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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1877)
44 HINTS ON STABLE MANAGEMENT. We find in our Knglish exchange, the Murk Jam Bxprtu, report of leutun on "stable j management,'' recently delivered by Profeaworl IVitchard, of thl Roy! Veterinary CoUog. Some points therein laid down are worthy of the ' consideration of bonwmui everywhere; 'Hie 1'rofeanor waiil lie had two objects in ' view in giving this lecture. Ouu arose out of the fact kbit horses STS often treateil badly, both in and out of the stable, through want of knowledge, or neglect Ml the part of their own- : erf, ami he might he the means of some Infor mation being convuyed to nueh owners. Any . one acquainted with horses must he aware that to keen them in good condition and Monro their best services for the longest period, attention iniitt be Mid to ittble management. The Out question lie would lilt Wfti! Are norm better ill UiXM or H'aMcft T Provided they had plenty of room, he held that nothing eotild he better than a good loose 'mix, in which the none has an opportunity of moving about and thus getting benafloial exercise. Assuming boiea to be the baft, he would point out a few principles to le regarded in preparing these boxes, Vlt,, to e- cure good ventilation, even temperature, good drainlge, and good light. A looae box should he of a good hight, and at loMt I" feet long hy liwidej he would rooommend a length of I I fret and a width of I 'J feet. The belt itablet at the college are ID feet high. He did not nay this was necessary, hut recommended them ttl he an high as practical. Ah to material, he recommended the use of itone, if it could la obtained, with foundations of concrete, or with late between the tint few oottnef, if built of brick. He also recommended the lining of walls with wood inside. Ah to the flooring, it DlUlt he of nueh a nature as not to absorb moist ure, nor to he slippery. He had seen nothing better than ordinary brickl eiirefuliy laid edge ways, care heing taken to select good bricks. These will never booomfl slippery, nor absorb any great amount of urine. Having built thu stable, he now had to touch on the ventilation. There should be an ingress of fresh air and egress of the air poisoned by the breathing of the horses. This must be leCUrvd without draught, and to do this there wen mm very oUborotc contrivances, but his pwn ezperienue taught him that they were un nooenarVi iHd that tubes might be easily arranged between the ingress openings near the ground and the egreM openings near the roof. .vith regard ti dfaliagv, the. system anally used is one nf underground drauiuge, the llow of the stable slanting from all sides to the grat ing in the center, or movable plates are used, or similar devices. Hut he held that there was no necessity for this underdraiiiing. He wouldsim ply lay a piece of iron or stone with a groove, by which the largest stable might bu properly drained At the college they have drainage uf all these kinds, and in those having thu surface drainage their state is always far the bolt With regard to temperature, lie did not wish to say much beyond this that he would, if possible, keep it iw near as possible to 66 or tit) Fahrenheit nil the year round. He then eauie to the subject of lighting. It was well known thai ponies and horses kept in coal mine would go completely hlmd, and from this he argued that horses kept in dark stables would be liable to have their visionary organs injuriously affected. It might be said that dealers commonly kept their horses in a low medium of light. There might lie rea sons for this. A horse kept iu a dark place would show a better action oti I icing brought from his stable into the air, and he Mievcd it was a fact that horses so kept would look 1 letter in their coats. He reeoi n mended that iron mangers should be fixed in brickwork, rather than simply board ad to keep thu boTM from putting his head under; for he had seen several cases where the horse had naicd, put his feet in the manger, and broken it right through. He strongly objected to the unnatural practice of tiring racks above the horse's head. He recommended the use of ordinary head collars, and objected to the sys tem sometimes advocated of tethering horses by the heel, believing thev can easily be prevented from slipping their collars by the use of a prop arly adjusted strap. This was the system always used by himself, though he knew many cavalry o lb cert recommended fetterlocking. He advised that food should be given iu Imall quantities ami frequently; the horse's stomach being small in nrojxirtioii to the sie of the Ani mal and in consequence, of the mode of diges tion in the horse's stomach he was ouite cer tain that it was but to give the horse Ins water to drink lie fore his food. An Opposite course of procedure frequently leads to attacks of eolie, ami gives rise to i m and inconvenience He attributed tins to the gastric mice winch ought to digest the food Wcoiumg diluted by the ad mission of water into the stomach while the foot! is there. He did Hot In In u the hotM pro (erred du ty to clean water, but that he prefers soft water to bard to such an extent tint he would rather dunk dirty soft water than clean hard Mater. He approved of putting a little warm water into that drank by the horse, rather than the practice of some grooms of pulling the water iu the warm stable for the night to have, it a little warmer in the morning. As to the quantity of water to Ik givvu, he recommended, under Ordinary circumstances, tint lite horse should have as much as lie wants: makuig exceptions in cases where tin burse was to be put to violent ekereise III a short time, lb-objected to the piactuo of always keeping the Water hi front of the horse. On the Mibject of feeding, lie recommended ine itsi loon, mi regularity in leemng. unli narv horses should be ted three time a day. A little Usv should be iriveu to the horao to ajnVM htumll with dttrittf Um cleaning out if the stable, and ho should then have his water offered to biiu, but he would certainly not allow him to nan inyUlW like a meal U-iore giving him the water. He Would luw iKmt a uil of corn, with a small quantity ef cut bay and a little bran, divided jm thrift, or at teonl four feeds, for the day. He did hot Whevo m the necessity for entailing oats, thu hone, in proper eoiolitioii, having spieiuini masticating oigaus Hut iu dealing w ith hora in a aUto of diaeoao. or in the habit of bolting their food, he would THE WEST SHORE advocate the crushing. As to bedding, nothing could be butter than straw, which should be thick in those, places where the animal might injure Ins houghs. In case of a home having a habit of much pawing, sawdust mi 'lit be n.-e i ri front of him; indeed, sawdust might bu used generally, hut not in those stables which have underground drainage. Hu would impress on his hearers the fact that horses must he groomed to keep them healthy as well as to make them look well. With regard to grooming horses' legs, he believed that with care iu this particular there need not be fever or cracked heels to the extent now found. Instead of bringing the home iu when coated with mud and sluicing him with cold water or even tepid water, he would have the mud wiped Of scrupud off as far as practi- .alius and then wrap the legs roiuul till they tried. He believed hundreds ami thousands of eases of mud fever might he prevented if this plan were used instead 01 the ay-item or throw ing water over them or excessive washing. He should only siua!i of banda -es on the sub ject of clothing, considering woolen bandages to he of great use to the lugs. He hail proved thl ill thu case of horses iu his own possession; the use of bandages havim.' entirely removed windfalls M bigM hen's eggs. He advocated the use of leather wiles for horses working on nam roans or nam Oil or in the event 01 tneir not being used, he recommended that the feet should be dressed with some softening mixture. llcstnmU i-comn.fii icii that homes, wnen not hard worked, should have proper exercise. VIOOH TO BAFFLE THE PHYLLOXERA. Whether with the system of close pruning of vines, the following method of meeting the phyl loxera will ho of any value, may bu a question. There is doubtless truth in the maintenance of vigor in the vine, however it may he best done. At a recent meeting of the Michigan State Natural History Society, a- per was read by Prof. A. .1. Cook, of which we piote the closing paragraphs: " W hat, then, shall we do We should take the presence or prospective pretence of the phylloxera as an unwelcome fact, and keep this in view in all our vineyard management. The vine-grower should frequently examine the roots of the different varieties of his grapes, and if he notes thu kinds -a sure evidence that the phylloxera an with him then he should be more thau ever careful to sustain the vigor of his vines. "As we prune heavily and forbid excessive if not all fruiting, w hen we of necessity prime the roots of our trees or vines beavitv. iu transplanting, so if thu roots of our vines are being pruned hy thu phylloxera, wo should prune the vines to a corresponding extent be yond what is our usual practice, and sec to it. either by pruning or actually picking the form ing clusters, mat excessive irmtmg is pre vented. "Mr. Kelly, the famous grape-grower of Kelly's island, in rcsuonsu to my inquiry as to the client of heavy pruning, which 1 recommen ded threa years ago for all vines attacked by thu phylloxera, writes me that it is very ad vary, tagenus. Thorough drainage, the best culture; in fact every elfort to render the vines vigorous. cannot be too highly recommended, or too fre quently urged. As yet, we may not destroy the lice themselves; but by acting on the above sug gestion, we may greatly mitigate their damage and perhaps render their attacks barren of any insiilerahic harm. It may be that according to our conditions that we may have to read Prof. Cook's ad vice by contraries. If, as many believe, we have weakened out vines by excessive pruning, the lesson would lie to prune less, rather than more. I uriic mm fTBM THK TIIANS-ANDINK RAILWAY. The prospect for a railway over the Andes in South America is creating no little interest in Knglaud. Somo authorities seem to believe that w hen this work is complete theru will be no farther use for our overland roads so far as through tratlie liotweeu Knglaud and Occanica is concerned. Iron thus expresses itself : "Any MM referring to the. map of South Amer ica, ami knowing that there is a railway in operation to liio QuintO, which is nearer to the Amies than the Atlantic, and that the Valpa raise railway has for many years returned a net profit of more than It) , on its tratlie between that port and the town of Santa Kosa, at the very foot of the Andes, will appreciate the im pOrtelMM of the promised railway, as it will unite tsith lines. Wo do not anticipate any goitds tratlie between the Atlantic and the 1'acitio, nor has tins ever been asserted by the cimcei siomiAires; hut we feel certain that it will pro mote a very considerable goods tratlie between the intermediate stations and the coast on either side. Moreover, the inter-oceanic communica tion will certainly attract the whole passenger tratlie, not only of the Pacific coast, hut os sibly that from Australia." Thin it appears that even San Franciscans must go to New York via South America. Indeed ! How in Kill RvroMOLoaiOati Briuiauufi,' - A correspondent savs the method of killitur entomological specimens, by putting them in a jlass cylinder closed at one end, and then m sertiug a w id of tow saturated with ether on closing the other end ot the cylinder, is very good; but when putting the insect, especially MtterfUee. in the tills1, it llutters its witiin, and so loosens some of the colors. A better way is to out a small tut ot elder dorm ou the insect head as soon as it is caught, and the etlect is that it instantaneously dies. Not eveu a relax ation of the muscles K ing perceptible. Casaii Pai inc. All the Canadian Pacific railway survey parties east of the liocky moun tains have cloood oeratioiis for the raatm, and most of Ihsm hav returned to the capital. Par tins employes I m British Columbia will cease work immoduudy and ivturu to huodquartera. TRBBS AND RAINFALL. ISamibi. PetnU in neUo Rural Pre. the aFPnoaOB or tub dksebt the 0B1V1 AliAJ.NHT POOTBnUT. It has lieen the fortune of hut few people in any age of the world to understand the forces of nature, ami to wield them for beneficent pur poses, 'lhe talents of mankind have been mainly applied to the art of desolation, and to impeding nature in her efforts to bestow upon her children tho blessing of trees and rain. Man modifies, if not determines, the material structure of his earthly home, and his influence upon the condition of the country he inhabits, has been much greater than any of the recent geological changes. In more barbarous times than the present, man sympathised with the beneficent operations of nature, because he lived cluscr to her; his hnmp was in the forest, he repusul in its shade, subsisted by it: fruits, and made thu trees his shelter and his defense. He was the offspring of the forest, and lie tenderly eared for his progenitor. Primeval man, in want of a tire, did not fell a tree, but contented himself with fallen wood; in want of a lint, did not i tea troy on aero of timber in search for the choicest lumber, but was Kitislicd with a few rough slabs; he did not Bet lire to the neighbor ing forcat for the gross pleasure of destroying, for he knew that same forest was his nourislier and preserver, furnishing him food, thelter and clothing. Abundant rains 'watered the prime val forests--which almost universally covered the earth- the trees and shrubs and grass grew vigorously, there were neither extremes of Ileal nor cold, floods nor drouths. Here man was evolved and developed, and started upon his career of progress. As he increased in numbers ami his wants augmented, he partially outgrew these primitive conditions; he needed soil to cul tivate, in order to raise more nutritious fruits and grains than were sjioutaueously produced; he needed land to build Ins towiiB upon, lie re quired wood to build his houses and ships, and to accomplish this it was necessary for him to fell a nortioii of the forcBt. Entcrum unou wars, tlie forests were often destroyed to pro vide war material and shelter, or to prevent them from supplying the same to euemicB. As the numbers of people increased, more and more the treeH were lulled, more aim more the primi tive forests disappeared, more and more the land was stripped of its covering, till gradually and irresistibly the quality of the seasons changed, and changed for the worBc. Ab nuiniig our earliest hiaturicul records appear those of WESTKIIN AfllA. Tho conseqiicnccB of this war on nature there will first le noticed: In the course of a few centuries from the date uf the earliest annals, indications were perceived of a want of rammer rains. That country had been among tho most favored and fertile portions of the earth; there was located the fabled Harden of Eden. At length the rains refused to fall during their ac customed Beasoiia; they fell in floods at long intervals, and during those intervals scorching heet and droadful drouths supervened. In a short time the crops hecame uncertain, the sum mer rains ceased, and the iiihaiutants wero forced to resort to irrigation in those placea where the tloods of winter could be stored uu against timei of drouth in the volleys. Tho high lands were by this timo abandoned by husband m en. The rivers began to fail in sum mer, and bore little water, except that result ing from occasional destructive torrents. Irriga tion answered for a time, but, as the few remaining forestB were sacrificed to the folly of the people it was seen that the annual rainfall diminished; the mountain springe became dry, the irrigating reservoirs and canals contained no water, and no crops of fmit or grains could bu produced from the hard and withered soil. The ultimato result of man's warfare on nature ap proached, thu hot blast of tho desert swept over the mined land, covered it with sand, aud most of the wretched inhabitants who remained emi grated or perished. Such is the syivatic history of I ersia. Ara bia, Armenia, Asia Minor, Northern Africa, or tions of (ireece and Home, and of most of the lauds that border the Persian (iulf, the Red and Mediterranean seas. The ancient countries of Western Asia are now but scenes of desolation. The couutriol that sent forth the coniiuerins armies of Harius, Xerxes and famhysca Iiavc been for many centuries covered with sand, (arched with sun and drouth, and their miser able inhabitants reduced to small nuiiitier, alike object of pity and contempt. No considerable uumlier of jienple now dwell or could now sub sist upon thu northern shore of Africa, were onee I arthagc, the great city of a great State, held sway over a large (Herniation of tillers of the soil. The song of the (iermau poet is real ized: "Afric'i barren sand, Wlu re naught can rtow, bocauoe it nUneth not, And where DO rain can tall to Men the land, HreaUM naiijfht kT"w thsre ." More than half of the country embraced in the Koinan empire is NOW AN VNINIl AUITAM.K hKSEKT. And surrendered to hopeless desolation, and the teeming multitudes who lived there in plenty have disappeared, leaving no posterity. The Ionia have boon destroyed, the soil has bttn washed away by floods, springs and streams are gone, and the earth is covered with sand. Of the former productiveness of the soil we can now discover but few traces. A country aa large as the whole I'hristian world of to-day, has beoOttM devastated and unfit for human habitation. Such has been the consequence of man s disregard of nature 's laws in the preser vation of the forests, often the result of war and social and ecclesiastical tyranuy aud misrule. Riwn.r or thk kavaiikk or man. It is melancholy to rvrleet non this ruin, and to know that these results wore and are directly and solely earned by the ravages of man, Man, in- bis state of ignorance and supreme selfishness, has, during the historical epoch, acted as though the trees, planted by nature to increase and pro tect the soil and to produce rain, are hie ene November. mies or obstacles to his advancement, and boa turned his energies to their destruction. Wher ever man has planted his foot, the harmonies of nature have been turned to discords, and he has been a destructive power. Unfortunately, in deed, for himself and for his posterity, tho living trees ami gratsea have been the most convenient to his wasting hainl and upon them hu has w reaked his malice and selfishness. But he brought upon himself his own punishment, for the vengeance of ontragid nature overtook him and punished him and Ml descendants with the curse of drouth, sand ami destruction. A HEALTHFUL '00D. Hull's Journal of Health says: That mac Otroni is an article of food which it ihottld like to see in more common use in this country. When people learn to mnkr it, as well as they make it in Naples; ami what U equally im portant to cook it as the Neapolitans do, it will be as much used here as it is there, for it is, or might be, cheap and healthful. The flour is specially ground for it.and the best article of maccaroiii is retailed in the Neapoli tan provinces for live and six cent a pound. A oontmoner and coarser article is much used by the common people, which sells for about half this price. It is difficult to imagine what the baste gentit the lower classes, would do without maecaroni. Here, wu think, it is usually baked with cheese; a style iu which no Italian could be in duced to eat it. They regard baked cheese as very Indigestible. They boil their maecaroni until it is tender, which ordinarily requires about I" minutes and then serve it up witli but ter or the sauce of the ragout. To make thUdlsh they take a piece of beef without, bone, and after cutting au onion into small pieces and cooking it thoroughly in a kettle, they placu the meat on the onion, and after it is partially cooked they add tomatoes, prepared as they would he for stewing, adding more from time to time and sometimes water and cooking for three or four hours. The meat is then served up by itself and the tomato sauce is poured over the maecaroni They always have some grated cheese on the table to he sprinkled on the maecaroni by those who like it. Twice a week, Sundays and Thursdays the year round, this forms the dinner for four-fifths of a population of 8,000,000 people. It is both healthful and inexpensive. DftEBSING POULTRY FOR THK TABLE Our contemporary La linsne-eour, a journal specially devoted to tho interest of tho poultry yard, gives the following directions for ensur ing white, plump and tender poultry for the table, as obtained from a celebrated cook in the South of France. To get good weight and a delicate color, only meal from grain of tho ! last year's growth should lie UBcd in the fatten : ing process, aud tho water employed for mix i ing the food should be mixed with salt iu the ' proportion of ten grammes to the liter. Far ther, a small quantity of course gravel should , be added to the paste thus made, bo as to as I sist the birds' digestive functiona. Special I care should lie taken not to give them any heavy meal for at least 12 hours before they ! arc to bu killed, so that the intestines may be I empty at the time of death, and the acid fer- mentation of their contents which would other- wise ensue, and which facilitates decomposi ! tion, may lie avoided. Nor should wo be in too great a hurry to pluck them; if feathers are puiieii out wiuio thu moou is still mini, me vesiclu at the root of each of them becomes en gorged, and the skin gets spotted. A fowl killed while digestion iB going on will hardly keep for a week. Hy attention to the above directions, they may be preserved for a fort night in mild wot weather, and for three weeks or more when it is dry and cold. A few pieces of charcoal put in the iiiBide will assist in pre servation. To boil a pullet tllUB prepared, it should be put into cold gravy Boup, made ready I Detorehami, ami cooked by a slow tire, m rectlv it ia taken from the not it Bhould be 1 powdered over with salt in coarse grains, and if eaten while quite hot it is a dish for tho severest epicure. Labor, Capital ANn Enterprise. Tho au thor of "The Man Without a Country," has a story for the times commenced in thu November Harptr, entitled "Hack to Back." The mural of the story is, that even in these dull, hard times, if capital, enterprise and labor will stand ' "hack to back," they will succeed. There is 1 capital enough and labor enough, but capital is fearful, audlatKir is powerless without capital, so alone they accomplish nothing. What is wanting ia the third person, enterprise and ex- ecutive ability, to act as a connecting link be-. ! tween the necessary ingredients, to start the j wheels of industry. And those three must - stand "back to back," assisting each other, and ! with perfect confidence that each one will do 1 his full share in the struggle, to insure success. ; That can never be achieved while the three par I ties in interest are quarreling among themselves, I or jealous, suspicious and distrustful of each J other. In the first place, capital wants to know 1 that enterprise ami skill have the power for I production, that the raw material can be hsd, 1 and that the labor to transmute it can be ob tained, and that it is willing to assume a por tion of the risk, with the assurance of sharing in the success. And, on the other hand, labor must have the same assurance that the other two parties are In earnest, and are willing to assume the same risk, and not look for profit until it is made and shared in by labor. Sago Cri eu Take two tablespoonfnls of sago and one quart of water. Wash and soak the sago a few minutes in cold water; stir it into the rest of the water when boiling; boil slowly till the sago is wull done, and add sugar aud nutmeg as required. A tkai'iikr fainted the other morning, and a little girl describing it at home, said l "ne was so fainted they couldn't seme bar to."