him mark how much better that droop horned roan has fed than that straight horned ballface," and govern his next year's purchases accordingly. Would that we could say in answer to all these questions, none, no not one! But then, unhappily for the credit of our farmers, we In the winter time, when the cattle are in the know there are hundreds of poor creatures yard, I think it is an excellent plan to have suffering from these very causes while we are good, strong stationary boxes in different parts of the yard, each containing a lump of rock writing these words of reproach. At least we salt, if it can be obtained; if not, then use have witnessed these abuses in other winters, coarse salt once a week. Some use the salt from the fish or beef bar-and have too little reason to believe that an rel; this I think is injurious, and will do more entire reform has been effected in this importgood on the asparagus bed, to which it is al- ant branch of farming-the care of domestic ways taken, by SPIKE HARROW in Germantown Telegraph. Abuses of the Horse.---No. 3. There he stands, forlorn and desolate! a poor, half-starved, wretched outcast, weathering the pitiless storm, and feeding upon scattered straws and sticks, that his barbarian owner may the more undisturbed lounge at his ease and doze over the warm crackling fire on his hearth. Of how large a number of this noblest race of domestic animals is the above engraving a faithful illustration? Nay, to come a little nearer home with our question, how many horses are there to-day, in Wisconsin, of whose condition the above is a correct picture? How many are accustomed to be left during the day to stand around some old straw stack or over an occasional forkful of coarse, wiry, brush hay, with never more than the sight of a sheaf of oats or ear of corn, and often without drink for two or three days at a time, and compelled at night to shiver in the storm of sleet or snow? animals. more delicate constitution demands the best of care and keeping-they are an abomination and had better even be burnt. The horse subjected to fare, such as we have described above, can hardly fail to come out in the spring-if, indeed, he shall be so fortunate as to come out at all-a "rack of bones," with dry, dead, staring hair, a hideous " belly," and the skin harsh and unyielding, as if it had lost all its elasticity and had been glued fast to the remnant of flesh that may cover his skeleton frame. "pot It may be hardly pardonable in us to even imply by the above graphic cut and the few hasty words subjoined, that any reader of the FARMER could, by any possibility, be guilty of such brutality towards his most trustful, obedient and faithful servant, the horse; but somehow the spirit moved us to write, and we have written. If anybody is hit, let him repent and reform. Ox Teams and Horse Teams. It is generally agreed that horses travel faster than oxen, and that on a farm consisting of plains and destitute of rocks a pair of horses will do more on the plough and harrow than a pair of oxen. Horses will wear longer than oxen, that is, farm horses will last to work till 20 years old, but oxen should not be kept half so long, though some would work till they are 14. But after admitting so much we may be allowed to say a word or two in favor of the practice of keeping oxen. And first as to the cost of the animals. Oxen of equal weight with horses are bought for one half the price. Oxen are worth something after they are worn out in work-horses are not. Oxen are not half so liable to disease as horses are. An insurer will ask fourfold more for insuring the health of horses than of oxen. The gearing for oxen costs less by half than that of horses. A wooden yoke lasts longer than leather harness and it is put on and off in half the time. One chain answers for two oxen-but two horses must have four. Oxen are more patient than horses, and will carry a more even yoke. They start a load better than horses, particularly in a snow path, where the runners stick to the snow. Oxen can be entrusted with hired men at less risk than horses. They are soon taught to draw the plough and to be driven by the ploughman without any reins. We have not a large proportion of farms without rocks and stumps, and where the land is rocky there is no comparison between oxen and horses. In regard to cost of keeping there would be but little difference if both were kept on the same food. But many of our farmers keep oxen through the winter on coarse hay, straw, and husks, which would not keep horses alive. Our own oxen (half blood Devon) never have any but cheap hay, husks, &c., through the winter, though they labor much of the time. When April comes they are kept on good hay and thus they learn the difference between cheap and costly living. Oxen of the right breed are very readily fattened and their beef is better than that of cows or young cattle, and brings more in the market. When farmers quit raising and keeping oxen, people must quit eating beef, and tanning ox hides. ABUSE OF OLD HORSES.-A writer in the Ohio Farmer very justly complains of the too common abuse and neglect of old horses-of those which are past their prime. They are made to break the colts, and often work with them, thus requiring quicker movements than are natural, or than the old horse is able to give without straining and injury. "The old horse," he says, "should not haul his load to town, and then be forced to trot back. It does not injure him as much to do the heavy work with slow motion, as to do the light jobs at a quick gait." He should also have, as he requires, more time to eat and rest, and his place in the stable should not be taken by the colts so that he is turned into the yard. The writer further remarks, (and we cannot but condemn the abuse, and hope it may become less common), that "the last part of a horse's life may be more profitable, if rightly used, than the first part. There is more comfort and less danger in working old horses. We understand them, and they understand us; and we should be as willing to conform to their nature, as they are to conform to our wishes. It would be more humane, as well as more profitable, to use them as they should be, as long as it would pay, and then take them out and shoot them down. But the practice of many is to knock them about as much as they will bear, and pay well, and then trade them off to some more inhuman wretch than themselves." WINTERING SHEEP.-The three great requisites for successfully wintering sheep, are, 1, good and regular water and food; 2d, good, clean shelter; and 3d, keep them in small flocks. The following is the method adopted by Robert J. Swan, of Geneva, N. Y.. one of our best farmers: I consider, for my fattening sheep, the best mode is to have good, deep sheds, (34 feet), racks to receive the straw or hay, and troughs to feed their meal in, and keep the yards well littered with straw. We feed to fattening sheep two bushels of corn, or two bushels of oil-cake meal, to the hundred sheep, with plenty of good bright wheat straw, three times a day, till the 1st of March, at which time we give them hay, in their racks, three times a day, and one bushel of corn or oil-meal per day, per hundred. My store sheep, we give plenty of bright oat or wheat straw in racks, three times a day, and one bushel of corn or oil-cake meal per hundred, till the 1st of March, at which time I give them hay and no grain, but always take good care to see that all my stock yards are well littered with straw. My lambs I feed hay three times a day, and three pecks of oil meal or corn meal to the hundred. yards well supplied with water. All of the I never lose my sheep in winter, but more in summer, and those the fattest and the bestabout two per cent. Judging from what I have noticed on Mr. Johnston's farm, I think the fine wooled sheep less subject to disease than the coarser breeds. Where small flocks of coarse wooled sheep are kept, I think them healthier than those kept in larger, or in moderate sized flocks. Having been a pupil of Mr. Johnston, I adopted his course of farming, both in cultivating my farm, and fattening my sheep.-An. Reg. of Rural Affairs. Interesting Experiment with Sheep. The first stage of a very interesting experiment undertaken by the Parlington Tenants' Club, to prove the fattening qualities of certain breeds of sheep, has just been brought to a conclusion, and the results presented to the public. From the accounts published else where, it will be seen that there were eight different kinds of sheep, and that each lot were turned into a two-acre plot of a 16 acre field, each plot being of equal grazing value. The lots consisted of, 1st, ten crosses from the Teeswater with the Leicester; 2d, twelve crosses from the Cheviot with the Leicester; 3d, ten Lincolns; 4th, ten Southdowns; 5th, ten Shropshire-Downs; 6th, twelve Leicesters; 7th, ten Cotswolds; and 8th, seven odd sheep, one from each of the above classes-all hoggsts. The fairness of the trial would thus appear to be somewhat vitiated by the difference in the numbers. The cross Cheviots and the pure Leicesters would have a sixth less grass than five of the other lots, and five-twelfths less than the old sheep. The lots were all turned into grass on the 23d May. A fortnight, after this, they were weighed. The weight of the Teeswater crosses were 106 stone, 3 tbs.; of the Cheviot crosses, 124 stone, 13 lbs.; of the Lincolns, 125 stone, 9 lbs.; of the Southdowns, 97 stone, 10 lbs.; Shropshire-Downs, 101 stone, 6 lbs.; odd sheep, 69 stone, 7 lbs.; Leicesters, 116 stone, 3 tbs.; and Cotswolds, 90 stone, 9 lbs. Between this date and the 4th of October, the sheep were weighed four times. The results of each weighing will be found tabulated in another column; we will here therefore, only allude to the last. After four months' grazing, supplemented by 3 lbs. of linseed cake per day, from the 17th of June, to the 1st of August, and thence-forward with 6 lbs. per day of the same materials, it was found that the Teeswater crosses had added 18 stone, 1 b., or nearly one-sixth, to their original weight; that the Cheviot crosses had added 18 stone, 9 lbs., or a little more than one-seventh; the Lincolns, 6 stone, 7 lbs., or about one-twentieth; the Southdowns, 13 stone, 2 lbs.. or less then oneseventh; the Shropshire Downs, 20 stone, 8 lbs., or about one-fifth; the odd sheep, 11 stone, 10 lbs., or about one-sixth; the Leicesters, 24 stone, 7 lbs., or nearly one-fourth; and the Cotswolds, 19 stone, 6 lbs., or more than onefifth of their original weight. The advantage is thus in favor of the pure Leicesters and Cotswolds. The Cheviot crosses, however, do not seem to have had enough of grass, having decreased, instead of gaining in weight during the last month. profit comes to be calculated, and the Cheviot crosses appear to be the greatest consumers. Next to them the Lincolus and ShropshireDowns bared their pastures most, and after them the pure Leicesters and Cotswolds. The fact that the sheep were not all in the same condition when procured, must also affect the experiment to some extent, but it is to be commended as a step in the right direction.Scottish Farmer. Cure of a Bone Spavin. Levi J. Reynolds, in the New England Farmer, thus states how he effected a cure of a bone spavin: I have a fine mare, which, three years ago, became very lame from a bone spavin on the inside of the left hind leg. After pretty hard driving for several days, she became so lame that she was unfit for use. The spavin was very tender, and she rested the foot constantly on the toe when she stood. I took her to the blacksmith, and directed him to put on a shoe without any toe corks, thus relieving the contracted cord of the strain to which it had been constantly subjected. In a short time the inflamation and tenderness subsided. The swelling abated; she traveled very well. She wore off the inside cork faster than the outside one, when she began to be lame again. I then had the shoe re-set and the corks made of the same length, and she soon became well. After a few weeks I had the corks shortened a little, and the next time she was shod, a little more, but still have her wear heel corks an inch or more in length. There is a slight enlargement of the bone where the spavin is seated, but she performs hard service and is not at all lame.Several of my neighbors have applied the same remedy, with equally good results, and I think that a little thought and observation will satisfy any one that this is the appropriate remedy. The cords attached to the part where the enlargement is seated, become inflamed and contracted, and raise up the heel from the ground. When the horse brings the heel to the ground the cords are strained, and become irritated and inflamed. The long corks keep the heel raised permanently, and thus prevent the cords from being strained, and allow the inflamation to get well. Some enlargement and seldom enough to affect the gait. a slight degree of stiffness may remain, but CATTLE RACKS.-A western farmer who feeds 150 head of cattle, estimates that the construction of good feeding racks saves him at least five tons of hay yearly-more than One sheep of each class was tried on grass, enough to pay annually for the racks. Judgwithout any artificial food. Under these condi-ing from the amount of hay we have often seen tions, the Cheviot and Leicester crosses greatly surpassed all the rest, making three stones in four months. The grass eaten, is, of course, an item when trodden in the mud, or used as litter by the cattle, as many tons would be yearly saved by some who have not 50 head.--An. Reg. of Rural Affairs. The Wool Trade. The week past has been characterized by more dullness than for several weeks, and there is no certainty of an immediate rally. The excitement consequent upon so large a demand for ordinary goods for army purposes, has, in a measure died away, as the supplies come from the fabricator and from abroad. No matter what course the events of the day may take, or even what may be done or left undone, by the 600,000 soldiers now in the field, no necessity can occur for such large and such immediate supplies as during the past four months. The first year requires more goods for soldiers than the subsequent two or three years, the following being the Government allowance of clothing each year, for five years, by the United States army regulations: Hats, Caps,.. Shirts,... Drawers, Stockings,. Pants, Jackets, Overcoats, Boots and shoes,. 1st year. 24. 3d. 4th. 5th. 1 Influenza in Horses. H. N. L. asks the following question: What is the best preventive or cure for "distemper" in horses? Remarks.It is quite rare that horses are seriously affected with this disease when they run at large. It is most frequent in the spring season, and most serious in those stables in which ventilation and cleanliness have little or no attention. The inference is, that horses, by breathing the foul and debilitating atmosphere of an unventilated stable through the winter, are in a proper condition to take this disease when the exciting cause-a peculiar or infected condition of the atmosphere-appears. The preventive, of course, suggests itself.After the disease has once been engendered, the proper course is, to remove the causes, when the animal will usually recover with little treatment. Let the stable be kept warm. 1 Secure this by exposure to the rays of the sun. Cover the horse with a blanket and give warm drinks to induce perspiration. Move the bowels by green food, or bran mashes, rather than by physic. These goods, of the first year, would require to each soldier about 40 pounds merchantable wool, and for 600,000 men, no less than 24,000,000 pounds wool in the aggregate, which we suppose now is supplied from abroad in part, If the case is severe, make a nose bag about two feet long, of wire, leather, or slats of wood, with a strap to secure it by passing over the head. Let the bottom contain holes for surplus water to pass off. Fill it half full of finely cut, clean rye straw, which has been saturated ing water, and then place it to the horse's with vinegar. Pour on this a pailfull of boilnose, and secure it over the head for steaming the nostrils. and the balance from the low, medium and me- It is a fact, that sales for the last ten days are not so easily brought about, at the extreme prices of the 20th to the 31st of October, and our own wools, of certain kinds. having already gone unusually early to manufacturers and been manufactured, the supply, always short, even now being nearly exhausted, any necessity for such goods must, until next shearing, be met from abroad, and consequently tend to reduce the price in the spring and summer ensuing. Nevertheless, coarse wools are now, and will, without doubt, continue to be in demand at figures above the average of the past years. No movement has taken place in fine, nor do we expect, for the present at least, that the same prices can be obtained as in years gone bye. Repeat twice a day for a few days, if neBe careful that the surplus water passes off, and that the heat emitted is not so Renew the wagreat as to burn the nostrils. ter in twenty minutes, and continue the opeWhen the bag is ration for forty minutes. removed, wash the nostrils and face with water and wipe dry. Should there be swelling under the chops, poultice with corn meal or flax seed poultices. Do not physic or bleed.-Ohio Farmer. HOLD UP YOUR WHIP IN DRIVING OXEN.-The Ohio Farmer says there is more in the movements of the driver of an ox team, and in the carrying of the whip, than most farmers think. Oxen, however quick in their movements or upright their walk in the yoke, soon become dull, and get the practice of "shoving" or "hauling," in consequence of the driver lagging along, or, as is often the practice, going ahead of the team, and from time to time stepping back and whipping them. A driver of an ox team should walk directly opposite to the yoke, walk straight, and carry his whip as upright as a soldier would his gun. whip stock with a short lash, and touch the cattle only with the lash, and never strike them on the nose or over the eyes. Use a Lampass in Horses. Having read an article in your columns about the lampas in horses, and the writer wishing for further information, I thought I would give him all that I could. The disease consists in swelling of the roof of the mouth, near the front teeth, and is sometimes higher than the teeth. It happens generally between the third and fifth year, and is supposed to prevent a colt from gathering his food with ease, so that on that account he falls off in feeding, and consequently in flesh or condition. The usual remedy is to sear the parts next the teeth, with a piece of iron made for the purpose, or cut the parts until they bleed freely. These remedies are still generally practiced, nor is it possible, I believe, for vertinary surgeons to prevent its being done. The lampas, as it is called, however, is not the cause of the colt's ceasing to feed well, and falling off in flesh; it depends upon his cutting the grinding teeth at the proper time; and if, instead of burning and cutting the lampas, as they term it, they would keep them entirely on bran mashes for a week, he would be able to eat his hay and corn with avidity; for the stomach, which always sympathizes with the mouth in the painful periods of detention, is quickly restored, when the power of mastication returns. We often find, when the lampas is present, that the membrane of the mouth just within the corners of the lips, is so swollen as to get between the grinders, thus preventing the animal from feeding. When this is the case, it is commonly called bags or washes, and may be removed by swabbing the mouth with a weak solution of the sulphite of iron. This disease is often occasioned by the bearing rein being too tight.-B., in Germantown Telegraph. REGULARITY IN FEEDING.-Every good farmer knows that any domestic animal is a good clock-that it knows almost to a minute, when the regular feeding time has arrived. If it has been accustomed to be fed with accuracy at the appointed period, it will not fret until that period arrives; after which it becomes very restless and uneasy until the food comes. If it has been fed irregularly, it will begin to fret when the earliest period arrives. Hence this fretting may be entirely avoided, by strict punctuality; but it cannot be otherwise. The very moment the animal begins to worry, that moment it begins to lose flesh; but the rate of this loss has or frosty, than in warm and damp weather.Hence, if the same amount by weight is given at every feeding, they will not have enough when the weather is cold, and will be surfeited when it is warm and damp. Both of these evils must be avoided, while a little attention and observation will enable the farmer to do it.-An. Reg. of Rural Affairs. GYPSUM.-If you can procure gypsumplaster of Paris-sprinkle a small quantity every morning over your cattle stalls. It is a good absorbent of ammonia, and consequently tends not only to economize a most valuable element of vegetable nutrition, but to sweeten and purify the air. The generation of ammonia in stables, and other confined situations, is not unfrequently the cause of disease, and should be prevented. Copperas water sprinkled over the floors and surface of cattle-yards, has a still more sanitary effect. It is a powerful deodorizer, and should be liberally used about out-buildings, especially in hot weather.-New England Farmer. THE BEE KEEPER. Random Thoughts Upon the Bee---No. 3. BEES IN GENERAL. I shall waive a description of the different species of bees disseminated throughout the natural world by the Great Author of Nature, and confine my remarks solely to the common bee, or honey fly, particularly, as the most social, sagacious, interesting and useful, of all the instinctive tribes of animals. Abbe Rosier, one of the best informed of the French agriculturists, particularizes four species of the domestic bee. The first species are very long and brown; the second are less, and almost black; the third are still less, and of a gray color; the fourth are still less, and of a bright yellow, shining and polished, and known only in Flanders. The bee rises with the dawn, and rests only at the shades of evening, and continues her industry throughout the year, in all countries never been ascertained-it is certainly worthy where the frosts of winter do not impede her of investigation-and can only be determined labors. The bee is the only insect whose saby trying the two modes, punctuality and irregularity, side by side, under similar circum-gacity has taught us that honey constitutes the stances, and with the same amount of food, essence of the blossoms of plants, and by her for some weeks or months together. boon. The whole vegetable world is the garindustry has imparted to man the luscious den of the bee, and her cell her store-house. There is one precaution to be observed in connection with regular feeding, where some judgment is needed. Animals eat more in sharp |