Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 February 1894 — FARMS AND FARMERS. [ARTICLE]

FARMS AND FARMERS.

Winter Shoeing:. Shoes at this season are required to discharge a double duty—to afford foothold as well as to guard against due wear Mr, William DiekJbb, in the - United States Government report on the horse, says on this subject: Various patterus of shoes have from time to time been invented to meet this dual ment, but the commonest of all, fashioned with toe and heel calks or calkins, is, faulty though it be, probably, all things considered, the one which best suits the requirements of the case. It should, however, never be lost sight of that the shorter, the smaller, the sharper the calkins are, so long as they answer the purpose, which called them into existence, so much the better for the foot that wears them. High while they confer no firmer foothold, are potent means of inflicting injury on the foot itself and the superincumbent limb at large. It is only from that portion of the catch which enters the ground surface that the horse derives any benefit in the shape of foothold, and it must be apparent to the meanest capacity that long calkins, which do not penetrate the hard, uneven ground, are so many levers put into the animal’s possession to enab’e if not compel him to wring his feet, rack his limbs and inflict untold torture on himself. I have laid particular stress on this subject, so I am of the opinion that the presence of the navincular disease, a dire malady from which horses used for agricultural labor should enjoy a practical immunity, is traceable largely to the habitual use during our long winter months of needlessly large calkins, only fractional parts of which find lodgment in the earth or ice during progression. I will explain what I mean. When a horse is shod with the exaggerated calkers to which I have alluded, the toe and heel calks are, or ought to be, the same height, to start with, at all events. Very often, however, they are not, and even when they are the. toe calk wears down on animals used for draught purposes far more rapidly than its fellows on the heel. The result is that the toe is depressed while the heel is unnaturally raised. The relative position of the bony structures within the foot is altered, and the navicular bone, which is not one of the weight-bearing bones, is brought within the angle of incidence of both weight and concussion, influences which it was never contemplated it should withstand and which its structure precludes its sustaining without injury. The bone becomes bruised and then diseased, the tendon to which it was intended it should act as a pulley, which passes over and is in contact with it, before long also becomes implicated, and what is technically known as navicular arthritis is thus engendered and developed.

Effect* of Salt. It is well known, says the “Journal of Chemistry,” that herbivorous animals are fond of common salt, and this is as true of wild animals as of those domesticated by man. Carniverous animals, on the other hand, either have no liking for salt or show a positive aversion to, it. Cats, for example, will rarely touch salt meat. This difference is not easily explained., The blood of both classes of animals contain a certain amount of soda salts, but the quantity of soda in a vegetable diet is not necessarily less than in one of the flesh. A German experimenter, Herr Bunge, has been the first to suggest a plausible solution of the enigma. A vegetable diet furnishes twice as much potash as a flesh diet does, and it occurred to him that the greater supply of potash must be attended with a greater waste of soda. To test this theory experimentally, he puts himself on a perfectly uniform diet of beef, bread, butter, sugar and a small quantity of salt. When by daily analysis of the urine he found that the quantity of soda and potash excreted had become constant, he proceeded to take such a dose of potash of salts during the day as would raise the amount of i potash in his diet to a level with that daily consumed by a herbivorous animal. The result was an immediate excretion of chloride of sodium in the uriue, the amount being at once increased three-fold. Much potash, was, of course, also passed. The experiment was repeated at various times, employing different salts of potash, but always with a similar result, a dose of potash in every case producing an immediate excretion of soda. Bunge believes that this tendency of potash to produce a greater waste of the soda jn the system is the cause of the desire shown by herbivorous animals for common salt. Their vegetable diet is generally very rich in potash, and they in-

stinctively seek an additional supply of soda. Soda does not seem to be an essential ingredient of plants but it is certainly indispensable in the animal economy. In the muscle and in the blood corpuscles, potash is an essential constituent; but in the fluid portion* of blood potash is 1 injurious, and if injected even in small doses produces death. Soda salts, on the other hand, can be injected with safety, and its presence in the blood is essential to the continuation process. deeding Hogs for Market. I have learned why Canadian-fed pork takes higher rank abroad than does ours, says the New York World. Theirs-isuot a corn country likethe Mississippi valley. Corn is too high priced, and necessity forces them to And a substitute, and that substitute jis barley and pea meal. Upon this pigs grow rapidly and fatten nicely, making well-flavored and tpothsome j meat. Both of these, barley and peas, can be grown with much less ; labor than can corn, and where soil and climate are suitable they will yield as many bushels per acre as we get of corn. i Before the advent of the binder the barley beards deterred many from its cultivation, but that no longer matters, for we do all harvesting by machinery. Were we to ! feed our fattening pigs with equal , pacts of barley, pea and corn meal j mixdd the product of our pigpens would be appreciated more highly than it is now, and our hogs would continue in better health; cholera, I believe, would become a thing of the past, and each pig feeder would reap a larger harvest of profit than be now does. In seasons like the present, when wheat is low in price and hogs correspondingly high, the wheat farmer can secure a much better price for i his wheat if he’ll feed it to his pigs. If he will mix one part each of corn and wheat to two parts oats, and grind this mixture, he will have a cheaper and much bettter food than if either were fed separately, for it has been proved that all kinds of stock improve much faster when fed a variety of food. Where possible, Iqjrefer making all food fed-into a rich slop, but many who do this spoil all the good that should result from the soaking the food by leaving it in soak too long, until it sours. Sour, fermented slop will not make good, toothsome and wholesome meatj

VVlnter Dairying. This is the season when dairying pays best, for the simple reason that there is the least competition. In the summer, when all the farm work is done at high pressure, every farmer’s wife has butter to sell, and the price is low. But in the winter, when the. work is light and there is no bother about ice or flies and butter has doubled in price, she has none to sell. It is too late for a change this winter, but if thoughtful men and women will consider the matter carefully they may lav their plans for making a beginning next year, and after that—well, everyone who has once tried winter dairying :s likely to stick to it. A writer in the “Rural Canadian" gives the following simple rules to be observed: For winter dairying cows should come in in August or early September. The best calves should be raised, the others killed or disposed of shortly after birth. Feed green corn, sweet and fresh, in August and Septeml or, in anple quantity, and keep it up until feed corn comes to take its place. After field corn is exhausted silage takes its place, and this is fed until spring. Clover hay and bran make a finished ration. Make the one and buy the other in the summer, when it is cheap. The average per day is two to three pounds of bran and twenty to thirty pounds good clover hay. It is cheap and will make the milk flow. Give good warm shelter and fresh, cool (not ice cold) water. It pays to warm water if it is not available without. On warm days in winter turn the cows into a field or large yard for exercise.