ought not to be covered oftener than once in two years, although it is very possible to have a foal from her every year, for she frequently comes into season towards the 11th day after foaling, and she goes with young for a term which varies between 333 and 346 days. A brood mare may be employed in ordinary work during the first period of her pregnancy; but when the time is further advanced, when she is in the tenth month, for example, every possible precaution must be taken against accident. This is the period at which we withdraw our brood mares from the common stable, and put them into separate boxes. After she has foaled, the mare receives in small quantities and frequently repeated, warm drinks and bran mashes. While she is giving suck, her food ought to be of a more substantial or better kind than that which is generally allowed. The mare may be put to light work twenty days after she has foaled; but it is requisite not to demand any thing like exertion from her within eight or ten weeks after this event; she then goes out accompanied by her foal, which is generally suckled for about one nundred days. Foals are frequently brought up in the stable or in the loose box; this is our practice in Alsace; but it is well, with a view to the growth and health of the young animal, that it be taken out every day. On quitting the teat, foals are fed upon choice hay; in the course of the second year a portion of the hay should be replaced by an allowance of oats, and in the season the use of green clover cannot be too highly recommended. According to Thaer, the daily allowance to a horse of middling height, and doing ordinary work, may be regarded as good when it consists of: In England the following allowance has been particularly mentioned as that of certain well-conducted stables. According to M. Tassey, veterinary surgeon in the Municipal Guard of Paris, the provender of the horses in this corps in 1840 consisted of: The same authority reckons that horses employed in severe draught receive or require : Until very lately (previously to 1840) the allowance of troop horses in the French army consisted for the reserve cavalry of: Hay.... ... = Ditto........ 24 Influenced by the consideration of the frequent indifferent quality of hay, and its injurious effect upon the health of the horse, it was decided in 1841 to replace a portion of the hay ration by a larger quantity of oats, an article much less liable to be adulterated, or to be indifferent in quality. The allowance now consisted for the reserve cavalry of: From what precedes, it appears that the substitution of oats for hay was made upon a calculation which squares well with the theoretical inferences in regard to the relative nutritive powers of these two articles. The allowance to the horse ought to be distributed into three portions, constituting as many meals, and put before him in the morning before going to work, in the middle of the day, and in the evening; he is generally watered at meal times. It is also highly advantageous to the health of the horse that he be made to work with a certain regularity. Our horses at Bechelbronn, upon an allowance equivalent to 33 lbs. of hay, work from 8 to 10 hours a day, having an hour's rest at midday. There is, of course, a certain relation between the height, or, if you will, the weight of the horse, and the quantity of provender he requires. Some attention, as we have seen, has been given to this point, in connection with horned cattle; but with reference to the horse I know of no data but such as I myself possess. Seventeen horses and mares, aged from 5 to 12 years, and having each provender equivalent to 33 lbs. of meadow hay, weighed together 18,190 Ibs. The mean weight of each horse being represented by the number 1070 lbs., we perceive that for every 100 lbs. of live weight, 6.7 lbs. of meadow-hay are required for the daily ration, the horses working from 8 to 10 hours a day. This relation differs very little from that which we have obtained in reference to cattle. I was anxious to ascertain the rate of growth of the horse; and in connection with our breed, which have a mean weight of about 1100 lbs., I found that the foals weighed as follows: The mean increase per day during the period of suckling in the three cases quoted above, therefore, appears to have been rather more than 2 andths lbs. avoirdupois. Immediately after weaning, young horses appear to experience an arrest of their growth for some short time, an event which indeed happens to animals generally. I found, for example, that Chevreuil's filly, which on the day of weaning weighed 294 lbs., nine days afterwards weighed but 288 lbs., and had consequently lost 6 lbs. I shall add a few weighings of horses further advanced in age, although still young: Alexander, a colt, weighed at birth 110 lbs. ; at the age of 128 days, 337 lbs. ; increase 227 lbs., or about 1.8 per diem: 51 days afterwards, 490 lbs. ; increase 105 lbs., or per day 1.4 lb. Finette, a filly, weighed, when weaned at the age of 86 days, 295 lbs.; 83 days afterwards, 396 lbs.: increase 101 lbs. ; per day, 1.1 lb. Hechler's filly weighed, when weaned at the age of 87 days, 286 lbs.; 65 days afterwards, 358 lbs.: increase 72 lbs., or per day 1.10 lb. From what precedes we may conclude: 1st. That foals, the issue of mares weighing from 960 to 1100 lbs., weigh at birth about 112 lbs. 2d. That during suckling for three months, the weight increases in the relation of 278 to 100, and that the increase corresponds very nearly to 2 and lbs. avoirdupois for each individual per diem. 10 10 3d. That the increase of weight per diem of foals, from the end of the first to the end of the second year, is about 13 lbs. avoirdupois; and that towards the third year, the increase per day falls something under 1 lb. avoirdupois. After three years complete, the period at which the horse has very nearly attained his growth and development, any increase becomes less and less perceptible. These conclusions in regard to the horse, differ very little from those which I have had occasion to draw in connection with horned cattle. I have also made a few experiments with reference to the quantity of provender consumed by foals in full growth, and have found that Alexander, Finette, and Hechler's filly, weighing together 1106 lbs., consume per day: The mean weight of these foals was 368.6 lbs., so that the hay consumed for every hundred pounds of live weight was 2.85 lbs., with which allowance the daily increase amounted to about 1.2 lb. Consequently, a mixed provender, equivalent to 100 lbs. of hay, had produced 12 lbs. of live weight. I must confess that this result appears to be somewhat too favorable, but I can only set down the numbers as they presented themselves to me. The flesh of the horse is not generally used, or at least openly used, as food for man, though there are countries in which it is exposed for sale and commonly eaten. At Paris, indeed, in times of scarcity, horse-flesh has been consumed in quantity. During the Revolution, a knacker exposed publicly for sale, in the Place de Grève, joints from the horses which he had killed, and the sale continued for three years without any ill effect; in 1811, a scarcity obliged the Parisians to have recourse to the same kind of food, and it is said, indeed, that the traffic in horse-flesh as an article of human sustenance is still continued to a very considerable extent in the French metropolis; at the present moment, a distinguished writer on Medical Police, M. Parent-Duchatelet, has even proposed to legalize the sale of horse-flesh as food for man. § V. OF HOGS. There is perhaps no farming establishment which does not keep a certain number of hogs, a measure by which offal of all kinds tha would go directly to the dunghill, is turned to the very best account. The dairy, the kitchen-garden, and the kitchen, all yield their contingent of food to the pig-stye, which is moreover an excellent means of using up certain portions of the harvest. But the rearing and fattening of hogs, although frequently looked upon as matters of course, and requiring very little care, do in fact demand considerable attention and certain conveniences in situation. The rearing of hogs, in a general way, may be said to suit the small farmer better than the great agriculturist. Our common domestic hog appears to derive his origin from the common wild hog of Europe. The breeds are extremely numerous. The black hog, covered with rather fine hair, and commonly found in Spain, is a native of Africa. This is the race which has been carried to South America, where it has multiplied in a truly surprising manner. It grows rapidly; and if it has little to recommend it with reference to fattening, it is nowise nice in the matter of food and general entertainment; the flesh is excellent when the animal has been kept upon the banana, and fattened off upon Indian corn. The hogs of the east of Europe are remarkable for their size they are of a deep gray color, and have very long ears; they are not very prolific, the brood swine having rarely more than four or five at a birth. The Westphalian breed, on the contrary, though they resemble the last, are highly prolific, the litter generally consisting of from ten to twelve. In Bavaria the hogs are remarkable for the smallness of their bones and the readiness with which they take on fat. Lastly, the Chinese race, which is common in England, and begins to extend on the continent, differs from those hitherto known, in having the back straight or even hollow, and the belly large. This breed is also remarkable for its quietness; the pork which it yields is of the very best quality. One of the great advantages connected with the hog being its extreme fecundity, it is important to have a breed which is distinguished in this respect. There are some brood swine which have regularly borne ten to fifteen, and even eighteen pigs at a litter; a more general number is eight or nine. According to Thaer, the hog that is disposed to take on fat is distinguished by length of body, long ears, and a pendulous belly. The hog attains his growth at the end of about a year, until which time the female ought not to be put to the boar. One boar generally suffices for about ten females. The hog, as all the world knows, is an animal the least dainty in his food; he is omnivorous, nothing comes amiss to him; but his food is by no means matter of indifference when the quality of the flesh comes to be considered. Thaer seems to think that maize is of all articles that which is the best for feeding swine; and I have had occasion to verify the accuracy of his conclusion in South America, where I may add it is found that the oily fruit of the palmtree contributes powerfully to the fattening. ; Husbandry, in regard to the hog, comprises two distinct periods: the growth of the animal, and his fattening. It is generally admitted that it is most advantageous not to fatten swine for the butcher until they have completed or nearly completed their growth. A hog which has been well kept from the period of its birth, may be put up to fatten at the age of about a year. The female shows signs |