fineable offence by laws which
should at once be enacted by every State
in the Union; for, aside from the ruin and
loss OF thousands Of horses and mules.
humanity to the beast demands that these
betchersno botches should be made response
BILE for their ruinous acts Sosathern Plant
er and Farmer.
MEDICINAL EFFECTS OF ON1oNs.-A
mother writes to an English agricultural
journal as follows:
Twice a week-and it was generally
when we had cold meat minced-I gave
the children dinner which was hailed
with delight and looked forward to. This
was dish Of boiled onions. The little
things knew not they were taking the
best OF medicine for expelling what most
Children suffer from-worms. Mine were
kept free from this remedy alone. It was
medical man who taught me to eat
boiled onions as specific for cold in
the chest. He did not know at the time,
till told him. that they were good for
anything else.'' The editor of the iourn-
81 adds: "a case is now under our own
observation in which rheumatic patient,
IN extreme sufferer, finds great relief from
eating onions freely, either cooked or raw.
BE asserts that it is BY no means a fancy.
and he says so after having persistently
tried Turkish baths, galvanisn, and near
~ all the potions and plasters that are
advertised as certain Alternatives or cures.''
DR.. G. w. Balfor, in the Edinburg Med
ical Journal, records three cases in which
much benefit was afforded patients by eat
ing OF raw onions in large quantities.
They acted as diuretic in each instance.
Case first was woman who had suffered
from large white kidney, and constric-
lion of the mitral valve of the heart. Her
abdomen and legs had been tapped severa
Times. but after using onions as above she
was free from dropsy for two years, al
though still suffering from Albuminaria.
Case second suffered from heart disease,
sierrhotic liver and dropsy. Case third
had dropsy depending on tumor of the llv-
er. In both Of them the remedy had been
used with good results. Both had been
previously tapped, purgatives and diuret-
les alike having failed to give relief. All
other treatment having failed, recourse
was had to the onions. Under their use
,he amount passed steadily arose from 10
70 Is ounces to Is or 100.
ENs1LAGE.-In the last number of the
Southern Planter and Farmer" Col. r.
Il. Dulany, Of Loudoun county, has an
article relating his experience in the mat
ter. He drills corn in fifteen acres of sod
land, and MANFRED it very heavily, adding
100 TBS. OF bone dust to the acre. The re-
suit was the heaviest corn he ever saw.
Then he prepared a pit IS feet long, 20 feet
wide, and IL feet deep, and lined it with
two foot stone wall, cementing the sides
and bottom. He cut up his fodder by
means Of steam engine. It took fourteen
men fourteen days to fill the pit within
three feet Of the top. On the 10th of Jan