Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-04-06
Agricultural Notes.
BY REGULAR coNTRIRrr- R.
SAlkING HOl.>tS.

4 vOcate OF the race course, except 50
far as il subserves the purpose of
testing the speed of horses, and not
then hecau-e of the intrinsic value of
the quality of speed. so much As that
of wind ami endurance, on which
speed essentially depends. 1t is
very pleasant TO have a smooth, easy
going and fast tiottinS buggy or
carriage horse, and it Is sometimes
important to make good time. But
do not horseman give too much at
tention to the running and trottlng
gaits to the neglect of the sober,
practical, everyday walk? \ very
large portion of the work of even
buggy or carriage horse is necessarily
done at walking gait Especially
is this true on the ordiLary roads in
the country; and on the farm, nine
tenths of all the work performed
must be done in a walk. 1t is GER
tainly, then, of great importance that
the walking gait should be developed
by careful breeding and that efforts
aged by our stock associations and
agricultural fairs. Premiums should
be offered for the best horses as we'll
as for the fastest trotters and the
swiftest racers. Indeed, it is much
more important to the great mass of
horse owners that fast walking
should be encouraged. OF course,
in what we say, we include mules as
we'll as Eorses for we occupy the
standpoint of the farmers advocate.
1t is just as easy to keep fast walk
ing horse as slow one; and if q
farmer would calculate the difference
in the amount of blowing or other
farm work that will be performed by
a smart walker Oh the one hand, and
dull, sluggish mover on the other,
he will be astonished that he has
usually paid so little a ,tention to the
matter in buying or training animals
for farm work. Our attention was
particularly called to this question
one fall when we had two two horse
plows at work turning over a rank
growth of hogweeds on level field
of soft, mellow land. The plows
turned each slice of twelve inches,
and to one was attached a pair of
medium sized. brisk mules, while
the other was drawn by n pair of
large and fast walking horses. The
work was light, as the plows were
allowed to run no more than one and
a half to two inches. The two-horse
team easily plowed three acres per
day, of ten hours, while the mule
team was hard put 10 it to get over
two and half acres. An ordinary,
average mule team would not Lave
plowed more than two acres, and
there are thousands of teams in the
country that would not have made
more than one and a half. The
horse team travele nearly twenty
five miles in the day, or two and
half miles per hour, including all
stoppages; the mule team made about
twenty-one miles per day. An ordi-
nary or average pair of mules would
have gone about seventeen miles.
and a slow going. lazy pair would
drop to twelve or fifteen. So. then,
farmer should carefully test the
working gait of an animal, when
contemplating it's purchase. AS a
rule, it is poor economv-no economy
at ALTO buy low priced stock. The
highest priced animals in a drove
will generally prove cheapest in the
end, because so few are able or
willing to pay high prices, that the
best animals generally sell relatively
cheaper than the inferior ones.
Again: There are successful, pros
porous farmers whose success is
largely, if not mainly attributable to
the superior quality of their work
stock; superiority due to a just
pride and sound policy in selecting
and buying only the best, careful at
tention to feeding and treatment
while at work, and getting rid of
each animal as it begins to decline
in vigor and usefulness.
A good walking gait is OF more
Importance than almost any other
quality in farm or team horse. In
selecting a stallion to breed from,
always test his walking qualities,
for slow sire makes bad beginning
for a colt.
A few years ago, our Fair offered a
small premium for the best walking
horses, but I think no attention
was paid to it, even by the farmers
most interested, and the premium
was dropped from the list.
When you train your colts, learn
them to walk fast, for on the road
or on the farm; that habit will always
pay.
FEEDING SALT AND CHARCOAL TO HOGS.
A writer in the Southern Farme,
says: 81 have seen salt fed to hogs
for more than so years, and in the
last 20 years have fed many heavy
hogs, ranging from 800 to 600 pounds
net. lied them literally with salt,
have never lost one nor has one been
sick an hour. These hogs have been
fattened in a closs pen, and their
principal food was corn meal made
into a dough. This dough 1 sailed
at least once a day. Sometimes my
hogs would fail to clean out their
trough, in that case I would put a
handful Of salt into my bucket, with
some water, pour it into their trough.
and they would lick it up with much
relish. In addition to the salt fed
Goals from the stove. I make it a
regular custom to feed coal, and ii
is astonishing what quantity a hog