1825.] 



NfciW ENGLAND FARMER. 



83 



les'. In tho cnsoot'tlie c;itr!R. Uin slpiinuflrs re- 

 nirtiiied well, ivliile tlie farm slork sickened .nn<l 

 died. The drove iilliidod to, wa< snld to com" 

 from Sotilli Carolina, but it is iiiulpistood, that 

 CRttle IV(im North Carolina have also propagat- 

 ed sickness ;im aig stock in ihe States fiiriher 

 n >rlh, and iliat even the firm -lock in Virginia 

 have siillVred from lliem. Tiie suhject is not 

 only curious, but hishly interesting;, and it is 

 hoped that gentlemen in the States mentiont^d, 

 who h:!ve it in their (lower to <jive information 

 on the subject, will cotnrannicale it to Ihe Socie- 



T G. Fessenden, Esq. 



Ediior of Ihe A'ttc England Farmer. 



L.'^ RACH.ACA ROOT. 



^rliclioke Mills, (^.Vewbunj.) Ocl. 1, 1(225. 

 D^,vn Sir, — In pasre 53 of the prespni vol- 

 lime otvoiir New Ei'srland Farmer. I have seen 

 some notice of what is tliere called " tiie .4rra- 

 rhaca of South America,"' copied from the N.Y. 

 Evenins; Post. 



Amonsr some notes taken hy mo in Peru, on 

 the A^riciiltiire ol the province of Areqnipa, I 

 tlnd Ihe followinsr, as g^iven me by Don Jose 

 Iliirlado de Villafuorle, on a vegetable wl.ich 

 he speaks of as " La Racacha :" — 



" Shoots its leaves upright and verdant from 

 n small stem ; swells at the root, ivhich resem- 

 bles the Ynca. [a species of Yam] nlthough soft- 

 er to the taste, and very easy of digestion. Tfcre 

 fira two kinds, — white andyellow — both ii«pd in 

 the pvckerns [soups or stews] and as a sallad n ilh 

 vinngar. It can be kept longer than the Ynca, 

 or Ihe sweet pcrfTTtoe. Of the very larprtf"i»ass 

 which this vegetable forms, a great part is gen- 

 O'.'allv thrown away, — that is of the small roots 

 i have examined to see if from the=e last ! could 

 not obtain flour, and have succeeded pcifcclly. 

 in the following' manner: I had these ^mailer 

 roots scrnnei] and aflcrivards broI;en and well 

 pounded. I then poured water, and left it seve- 

 ral daj's In ferment, which it did freely, i then 

 changed the water three times, when consider- 

 ing the root snfficipnlly pnriiied, I pnt it on Ihe 

 lire, with a small qnantily of r.ngar. Il produced 

 me a rich transparent jelly, with great increase 

 of quantity, and a flavour superior to thai made 

 of flour from corn or wheat."' 



P.Iavnot this vegetable be the same spnken of 

 !inder (he name of '•'v Arracbaca," and the names 

 or leller of the name, have got transposed in 

 <-'olomIjia or Arequijia? 



Your obedient sen 't. 



SAMUEL CURSON. 



rO THE tDITOP. OF THE NEW EXGL.lSD FARMEE. 



ON RAISING ONIONS— THE SEASON, &c. 

 Siod-port, (Pu.) Sept. 30. 1825. 

 Mr Fessen'pen. — I may now return my thanks 

 to the three gentlemen, who at mv request pub- 

 lished instructions for raising Onions'* By their 

 advice and some experience of mv own, 1 have 

 succeeded beyond my expectations, and have 

 raised the best crop of Onions ever seen in this 

 part of Ihe country, some of which were 12| 

 inches in circumference, and three would weigh 



N. E. Farmer, to), iii. pages 69, 138, 249, 269. 



2 pnnndii. The dlfenveries that I Inivo made 

 are in regard to the seed. Take the largest 

 soiiiiH onions to set out for seed, and the .seed 

 will produce large ones; but if you raise seed 

 from small ones, or such as had borne seed Ihe 

 year before, that seed will produce small ones, 

 or generally scullions. 



i have tried several kinds of manure, and lind 

 ashes to be the best ; and that tiie ground should 

 be stirred amongst them in the morning bel"orc 

 sun-rise, or at all events belbre the dew is ofi'. 

 These are the hours of ciosl profit to a garden- 

 er. ■ 



I may now give some short account of my ob- 

 servations on the season and prothtce in this sec- 

 tion of the country. May and .June were line 

 E^rowing weather, particularly for trees of all 

 kinds. They were loaded luxuriantly with leaves. 

 In July and tiie beginning ol'.Vugust we had about 

 six weeks of uncommonly hot weather, lliat 

 threatened to scorch and burn things up. But 

 during the time, we liad tivo thunder showers 

 sufiicient to wet mellow ground about idoughing 

 deep. The ground was so hot, that it soon dried 

 agam. On the 201 h of August we had a heavy 

 rain, and a pleasant growing season since. 



Tiinolhij hay was never known in such heavy 

 burthens before. Hundreds of acres in our 

 conr.ly were not cut, but cattle turned on them. 

 though people had more than they wanted or 

 could have cut in proper season. 



Wheat, Rye, and Gals all very good. Indian 

 Corn may he some hurt with the drought, but 

 in general may be called a good crop. 



Early planted Potatoes very poor; late planted 

 and all kinds oi' garden sauce very good, and in 

 great plenty. 



Apples suffered most. They seemed to dry 

 or roast with the heat, on the trees, kucI the 

 greater pari fell off A few trees I had by and 

 near to water, that — like the Psalmist's tree by 

 a river — held their own :md produced to full 

 perfection. One observation I have made gen- 

 erally through the orchard, that sweet ajjples 

 withstood the heat better than sour. 



Similar remarks from dilTerent parts of the 

 Union, 1 think would be benelici.il and interest- 

 ing to your readers. SAMUEL PRESTON. 



TO THE EDITOR OF TEE NKW ENGLAND lARMER. 



BLIND STAGGERS IN SWINE. 



Worcester, Sept. 30, 1823. 

 Mr Fessenden, — Two years ago I noticed, for 

 the first time, a disease among swine resembling 

 wiiat in horses is called the ilirid staggers. Il 

 attacks them at three or four months old. The 

 first noticeable symptom is an indisposition to 

 eat. Perhaps the next day they are seen ram- 

 bling feebly round the pen with hoarse breath- 

 ing, seemingly without (lain or object. This 

 bewildered state increases until it ends in total 

 blindness. Their rambling continues and leads 

 ihem to encounter every intervening object. — 

 As the disorder advances, their locomotion is 

 arrested by a fit of shivering. After standing a 

 few seconds in this state, Ihey move in a retro- 

 grade course, until they fall backwards in con- 

 vulsion. In a few seconds more the spasms sub- 

 side and they renew their course. The disease 

 was prevalent in many parts of the town, and 

 generally fatal. 1 lost two — some farmers five 

 or sis. A pig doctor visited mine, and attempted 



n euro, IIo imputed the mnlady to Ihe closing 

 of the issues. He rulibed their legs and opened 

 Ihe old tubes and made nczi) one? willi a wire. — 

 He cutoff their ears and tails and drenched them 

 with soft soap and milk until lliey died. I no- 

 ticed as rcmnrkablp, that very little blood flow- 

 ed in Ihe operation by the knife. 



Three weeks ago I had another pig taken in 

 the same manner, ivith a succession of the above 

 desciibed syniptrms ; when informed of tlie case, 

 the only question with me was, whether to have 

 i! immediately put out of misery, or leave it to 

 meet a certain lingerjng death ; but on my man's 

 confident nF-;ura;ii:e that he could cure it, I con- 

 signed liie patient to his care. Upon his stating 

 that bleeding was necessary, and that a sufficient 

 quantilv of blood could not easily be obtained 

 frotn his ears or tail, I intended to open a vein 

 in his neck, but not liaving been called in con- 

 !-iiltalion in season, this mellind was not tried, 

 Tlic usual subslituis had been adopted. Kis 

 tail (vas severed close to his body, his large pen- 

 dant cars were cut to the I'ashiouofa svv'allow's 

 tail, halfway to his head ; and for the remain- 

 ing distance, slit into shreds. A cut to tiie bone 

 from between his eyes to the nape of the neck, 

 completed Ihe skilful operation ! It was indeed 

 a " gashful sight"' to behold my poor pig ! There 

 happened to he blood enough in the mangled 

 fiarls, and it flovved freely. The next process 

 waste force half a pint of yeast down his throat. 

 After Ihe wounds had bled sufficiently, they were 

 covered with fine salt. He was fed sparingly 

 lor a fiiw days through the tube of a watering 

 [int, with rye meal and water, and occasionally 

 with milk. He is now as healthy as the rest of 

 my pigs, but most sadly deformed. 



From the symptoms of the disease there was 

 evidint inllammation or lurgesscence of the 

 brain. " In either case bleeding was essential. — 

 For this purpose an opening in the jugular vein 

 would have been at least as effectual, without 

 the torture of such extensive laceration. The 

 mild cathartic was judicious — and probably a 

 scarification of Ihe head stimulated with salt 

 would be beneficial. In my inquiries relating to 

 this formidable malady, I have been informed 

 that deep cuts in the neck filled with salt, have 

 been thought by some who have tried it, to be 

 an effectual remedy. 



Fcespeclfully your.«, O. FISKE. 



Remarks by the Editor. — In the 3d volume of 

 the New England Farmer, page 396, is an arti- 

 cle which contains some information on this 

 subject. The remedies for the blind staggers 

 there pointed out, are to cut a " bare knob," — 

 which appears in the roof of the mouth and let 

 it bleed, and " rub it with the powder of loam 

 and salt, and then give him a little nrine ;" or 

 give the patient " two table spoonfuls of castor 

 oil, and cut the end of the tail to make it bleed." 

 The disorder is attributed to plethora and cos.^ 

 tiveness, and bleeding and purging would seem 

 to be the remedies, according' !o those diagnoS' 

 tics. 



Roses- — Messrs. Lodiliges, of London, have 

 1500 different sorts of roses growing in one v»ind« 

 ing row. — The southern hemisphere does not 

 produce a single rose.. 



