378 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JtTNE 13, 1S33. 



will pervade almost every condition of society. 

 Rich and poor will, by degrees, find themselves 

 enclosed in an iron cage ; and fir joists and slate 

 roofs will become things to be alluded to as be- 

 tokening something veneiable from antiquity. The 

 introduction of iron into building operations will, 

 no doubt, spread rapidly, as the price of cast iron 

 fulls ; and, if unskilfully done at the out.set, we 

 may have a number of imperishable monuments 

 of bgd taste wherever we go. It is, therefore, of 

 importance that good examples should be given 

 in time, and that architects should be prepared 

 for the change, so as not to leave the matter to the 

 caprice or taste of the workmen of the founderies." 

 It appears to us that iron for houses, whether 

 cast iron, or wrought iron, or sheet iron must be 

 of considerable thickness, and of course heavy 

 and expensive, or it would bend, and be trouble- 

 some by its elasticity. Floors of sheet iron, unless 

 supported by strong and almost numberless beams, 

 joists, sleepers, &c. would be as clastic as the 

 springs of a steel trap, and gravity personified 

 could not walk across them without assuming the 

 gait of a frog, a grasshopper, or an opera dancer. 

 Moreover, as iron is an excellent conductor of 

 caloric, the inhabitants of iron houses must calcu- 

 late on enjoying about the same temperature with- 

 in as without doors ; and their domiciles would 

 resemble ovens in hot weather and ice-houses in 

 cold weather. 



From the Fanners and Graziers Guide. 

 ON WATERING NEAT CATTLE. 

 Improper feeding as we have endeavored to 

 show, is injurious to neat cattle generally; but im- 

 proper management, with respect to water, is pro- 

 ductive of more serious consequences still ; and is 

 the chief origin of what is called among vetcri 

 nary surgeons, predisposition to disease ; in other 

 words, the animal structm-eis, by mismanagement, 

 rendered peculiarly liable to desease, and is ac- 

 ted upon by the slightest cause. 



Thus, a superabundance induces the quarter-ill, 

 red water, and scouring : while a smaller quantity 

 than is proper, is often a main cause of inflam- 

 matory disorders. 



Filthy or impure water should be avoided as 

 productive of the most serious consequences; it 

 has been proved beyond all doubt, that impure 

 water given to pregnant cows is a more certain 

 cause of abortion, or slipping of the calf, than any 

 other, and also engenders bad udder, red water and 

 scouring, and materially diminishes the quantity of 

 the milk, and injures the quality of the butter and 

 cheese. 



Neat cattle, but particularly cows, should be wa- 

 tered twice a day, and in summer, three times ; 

 this is the more necessary when they are kept on 

 dry food : the water should be pure and transpa- 

 rent ; the best of all is that which has been agita- 

 ted by passing through a mill as it is then softer, 

 and more favourable to digestion. It is a dange- 

 rous prejudice, that muddy or stagnant water is 

 not injurious : we have just given a decided opin- 

 ion on this subject, and shall in the comse of our 

 observations give several cases to support that opin- 

 ion. 



It is always advisable, when it can be conveni- 

 ently accomplished, to pump the water intended 

 for cattle-drink into troughs of stone or cement ; 

 the best ponds of water being liable to impurity 

 from several causes : as one of these, it may 

 be observed that they invariably void their excre- 



ment either in the jjond or near it, immediately 

 after drinking ! and as there is generally a sloping 

 bank to the pond, the dung must in some degree 

 run down into the water, and by engendering vari- 

 ous descriptions of the insect and vermin race, 

 render it impure and unwholesome. 



The water of ponds siUTOunded with ash trees 

 is often during the siunmer covered with the can- 

 tharis or blistering fly, which the wiud blows from 

 the leaves of the trees. These insects, when swal- 

 lowed with the water, are certainly poisonous. — 

 This is particularly the case in France, but not so 

 much so in England ; still, the same cause exists, 

 though in a less degree, wherever ponds are over- 

 hung by banks of trees. 



Water is rendered much softer, and produces 

 more milk by being blanched, as is termed ; that 

 is, by having a little bran or meal stirred into it ; 

 but water so prepared must not bo kept too long, as 

 it is apt to ferment and become sour. During the 

 heat of summer, cows are very apt to become cos- 

 tive, particularly where they are kept princijially 

 on dry food; in this case it will be necessary to 

 give them water in which bran and linseed have 

 been boiled ; and even if they are not costive it will 

 be proper to add occasionly, about a sixth part of a 

 a pint of vinegar to every pail of water,and especial- 

 ly so when the water is of an indiftijrent quality, 

 or when the weather is very hot and dry. 



It is a fact, that when cattle have been ac- 

 ciustomed to drink impure water, even in the 

 washing of a dung heap, they will acquire a 

 relish ibr it and refuse good water if oifcrcd 

 to them : but the consequences arisuig from this 

 practice, although not always immediate in their 

 visible effects, are certain, and sap the very vital- 

 ity of the animal's constitiuion. We have stated 

 that such a practice is n frequent cause of abor- 

 tion, and productive of various and serious dis- 

 eases ; and v,e here repeat the caution from a con- 

 viction that no other water should ever be given to 

 cattle than what is ])ure, sweet and wholesome ; 

 and that the use of that which is impure, although 

 used for a time with ajiparent impunity, will not 

 only inevitably produce disease, but will lay the 

 foundation of a train of disorders which will rare- 

 ly, if ever, be eradicated. 



Frfiin the .MereantiU Journd. 

 AMERICAN INGENUITY. 



It is not many days since accounts were publish- 

 ed here of the invention of a Tenoning Machine, 

 of a contrivance for grooving out window blinds, 

 aud of another for adapting to ciich other the dif- 

 ferent parts of the frame, with astonishing rapidi- 

 ty. These inventions arc said to be of greater im- 

 portance to the carpenter, than all the improve- 

 ments in his tools that have been made the last 

 century. But these are not all. Yankee cunning 

 is never to be exhausted. The Atlas says, within 

 the last week a Patent Rice Machine — a new in- 

 vention — has been exhibited in operation at the 

 City Mills on the Mill Dam. The Lowell Jour- 

 nal propounds also a new mode of extracting 

 teeth, by filling the cavity with glazed gun- 

 powder, covered over witli a nicely fitted percus- 

 sion cap, and then gnashing the teeth furiously 

 together ; and what is remarkable, if the patient 

 sneezes at the right time, the fragments will all fly 

 out of the mouth. 



Again — we suspect that it is owing to the tra 

 veiling Yankees that a company has been establish- 

 ed at Natchez, Mississippi, for the manufacture of 

 the oil of cotton seed, and have erected suitable ma- 



chinery, by which they are enabled to prepare from 

 one to two thousand gallons a day. The oil is de- 

 scribed as being of the best quality for jiainting, 

 and as equal to any other kind for burning and for 

 use in woollen factories. 



And apropos, of ingenuity, a Quebec paper 

 mention a very skillful operation, performed by 

 the Royal Engineers, a fortnight since, for throw- 

 ing down, with gunpowder, about 40 feet of wal 

 in the works of the citadel : — 



" Three chambers were made in the parajiet ; 

 the central containing 90 ])otmds of powder, and 

 the two flank chambers 70 pounds each. The 

 saucisons were composed and jilaced so as to 

 ignite the chambers at the same instant. The 

 force of the powder exerted horizontally ; not a 

 single stone was thrown upwarils ; and the quan- 

 tity of ])owder was so nicely judged, that the 

 old ivork thrown down did not extend beyond 

 the space, for the gate, &c., to be constructed; 

 and was almost as completely loosened and 

 reduced fit for removal, as if the work had been 

 (lone with tools, and without shaking or injuring 

 the new wall or revetment, in the slightest de- 

 gree, though the portion of the ancient work 

 thrown down was se])aratcd from it by only a few 

 irchcs." 



In fine, nothing remains to this generation of 

 balloon-sailors, bell-divers, rice-cleaners, jaw- 

 crickers, eye-makers, throat-splitters, and chess- 

 phyers, but to invent a reading-machine for Col- 

 01 cl Stone, and n writing one for Mr. Bulwcr. Nay 

 — one thing will remain — a good news-collector — 

 that is, a collector of good news. Such a ma- 

 chine is much wanted at this ofiice ; and we ven- 

 lure to say (without consulting the publishers), that 

 he, she or it, singular or plural, should be paid 

 $50 a week for two columns, solid colunms — ship- 

 wrecks, daring robberies, curious circumstances, 

 shameful disclosures, puffs, murders, marriages 

 and all. 



BIUSK IN CHOLERA. 



"Among other matters resorted to by the facul- 

 ty to stay the progress of this terrible disease, one 

 has been published of so singular a character, that 

 we do not hesitate to extract the statement into 

 our columns. It is contained in a letter from Mr. 

 Richard Laming, of No. 48 Finsbury Square, a 

 district in which the ravages of the plague have 

 been very great. Mr. Lanung says: — 



"I have lately employed musk in several cases 

 of Cholera with a success so uniform and decisive, 

 .■\s to make its introduction desirable, without loss 

 of time, to the notice of the whole profession, &c. 



The salutary intlucnce of the first dose of nmsk 

 will be found to become manifest by greatly miti- 

 gating, in a very few minutes, and in many cases, 

 by effectually removing the cramps, the purging 

 and the vomiting. My plan has been to give at 

 once fifteen grains, rubbed into a draught with a 

 lump of sugar and a wine glass full of cold water, 

 and I am justified in reporting that this first step, 

 if taken prom])tly, will scarcely ever fail to arrest 

 the progress of the disease, and leave the patient to 

 easy and ordinary convalescence, &c. So evident 

 is the action of musk in Cholera, that the practi- 

 tioner will experience no difliculty in determining 

 whether he need rei)eat its exhibition, or whether, 

 having subdued the immediate cause of the disease 

 by the first dose, he should direct his attention to 

 the removal of its consequences by the ordinary- 

 means. — New Monthly Magazine for 1833. 



