170 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[xsoveuiber, 



keeping arranijements, and the "wear and 

 tear" of one removal is always greater than 

 five years jvulieious use of their furniture; and 

 to avoid this abuse, the only rational remedy 

 is in the ownershii) of the tenement that con- 

 tains it. 



JOTS AND TITTLES. 



Feku uye to the cows a fpw weeks before calv- 

 ing; they will ealve nuich easier. A pint every few 

 (lays. 



A PINT OF sTKONii viNEu.VK, with a handful of 

 soot, given as a ilreuch to horses, will cure olistinate 

 cases of colic. It is always conveniently at hand. 



TrKi'EXTixE AND LARD compose one of the best 

 and most simple liniments for cuts and bruises about 

 horses. 



Horse Powder : Boneset, catnip and tansy, dried 

 in the shjde and pulverized. A tablespoonful three 

 times a day. An excellent horse powder, particularly 

 for a cough. 



When vof see a max along the road hunting a 

 lynch-pin, or tn'ing to fix up a breakdown, don't 

 "pass him by on the other side." Kender him all 

 the assistance you can. He will not forget it : you 

 may get into a similar fix. 



QfERiES.— Do plants in a bed-room purify the air 

 in it ! 



Why is cloverseed of ditlercnt colors '! — B., Duuphiii 

 cuuntij, Xofemlitf 2, 187.5. 



To the first query we may reply that the 

 presence of plants in a bed-room do not neces- 

 sarily eillier purify the atmosphere in it, or 

 vitiate it ; tliere are other contingencies which 

 have a modifying or determining effect upon 

 its condition." Tlants absorb carbon and emit 

 oxygen : man and animals ab.sorb o.xygen and 

 emit carbon : so that one class feeds the other 

 with what itself rejects. We may see this 

 principle illustrated in a properly stocked 

 aquarium, in which as long as the normal pro- 

 portions are continued, it will be healthful to 

 l)oth plants and lishes. But the decomposition 

 of vegetable matter in the tank, together with 

 the fietid animal matter exhaled from the 

 fishes, may be such as to destroy the ecjuili- 

 hrium and render the tank unhealthy. A case 

 analogous t(^ this may exist in a lied-room iso- 

 lated as an acinariuni is— that is, cut oli'from 

 the great reservoir of air outside of it, as the 

 tank is cut off from the great reservoir of 

 water. The atmosphere in its normal and 

 most healthful condition, contains only from 

 four to six parts of carbonic acid gas in ten 

 thousand parts of oxygen and other substances 

 composing it, and to'lie healthful it requires 

 Just this proportion of carlwn. The distiuii- 

 "ance of this condition, through the decompo- 

 sition and decay of plants, together with the 

 fietid animal exhalations, in bed-rooms desti- 

 tute of ventilation, would render them nn- 

 healUiy. We often experience a sickening and 

 depressed sensation on going into a close green 

 house, which is caused by the decomposition 

 of the plants, too miK'h oxygen, too little car- 

 bon, or other distiniiancesof the normal con- 

 diti<m of the atmosphere in them. On the 

 whole, we do not consider' ]ilants of any san- 

 itary advantage to sleeping apartments. 

 Stenches, eltluvias, and even fragrant odors, 

 are diffused atoms, and these atoms sometimes 

 proiUice diseases. "Hay fever" and "hay 

 catarrh, " for instance, are attributed to causes 

 of this kind. Pure perfumes in normal quan- 

 tities are agreeable, and douVrtless also health- 

 ful, but in excess, especially when long-con- 

 tinued, they are nauseating, if not alisolutely 

 sickening. As a general rule, and under cir- 

 cmnstances where there is no disturbance of 

 the equilibrium of nature, or out in the open 

 air, lOants in-eserve the purity of the atmos- 

 phere, absoi'bing the excess of carbonic acid 

 generated by the respiration of animals, and 

 giving out, by the decomposition of water, a 

 quantity of oxygen to make up for that con- 

 sumed iiy the animal kingdom. This is, how- 

 .ever, oidv a general statement of a great law, 

 which is liable to violence from counteracting 

 or contlicting causes. 



To the second (juery we reply that the dif- 

 ference in the color in cloverseed is probalily 

 the same as that we often see in green or ripe 

 shelled peas, and many other seeds, and may 



be owing to the different stages of develop- 

 ment when the clover or the pea-vines are cut 

 from the base of the jilauts— some are mature, 

 some prematin-e, and some immature. We 

 have seen peas taken from the same vine, some 

 of which were white, some pale yellow, and 

 some pale green, all equally dry and hard ; and 

 when subse(piently planted all germinated and 

 grew. Over-ripe seeds may become externally 

 sun-bleached, although the germ may remain 

 intact ; and this is as likely to be the case in 

 cloverseed as in any other. These answers 

 are, however, given' only as suggestive, and 

 not as absolute or arbitrary conclusions. 



The Lancaster Farmer for October apologizes 

 for being a little late this month, but it needs no other 

 apology : for notwithstanding it started well, each 

 number is a decided improvement ou the preceding 

 one. Farmers of this and adjoining counties, by all 

 means take The Farmer. Price to .=;ubscribers in 

 the county 81; out of it §1.2.5 a year. Single copy 10 

 cents. — ^ft. Joy Herald. 



It is not necessary to give any special reason 

 now for our lateness of issue last month, fur- 

 ther than to say it was unavoidable, but not 

 likely to occur again. Within one week after 

 the time when the October number of The 

 Fau.mek should have been issued, we received 

 special letters of anxious inquiry from over 

 half ado/en of our most intelligent subscribers, 

 some of whom are also valued contriliutors. 

 This is surely complimentary to our joiu-nal, 

 evincing that Thk Fakmer could not die or 

 be suspended without creating a sensation of 

 regret.' Our ambition is to make The F.vh- 

 MER a vwle mecum of perpetual reference to 

 the \eonianry of the country, and especially 

 of our county— one that they may feel they 

 cannot dispense with, and one whose monthly 

 visits shall be looked for as anxiously as the 

 periodical return of their nearest and most 

 valued friend. There are some things in this 

 world the value of which we only learn to fidly 

 appreciate after they cease to exist, and should 

 The Farmer die, we happen to kiiow that 

 many would contemplate such an event with 

 feelings of regret. 



OUR PARIS LETTER. 



Farming on the Continent of Europe 

 Corresrondeuce of The Lancaster Fakmek. 



Paris, November 1, 187.5 



COMMERCIAL manures — ROTATION OF CROPS. 



.\gricultnre cannot but benefit by the increasingde- 

 inand for commercial manures. Su])erphosphate of 

 lime, sulphate of ammonia, and nitrate of soda, are 

 at the ])resent momenl in high request, and to eflica- 

 ciously combat fraudulent agencies, the chief manu- 

 facturei's have determined to directly supply pur- 

 chasers themselves. The saving in commission fees 

 will cover the expenses of transport. The employ- 

 ment of industrial manures, liowever, is accomplish- 

 ing a revolution in a direction that many do not ap- 

 prove. To produce farm yard manure, live stock 

 are necessary; to support the latter, grass lands and 

 an organized culture are required, involving a stafl'of 

 laborers, implements and machinery, and above all, 

 an intelligent superintendenee. It is no secret, that 

 many landed proprietors in France have well nigh 

 ruined themselves by the rearing of stock and the 

 productiiui of root crops, and now adopt, since some 

 ten years, a plan of cultivation, which dispenses with 

 farm yard manure, cattle servants, &e. It consists 

 in the adoption of a rotation, comprising first year, 

 wheat; second year, oats ; each manured with sni)er- 

 phosphate of lime and sulphate of ammonia, at the 

 rate of six ewt. of the former, and seventy pounds of 

 tlie latter jjer acre, for the wheat, and about half 

 these (luantitics for the succeeding oat crop. The 

 third vear tlic land is devoted to buckwheat, clover 

 or mustard, ploughed down green; fourth year wheat 

 unmanured. The average total expenses over the 

 four years amounted to something better than one- 

 half the f»i-oduce lor the three years, and yielded a net 

 profit of IV. 150 per acre. If tliis system spreads, the 

 conditions of agricultural work, and the situation of 

 the rural classes, will be sensibly modified. 



THE AliE AT WHICH LIVE STOCK MATURE. 



An interesting discussiou is going on, respecting 

 the period when live stock ought to be considered as 

 having reached the adult state. This period, it is 

 asscrtcil, eoninienccs when the animal has achieved 

 its dentition; that is to say, when the milk incisors in 

 the lower jaw have been replaced liypermanei^t teeth. 

 But at what age, with the horse and ox, for example, 

 do all the teeth become replaced ! Before races of 

 animals were improved, development was slower, and 



dentition consequently took a longer time for com- 

 pletion. But since those three alimentary races — cat- 

 tle, sheep and swine — have been ameliorated, the re- 

 sult has been to hasten the arrival of the adult state, 

 considered as precocity. At agricultural shows, prizes 

 are awarded to cattle twenty-five months old; to sheep, 

 ten or fifteen; and to i)igs, twelve months of age. It 

 is alleged that the meat at these ages naturally pos- 

 sess all the maturity equal to that of animals arrived 

 at double the age; but also dentition is advanced, and 

 even the perfect knitting of the bones. On the other 

 hand, it is maintained this precocity cannot take place 

 in the case of horses, where vitality is concentrated 

 in locomotion, energy, and the power of endurance. 



TESTING THE RICHNESS OF POTATOES. 



Prof. Wallny, of Munich, has made a series of anal- 

 yses of potatoes to test their richness in fecula, and 

 has found that the latter increases with the size and 

 weight of the tubers, the difference being as much as 

 two per cent, between large and average sized pota- 

 toes. For purposes of distillation, he therefore recom- 

 mends large, and for feeding, small tubers, the latter 

 containing more nitrogen. For the same reason he 

 suggests that, for seed, cuttings should be preferred 

 of the large potatoes, as ge'rmination requires matter 

 non-azotized. 



BUCKWHEAT AND WINTER RVE AS FODDER. 



Buckwheat, when given as fodder, has been ob- 

 served to produce vertigo, alike in cattle, sheep and 

 pigs; in the case of the latter, furious delirium ensues, ■ 

 with difficulty to keep on the legs, and ultimately 

 finishing by a long sleep. Inflammation of the head, 

 red and staring eyes, are the characteristics when 

 sheep are attacked! It is only from eating the flow- 

 ers that the malady is produced. Bees are even said 

 to fall ofl' the flowers in a state of stupor after 

 alighting sometime thereon. An agriculturist states 

 that he allows his sheep to crop the winter rye in 

 spring, and finds the plant grows more rapidly after- 

 wards; the sheep return to the Vye at intervals of 

 three days. By this process, also, he has been enabled 

 to induce the sheep to eat damaged hay, first shaking 

 out and airing the latter, and watering it with a solu- 

 tion containing twenty per cent, of salt. 



THE PRESERVATION OF GREEN MAIZE, iC IN 

 TRENCHES, 



to be consumed in winter and early spring, is at pres- 

 ent a demonstrated success, and a great boon in the 

 case of dry climates. Now, while this arrangement 

 tides stock over until April, a dry spring ensuing can 

 deprive cattle of green foildcr fro'u the close of May 

 to the middle of .July. M. Leccjuteux has applied the 

 trench system to spring green rye and red clover, cut- 

 ting the former in two-inch lengths and mixing two 

 parts of rye with one part of clover. The mass kept 

 well from May till July, and was highly relished by 

 the cattle. The best time to cut the rye is just when 

 the car is shooting; as, if more matured, the ah.sence 



I of moisture preventsitsbeing well preserved; the best 

 ,. 4. coating for the mass, before being covered with earth, 



1 is heather, as it acts as a ventilator and condensor for 



1 the generated gas. M. Bohierre draws attention to 



I the important 



DISINFECTING PROPERTIES OF THE REFUSE OF 

 ! HEMP FACTORIES, 



winch completely absorbs the most noxious gases. 

 Strange, chopped hay and straw possess also deodori- 

 zing jiowers. and which may explain why hay strewn 

 on the floor of a room which has been freshly painted 

 removes the disagreeable smell. All these substances 

 derive their efficacy from their porosity. At Angers, 

 gardeners employ this refuse hemp for bedding pur- 

 poses. M. Faucon, the author of autumnal submer- 

 sion of vineyards for six weeks or two months, as 



A PERFECT CURE FOR THE PHYLLOXERA, 



and the only one up to the present found to be suc- 

 cessful, has this season been rewarded by a yield of 

 wine double that produced inordinary years; his vines 

 are exempt from the bug, while those of his neigh- 

 bors, where the inundation scheme is not employed, 

 are nearly destroyed. 



TREATME.NT OF THE FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE. 



Cocutle, the French name for the foot and mouth 

 disease, is making terrible progress; the malady is 

 more inconvenient and annoying than fatal. Although 

 only known since 1S40, Gasparin described a disease, 

 perfectly analogous, which attacked sheep in 1817, 

 and the" remedies then employed were exactly those 

 now patronized. As in the cure of every ei)izootie 

 malady, those animals badly fed or cold, are the ear- 

 liest ti) be all'ected. In this country, and, indeed, on 

 the continent generally, the plan of having the cattle 

 sheds low, in order to "enable barn to exist overhead, 

 is highly objectionable, and favors the spread of dis- 

 temper. When an animal is attacked with coeotte, it 

 is at once separated, covered with some sacking, and 

 deprived of food lor two days. The two principal 

 points to be kept in view are, to calm external irrita- 

 tion, by means of nitre and tannin solutions, and to 

 fight tiie fever, by purging the blood of tlie poison in- 

 troduced therein." Towards the afternoon of the second 

 day, the animal is administered, by means of a horn 

 or a bottle, a linseed or meal drink, anduext day some 

 slices of beet, and the leaves of that plant. In the 

 case of milch cows, the udder should be fomented 



