20 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[August 12, 



3= 



PIIILADELPHIA SOCIETY FOU rUOMOTING AGRICULTURE. J 



Staled Meeting, July IS, 1825.— The Presi.ienI, 

 Judge Pelers, in ihe clinir. The following coin- 

 municaliuns were rend : 



1. A letter from Robcrls \'aiix, accompnnv- 

 ing one from Win. M. Carternl, a yoiilli ol 13 

 years, residenl in Soiilhwaik, vvlio during tlie 

 intervals ofsrlino! lioiir?, cmplo^'ed liimscll lliis 

 season, in alti ndingto Ihe raising of silk »\ornis. 

 .Specimens of llio silk jiroduced, were shewn. 

 — The society, dosirons to encourage the pro- 

 duction of silk in the United Stales, and to evince 

 their approbation of the usefol tendency of Mr 

 Carteret's occupation of his leisure hours, unan- 

 imously resolved to award him five dollars. — 

 The letters vi'cre also directed to be published. 



2. A continuation of Dr Mease's paper on the 

 diseases and accidents to which farmers are oft- 

 en, or particularly sulijecl. Concussions of the 

 brain, strokes on the head, sprains, sore lips, in- 

 flamed eyes, chilblains, whitlows, burns and 

 scalds, bites of snakes, stings of insects, bites of 

 mad animals, hydrophobia, swallowing stones of 

 fruits, particularly cherries, from an absun) no- 

 tion of their promoting digestion, breathing the 

 noxious air of wells, diseases from putrescea. ! 

 vegetables in cellars, or near a house, those 

 from clearing wet land before draining it, and 

 from cuts and scratches on the hands in skin- 

 ning dead farm stock, were treated of, and ap- 

 proved remedie.s suggesled ; with tlie means of 

 prevention given in such cases as admit of their 

 use. 



Junes in bis limbs; that he wouKl move with a, cold water, and the abuse of ardent spirits. Sucii 

 lear unfaullering sle|i, and travel in ease and ; periods ol uninterrupted health, however, can- 

 safety. But Ihe question has been solved by a 1 not be expected to continue long iu a country 

 protracted, and to the animal, a sufl'enng cxpe-ilike this, wheie winds blow every way and ev- 

 rience, ivhich a ralional theory should have|ery where. — As fruits become plenty, rhildrerj 

 long since settled. An Knglish gentlemen whoibecome victims of diseases of the boivels — but 

 bad travelled extensively on the continenl, and ' not so frequently in consequence of using it too 

 made horses a subject of particular obseivalion,! Iii)erall\, as fiom being permitted lo indulge 

 said, that he had seen more lamed horses be- ! their appetites with it when in a cruile stale : — 

 Iween Harwich and London, than he had met j ripe fruit seldom inj'iies any body ; it was made 

 within a lour over all Fr.ince, and this he i for man, and a kind Providence has bestowed it 



rightly attributed to the differeat modes in which 

 they are shod. 



1 had no difBculty, after turning the subject 

 over in my mind, in believing that the Fr'nch 

 mode at least deserved trial. The immediate 



upon us at that peculiar season, when, in tact, it 

 is not only necessary, but when it is in its great- 

 est perfection ; and those who u*e it freely — if 

 only ripened well — will generally enjoy the best 

 health. Eastern nations have no such errone- 



From Ihe ^dmerican Farmer, 



FRENCH MODE OF SHOEING HORSES. 

 Each nation of Europe has its own peculiar 

 mode of shoeing horses. In America, we follow 

 the English method, which is very different 

 from (he French. The national antipalhies of 

 the French and English prevent, in a certain 

 degree, the adoption of each other's improve- 

 ments. An English physician will pertina- 

 ciously adhere to the use of emetics because 

 the French prefer cathartics : on one side of 

 the channel the horses have long tails, while on 

 the other they are docked close to the rump : 

 Tind an Englishman would no sooner part with 

 his prejudices in favour of his own mode of 

 shoeing horses, to adnj)! the French practice, 

 than he would part with his light pumps and 

 his cough, to thrust his feet into the wooden 

 sabots of a Norman peasant. If we in America 

 have national prejudices, (and who are without 

 them?) I trust they are neither so unreasona- 

 ble nor $0 violent as to make us quite blind to 

 the merit of other nations' improvements. 



A French shoe is shaped nearly as the hoof 

 of the horse is naturally worn when left un- 

 shod. An English shoe is geiieially flat, 

 .straight, and runs lo a point at the toe. It 

 would seem that a little reflection on Ihe form 

 i>( the foot, and the powers and actions of the 

 horse, would indicate the proper mode of Bhoe- 

 ing. When a moving horse rises upon his toe 

 to deliver the weight of his bo ly and transfer 

 the exertions of his muscular force to another 

 foot, reason suggests to us that he would tread 

 more firmly and steadily upon a broad surface, 

 supporting as well the sides as the extremity of 

 his foot, than upon a narrow, trembling point ; 

 that be would not be so liable to sprains and in-' 



advantage which I |)roposf d to myself was to ous notions about fruit, as have crept into llie 

 cure the stumbling of a horse which ! then oc- pericraniums of our mothers and nurses; nor is 

 casionallv rode. I was satisfied with the ex- there any evidence of its injurious effects on the 

 perinient, and found, on trial, other advaata^es health of individuals of any grade, in Ihe West 

 which 1 had not anlici|)atcd, and have now no ex- Indies, where the innabitanis could not sulisi»t 

 pectation that I shall, when it can be done, . without it. 



have my horses shod in any other than the Afqile-', pears, peaches, melons, &c. should be 

 French mode. But, Ihe smith raised sume ob- served up on Ihe table, every day, while they 

 jections to Ihe plan. It was, he said, atioul five'aie good, and whenever, in our climate they are 

 minutes' more work to fit a set of shoes; that! no longer suitable, and would prove detrimenlat 

 new shoes would be more seldom called for, ! 1" health, by interrupting the ordinary functions 

 these not being liable lo lif- worn through at I "( 'he system, nature invariably admonishes us 

 the toes; that the naiN wouid not be drawn by I of the danger, not only by lessening Ihe abun- 

 straining on a hard road, nor loo«ened l\ sink- ! dance, but also by the diseases which are reunit- 

 ing the loes against stones and runners, and | "'g from a continued use of them at impn-per 

 that, on the whole, he deemed ihe innovation ' limes. — People are governed in this enli^ihien- 

 not for the good of the trade. I P'' •^^^i '"> art and arbitrary customs, rather 



In the hope thai this item of French knowl- ">«n by (hat sage philosojihy which results irom 

 edge may be acceplalde and perhaps iiselol to I reason and experience. It is ridiculous as well 

 a portion of the American public, I ofl'er it to «« piovoking, in the estimation of those pin si- 

 Mr. Skinner for his invaluable journal, cians iiho have a conijirebensive view of the 

 CALVIN JONES. siructuie, habits, and constitution of original be- 

 Wake Forest, May 21, 1S25. Jngs. — -,ind «ho have examined the machinery 

 [We intend in a future number of the New'"'"^^" "''•' •* microscopic eye, and studied the 

 England Farmer to give a more particular des- 1 "'^j'-'-^* '" "^'ch each portion ol his beautiful 

 scriptionof the French System of shoeing hors.;''"° =""'i'''c:i<e<l fal'nc is liable, lo hear those 

 e«, together with some improvements, made on S'":"''' observations on ails and Inod, which have 

 that system bv Mr Godivin, velerinarv surgeon I "'''&'"'"^° '" '^"or.inre, and which have been 

 to George IV. and member of Ihe Royal College | Propagafed from generation to generation, wiih- 

 of Surgeons. Ed. of N. E. Far.ier ]" *'"' ^'1^^] «",'' "ilhout judgment. 



I Acid drinks and acid fruits, ihe present and 



the ensuing niooths, are the real sanalives of 

 heallh, and no prejudice should prevent their 

 use. These should not he denied to children, 



,. . , , 1 , 1 .1 . ,1. u i.i r ,1 . "her" I'leir appetite craves and their nature re- 



It IS truly wonderful that Ihe health o all i „„■ „ ,. „, .. , ■ , , , „ ., , ,■ ... 

 , ,■■^,11 I,. , ,1 qoire that, whicl) nature oidained lor Iheircon- 



classes ol peope has been so irood the past month, I ,,_, ,: „ r , i . ■ i-.u c^ ,■ 



, ' ,'. •. . ' , 'sumption. — /^G( or £)« f(i<en IS one ol ihe first laws 



when we take into consideration the calrc/nc beat I „,■ .,,•„,■ i;f„ . . ., ,i, „„ ,i .■ . 



ol animal lite ; — eat those things which were 



erate ; and heallh 



promoted, slreugili will be accumulated, 



tnd a long and comfortable life may reasonably 



From Ihe Boston .Medical InUtUgencer, 



HEALTH OF JULY. 



,, , , , ; , 1 , o> animal Die; — eai iiiose iiiii 



o Ihe atmosphere : but it demonstrates Ihe truth J de..ig„ed for food-bul be tempe 

 of our prognostications in the health report of „;„ ^,p „„„„pj^ „,^ ,, „.i„ 

 June, in which it was remarked that high tem- 



perature is not so unfavorable to health, as 

 when the weather is variable. — Although Ihe 

 sun has long been shining with intense brilliancy, 

 and ihe fields are becoming parched lor the 

 want of dews and showers, gentle breezes are 

 now beginning lo spring up — Ihe lofiy forest 

 trees are bowing in the air — the clouds are roll- 

 ing through the sky, and those who boast of be- 

 ing weatherwise, are prophesying weather 

 which will produce something like a sickness in 

 the months of autumn. 



During the month of July there has been no 

 prevailing t^'pe of fever, no particular atfections 

 of the digestive organs, either among children 

 or adults, mid comparatively but ve-ry few deaths, 

 even in Ihe dense population of our cities — ex- 

 cejiling Irom accidents, Ihe i[r])ravident use of 



be aniiripated. 



Pulnionary consumj)lion, that insidtious dis- 

 ease, which is continually siveeping frnm exist- 

 ence the fairest flowers of earth, those iniercst- 

 ing objects of our care, those sohices of man ii) 

 weal and woe — women — and often in the very 

 morning of their days, when yoiiih and beauty 

 heighlen all their innate rhaims, has oflen had 

 !m oiijrm in some false maiMgeincnl in diet. W o- 

 men of delicate consiitutions should habituate 

 themselves to a variety of edibles ; they should 

 try lo live on almost every thing which has q 

 place in cookery and suits their sioinach, and its 

 lone, however delicate, will soon acquire new 

 and \iirorous powers. Pain in the side, Ihe in- 

 varialile concomitant of 'ome irregularities in 

 the prima& vias, will oftener yield lo agenerodf 



