70 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Sent. 14, 1831. 



sri^Njy ssr^a-aiisriD 2?ii.i2aiai3» 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPT. H, 1831. 



SUCCESSFUL CULTIVATION OF LU- 

 CERNE. 



On the 1st iust. we had the pleasure of view- 

 ing a very fine plot of Lucerne, in vigorous growth, 

 on land in Dorchester, owned by Mr John Swett. 

 The present crop, whicli is nearly til to cut, is the 

 fourth crop tlie same ground has produced tins 

 season. These crops Capt. S. as.sures us will av- 

 erage IJ tons each to the acre, niaking llie whole 

 produce of the present season eqnul to six tons 

 per acre. The quality of this kind of grass is as 

 extraordinary as its quantity per acre ; rattle pre- 

 ferring it to any other food, and thriving upon it 

 ir- a reniarkahle manner, especially, when cut and 

 fed out green by way of soiling. 



Mr Swett attributes his success in raising this 

 grass to the following causes. He was very care- 

 ful to clear tlie land of weeds, and the seeds of 

 uuprofiuible plants by a series of hoed crops; and 

 sowed the seed thicker than has been usual with 

 cultivators, who liave l)€en le.^s successful in rais- 

 ing this valuable product. The soil is a light and 

 sandy and gravelly loam, which one would believe 

 not capable of producing anything which would 

 render its tillage profitable. 



It would be well fur every cultivator in the vi- 

 cinity of Jlr Swett in Dorchester to e.vamine the 

 ])iece of lucerne near the front of his Mansion- 

 lioiise, and be convinced by personal observation, 

 that our soil and climate are not tuifavoralile 

 to the production of this celebrated jModuct of 

 uiodern husbandry. 



' With these facts before ii.s, we think it is the 

 solemn duty, while it is for the interest, of those 

 who supply milk to the jrablic, as well as all who 

 pasture cows, to take measures effectually to des- 

 troy the growth of plants which put in jeopardy 

 the health and even lives of our citizens.' 



ALARMING JJISEASE IN HORSES. 



To llie Editor of the New England Farmer. 



Dear Sir, — I have this moment received your 

 favor relative to the alarming and unexampled 

 mortality of the horses in this vicinity and in some 

 other parts of the Commonwealth. You ask my 

 opinion as to the disease, the probable cause and 

 the remedy. I will premise that I am no farrier, 

 having never till recently had occasion to apply 

 any remedies for the diseases of my own horses. 

 A fortnight since 1 lost a valuable horse, young 

 and apfiarently in fine health, of the prevailing 

 disorder. On returning from Church at noon, I 

 noticed a continual inclination of the head, to the 

 right, and found considerable difficulty in keeping 

 him in the middle of the travelled path. I ob- 

 served also that his movements were more heavy and 

 dull than usual. On reaching home, my hired man 

 imagined he had botts (this being the first instance 

 in my knowledge of the prevailing disease tliat had 

 occurred in this vicinity,) and gave him the usual 

 dose in such cases of gin and mola.sses. Tiie hor.<e 

 was then turned into the pasiure, where he had 

 run for two months previous, his head and motions 

 still inclining to the right. After going a few rods 

 he sto[)ped and commenced turning round on his 

 heels, (moderately) and continued this movement 

 a few hoiMs, when he fell, and the ne.xt day, about 

 twenlyfour hours after he was taken, died. Soon 

 after lie fell, on the day previous to his death, I 

 had him bled, but to no puri)ose — the disorder had 

 progressed too far. 



On describingthis case to DrBarilett of Concord, 

 he observed that he had lost n horse some months 

 previous in the same way ; the symptoins, disease 

 and termination, being in every particular tis he 

 described them, perfectly similar to those which 

 I had observed in my horse. Dr Bartlett dissected 

 the lieail of his horse, and found the disorder to 

 be a dropsy of the brain, there being collections 

 of water in lioth ventricles of the brain. 



A Mr Locke of th.is town lost (yesterday) a very 

 good horse, of apparently the same di.sease. Af- 

 ter his decease Dr Proctor of this place cxamin 



Nut less than from 6 to 8 quarts should be taken 

 from the horse, and this when done on first per- 

 ceiving the symptoms, and be ore an effusion of 

 blood upon the brain, has, 1 am told, in some in- 

 stances effected a cure. 



Your? lespecfully 

 Lexington, Sept. 13, 1831. E. PHINNEY. 



Broom Corn. — The maiua for cultivating Broom 

 Corn in this and the neighboring towns, never 

 raged so universally, as at the |irescnt season ; the 

 limited cultivation and great consumption, by ex- 

 portation, of the article last year, very iiuih en- 

 hanced the price, and this season but liule else 

 appears worthy the attention of our river agricul- 

 turists. .\ riile a few days since through Had- 

 ley and Hatfielil meadows to Sunderland, con- 

 firmed the opinion we had heard expressed, that 

 Corn Brooms must fall from the immense quanti- 

 ties growing along the Valley ; wherever we rode, 

 nothing but vast fields of this beautiful crop pre- 

 sented themselves, extending, in some places for 

 nfiles on every side, with its lofty stalk and rich 

 tassel, aHTording ample testimony to the vegetable 

 richness and strength of the soil on the banks of the 

 Connecticut ; we saw some little pieces on the up- 

 lands which were dinnnutive in size and grew with 

 a sickly aspect, while the meadow crops rose to 

 twelve and fourteen feet in height and stood close 

 us the thickest foreet. — yorlhamplon Courier. 



POISON BD CHEESE 

 A late number of The Republican, a newsjia- 

 jier, printed at Springfield, in this state, after giv- 

 ing tiie sub.'^tance of some remarks on poisoned 

 cheese, lately published in the .\"cw England Far- 

 mer, states that ' within the last two months sev- 

 eral families in this town, have inunediately after 

 tating milk been seized with severe sickness, with 

 all the symptoiTis of being poisoned. Two men, 

 one of whom is a physician, drank of the milk 

 to test its effect, and found it alike sickening and 

 distressing. Though the ndlk was purchased of 

 persons iu tlie liabit of supplying our citizens with 

 the art'icle, no suspicion rc^stcd that the milk was 



poisoned by their nieaivs We have conversed with his head and found an effusion of bluod upon o 

 ^ learned Bnd skilful physician, who has witnessed of the lobes of the brain. The head was very 

 anost of these cases; and it is his opinion that the carefully dissected and examined by Dr Proctor 

 poison was caused by the cows eating the Poke ami he has no doubt that the horse died of an ap. 



ople.xy. In both these cases, which have been 

 exanuned, there is no question that the disease was 

 upon the brain. The instance related by Dr Bart 

 lett having been a serous and that of Dr Proctor 

 a sanguineous apoplexy. The symptoins in a 

 the c.ises which have occurred in this town were 

 similar to those which occurred in the above three 

 cases. 



As to the cause cf this disease I know nothing. 

 In most instances the horses that hare been attacked 

 fed upon grass. 



Whether it is to be attributed to the food or 

 the state of the atmosphere, which may have caus- 

 ed an unusual plethora of the vessels of the head, 

 I must leave to those to decide who know more 

 of the nature and diseases of horses than I do. 

 The remedy if any, is no doubt to be found in 



weed, instead of the Lobelia. He examined the 

 pasture where the cows fed wliicli furnished the 

 poisoned milk, and found ideuty of the Poke weed, 

 but very little of the Lobelia ; and at the same 

 time an ajipearance that the cows had eaten the 

 Poke weed, and none that they had eaten "the Lo- 

 belia. — -The same cows when put into another 

 pasture, free from these plants, furnished healthy 

 milk. It was tlie opinion of this physician, as 

 well ss another we conversed with, that cows 

 would rarely if ever eat the Lobelia. It grows in 

 abundance in tliis vicinity, and if they had eaten 

 it, its iiijiirioos elTects must have been long since 

 "and more generally felt. Although, as it is heliev- 

 ed, the instinct of animals will generally teach 

 them to avoid eating poisonous vegetables, a cow 

 tnay eat wlrat would poison her niilkj when it 

 tvould not injure her. 



Proledion of Lambs and Geese. — It is but little 

 known, but is neverllieless a f ict, says the Port 

 land Mirror, that a little tar nibbed on the necks 

 of your lambs or geese, will prevent the depreda- 

 tions of foxes among them, these animals having 

 an unconquerable aversion to the smell of tar. 



Bee Moth. — A friend informs us, he lias discov- 

 ered by experiment that dry comb hud about hives, 

 forms a trap for the moth, by attracting the miller, 

 which deposits its eggs in the comb, where they 

 are easily destroyed. A piece of comb which he 

 placed for the purpose, was completely filled with 

 the moths. — Western Tiller, jk 



Can you beat this ? — Mr Lemuel Ulake, of Ai- 

 stead, raised, the present season, from one bean, 

 190 pods, and 1009 beans ! This from a person 

 who assisted in counting. — Vermont Intellig-encer. 



The American census for 1830 has been com- 

 ideted, and the result published. The population 

 of the United States which was 9,637,000 in 1820, 

 was last year 12,976,000, or, in round mimbers, 

 thirteen millions. What n prodigy is the growth 

 of this republic! When the Revolution commen- 

 ced, 1776, it had less than three millions of in- 

 habitant.s, and now it has thirteen ! Then it wai 

 on a level with Switzerland or Denmark in politi- 

 cal consideration ; now it is the second naval power 

 in the world ! We rejoice in its progress ; for its 

 strength and glory belong to the people, and to the 

 cause of truth, justice, and freedom, all over the 

 world. It is pleasant to observe, that the states in 

 which there are no slaves are advancing so much 

 more rapidly than the others. The fact renders 

 the evils of slavery more pal|iable, and holds out 

 the prospect of its diminishing every year in rela- 

 tive importance. The population of Scotland and 

 England, in 181], was 12,358,000, 600,000 les9 

 than the United States last year ; and New York 

 alone has very nearly as many inhabitants as Scot- 



copious bleeding in tiie first stages of ijje disorder. ' Jatid had in 1821 London Ti: 



