Vol. IV. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



381 



venience is effectnUly guarded against. To ac- : 

 coniplish tlu3 desir^ble purpose, the windows 

 should be in different sides, so that when a cold ' 

 wind blows from any point, it may be shut out, I 

 while fresli air is admitted by the opposite window. 

 There should be several of the apertures wc have | 

 described in the ceiling, that they may be occa- ] 

 sionally shut, eitaer wholly or parti;illy, so that, ' 

 by means of these and the windows, the tempera- 

 lure can at any Beaton be easily regulated, ac- , 

 cording to the' wei'ther, or state tof the horse's 

 health, more accur;,tely if a thermometer be kept, 

 — an instrument whioli appears to be a necessary 

 appendage to a well-conuucted stable. If, during i 

 the cold days of winter, the contrivance we have \ 

 proposed should be fouud insufficient to raise the i 

 temperature of the stable to the desired point, the i 

 air may be easily warmed to any degree by means j 

 T)f stoves placed on the outside, with iron chim- : 

 neys passing tiirough tlie stable. It may be pla- | 

 ced in the saddleroom : this, however, is scarcely 

 necessary. 



Light is also a tl:ing of much importance in tlie 

 construction of a stable ; and, for tlie purpose of 

 admitting it rea-lily to every part, the windows 

 should be large, properly placed. 



There is no doubt that the eyes of horses are 

 often injured by dark stables ; and when a horse 

 is just taken from a dark situation, it is easy to 

 perceive that light at first irritates the eye, and 

 gives piin ; and this is more remarkable when he 

 is brought suddenly into the sunshine ; nor is it 

 to be wondered at, that so delicate an organ as 

 the eye should suffer materially from the frequent 

 repetition of this sudden change. 



Though a light stable is desirable, the supshino 

 should not be allowed to fall on the eyes of a 

 horse as h^ stands in his stall ; nor should the 

 walls or ceiling be of a white colour, as, under 

 such circumstances, the eyes would be over .stimu- 

 lated and rendered weak'; and when it i.s consid- 

 ered how liable horses are to diseases of these 

 organs, and Iiow frequently they terminate- in 

 blindness, no one will think any circumstance 

 tending to their preservation too trifling to be 

 ' noticed. With regard to the best colour for the 

 walls and ceiling, a stone or dove colour is per- 

 haps to be preferred, and may be made by Boi.xing 

 a little lamp-black, ivory black, or blue-black, 

 with the common white-wash. 



The door should be larger and higher than we 

 usually see it; for horses are very liable, in pass- 

 ing through a narrow or low one, to strike their 

 hips or heads. I have seen some troublesome ac- 

 cidents happen in this way ; besides, even if the 

 hair '»e struck off about the hips, it is thought a 

 blemish, because it may not grow again ; or, if it 

 do grow, the hair may be white. 



In fitting up the interior of a stable, particular 

 attention must be paid to the size of the stalls, 

 wliich should not be less than six feet wide, and 

 the sides sufficiently high to prevent any sort of 

 contact or communication between the horses. I 

 know it will be urged as an argument against this, 

 that they are sociable animals, and thrive better 

 with a companion than when alone ; this is cer- 

 tainly true : but on the other hand, I am convin- 

 ced, from long observation, that horses do not 

 feel themselves in solitude, when they are thus 

 prevented from touching or playing with their 

 neighbours ; besides if we consider the numerous 

 accidents that happen from low stalls, how fre- 

 quently they kick or bite, and otherwise injure 

 eaijh other, there can be no doubt, I tliiuk, of the 

 superior advantage of high staljs. 



Tlie stalls should also be of considerable depth, 

 that a horse may not, by drawing back, have the 

 power of kicking those in the adjoining stalls. 

 (To be conlinutd.) 



WASHING SALLADS. 

 In the first number of the "Gardener's Maga- 

 zine," conducted by Mr Loudon, and just publish- 

 ed, is a paper on tlie best modes of washing water 

 cresses and other sallads, so as to free them from 

 the larviB of insects and worms. The method is 

 very simple, and consists in merely placing the 

 sallaa in salt water or sea water, for three or four 

 minutes, which is sufficient to kill and bring out 

 tlie worms ; after whicli the vegetables are wash- 

 ed in fresh water in the usual way. This informa- 

 tion is brought out in the proper time, just after 

 the sallad season commences, and as all sallads are 

 subject to insects and many of them inconceivably 

 small, tlie hint, as a matter of cleanliness, is wor- 

 thy of attention. [N. Y. E. Post.1 



SILK WORMS. 



The exhibition of Silk Worms, at the Masonic 

 Hall, Philadelphia, has commenced, and is well 

 wortliy the attention of the curious. The whole 

 number of worms is about six thousand, employed 

 in the different operations of feeding on the mul- 

 berry leaf, spinning the tliread, &c. The eggs of 

 the insect, the chrysalis, and great numbers of co- 

 coons, are also exhibited. The profits of the exhi- 

 bition belong to the Widows' Asylum. [Pliil. Gaz.] 



MR. WATSON'S SHEEP-SHEARING. 



Henry Watson, Esq. of East Windsor, invited 

 his frieiuls to be present at the finishing of his 

 sheep-shearing, , on Wednesday last. A large 

 number of agricultural gentlemen from Massachu- 

 setts had the pleasure of seeing and e.xaniining as 

 good sheep, as good stock, as good a dinner as 

 good wine, and in short as good rural management, 

 as tliey could wish. Tlie farming interest in this 

 county is taken hold of by gentlemen of wealth, 

 '.eal and experience, and at Mr Watson's table 

 there was an array of some of the most intelligent 

 landliolders to be found in New-England. We 

 cannot now insert the particulars nor even the 

 toasts. [Con. Mirror.] 



TO FARMERS. 



It may not be generally known that the beetle, 

 which frequently commits serious ravages on fruit 

 trees, may he effectually extirpated by shaking 

 them from tlie trees every evening. By pursuing 

 this course for a few days they will entirely dis- 

 appear. Being a heavy insect tucy never wander 

 far, so that there is but little danger of being 

 troubled from the neighboring stocks. We have 

 the above facts from a scientific and practical ag- 

 riculturalist, who says that two pailsful of beetles 

 were collected on the first experiment ; and that 

 afterwards the number regularly decreased until 

 the fifth day, when only two beetles were to be 

 found. The experiment was made two weeks ago, 

 and saice that time they have entirely disappeared. 



[N. Y. E. Post.] 



RECLAIMED MARSHES. 



Occupations of a different nature from the sub- 

 ject of my last paper have prevented me from con- 

 I tinning my remarks on Reclaimed Marshes, to this 

 I period. The delay however, is no cause of regret, 

 as it has given me an opportunity of testing my 

 opinions, by comparing Ihem with those of men 

 whose interest is more nearly allied to the subject, 



than my own. Tlic result has been to corroborate 

 my assertions, and confirm the conviction that the 

 object proposed is of great importance, and de- 

 mands immediate attention. 



It is to be hoped that the improvements in phys- 

 ical science and practical knowledge, which char- 

 acterize our age, have in some measure destroyed 

 that tenaciousne.« of preconceived opinions, which 

 has so long prevented those advanced in life from 

 adopting new views and enlarged ideas ; — that a 

 thing is reasonable, ouglit to be a sufficient induce- 

 ment for them to listen ; and if practicable, ought 

 certainly to ensure an experiment, when the ob- 

 ject to be attended is desirable. A willingness to 

 believe has been very evident on the present sub- 

 ject, and some of those whose years must prevent 

 expectation of individ|Ual advantage, are become 

 strong advocates for the measure, and others, 

 whose local situation allows them to participate in 

 tbe improvement, arc at this moment diligently 

 employed in carrying it into effect; and generally, 

 those interested in the success of the system are 

 anxious to pursue it on an extensive plan. It is 

 tlicrefore with more pleasure that I proceed to 

 consider the method wliich will allow every pro- 

 prietor to reclaim his share of the Marshes, not- 

 withstanding its situation often prevents the possi- 

 bility «f approaching it without trespassing on his 

 neighbour. 



Those tracts in the southern section of the 

 towns of Dartmouth and Westport, are divided in- 

 to lots of one and two to twenty acres, and the 

 property of eacii holder is only designated by a 

 few stakes, showing its extreme boundaries ; and 

 a few acres, with no other landmarks than these 

 are often situated in the middle of a tract of seve- 

 ral hundreds ; of course every owner is subject to 

 the opinion and will of every otlier, as to the time 

 of cutting his grass ; for thougli he has an un- 

 doubted riglit to the product of his own soil, it 

 would be an infraction of tlie rights of others 

 should he make tlieir moiving-lands a highway, at 

 a period when they were unwilling to join in the 

 general liarvest. In point of fact, then, the pro- 

 prietors individually, have no more choice in the 

 manneT of managing their property than they will 

 have, should they adopt the plan I propose for 

 bringing the land into a state of cidtivation ; and 

 wliat now devolves on all, might as well be attend- 

 ed to by one. 



Let the proprietors of the marshes join in the 

 work of reclaiming them ; each resigning his title 

 to his individual lot, and all form themselves into 

 a joint stock company. I am aware that here, at 

 first view, will appear a cause for the clashing of 

 interests — and some might be as unwilling to ex- 

 change a freehold for a share, as a Worcester 

 Yeoman would be to exchange his farm for anoth- 

 er on the extremity of Cape Cod. And were th^ 

 marshes to remain in their present state, there 

 would be about as much reason ; but the work of 

 art would destroy the inequality, and make all the 

 gainers. 



The difference in value between a lot bordering 

 on the upland, where the stratum of alluvial soil is 

 thin and sandy, and one near tlie centre of the 

 marsh, where the soil is deqp, and the overflowing 

 of the sea certain and periodical, is no doubt great 

 (allowing for the sake of argument, that they pos- 

 sess any value at all,) for in the one case, the crop 

 is abundant ivnd regular, in the other altogether 

 accidental ; dependence being as mi*h placed on 

 rain for the growth of the grass, as where the saU 

 water never flows. 



