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ON THE LIVE-STOCK

in the month of May. The charge for covering varies ac-cording to the character of the horse, from 15 s. to 21 s. andupwards, with half a crown to ,the groom; and it is a com-mon practice to agree for a lower rate, if the mare does notprove in foal; sometimes nothing more is paid in that case,than the allowance to the groom.

3. The mares are worked in summer as usual, and moremoderately in winter, till near the time of foaling, when theyshould be turned to grass. It is both inconvenient and hurt-ful to have the mare and foal confined in a stall upon dryfood. When grass has not risen sufficiently, they should beallowed to range over some inclosurc near the farm-offices,through a part of the day, and be kept in a shed in thenight. Such a shed, if contiguous to their pastures, is agreat convenience even after grass has become abundant, asthe weather is often cold and rigorous during the month ofMay. When the foal is a few weeks old, the mare is againput to light work, and it is weaned, according to its age, inSeptember or October, after having sucked for about sixmonths.

Breeding mares are evidently unable to endure the fatigueof constant labour, for some months before and after theydrop their foals ; and though foals have been sometimes rear-ed on cow milk, the practice is neither common nor advan-tageous. The greater number of horses are therefore bredin those situations, where a small portion of arable land isattached to farms chiefly occupied with cattle or sheep ; orwhere the farms are so small, as not to afford full and con-stant employment to the horses, which must nevertheless bekept for the labour of particular seasons. In similar situa-tions it is also found profitable to perform the easy and oc-casional labour required, by young horses from two to fiveyears old. Thus, the farmers of Ayrshire, and the otherwestern counties, who generally crop one-fourtli, or at mostone-third of their land, and occupy the rest with a dairystock, purchase young horses at the fairs of Lanark and Carn-

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