HORSES AND HARVEST
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—May I seek the sympathy of your readeri towards the horse in the harvest field ? Not the stalwart, well-conditioned creature of the humane farmer, but the aged, hired horse of the callous man who will get his harvesting done at any cost.
The spectacle of half-fed, lame horses falling in the field and being thrashed to their feet again is not a rare occurrence (luring harvest time. I myself have seen this. I have known horses to drop dead while working : horses with sores which, "the flies were
to use a country expaeSsion, blowing " (while they worked). Often veterinary surgeons refuse to give evi- dence. This summer, a bad case was dismissed by the bench the bench being largely compOsed of farmers.
It remains for the public to remonstrate with the farmer, and to report bade cases such as these I have touched upon to the local R.S.P.C.Aa inspector, but the inspector's position is often a difficult one, and the personal appeal from the ordinary onlooker can be of service where the inspector must fail.—
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