156 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



the ground, on their descent into it, for annually 

 increasing harvests. They are now evidently gath- 

 ering in greater numbers ; and, unless a timely 

 check be put to their further increase by natural 

 or artificial means, they will continue to multiply 

 and spread desolation in the same places that their 

 former generations have laid waste. 



T. W. Harris. 

 Cambridge, March 15, 1852. 



LOOK OUT FOR YOUR HORSES. 



One of the exceedingly troublesome diseases to 

 which horses are liable is the "Grease," or better 

 known among us as "Scratches." It is an in- 

 flamed state of the space between the fetlock and 

 the coronet of the hoof. In a healthy state no 

 velvet can be more soft to the hand than this, and 

 with this softness it has an oily touch, which one 

 would scarcely look for in a part so much exposed 

 to dust and dirt. The disease sometimes attacks 

 all the feet, but the heels of the hind feet more 

 frequently. After inflammation has existed a short 

 time the skin becomes dry and cracks, and soon 

 the part is raw and very tender. 



The cause of the disease is undoubtedly the 

 want of proper attention. The horse is driven 

 through the cold mud, and perhaps is left stand- 

 ing in it for two or three hours during the day, 

 and then returned to the stable with a portion of 

 it adhering to his heels. This absorbs the pecu- 

 liar oil that is upon the surface and perhaps checks 

 its secretion, until dryness and cracking of the 

 skin takes place. The best way, then, is to pre- 

 vent the disease by proper care. Whenever the an- 

 imal is returned to the stable during muddy trav- 

 elling, the legs should be thoroughly cleaned, and 

 briskly rubbed for a minute or two, and the pas- 

 tern washed and wiped dry. But if the disease 

 is there, washing, and the application of soft oil 

 or grease, will soon effect a cure. Horses that are 

 passing through the barn yard frequently, will 

 be likely to contract the disease. If the scratches 

 extend up the legs, or are very bad on the heels, 

 wash with eastile soap and warm water. 



Foul in the foot of neat cattle is occasioned by 

 exposure to the strong substances through which 

 they pass in the barn-yard, or standing in them 

 and in the cold mud while loading manure. A 

 careful farmer will wash their feet on returning 

 them to the leanto for the night. Scratches are 

 soinetimes caused by allowing the horse to stand 

 where the urine, manure and other dirt, is allowed 

 to gather under his feet. 



Venison. — Moose and Deer meat have been abun- 

 dant in this market through the winter. An old 

 patriarch Moose of the forest laid ignobly in the 

 dust before our door the other day, with widely- 

 braneliin^ antlers and prodigious lips. We thought 

 he would weigh ten hundred pounds. Yesterday 

 al rge w gon load f fine deer was in South 



Market Street. We hope the hunters will not ex- 

 terminate the race in the forests of Maine. It is 

 a lubberly business to shoot or knock down a deer 

 wallowing neck deep in the snow ; but to lie in 

 wait on the sunny slopes of Virginia, and after 

 some hours, perhaps, of intense expectation, see 

 the noble buck springing down the vale, send the 

 fatal bullet through his heart, witness the bound 

 into the air and the last plunge to the earth, is an- 

 other sort of hunting altogether. 



For the Neiv England Farmer. 

 PLOWING. 



BY R. B. HUBBARD. 



How oft should the earth be disturbed by the 

 plow 1 This is a question of much practical im- 

 portance to the farmer. Plowing is an expensive 

 operation, and unless beneficial, should be avoided 

 as far as possible. 



Hesiod, a contemporary of Homer, states that 

 the Greek farmers plowed their ground three times 

 for each crop. First in autumn, then in early 

 spring, then just before planting. 



With the Romans it seems to have been a com- 

 mon if not invariable practice, to plow twice for 

 each crop. 



In modern times, the fallowing of ground for 

 winter grain is a common practice, both in Europe 

 and America. Now what is the object of this fal- 

 lowing, as it is termed ? If it be simply to pulver- 

 ize the soil and render it pliable, that might better 

 be accomplished by plowing once and harrowing. 

 This is not the object, — certainly not the sole, nor 

 the principal object. 'Tis to convert whatever veg- 

 etable matter may have grown from the soil into 

 nutriment for the new crop. Farmers often speak 

 of letting land rest, as though, like an animal, it 

 would regain strength by repose. 



This I deem to be incorrect. Take a quantity 

 of earth and place it under an exhausted receiver, 

 and there suffer it to remain a century. It will 

 contain no more strength, no more fertilizing prop- 

 erties, than before. But allow it to be exposed to 

 the atmosphere for one day, and it will gain 

 strength. 



That the air is the principal source of fertility 

 can easily be shown. Allow a piece of ground, 

 which has become so exhausted that it will not 

 pay for cultivation, to remain at rest, for some 

 thirty years, and what do you find upon it? From 

 thirty to fifty cords of vegetable matter, besides the 

 stumps and roots with which the earth is filled. 

 And this is not all. Upon removing the wood it 

 will be found that the soil has become rich with 

 fertilizing matter, and that for a number of years 

 it will produce large crops of grain and grass with- 

 out manure. Whence comes this fertility'! From 

 what source has this exhausted soil derived the 

 materials for such crops'? 



Let us subject the product to the test of fire. 

 The wood is consumed and there remains but the 

 ashes. As I have before remarked, less than one- 

 tenth of the material of which the wood was com- 

 posed remains. The other nine-tenths have as- 

 sumed a gaseous form, and have mingled with the 

 atmosphere, to be wafted to other fields and to en- 

 ter into the composition of other vegetable matter. 

 The ashes which remain am earthy matters, in 



