1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



515 



any way, and he put it in the barn as usual, 

 for feeding. As the hay was fed to this mare, 

 he noticed after awhile that something was 

 the matter with her. She appeared weak, 

 staggered when taken from the stable, and I 

 recollect that while attempting to harness her 

 she came near falling down several times. 

 We considered it quite a serious matter, but 

 could not at first account for it. Her feed 

 was changed, and she soon recovered ; but 

 upon putting her on the same feed, a recur- 

 rence cf the same symptoms and effects took 

 place. This horse was kept up to hay princi- 

 pally through the season, and the worst effects 

 were noticed in warm weather. On inquiry 

 among neighbors, we became convinced that 

 it was owing to eating this weed. A near 

 neighbor had hay of the same quality, which 

 he fed to his horse without any ill effects, but 

 it was found that his horse rejected the weed 

 entirely, picking or.t the hay and leaving the 

 weed among the orts. I have known but few 

 ins'tances where I supposed horses were in- 

 jured by this weed, or where they rejected it 

 entirely, although I have k iov7n such hay fed, 

 with suspicion, ever since the above date. 



The Horse-tails are what botanists term 

 cryptogamous, or flowerless plants; having no 

 true flowers, with stamens and pistils, but pro- 

 ducing and multiplying their kind instead, by 

 means of spores. This species presents two 

 forms, which ordinary observers would decide 

 as being two distinct varieties or species. 

 One of these forms are simple stems, hollow, 

 grooved, of a light brown color, and have at 

 each joint or node, a sort of sheath of a 

 darker color, and rises from the ground early in 

 May, usually. On the top of these stems is a 

 head, shaped somewhat like a pine cone, made 

 up of scales similarly, which, like the pine 

 cones, bears its spores on their inner surface. 

 These spores are very curious, as observed 

 under a microscope, and present a very inter- 

 esting study, as they are quite sensitive to 

 outside influences. These stems shed their 

 spores when perfected, and afterwards the 

 barren plants appear, growing six to twelve 

 inches high. It is these which we gather in 

 our hay, principally, and are too well known 

 to need description. 



Gray, in his Manual, says it is natural to 

 damp grounds ; but in this vicinity it is found 

 the most flourishing near the high banks of 

 the river, where the soil is the dryest in the 

 meadow. 



Another remarkable fact connected with 

 feeding this weed by my father, was, that at 

 the usual time of sowing soft turnips, the fall 

 following, he applied th^ horse- manure made 

 from feeding this hay, to a square patch in 

 the houie-lot, on the whole of which the horse- 

 tail came in thick, and although the ground 

 has been cultivated with a view to its exter- 

 mination, it remains about as thick as at first. 

 The soil is a light sandy loam, with a yellow 

 porous subsoil, and is dry upland. 



Although this weed has been fed many 

 years since, I do not recollect of its affecting 

 any other animal, nor have I known of any 

 other instance where it has been brought in 

 by the application of the manure made from 

 animals fed on the horse tail. Perhaps it may 

 be owing to its not being applied till it had 

 passed a fermentation. \V. H. White. 



So. Windsor, Conn., Sept. 6, 1869. 



For the New Engla^i Farmer. 

 DEEPER OR BETTER PLOUGHINQ. 



As the time has come for the diplay of the 

 skill of our ploughmen at our annual Fairs, 

 and as the subject of ploughing is always in 

 ord T in agricu-ltural fsapers, permit me, by 

 way of introduction to a few remarks, to call 

 the attention of your readers to an article 

 published in the weekly Farmer of July 31, 

 by P. C. Thayer, in regard to deep ploughing, 

 and ask them to weigh well the questions he 

 has put in relation to his turning six or eight 

 inches of yellow, or "free soil," as he calls it, 

 to the top. 



Now, Mr. Editor and brother farmers, I am 

 going to give you a few of my ideas about it, 

 and ask a few questions at the same time. In 

 the first place, he says he heard Horace Greeley 

 say an acre of soil one foot deep would produce 

 as much as two acres six inches deep, and an 

 acre two feet deep would produce as much as 

 four acres six inches deep. When we go to 

 Fairs and hear men give us a lecture upon 

 farming, we ought to take heed how we hear 

 and how we understand. I am aware that 

 many people, when they hear a man of great 

 abilities make a speech, go away with the idea 

 that he knows all about ik 



I don't know Mr. Greeley, but I have read 

 some of his writings. I think if he had seen 

 the land Mr. Thayer ploughed up, he would 

 have doubted the wisdom of his advice, or of 

 its being followed as Mr. Thayer did. If he 

 would advise ploughing so deep all at once, 

 then I must say that either he or I have a 

 great deal yet to learn about farming. 



Mr. T. asks if he has committed a blunder 

 in turning up six or eight inches of yellow dirt. 

 I think it is not such a blunder in his case as 

 it would have been with most farmers, and on 

 very poor land. Having had four coats of 

 manure before and one since, it must be in a 

 much better condition to recover from the 

 effects of the ploughing, than if it had had 

 none at all. He says his neighbors laugh at 

 him, but none of them recommend any rem- 

 edy, though they agree that it will prove a 

 great injury. I don't see much to laugh at. 

 We are all liable to errors, one way or another, 

 and the best way is to correct them as soon as 

 possible. I should anticipate that stirring the 

 subsoil thus deeply at once would be likely to 

 cause the soil to be porous and leachy. I 

 would recommend putting on liquid along with 



