The National tribune., 1885-03-26
OUR RURkL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers.
ABOUT HORSES.


When one takes up any Of the agricultural
papers, East or West, North or South, he is
struck with the appearance of the advertising
pages, with big display lines and cuts of i'm
possible horses. Itwould seem that their OBJ
ject was to advertise horses and horses alone.
A more careful reading will show that it is big
horses, and only big horses. which arc now the
rage, as the big Shanghae was years ago. Horses
of 800 pounds arc not to DO mentioned beside
the l 800 and 2,00o-p pound monsters recommeE :
ed to the farmers. Noebieetion can be made 10
large horses as such, be they Clydesdale, Per-
cheron, Norman, or English draft They have
their place and value. Where a farmer can
afford two spans of horses, one for draft and one
for the carriage, one large team is desirable. But
with the great majority of small farmers one
team only can be kept, and it is advisable to
have that team adapted to all kinds of work
able to draw tho plow or load of grain and
put before the carriage as roadsters. span OF
500 pound horses with mile posts for legs are
all right when heavy loads arc to be drawn but
are about as much out of place attached to a
carriage as pair of elephants would be. The
American farmer may find these heavy breeds of
value to cross with lighter stock, or where q
speciality is made of rearing large horses for
special purposes, but they are not the kind he
wants for his own use on the farm. span of
horses weighing I, 100 or 200 pounds of Nor
gan strain or kindred breed, able to step off
with plow, and when put to carriage make six
miles an hour without urging or on a wagon
draw % or 80 hundred pounds, are about all
that he can ask for.
A few words on the question Of horseshoe
ing. A custom continued for generations, and
supposed to be absolutely necessary, would be
thought to have gained unquestiOnable stand
ing. yet the present is proverbial for its want
of faith in received opinions. The position of
the Telegraph is beyond doubt the true one on
this question. Those who shoe their horses are
right, and those who do not are right. If horses
are used constantly on the street or country
road, the growth OF their hoofs will not keep
pace with the wear and tear. On the farm,
plowiug, narrowing, and all such work, / prefer
my horses to be unsEod, or, if shod, to have the
shoe without calks The hoofs grow out natural,
and the feet are healthy and sound. When
there is work on the road, and during the dry
and heated Summer, they should be sh0d, if no
more than as a protection to the hoof, as the
hoofs at that time arc brittle, and the stamping
too often breaks the edges. Everything de-
ponds on circumstances, and ordinary good
sound sense must determine the matter. If
horses are shod, they should not be handed
over to every ignorant blacksmith to nail on
the shoes as he thinks best for correct shoeing
on the feet more than four weeks, as the hoof
constantly grows and the iron rim soon con-
fines and congresses it.-C0r. GermaatO,ca TeIe-
graph.
HOW TO PRESERVE EGGS.
Eggs packed in well-dried ashes. and so as
not to touch each other, have been kept per-
fectly sweet for year.
Our experience on August 5, 1884, when the
thermometer registered 80 degrees in the
shade: We packed some sfresh-laid eggs in salt,
not to touch one another. We broke one of the
eggs Dec. Is, 1884, In a plate. and it had the
appearance of fresh laid egg. The white
tasted little of salt, while the yek was in
perfect preservation. The white of the egg
beat to as fine froth as we ever saw. Eggs in
August can be bought at from to 10 ceuts per
dozen, while in Winter they sell at 80 and 35
cents per dozen. Almost any family can pack
eggs during the Summer, and have them when
the price reaches 40 and 30 cents per dozen.
The salt that the eggs are packed in can be
used for other purposes. We have some of the
eggs on hand at present writing. and shall place
them on the market, for there is great de-
mand. Farmers and city families should try
the above. We receive inquiries every month
as to bow to preserve eggs.
We called on one of eur leading egg packers
recently, and found he had 40, coo dozen packed
in lime pickle, casting him from to II cents
pei dozen. An egg packed by this mode can
DO seen at once, and cannot be sold as a fresh
egg, as the white becomes watery. The cost is
but triile 10 pickle with lime.-City and Coua-
try.
THE WHEAT CROP FOR 1S YEARS.
The following table gives the statistics of the
wheat crop of this country, and tho movement,
since 1865.