vol.. \VI. \(». 43. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



331 



(From tho Tr^insactions of the Essex Ajricultural Society.) 



WHKAT. 



Wlioat, in this country, is ti.stially nn uncertain 

 :rop, Init this season it has heen, generally, litlhs 

 letter than a failure. To point out tlie causes, 

 md a r.Muedy for this tincertaiiuy, is a suhjeet of 

 iuflicient iniportanee to merit the attention of our 

 Jest scientific aj;ricMilturalists, and will i.ot ninv ho 

 ittempled. A few sufjfjesiions, however, will not, 

 jerhaps, he deemed irii|iertinent. 



]t Is well known that much of the land in the 

 ong setlle<l parts of New England which is now 

 :onsidered iinsiiilahle for wheat, has become so 

 jnder the exhausting system of cultivation which 

 ins heen pursued. Once, wheat was a profitable 

 uid tolerably sure crop, as it is now in similar 

 loils and climate where the same system either 

 ins not been adopted, or has not been in progress 

 ong enough to produce its mischievous effects. If 

 t he asked, what is there so injurious in the sys- 

 em of cultivation under which our soil has so 

 freatly deteriorated, it is replied that among other 

 hings, one of its most prominent feiitures will be 

 blind to be o>i almost entire neglect of the princi- 

 }les of rotation, or even of alternation of crops. — 

 Iloniinual (rrops of either wheat, corn, oats, rye or 

 ;rass, constituted tlieseries; for potatoes are coni- 

 laratively a new article, at least to any extent. — 

 jirass for mowing, is generally allowed to stand 

 intil the seeds are forine<l,and in many instances, 

 o become nearly rijie before it is cut. Now tin- 

 ier this manageaient, there is very little aWcrnah'on 

 ;VPr. These plants are all culmiferons, and all, 

 vith the exception of grass, farinaceous, as they 

 re all suffered to produce seed, tend to exhaust 

 he soil of nearly the same quality, and that with- 

 'iif any alleviation. 



With respect to a remedy for the evil, it is re- 

 narked, that the application of large quantities of 

 niinal manure, though it would very much in- 

 rease the fertility of the soil generally, yet if ap- 

 ilied directly to a crop of wheat, would be found 

 li be positively injurious. And further, on soil 

 vhicli is much enriched iu this way, wheat is con- 

 ideied lo lie exceedingly liable to rust or blight, 

 knd too, <iiir resources for thus enriching the soil 

 re too small to jiractise it universally. 



The application of liine in large quantities would 

 irobably enable us to raise wheat; but this, on 

 he other hand, would tend very fast to reduce 

 he fertility of the soil yet further, except sustained 

 ly the use of large quantities of other manure ; 

 or on our light soil, the vegetable matter, on 

 I'hich the lime acts, ami which it converts into 

 mmediate nourishment, is already too small, an<l 

 leeds to bo increased. 



Jf this view of the sul ject be correct, instead of 

 axing our ingenuity for the purpose of devising 

 ^ays to olitain large crops of grain for the pui-jjose 

 f sale or for feeding animals, we sliouH intro- 

 uce without any further delay, a judicious sys- 

 em of altei nation of crops, embracing roofs and 

 eguminous plants ; and thus by gradually enricli- 

 iig the soil, without exhausting it of one specific 

 [ualiiy, we shall, perhaps, sooner than in any 

 ither manner, restore our worn out soil to its orig- 

 iial fertility. 



Let us for a moment imagine that instead of 

 lie system complained of, potatoes, ruta baga, 

 nangel wurtzol, carrots, &c. had been raised in 

 luantities sufficient (with some grain, perhaps,) to 

 iitten all the cattle that have been fattened on 



grain exclusively — that clover, lucerRe, &c., had 

 been judiciously, altfrniited with the grasses, and 

 that the immense quantities of manure which 

 would then have been (uriiished hud heen prop- 

 erly atiplied — and can it be supjiosed that our soil 

 vvoiilJ then have been in its present destitute con- 

 ililion ? It is not asserted that under such man- 

 agement our soil would at this lime be what is 

 calleil a good wheat soil, though it is believed that 

 it would have been at least capable of producing a 

 good crop of wheat, and with tolerable certainty. 

 And with respect toother grain, no one will doubt 

 that the same quantity which is now raised, might 

 in the case supposed, be raised on one half or even 

 one third of the land which is now requisite to 

 produce it. 



The diseases to which grain, particularly wheat, 

 is subject, are smut, and rust or blight. In addi- 

 tion to these, there has recently appeared an insect 

 which threatens to lie destructive, but of this we 

 are yet comparatively ignorant. 



The smut, whether a disease or an nnimalculfe, 

 is found to be propagated witli the seed, and may 

 be entirely destroyed by the application of new 

 ashes, or caustic lime, to the seed. 



There are some statements made upon good 

 authority, with respect to a species of wheat (Si- 

 berian,) which indicate that, like a species of oats 

 now common among us, it is not liable to rust. — 

 If upon further trial this should be found to he a 

 fact, it ivill be a very important one. One of your 

 committee was assured, upon the authority of Mr 

 Colman, that a rope drawn over a field of stand- 

 ing wheat several successive mornings, at a time 

 when wheat was rusting, particularly after cold 

 foggy nights, removed or prevented tlie rust, so 

 that a large crop of plump, heavy wheat was ob- 

 tained, while an adjoining piece, exactly similarly 

 situated in every respect, but over which the rope 

 was not drawn, was rendered worthless by the 

 rust. This, if confirmed, (and every one can try 

 an experiment so simple,) will be an important 

 fact, and equally applicatile to other grain besides 

 wheat. Respectfully submitted, 



JOHN KHELY. 



December, 1837. 



We thank our friend in Connecticut, who has 

 done us the tavor to furnish us with the following 

 communication. We have ourselves suffered se- 

 verely from the disease for which this communi- 

 cation proposes a remedy, liaving raised from some 

 of the best stock in the country a colt, whose value 

 was greatly reduced by this aflTeclioii. How far it 

 would be witliiii the com|>etency of farmers in 

 general to apply the remedy here prescribed is 

 qiiestiortable ; liut we do wish that the veterinary 

 art was better understood among us ; and that 

 there were competent and qualified persons to 

 treat the diseases of our domestic animals. At 

 present they are, when sick, the un|)itied victims 

 of the titost deplorable quackery ; a quackery re- 

 sulting from an ignorance e(iualled in many cases 

 only by its cruelty. We think, if some of our 

 practitioners of medic ine in the country would 

 connect with their practice and study a good 

 knowledge of the diseases of domestic animals, it 

 would be a source of considerable profit ; and 



highly respectable, if for no other grounds, on tho 

 >iCore of general humanity in the preservation of 

 valuable life and the alleviation of great suffering. 



(Forlhe N. E. Farmer.) 



RING BONE IN HORSES. 



Mr EniTOR — Are we not individually called 

 upon, when we become accpiainti'd with any facts, 

 which, by a more extended diffusion, will pr'unote 

 the interest and welfare of tfiose around us, to 

 make known the same to the public. 



Feeling this to be a duty, I would direct the 

 attention of all gentlemen who are raising horses 

 to that distressing complaint called ring-bone. 



liaving in the early part of life, paid considera- 

 ble uttenlion to raising horses, but finding lliein 

 subject to so many complaints, anil e.s|>ecially that 

 of the ring-bone, I was much discouraged in the 

 enterprise, and was led to ascertain if |0ssihle the 

 cause of the complaint and if any remedy could be 

 found. From the information that I could obtain 

 from diflJerent authors on the subject, and from 

 my own experimental knowledge of the complaint, 

 I was led to conclude that there were various 

 causes for the complaint; that colts which are 

 kept confini;d in a stable and the floor cleaned off 

 daily, are more liable to be affected with it than 

 those that are kept on the ground or on floors well 

 littered. Low keeping by weakening the joints 

 has a tendency to produce them. In young hor- 

 ses they lire generally occasioned by sprains which 

 are made by being rode or drove too hard — by 

 running in the pasture or leaping fences. 



After hearing the above statement as to the 

 causes, the reader may with propriety inquire, 

 what composes the ring-bone, and from whence 

 it originates. 



In answer to this inquiry,! have found It to be 

 composed of the Cynovia or juices of the ankle 

 or fetlock joint, which, by some of the foreinen- 

 tioned causes, is made to flow or leak from the 

 joint; and is at first conveyed into a small sack 

 in the back part of th^ fetlock joint ; from thence 

 it is conveyed by two' small tubes to each side of 

 the foot where it gratlually forms the callous or 

 ring-bone. 



For the last thirty years, I have been in the 

 habit of performing an operation which prevents 

 the ring-bone from increasing in size, and if not 

 lame previous to the operation the animal never 

 after becomes lame in consequence of the ring- 

 bone ; but if lame previous to the ojieration, a 

 period from one to twelve months is required for 

 the recovery, much depending on the time which 

 the animal has been lame. 



Tlie ope'iation \a pei formed in the following 

 manner. I first shear ofi^ the fetlock, then make 

 an incision through the skin and extract the sack 

 above mentioned, at the same time taking care to 

 destroy the communication from the joint to the 

 ring-bone, by cutting oflT the tubes or conveyers 

 from the joint to the ring-bone. 



If the aforesaid operation is performed skill- 

 fully, the horse is as fit for use in one week as 

 before. 



ZECHARIAH CONE. 



Hebron, Conn., April 2, 1838. 



Mr Amos Harrington of Weston, lias this sea- 

 son killed a pig, eleven months and twenty days 

 old, which weighed when dressed, 474 pounds. — 

 Concord Freeman. 



