202 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



under any cirnumsfances'? and if so, what is an 

 antidote 1 We are in the habit of growing peas 

 with our corn liir the purpose of" sustaining our 

 young hags through the lall and winter, and lor 

 the further purpose of enriching the soil. The 

 pea is the most certain and prompt restorer of 

 worn soils we have ever tried. If we have to 

 abandon the pea for its bad effects on hogs, we 

 shaji be in a had condition. The hogs that died 

 here this fall had none of the common diseases 

 of swine — they continued to decline — refused to 

 eat, and died without any uncommon symptoms — 

 none ever recovered ih^t were noticed to decline. 

 They were taken off the peas and led liberally 

 with corn smeared with tar and sulriliur, and the 

 disease was arrested. The season had been very 

 wet and something maj?^ have grown out of that 

 fact. The three common diseases of swine are, 

 brealtinj; down in the loins, staggers and thumps. 

 I will give iny experience on these diseases. I 

 am inclined to think that the disease of the loins 

 is of two grades or kinds ; 1st, where the hog is 

 without motion from the loin back. 2d, where 

 (hey have motion in the hind legs but cannot rise. 

 Whether the affection proceeds from the same 

 cause, and one a mild and the otlier an aggra- 

 vated case, I cannot tell ; but it is true, that in 

 cases where there is no motion in the hind legs 

 they always die. But in the second case, most 

 all may be raised, by plucking out the hair on the 

 Joins and making an incision near the spine, 

 and rub it well with tar and feed on slops, with a 

 good portion of red pepper — [ have raised and 

 fattened many. If I do not mistake the Ken- 

 lucky Farmer, or Southern Cultivator, asserts 

 that ihis disease of the spine is incurable. The 

 staggers is a disease of the head I think — the 

 tendency is to turn round and round till the hog 

 falls on a particular side, and it is difficult to make 

 them lay on the other side. Bleed by cutting the 

 tail and ears — they will generally recover, but 

 will never distinguish the direction of sound so 

 well afterwards, if they have been badly afflict- 

 ed. 



Thumps. — 1 have never noticed this disease in 

 hogs of much size. It generally attacks shoats 

 that have been badly raised, and generally proves 

 fatal. Cotton seed, straw and dust, I think, create 

 this disease— though I had a shoat that was fat, 

 had never seen cotton seed and had slept in the 

 woods, where there was no dust, that died wiih 

 this disease last fall. G. L. Cockrix.l. 



ESSAY ON CALCAREOUS EARTH, AND RE- 

 MARKS ON QUICK-LIME AS AN INDIRECT 

 MANURE.* 



By William B. Smith, M. D. 



Delivered before the Cumberland Agricultural Society, 

 Nov. 13th, 1840 ; and communicated for the Farm- 

 ers' Register, by order of the society. 



Many modern philosophers are inclined to the 

 belief, that all the calcareous earth on this globe 

 is of animal origin. But such an opinion cannot 



* Lest our silence should be misconstrued into as- 

 sent, it is proper for us to say generally, that we do 



be supported, for this plain reason : that if lime 

 is a primitive elementary sul'Stance, it must 

 have existed before animals could have 'been 

 furnished with it. Lime in all probability is co- 

 eval with this earth, and has undergone solution, 

 precipitation and crysialization ; and it has also 

 entered largely into the structure and composition 

 of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. 



Chaptal says, "the fbrinaiion of lime-stone 

 appears to us to be l()r the most part, owing to 

 the wearing down of shells. The identity of the 

 constituent principles of shells and calcareous 

 stones, and the presence of these same shells, 

 more or less altered, in the lime-sione mountains, 

 authorize us to conclude that a great part at least 

 of the calcareous mass of our globe owes its 

 origin to this cause only. "Again'" he says, "it 

 may easily be conceived that these shells, when 

 carried along by currents of water, must strike to- 

 gether, and wear their respective surfaces; and 

 that their pulverulent remains, after being long 

 carried about and suspended by the waters, must 

 at last subside, and form heaps or banks of shells, 

 more or less altered according to circumstances." 



Lime changes vegetable blues to green^ and 

 combines with all the acids ; it also combines 

 with sulphur, sulphuretted hydrogen and phos- 

 phorus, and is very abundant in the mineral 

 kingdom, forming the basis of animal bones 

 and shells." 



The earthy part of animals la chiefly, if not 

 altogether, calcareous ; in most cases it is united 

 with phosphoric acid, but frequently with the car- 

 bonic. 



The calcareous spars, lime-stone, stalactites, 

 marble, alabaster, chalk and marl, consist chiefly 

 of lime. This eanh is pretty generally diffused, 

 more or less, over the whole surface of the globe ; 

 but we will direct our attention principally to 

 quick or caustic lime, most commonly found \\n 

 strata combined with the carbonic acid ; and is 

 obtained by exposing the carbonate of lime to a 

 high degree of heat, which drives off the car- 

 bonic acid in a slate of gas. In this condition it 

 is brought to market, to be employed in medicine, 

 the arts and husbandry. 



To obtain lime in the greatest degree of purity, 

 pounded chalk is boiled in pure water, and dissol- 

 ved in aceious acid (vinegar) and precipitated 

 with volatile alkali; this precipitate, when well 

 washed, is pure lime, soluble in six hundred limes 

 its weight of water. It has a penetrating, burn- 

 ing, acrid taste, unites readily wiih water, falls 

 into powder, increases in bulk, evolving at the 

 same time heat and phosphoric light. Acids rea- 



not concur with Dr. Smith in some of the views 

 presented in his essay, in regard to the action of 

 quick-lime, and compounds of lime in soils. We do 

 not usually feel called upon thus to express dissent 

 from the opinions of correspondents, and there is still 

 the less need of doing so in regard to papers which are 

 parts of the transactions of societies, and ordered as 

 such to be published. Still, as the subject of calca- 

 reous soils and manures has heretofore engaged so 

 much of our attention, it seems proper to make, by this 

 note, an exception to a general rule— and we trust that 

 it will not be deemed either indecorous or disrespect- 

 ful.— Ed. F. R. 



