6586, Scalding Mixture for Pole Evil. Corrosive sublimate, finely powdered, 1 drachm. Yellow basilicon, 4 ounces. 6587. Foot Stoppings. 6588. Wash for coring out, destroying 6589. Wash for Mange. Ditto of white hellebore, of each 1 pint. 6590. Ointments for Healing. 1. Turner's cerate, 4 ounces. White vitriol, powdered, half a drachm. 6594. The importance of the subject of shoeing to the agriculturist is sufficiently attested by the immense number of inventions which the ingenuity of philosophers and artists are every day devising, to render 839 a the system complete. Almost every veterinary professor has his favourite shoe; and we find one of the most ingenious of the present day endeavouring to force on our notice, and introduce into our stables, the French method which, with the exception of the mode of nailing on, White observes, is the very worst he ever saw. The French shoe (fig. 839 a) has a wide web towards the toe, and is concave above and convex below (b), on the ground surface, by which neither the toe nor heel touch the ground (c); but the horse stands pretty much in the same way with an unhappy cat, shod by unlucky boys with walnut shells, But as Blaine observes, in reference to these inventions, "No one form of foot defence can be offered as a uni versal pattern." It is, he continues, plain that the principles of shoeing ought to be those that allow as little departure from nature as circum stances will justify. The practice also should be strictly consonant to the principles; and both ought to consist, first, in removing no parts but those which, if the bare hoof were applied to natural ground, would remove of themselves. Secondly, in bringing such parts in contact with the ground generally speaking) as are opposed to it in an unshod state; and above all, to endeavour to preserve the original form of the foot, by framing the shoe thereto; but never to alter the foot to the defence. The shoe at present made at the forges of the most respectable smiths in the cities and large towns throughout the kingdom, if it have not all the requisites, has however, by degrees, been so improved, that with a few additional alterations, neither difficult to direct or adopt, it is the one we shall hold up as the most eligible for general shoeing. It is not that a better might not be offered to notice; and, in fact, such a one we shall present to our readers; but so averse are the generality of smiths from having any improvements forced on them, and so obstinately determined are they to adhere to the forms handed down to them by their forefathers, that their stupidity or malevolence, or both, frequently makes the improvement itself, when seemingly acquiesced in, a source of irreparable injury. It is for these reasons we would recommend to agriculturists in general a modified shoe of the common stamp. 6595. The improved shoe for general use (fig. S10.), is rather wider than what is usually made. Its nail 840 a holes (a) extend no further towards the heels than is actually neces. sary for security; by which the expansion of these parts is encouraged, and contraction is avoided. To strengthen the attachment, and to make up for this liberty given to the beels, the nails should be carried around the front of the shoe (c). The nail holes, on the under or ground surface of the shoe (a), are usually formed in a gutter, techni. cally called the fullering; but in the case of heavy treading powerful horses this gutter may be omitted, or if adopted, the shoe in that part may be steeled. The web should be quite even on the foot or hoof surface (b), and not only be rather wider, but it should also have rather more substance than is common: from half an inch to five eighths in thickness, according to circumstance, forms a fair proportion; when it is less it is apt, in wearing, to bend to pressure and force out the clinches. A great error is committed in setting shoes out so much wider than the heels themselves: this error has been devised to correct another, which has been that of letting horses go too long without shoeing; in which case, if the heels of the shoe were not too wide originally, as the foot grew, they became lost within the heels; and were thus bruised and produced corns: but as we will suppose that few will wish to enter into a certain error to avoid an uncertain one, so we recommend that the heels of the shoe should stand only wide enough to prevent the expansion of the quarters pushing the heels of the feet over the outer edge of the heels of the shoe for which purpose, if the iron project rather less than a quarter of an inch, instead of three eighths, or even half an inch, as it frequently does, many advantages will be gained. Whoever attentively examines a shoe well set off at the heels, as it is termed, will find only one third of its flat surface protecting the heels; the remainder projects beyond, and serves but to form a shelf to lodge dirt on; or as a convenient clip for another horse to tread on; or for the wearer to cut his own legs with; or to afford a more ready hold for the suction of clayey grounds to force off the shoe by. The heels of the common shoe are likewise not in general sufficiently long for the protection of the foot; and which defect, more than a want of width, causes the tendency to press on the crust of the heels. It is further to be observed, that if the decreased width of the outer standing of the. heels, and the increased width of the web, should make the inner angle of the shoe heel in danger of interfering with the frog, the corner may be taken off. In forging this shoe, it may be bevelled, or left plain on both surfaces, or rather nearly so, for it is usual with most smiths to thin it in some degree towards the inner edge. This shoe is applicable to most feet, is easily formed, and as such, in country places is all that can be expected. 6596. The injurious effects of bad shoeing would only require to be known to excite every endeavour to obviate them; and there are some circumstances in the more common shoes of country smiths that ought to be impressed on the mind of every agriculturist, and guarded against by every one who possesses a horse. It is too frequently observed that the ground side of their shoe is convex, and that the inward rim, when the foot is on the ground, is the lowest part; on which it is evident the weight must first press; and by which pressure, the crust will be forcibly thrust on the extreme edge of the shoe; and the only resistance offered to its being forced from it, depends on the nails and clinches, instead of its just appli cation to the ground, and the support derived from the uniform pressure of the whole. Every shoe should therefore be perfectly level on its ground surface: nor should any shoe be put on that has not been tried on a plane iron purposely made for such trial; which irons are kept in some smithies, but are absent from too many. The substance of the shoe should be the same throughout, forming two parallel lines of upper and under surface; in plain language, the heels, instead of being clubbed as is too frequent, should be the exact thickness of the toe. Neither should the width at the heels diminish in the proportion it usually does; on the contrary, for a perfectly formed foot, the web should present a uniform width throughout. 841 6597. Varieties in form of foot, differences in size, weight, and uses of horses, will necessarily make deviations in the form and substance of shoes. The very shoe recommended may be considered as a variation from what would be immediately necessary, were the feet generally perfect; but it is to be considered that there are but very few feet but what have undergone some unfavourable alteration in their form, which makes them very sensible to concussion. It is for this reason, therefore, that it is recommended that a shoe be used, for general purposes, somewhat wider and thicker than the common one. In weak, tender, flexible feet, it will be found particularly advantageous; and here the benefit of wide heels to the shoe will be most apparent. Good as the roads now are, yet most horses are occasionally subjected to travel on bad ones; some know no other: to these the addition of one, or at the most, two ounces to each shoe is nothing, but the case to the horse, and its superior covering, as well as support, is incalcu lable. In very young, very light, and very firm feet, the width and substance may be somewhat diminished at pleasure, and particularly in situations where the roads are uniformly good; but a very long and extensive experience has assured us, that the shoe portrayed is one well calculated to meet the ordinary purposes of travelling, and the present state of the art of horse-shoeing. 6598. An improved shoe on the present plan (fig. 841.), would be found to unite all the perfections of the modern English improvements, with some derived from our neighbours the French. What has since been called a seated shoe was introduced by Osmer; but from the obstinacy and ignorance of smiths, as it could not be brought into general use, it became little thought of, until revived by Clark of Edinburgh; by whom it was patronised and recommended. It finally was taken up by Moorcroft, and has ever since attracted some attention, and continues to be forged in some shops where the work is superiorly done; and where the employers have liberality enough to pay for such work, and judgment enough to discriminate between its advantages and those of the common shoe. If to this shoe were added the French mode of fastening it to the foot, we think the improvement would almost shut out all others. On examining the figure it will be seen that this shoe presents a flat surface opposed to the ground (a), but a concave one towards the sole (b); but that this concavity does not begin, as in some seated shoes, near the outer edge, but embraces two thirds only of the web, leaving by this means a sufficient surface for the crust: but this bevelling is not intended to reach the heels; it stops short of them (c), leaving the web at this part plain for the heels to rest upon. The great advantages of this seating are, first, that as the crust rests on a flat surface instead of an inclined plane, as most of the common forged shoes present, so its position is maintained entire, and the inclination to contraction is in a great degree avoided. The nailing on of this shoe we would recommend to be after the French method, which consists in conical nail holes, punched with a square countersink (d), into which are received conical nails (e); which exactly fill up the countersink; by which means so long as any part of the base of the nail remains, the shoe must be held firmly on, and which is not the only advantage gained; for the nail holes being obliquely formed, and at some distance from the outer rim, act less detrimentally on the crust of the foot. a d 6599. To prepare the foot for the application of the shoe is also an important consideration. Avoid taking off more than one shoe at a time; otherwise the edges of the crust become broken away. Observe that the clinches are all carefully removed. Let the rough edges of the crust be rasped away; after which, the sole should be pared throughout until a strong pressure with the thumb can produce some yielding: too strong a sole tends to heat and contraction, too weak a one will not require paring. In this paring imitate the natural arch of the sole as much as possible. The line of concavity should not begin, as it usually is made to do, from the extreme margin of the foot, but should begin from the inner line of the crust only; by which means the crust, or outer wall of the hoof, will have a firm bearing on the flat surface of the shoc. Let no heated shoe be applied to correct the inequalities that may be left, unless it is for a moment, only to observe, but not burn them; but still more carefully avoid putting a plane shoe on an uneven foot. The portion of sole between the bars and quarters (fig. 836. d) should be always pared out as the surest preventive against corns. The heels also should be reduced to the general level of the foot, never allowing their hardness to serve as an excuse for being left; neither suffer the inner heel to be lowered more than the outer. After all the rest has been done, the frog should be so trimmed as to remain on an exact level with the returns of the heels, and no more. The custom of taking away the point or angle of the horny inflexions of the heels, under the false term of opening the heels, is to be carefully avoided. Let all these operations be performed with the drawing knife. The butteris should never be allowed to come near the foot of any horse but the largest and coarsest of the cart breed. 6600. The shoes for the hind feet are somewhat different to the fore, being a little squarer at the toe for about an inch; to which squareness the hoof is to be also adapted by rasping it slightly so, avoiding, how. ever, to do it injuriously. By this mode a steady point of bearing is afforded to the hinder feet in the great exertions they are often called upon to make in galloping, leaping, &c. They are, when thus formed, less liable, also, to interfere with the fore shoes by clicking. When horses click or over-reach very much, it is also common to square, or rather to shorten the toes of the hinder shoes; but not to do so by the horn; by which, the hoof meets the middle of the fore shoe instead of the shoe itself; and the unpleasant noise of the stroke or click of one foot against the other is avoided. 6601. Varieties which necessarily occur in shoeing. The bar shoe (fig. 842.) is the most important variety; and it is to be regretted that so much prejudice prevails against the use of this shoe, which can only arise from its supposed unsightly appearance as betokening unsoundness. As a defence to weak thin feet it is invaluable, as it removes a part of the pressure from the heels and quarters, which can ill bear it, to the frog which can well bear it; but a well formed bar shoe should not have its barred part raised into an edge behind, but such part should be of one uniform thickness throughout the web of the bar, which, instead of being the narrowest, should be the widest part of the shoe. The thickness of the bar should be greater or less (a), so as to be adapted to take only a moderate pressure from the frog. When the frog is altogether ulcerated away by thrush, the bar may be altogether plain; but this form of shoe is still the best for these cases, as it prevents the tender surface from being wounded. In corns this shoe is invaluable, and may then be so made as to lie off the affected part, which is the great desideratum in corns. 6602. The hunting shoe is made lighter than the common one, and it is of consequence that it is made to sit as flat to the foot as it can safely do without pressing on the sole; by which the great suction 842 in clayey grounds is much lessened. Hunting fore-shoes should also be as short at the heels as is consistent with safety to the foot, to avoid the danger of being pulled off by the hinder shoes: nor should the web project at all. It is the custom to turn up the outer heel to prevent slipping; which is done sometimes to both fore and hind feet, and sometimes only to the latter. As this precaution can hardly be avoided in hilly slippery grounds, it should be rendered as little hurtful as possible by making the tread equal; to which purpose, thicken the inner heel and turn up the outer. This is better than lowering the outer heel to receive the shoe, which still leaves both the tread and foot uneven. 6603. The racing shoe, or plate, is one made as light and slender as will bear the weight of the horse, and the operations of forging, grooving, and punching; to enable it to do which, it ought to be made of the very best Swedish iron. Three, or at most four, nails are sufficient on each side; and to avoid the interfering of the hind with the fore feet, the heels of the fore shoes are made as short as they can safely be. As racers are shod in the stable, the owners should be doubly careful that the plate is an exact fit. Many pairs ought to be brought and tried before any are suffered to be put on, and this is more important than is at first considered. 6604. Grass shoes or tips are very short pieces placed on the toe alone, in horses turned to grass in summer; at which time they are essentially necessary to guard the fore feet, which otherwise become broken away, and irretrievably injured. They should be looked at occasionally to see that they do not indent themselves into the soles. 6605. Frost shoes (fig. 843 a) have the ends turned up to prevent the foot from sliding; unless the 843 turning up or calkin be hardened, they soon wear level and require to be renewed, to the injury of the foot by such frequent removals. To remedy this, many inventions have been tried; one of the best of these is that of Dr. Moore, in which the frost clip is made distinct and moveable by means of a female screw (b) worked in it, to which a knob or wedge (c) and male screw (d) are adapted; a key (e) being used for fixing or removing it. 6606. High calkins, or turn-ups, however objectionable in general shoeing, yet, in precipitous counties, as those of Devonshire, Yorkshire, and of Scotland, &c., are absolutely necessary for their draught horses. It greatly obviates the evils of uneven pressure, if a calkin be also put to the toe; and it would be still better were these calkins steeled, particularly the fore ones. 6607. The shoeing of diseased feet is necessarily very various, and is too often left to the discretion of the smith, by which the evils themselves are greatly aggravated, if he be ignorant. The most prominent alterations for these pur. poses will be found described under the respective diseases of the feet requir ing them. 6608. Horse pattens are in use by some cultivators who occupy soft or mossy soils. Those esteemed the best are constructed of alder or elm, and are fixed to the hoof by means of three links and a staple, through each of which passes a leathern strap that goes twice round the hoof, and is fastened by a buckle. The staple is placed behind the patten, which is ten inches one way, by ten and a half the other. The links are about three inches in length, and rivetted through pieces of hoop iron to prevent the wood from splitting. After numerous trials, it has been found that pattens made in this way answer the purpose better than any other kind. (Farm. Mag.) SECT. IX. Criteria of the Qualities of Horses for various Purposes. 6609. The general criteria of the qualities of a horse are derived from inspection and trial. His outward appearance among judges affords a pretty just criterion of his powers, and a moderate trial usually enables the same judgment to decide on the disposition to exercise such powers. 6610. The criteria of a horse derived from his colour have been already noticed. (6298) As a general principle dark are preferable to light horses, except in the instance of black, which has fewer good horses within its range, particularly in the lighter breeds, than any other. Grey horses are also, in some degree, an exception to the rule; for there are many good greys. Bay and brown are always esteemed colours. 6611. The criteria of action are derived from a due consideration of the form generally, and of the limbs particularly; as well as from seeing the horse perform his paces in hand. 6612. The criteria of hardihood are derived from the form of the carcase, which should be circular, or barrelled; by which food is retained, and strength gained to perform what is required. Such horses are also generally good feeders. 6613. The criteria of spirit, vigour, or mettle, as it is termed, are best derived from trial. It should always be kept in mind, that a hot fiery horse is as objectionable as a horse of good courage is desirable. Hot horses may be known by their disinclination to stand still; by their mettle being raised by the slightest exercise, especially when in company. Such horses seldom last long, and under accident are impetuous and frightened in the extreme. A good couraged horse, on the contrary, moves with readiness as well alone as in company he carries one ear forward and one backward; is attentive and cheerful, loves to be talked to, and caressed even while on his journey; and if in double harness, will play with his mate. Good couraged horses are always the best tempered, and, under difficulties, are by far the most quiet, and least disposed to do mischief. 6614. The criteria of a race-horse, derived from form, are, that he have the greatest possible quantity of bone, muscle, and sinew, in the most condensed form. There should be a general length of parts to afford stretch, scope, and elasticity, with great muscles hardened by condition, to act on the length of these parts advantageously. In particular his hind limbs should be furnished with ample thighs and broad hocks, which should be low set. His fore-arm ought also to be broad, and the knee, like the hock, should be near the ground. 6615. The criteria of a hunter are, that he have somewhat similar proportions with the racer, but with more bulk to enable him to continue his exertions longer, and to carry more weight. In him, a good carcase is essentially necessary to fit him to go through a long chase; and the more, if he be required to hunt more than one or two days in the week. Some light carcased horses will do one day's hunting work a week very well, but knock up at more. The hunter should be well formed in his loins, and well let down in his thighs to propel him forward in his gallop, and give him strength to rise sufficiently to cover his leaps. It is also of great use to a hunter to be a good trotter; many such horses, when fatigued, break out of the gallop and relieve themselves by trotting, particularly over heavy ground. 6616. The criteria of a hackney. If it be necessary that the hackney be well formed behind to give him strength, and to propel him forward, it is even of more consequence that he be well formed before; and in this kind of horse the hind parts are in some measure subordinate to the fore, as safety is preferable to speed. The head in the hackney should be small, and well placed on a neck of due length and substance to make a proper appui for the bridle, and that proper resistance to the hand, so pleasant to the feel, and so necessary for ease and safety. The shoulders should be oblique and well furnished with muscle, but not heavy; and the withers in particular should be high. The elbows should be turned rather out than in, and the legs should stand out straight, and by no means fall under the horse, or it betokens a stumbler. The pasterns should neither be too oblique, which bespeaks weakness; nor too straight, which wears the horse out, and is unpleasant to the rider. The carcase should be round, or the horse will be washy and weak; the loins straight, wide, and ribbed home; the thighs of good substance; and although the being cat-hammed, or having the hocks turned inwards, is defective in beauty, it often bespeaks a trotter. 6617. The criteria of a cavalry horse are, that he have considerable extention of bulk or size, to enable him to carry weight, with good carcase to allow him to feed coarsely, and yet thrive at picket or on service. He should have also liberty of action; but great speed is not requisite. The best cavalry horses are those formed of the united properties of hackneys and very light draught horses. 6618. The criteria of road horses for quick draught, or coach, chariot, stage and post chaises, &c., are derived from the immediate purposes for which they are intended; as requiring either strength or speed in greater proportions. To make them safe, the fore-hand should rise, the back should be straight, the step should be short but quick, which fatigues least. As they approach the hunter in form, they are best fitted for quick work; and as they resemble the best kind of light agricultural horses, they are calculated for heavy draught, as coaches, &c. But in all, a portion of blood gives courage, durability, and condenses strength into lessened bulk; by which activity is gained. It is of great consequence to a coach-horse that the neck and head be so formed as to be enabled to rein-in well to the bridle. 6619. The criteria of a dray-horse are, that he be very broad-breasted and muscular, and thick in the shoulders, which should not lie backward. Nor should the fore-hand be up, as recommended in the road. horse; for, by holding up their heads, such horses may be choked by the collar, as they would, if so formed, draw too much by the throat, and their wind being thus stopped, would be in danger of falling down. The neck of a dray-horse is not the better for being long, and the head should be proportionate to it. Like all horses, he should be chosen with short legs, and good strong hoofs. He ought to be thick in his thighs, and large in bone; but above all, he ought to be a steady collared horse, with courage to make him true to a severe pull; and yet, without a hot fiery spirit to make him fretful. 6620. The criteria of a waggon horse are, in some respects, different from those of the dray-horse. He should be more weighty, and altogether larger. Rapidity of motion is greatly subordinate, in the heavy stage waggons usually seen on our roads, to strength. It is all collar work; nothing is gained from the momentum of the dragged mass, which, the instant the pull ceases, stands still. The waggon horse should be patient in the extreme; willing to lie to his collar up-hill, and yet settle into his share of work on level ground. As his exertions are constant, it is of the greatest consequence that he be a good feeder. 6621. The criteria of a horse peculiarly adapted to the labours of agriculture, are thus given by Culley :-His head should be as small as the proportion of the animal will admit; his nostrils expanded, and muzzle fine; his eyes cheerful and prominent; his ears small, upright, and placed near together; his neck, rising out from between his shoulders with an easy tapering curve, must join gracefully to the head; his shoulders, being well thrown back, must also go into his neck (at what is called the points) unperceived, which perhaps facilitates the going much more than the narrow shoulder; the arm, or fore-thigh, should be muscular, and tapering from the shoulder, to meet a fine, straight, sinewy, and bony leg; the hoof circular, and wide at the heel; his chest deep, and full at the girth; his loins or fillets broad and straight, and body round; his hips or hooks by no means wide, but quarters long, and the tail set on so as to be nearly in the same right line as his back; his thighs strong and muscular; his legs clean and fine-boned; the leg-bones not round, but what is called lathy or flat. 6622. The chief points in a farming cart-horse, in the opinion of the author of, the New Farmer's Calendar, are," neck not long, nor too thick; short legs, rather flat than round and gummy; fore-feet even, not too distant; wide chest; strong, but not high, shoulders; considerable length of waist, supported by a wide loin; quarters full, and rather raised; strong muscular thigh; size, fifteen hands one inch to sixteen hands high. Being somewhat forelow gives them an advantage in draught; and a moderate length of waist insures speed in the walk. 6623. The horse used in husbandry, according to the writer of the Experienced Farmer, ought to be larger, but in other respects like the road horse: and, instead of walking two or three miles an hour, be able to walk four or five. In that case he would be able both to plough more land in a given time, and work in the cart or waggon with more despatch, when wanted. In harvest time, a nimble and strong horse is valuable. In drawing manure into the field, or corn to the market, the farmer will also find his account in strength and activity; for, as the draught in all these cases is light one way, such horses would do their business with speed. The small farmer need not with this kind of horse keep an idle one; he might carry his master to market, and plough the remainder of the week. 6624. In a horse for the plough, according to Brown, both strength and agility are required; a dash of blood, therefore, is not disadvantageous. It is not size that confers strength, the largest horses being often soonest worn out. A quick even step, an easy movement, and a good temper, are qualities of the greatest importance to a working horse; and the possession of them is of more avail than big bones, long legs, and a lumpy carcase. To feed well is also a property of great value; and this property, as all judges know, depends much upon the shape of the barrel, deepness of chest, strength of back, and size of the hips or hooks with which the animal is furnished. If straight in the back, and not over short, high in the ribs, and with hooks close and round, the animal is generally hardy, capable of undergoing a great deal of fatigue, without lessening his appetite, or impairing his working powers; whereas horses that are sharp pointed, flat ribbed, hollow backed, and wide set in the hooks, are usually bad feeders, and soon done up when put to hard work. 6625. The criteria of a horse's age are derived from the appearance of the teeth. According to La Fosse the younger, there are these appearances. The horse is foaled with six molar or grinding teeth in each jaw (fig. 844. a); the tenth or twelfth day after, the two front nippers (a) appear above and below, and in 844 fourteen or fifteen days from this, the two intermediate (bb) are pushed out; the corner ones (cc) are not cut till three months after. At ten months the incisive or nippers are on a level with each other, the front less than the middle, and these again less than the corners; they at this time have a very sensible cavity (d). At twelve months this cavity becomes smaller, and the animal appears with four molar teeth on each side, above and below, three of the temporaneous or colts', and one permanent or horse tooth: at eighteen the cavity in the nippers is filled up, and there are five grinders, two of the horse, and three temporaneous: at two years (fig. 845.), the first of the colt's molar teeth in each jaw, above and below, are displaced at two years and a half, or three years, the front nippers fall and give place to the perma nent ones: at three and a half the middle nippers are likewise removed, at which period the second milk. molar falls at four years the horse is found with six molar teeth, five of his new set, and one of his last: at four years and a half the corner nippers of the colt fall and give place to the permanent set (fig. 844. e), and the last temporaneous grinder disappears: at five years old the tushes in the horse usually appear at five and a half they are completely out, and the internal wall of the upper nippers, which α 845 before was incompletely formed, is now on a level with the rest; at this period the incisive or nippers have all of them a cavity formed in the substance between the inner and outer walls (fig. 844. f), and it is the disappearance of this that marks the age: at six years those in the front nippers below are filled up (fig. 845, e, the tushes are likewise slightly blunted: at seven years the mark or cavity in the middle nippers is filled up, and the tushes a little more worn (fig. 845. ƒ): at eight years old the corner nippers are likewise plain, and the tushes are round and shortened (fig. 845. g). In mares, the incisive or nippers alone present a criterion (fig. 845. a); at this period the horse is said to be aged, and to have lost his mark; but among good judges the teeth still exhibit sufficient indications. At nine the groove in the tushes in worn away nearly, and the nippers become rather rounded: at ten these appearances are still stronger: at twelve the tushes only exhibit a rounded stump, the nippers push forward, become yellow, and as the age advances, appear triangular and usually uneven. 6626. M. St. Bel, the late professor of the English Veterinary College, used to assert, that after eight years the cavities in the anterior or upper incisive teeth are filled up with equal regularity; thus from eight to ten the front ones were filled up, from ten to twelve the two middle, and from twelve to fourteen those of the corner; but though some pains have been taken to ascertain this, it does not appear that the disappearance of the cavities in these teeth is attended with sufficient regularity to warrant implicit confidence. 6627. To make a colt appear older than he really is, both breeders and dealers very commonly draw the nippers, particularly the corner ones; by which means the permanent set which are underneath imme, diately appear, and the animal is thus fitted for sale before he otherwise would be. 6628. To make a horse look younger than he really is, dealers perform an operation on the teeth called bishopping (from the name of a noted operator); which consists in making an artificial cavity in the nip. pers, after the natural one has been worn out by age, by means of a hard sharp tool; which cavity is then burned black by a heated instrument. But no art can restore the tushes to their form and height, as well as their internal grooves. It is, therefore, common to see the best judges thrust their finger into a horse's mouth, contenting themselves with merely feeling the tush. To less experienced judges other appear. ances present themselves as aids. Horses, when aged, usually become hollow above the eyes, the hoofs appear rugged, the under lip falls, and if grey, they become white. In this country, where horses are so early worked before the frame is consolidated, and where afterwards they continue to be excrted unceas ingly on hard roads, it is not uncommon to find a horse at six years old feeble, debilitated, and exhibiting all the marks of old age, except in his mouth; on the contrary, when the animal falls into other hands, at ten or twelve he has all the vigour of youth, and his teeth are the only parts that present an indication of age: it is, therefore, more useful to examine the general appearance of the animal, than to be guided altogether by the marks in the teeth; a too strict adherence to which, Blaine observes, lead into great error on the subject of the age of horses. The commonly received marks, he says, grant not a criterion of a third of the natural life of the animal, nor of one half of the time in which he is perfectly useful Many good judges will not purchase a horse for hunting earlier than eight years old, and regard him only in his prime at twelve. A gentleman at Dulwich has a monument to the memory of each of three seve ral horses which died in his possession at the age of thirty-five, thirty-seven, and thirty-nine years; the latter of which was suddenly taken off by a fit of colic, having been in harness but a few hours before. Culley mentions a horse of forty-five; and an instance lately occurred of one which lived to fifty. Blaine, in continuation, draws the following comparison between the relative situations of the state of the consti. tution, between the horse and man, under the ordinary circumstances of care towards each: -The first five years of the horse may be considered as equivalent to the first twenty of a man; a horse of ten as a man of forty; of fifteen as a man of fifty; of twenty as a man of sixty; of twenty-five as a man of seventy; of thirty as a man of eighty; and of thirty-five as a man of ninety. (Vet. Outlines, p. 35.) SECT. X. Breeding of Horses. 6629. The general principles of breeding we have already laid down at length (2023.), and have here to notice what are considered the best practices in the choice of stallions and mares, and in the treatment of the latter during pregnancy. Unfortunately, however, much less attention has been paid to breeding horses, than to breeding cattle or sheep; though, as Brown has observed, a pound of horse-flesh is worth two of that of any other stock; and it costs just as much to breed a bad horse as a good one Every one, an eminent writer observes, exercises some degree of judgment in regard to the stallion; but there are few breeders, comparatively, who hesitate to employ very ill-formed and worthless mares, and often solely because they are unfit for any thing else than bringing a foal. All the best writers on agriculture reprobate this absurd and unprofitable practice. "In the midland counties of England, the breeding of cart horses is attended to with the same assiduity as that which has of late years been bestowed on cattle and sheep; while the breeding of saddle horses, hunters, and coach horses is almost entirely neglected; or left almost wholly to chance, even in Yorkshire, I mean as to females. A breeder here would not give five guineas for the best brood mare in the kingdom, unless she could draw or carry him occasionally to market; nor a guinea extraordinary for one which could do both. He would sooner breed from a rip, which he happens to have upon his premises, though not worth a month's keep. But how absurd! The price of the leap, the keep of the mare, and the care and keep of her progeny, from the time they drop to the time of sale, are the same, whether they be sold from ten to fifteen, or from forty to fifty pounds each." (Marshal's Economy of Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 166.) A little consideration will show this error in a still stronger light, when we consider, that united with the characteristic marks common to the breed in general, the progeny of two individuals always exhibits traits of resemblance to each; and as the defects are as certainly propagated as the excellencies, so a neglect in being equally careful in our selection of the female as the male parent is actually bespeaking deformity. It being also now and then observed, that a stronger resemblance is borne to the mother than to the father; so the chances of a worthless colt are increased. It having likewise been remarked, that every variety has a tendency to breed back towards its original, so a breed thus constituted can hardly admit of amelioration, but remains stamped by its original erroneous selection. These remarks, it is hoped, will encourage our breeders to be less indifferent to the choice of their breeding mares. 6630. In those districts where the breeding of horses is carried on upon a large scale and a regular plan, the rearing of stallions forms in some degree a separate branch; and is confined, as in the case of bulls |