18G9. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



389 



many years' subscription price of the Fahmer, 

 for It lias enhanced the value of my cow in my 

 estimation thirty dollars at least. 



E. Leonard. 

 Long Plain, Mass., June 9, 1869. 



PLANT protector. 



Mr. James R. Pierce, of Worcester, who has an 

 acre of land planted with squashes, informs us 

 that he has been entirely successful for two sea- 

 sons in protecting his plants by throwing over 

 them loosely a bit of common mosquito cloth, 

 from 18 to 20 inches square, confining the corners 

 and edges by small stones, lumps of earth, &c. 

 This admits light and heat, perfectly. As the 

 plants grow he occasionally loosens the cloth, and 

 sprinkles a little plaster about the plants. As it is 

 not necessary to keep the coverings out more than 

 three or four weeks, he thinks the cloth will last 

 many years. On removing them he rinses olT the 

 dirt, dries the cloth and puts them away for an- 

 other year. 



RINGBONE ON A COLT. 



Can you or some of your subscribers inform me 

 if there is anything that can be done to help a 

 colt that has ringbones on all four of his feet ? I 

 have a yearling colt that gave promise last fall of 

 being a tine one, but sometime during the winter 

 I noticed bunches on each of his feet, and am told 

 that they are ringbones, or clingfasts. He was 

 quite lame with one of his hind feet in the winter, 

 but since he has been out to grass, and has not 

 stood on a plank floor, (which he did last winter,) 

 he is not Jame in any of his feet. Is there any 

 difference between a clingfa^t and a ringbone ? If 

 you or any of your subscribers know of anything 

 that will cure or help him, you will oblige a sub- 

 scriber by communicating it through the columns 

 of the Farmer. ' g. e. h. 



Shrewsbury , Mass., June 9, 18C9. 



Remarks. — The best horse we ever owned, we 

 lost by ringbone. It did not occur until the horse 

 was twelve years old, and was undoubtedly occa- 

 sioned by injudicious overloading. Ringbone is a 

 bony tumor, or a deposit of bony matter in one of 

 the pasterns and usual ly near the joint. It spreads, 

 includos the pastern bones, encircles the cartilages 

 of the foot, and thus gets the name of rmgbotie. 

 The disease is sometimes hereditary, but usually 

 comes from a strain, or in colts, by curveting, 

 turning suddenly or by violent galloping. The 

 methods of cure are somewhat various. In Dr. 

 Dadd's "Horse Doctor," he says: — We treat the 

 disease, when first discovered, by cooling, evapor- 

 ating lotions, cold water bandages, &c. ; rest is of 

 importance. To control inflammatory action, and 

 by that means lessen pain and irritation within or 

 around a joint, should be our first business ; from 

 this great benefit is sometimes derived. In chronic 

 cases we use acetate of cantharides, applied daily, 

 until the parts appear hot and tender; we then 

 substitute cold water bandages, and repeat the 

 process if necessary. 



•Mr. Spooner, in his Notes to Youatt's Structure 

 and Diseases of the Horse, says the best treatment 

 for ringbone is, after the inflammation has been 



in great measure removed by cooling applications 

 —to rub the part well in the iodide of mercurT/ 

 ointme^it, washing off the effects on the following 

 day, and thus repeating it again and again. 



Mayheio, in his "Illustrated Horse Doctor," re- 

 commends the use of the following: — Iodide of 

 lead one ounce, simple ointment eight ounces, — 

 mix and apply with friction. 



After all, if your colt does not recover on being 

 removed from the plank floor and running in the 

 pasture, the probablity is that it will be cheaper, 

 and afford many more chances of a cure by calling 

 in a regular practitioner, and following his pre- 

 scriptions. 



STOPPED teat of A COW — EUCKWHEAT STRAW. 



I have a valuable heifer whirh has !a*ely dropped 

 her first calf, and I find oii milking her that with 

 hard pressure I can force but the smallest possible 

 stream from one teat, while the othtrs are all right. 

 Can vou or any of your correspondents inform me- 

 how I can enlarge the orifice, as I fear I shall have 

 to make beef of her if no remedy can be found. 



What shall I do with my buckwheat straw ? I 

 have seen it stated that it is not fit to use as bed- 

 ding for cattle or hogs. 



A Farmer and Subscriber. 



Somerset, Mass,, June 21, 1869. 



Remarks. — The orifice through which the milk 

 passes is sometimes contracted by malformation, 

 or by being trodden upon. Mr. W. I. Simonds of 

 Roxbury, Vt., stated a few years ago in the Far- 

 mer that he had been successful in treating such 

 a case by working a knitting-needle into the teat, 

 in the first place, and then inserting the quill end 

 of a hen's feather after cutting off most of the 

 feather end and winding a waxed thread firmly 

 round to prevent it from slipping in too far. By 

 keeping this in a few days, except when milking, 

 the difficulty was removed. But if such measures 

 prove ineflFectual, a lancet is sometimes used. We 

 have known a suitably formed penknife used, or 

 one part of a pair of scissors after being ground 

 sharp on both edges. Take hold of the teat with 

 the fingers of the left hand, holding the narrow 

 blade with the thumb and finger of the right hand, 

 and with a quick but gentle push cut the orifice so 

 that a free stream of milk will flow out. Heifers 

 often milk hard, which afterwards become easy 

 milkers. But we can recommend the lancet only in 

 extreme cases. 



Who will answer the question about the buck- 

 wheat straw ? 



ELEMENTS OF GRAIN AND POTATOES. 



Will you please to inform me through your val- 

 uable paper how much, or how great a proportion 

 of carbonate of potassa is contained in or required 

 for every one hundred pounds of wheat, oats, corn 

 or potatoes, and oblige an old subscriber. 



Rockingham, Vt., May 24, 1869. G. c. B. 



Remarks. — Prof. Samuel W. Johnson gives very 

 full tables of the composition of agricultural plants 

 and products in his new work entitled "How 

 Crops Grow." Those who are curious in these 

 matters will find this volume interesting and in- 



