THE FARM.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 146, 20 June 1906, Page 11

THE FARM.

CUBING FULLEBS.

SIMPLE MEANS OF EJTICTING A OtTRTL One effect of horse-racing la to intensify in the horses used such a spirit of emulation as will induce a hish-bred animal to strive every nerve in his efforts to keep in front of his competitors. This increasing energy and excitement no longer confines itself to the pure-fared racehorse, because the latter has hitherto sired the hunters and the country harness horses; therefore, in nearly all breeds of light horses there is a gradual increase of courage, commonly called gas— an increase of determination to go fast j hence an outrage of all bits and other restraints; in fact, there is, from the above cause, an increase in the number of pullers and and runaways. Here is a copy of a letter from a sporting friend who is fond of a harness trotter:—"l sold at a high price my fast pony that won her match; doing nineteen miles inside the hour in harness; she could have done twenty miles in the hour. Then I bought a stout pony, standing 13.2J, which in harness can trot a mile in three minutes, or sixteen miles in the hour. He is, however, most unpleasant and laborious to drive, because he pulls so very hard. He has learned to slow up and eventually stop by the voice: 'wo-back, wo-back,' and every mile my arms are so paralysed that I am compelled to rest them by l stopping on the roadside." My friend finishes up by saying, "Now, this pony doesn't half pull!" A TEST CASE. This may therefore be taken as a test case, and anything that would cure such a greedy puller as this would cure anything. There are several useful classes of bits, each of which presses upon a certain nerve, the effect being such a radical change from the bit used in ordinary cases that a cure might readily be effected thereby. There are also on the market a number of bits which have no sound pretensions to the moderation of a puller, yet only the very experienced can tell which will or will not help to hold the pulling or runaway horse. My friend had been using a very thick, and, consequently, very easy and comfortable gutta-percha double-ring snaffle—in fact, the easiest bit one could use even for a non-puller. I recommended him to eintinue the use of this simple bit, which could never be severe or punishing; but in connection with the easy bit I also recommended certain leather appliances. The first oneration was to put on a standing noseband, and pull it so tightly round the head that at a struggle the front teeth could not be opened more than one inch, or at the most one and ahalf inches. The nosebaand should be high on the face, then it will not interfere with the breathing. There is on the face a prominent bone called "the ridge." it being part of the superior maxillary, and the noseband should be placed about one inch below "the ridge." None of the operations herein recommended are even bordering on severity, still less on cruelty. The cruelty would consist of allowing the horse to pull hard, or run away and shatter his legs and feet, etc. It should be understood that all good nosebands are so padded under the lower jaw that though the pulling horse, in seeking to open his mouth, puts great pressure on tlie noseband, the latter cannot cut into the jaw.

HORSE BREATHES OM"LY THROUGH THE NOSTRILS.

Everyone should know that a horse does not breathe through the mouth, but only through those immense nostrile, which, when distended, are like big gas.pipes. I have ridden steeplechasers with very tight nosebands, this fact showing that a noseband put high on the bones of the face does not in any way interfere with the breathing. No one exactly knows why this noseband materially learns the pulling, but every horseman, icnows it has that effect. Some use a net. but Its only merit is that it prevents the saping mouth, and the above-described band does it better than a net. The band is so effective that it takes off 33 per cent., or one-third, of the horse's pull. Suppose previously the horse puts a pressure on the driver's hands equal to 301bs, it will with the noseband be only 20lb. This alone is a great relief to the driver, : mt a pulley arrangement helpa further. A little above the shafts, on tracee, pass the bellyband or backing through a loop at one end of the reins, then pase the '■in in a forward direction through the ring of the plain snaffle bit, and turn ;j<jk the rein through the collar and *nddle terrets up to the hand of the d: ivet. If a horse has a one-sided mouth, this pulley principle may be applied to that side only. It does not require a seienrist to see that the remaining 201b pressure is now equally divided between the saddle attachment and the driver's hands, the latter receiving an agreeable 101b. weight, instead of an insupportable 301b. —in fact, the horse is cured. Finding himself outplayed, he gradually yields to centle handling, and eventually he can be comfortably driven without this very simple and cheap yet most effective appliance. —"Outspoken."

COMMON DISEASES WITH POULTRY.

The treatment of poultry disease" should seldom concern the farmer. If the healthiest and most vigorous fowls are kept for breeding, reared under satisfactory conditions, and fed moderately on wholesome food, disease will seldom appear. It will usually be found more satisfactory to kill and bury the eick birds than to undertake to treat them. Some of the commonest poultry diseases are catarrh, roup, gapes and leg weakness. Catarrh in poultry resembles the common cold of man. It is accompanied by sneezing, difficult breathing and watery discharge from the nostrils, and is apt to develop into roup. Among the causes are lack of ventilation, draughts, dampness, exposure and improper care and feeding. The prevention and treatment are much the same as for roup.

Roup symptoms are puffed or swollen eyelids, watery discharge, from the eyes and nose; eyes swollen and closed, tiilcK discharge from the eyes ond nose. In the early stages bathe the eyes and face of the fowl with a mixture of equal parts sweet oil and whis':y. The fowl should be removed from the flock and fed on soft food. If the disease has reached I the offensive stage the fowl should be killed, and the house disinfected with sulphur fumes or a 3 per cent, solution of creolin to prevent the spread of the dise»9e. If it is desired to save a valuable bird, it is a good plan to loosen the discharge in the nostrils and eyes, and immerse the head for 20 or 30 second? J in a 1 to 2 per cent, solution of permanganate of potash. The treatment should be given twice daily. Gapes usually affects only yotmgr birds, the result of the presence of worms in the windpipe. The worm« may be removed by the fumes of sulphur or coal tar, o? by dropping on or two dropi

.of spirits - of tiirfffi"* or salicylate of soda into the windpipe. A fumigator can be ma.de from an old. BarreL The ends of the barrel should be removed, and the chickens to be treated placed on a grating imide the barrel. The top of the barrel may be covered -with an old sack, and a plate of burning sulphur placed inside the barreL Instead of using sulphur, the inside of the barrel may be painted with a mixture of coal tar and coal oil. of the same consistency as paint. The (Sickens should be watched while under treatment and removed as soon as they show signs of being overcome by the fames.

Chickens contract this disease when allowed to run on ground which has been infested with the gapeworm; the worms are conveyed from one bird to another through the medium of food and drink. When the worms have been destroyed by fumigation, it is advisable to remove the chickens to dry, clean ground—"Australian Farm and Home." GREEN BONE AS AN EGG FOOD. The introduction of green bone to the poultry bill of fare has, to a great extent, solved the problem of winter egg production. During the summer months the poultry, especially if given a free range, can gather a sufficient number of insects to satisfy the demand for meat; but during the cold winter, when the weather has destroyed the insect crop, it becomes a serious question how to supply the proper substitute, unless a green bone cutter is brought, into commission. Green bone is a compile food, rich in nitrogen, albumen, carbonates. and phosphates of lime, all of which are essential to the manufacture of eggs. The accepted analysis of green bone is carbonate of lime, sis to seven per cent.; phosphate of lime, fifty-eight to sixty-three per cent.; phosphate of magnesia, one to two per cent.; fluoride of calcium, two per cent.; animal matter, twenty-five to thirty per cent. —the remainder of the weight being ■water. Green bones are bones fresh from the butcher, with the adhering gristle, meat, etc. Green bone owes its great value to its well-proportioned and numerous constituents, which are just what is needed by the hen to produce eggs. In it we have lime for the shell, mineral matter for the yolk, and albumen for the white. There is only one objection to green bone; which is, it is somewhat concentrated. If fed entirely on it. the hens will eat too much. Hence it becomes necessary to feed it in connection with such bulky food as clover or bran. Green bones containing the natural juices, as weTI as the adhering substances, are superior to the bones that have lain on the ground for years and lost all these juices or animal matter. Dry bone, when fed to hens, is insoluble, and can give lime, as very little, if any, of the mineral matter can he digested. Green bone, on the other hand, is quite soluble, and easily assimilated by the digestive organs of the fowL