The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1909-04-10
WHAT SOUNDNESS MEANS.

WHAT SOUNDNESS MEANS
A satisfactory definition OF sounl
or soundness is not easily given.
There is no other word that conveys
quite the same meaning. A persch
is said to have q sound body, or an
organ is said to be sound when it is
healthy. This term as it applies I"
the horse includes a little moro, Ac-
ccrding to a bulletin OF the Indiana
Experiment Station, the horse Is
sound when he is healthy. and when
his conformation is such that he has
not had and is not likely to have any
tendency to any particular disease
The term sound as used by veterl-
narians and dealers is often loosely
construed 1t may mean anything
from freedom, from lameress or not
windb-okCn, to an apparently heaIthE
condition at the time of examination.
There is no fixed technical or legal
definition that is uniformly reco@-
nizod. The English definition Of I'M
soundness, while defective in that II
is wholly based upon the usefulness
Of the animal. is one worthy Of beng
repeated, ard is as follows: Any
disease or alteration of structure from
disease or accident. which does III
terfere or may in It's ordinary course
interfere with the animals usefulneSS
is ursoundness, and furthermore,
sliehtness of disease or facility OF
cure is no qualification as regards
such unsoundness.
An animal which may have mad
diseases that have been cured, or may
have some disease at the time or eN-
animation that does rot interfere with
his usefulness for some purposes, IS
then said to be "serviceably sound
In some places "servicoably sound
refers only to wind.
A vice is not necessarily unsound-
ness, but some of them lean to I'M
scrndness, and may, therefore, be con-
sdered as part CT the examination III
the selection Of an animal. wees
are such traits OF character or such
habits as have the tendency to pre-
duce disease. or to lessen the use
fulness, mar the appearance, inter
fere with or make dangerous the hand
ling or cause the destruction of prop
erty. Before examining the horse, the
purchaser should decide upon the
character Of the service for which the
animal is intended, whether fer slow
draft. heavy or light harness, saddle
or combination. The class or type,
size, age. gait. sex and color SHOULD
be approximately settled. Ample time
should be taken in the selection or a
horse. This can usually be done when
the animal is obtained from the deal
er Or producer, but seldom allowable
at public sales or sales stables. Al
a public sale the horse is sold IS
sound. "serviceablv sound or at the
"end of the halter" When the horse
is sold as sound, the purchaser has
the privilege cf returning the animal
if found to be otherwise within day
or two. If sold as "serviceably sound,
the term applies merely to wind ana
the ability to do work. In some cases
the special disability is mentioned. If
sold at the lend Of the halter the
purchaser takes all the chances on
the number and character of the dis
eases that may be present.
DAIRY PRODUCTS AND FOOD.
When it comes to making COM
parisen of the value of the animal food
products Of the farm, the dairy leads
them all, far and away. Over and
over analysis by the best experts
show that three pounds Of milk are
equal as food to one pound OF meat
of the best quality. Now we know
also that about the best that can
be done in making meat with the
same farm products is two pounds per
day. Only fair COW gives 1900
pounds OF milk year. That exceeds
the food value of two pounds of meat
daily for the year But considering
that good ccws-not the best but
only good-give more than twice 3
200 pounds yearly. and it gives one
a fair idea of the value of dairy pro-
ducts. This is putting the question
| OF comparative value on bedrock
facts
OF course we all understand that
meat and vegetables. fruits, etc, are
essential in the dietary, and must We
devote time and acreage to growing
all these? We allude to the dairy
question in this way to give empha
| sis to the Importance of it, and tc
show that if it does require hard work
and constant attention these are most
| gram of human industry.