398 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[July 8, 



FromTransactions of the Americaa Philoaophical Society 



An easy and expeditious method of dissipating 

 the noxious Vapour commonly found in Wells, and 

 other subterranean places. By Ebenezer Robinson, 

 «/" Philadelphia- 

 After various unsuccessful 1 rials, (a detail of 

 which has been already communicated,) 1 was 

 led to consider how I could convey a large quan- 

 tity of fresh air from the top to the bottom of 

 the well, supposing that the foul would necessa- 

 rily give way to the pure air. With this view 

 1 procured a pair of smith's bellows, fixed in a 

 wooden frame, so as to work in the same man- 

 ner as at the forge. This apparatus being plac- 

 ed at the edge of the well, one end of a leather 



tube (the hose of a fire engine) was closely tines of horses, are ihouglit by many to be bots 

 adapted to the nose of the bellows, and the oth- — Very few 



apted 



er end was thrown into the well, reaching with- 

 in one foot of the bottom. At this time the well 

 was so infected that a candle would not burn at 



heat.* We often hear of bots being expelled by 

 cathartic medicines; but if the fact was known 

 it is probable that in every case, t^orwis only are 

 expelled, and that in no case do the bols quit 

 the stomach, until the season of the year when 

 they leave the horse and enter the ground; 

 which they generally do in June and July. Al- 

 though the destruction of bols in the stomach 

 is difficult, if not impracticable ;yet with a little 

 attention the prevention is easy and safe. This 

 is done by scraping, with a sharp knife, the 

 eggs of the bot-bee from every part of the horse 

 every few days, during the time these bees are 

 laying them ; which they mostly do in the 

 months of August and September. The several 

 kinds of worms which are (bund in the intes- 



y lew persons know the distinction; and 



remedies which e.xpel worms are thought to 



destroy bots. The symptoms of bols are so e- 



quivocal, and resembling the inflammation and 



a short distance from the top; but after blowing] irritation of th« bowels arising from other caus- 



es, that it is very difficult to ascertain, in most 

 cases, whether the complaints of horses arise 

 from bots, or from some other cause. Most pre- 

 scriptions for bols are at least nselcss, and many 

 of them dangerous. There is no d.tnger to horses 

 from bots during the months of July, August, 

 September, October, and November ; and but 

 little at any lime excejit from the middle oi 

 February to the last of May. 



^ith my bellows only half an hour, the can- 

 dle burned bright at the bottom ! then without 

 further difficulty, I proceeded in the work, and 

 finished my well. 



Wells are often made in n very slight manner, 

 owing to the difficulty in working in them, and 

 there have been several fital instances of the 

 danger attending workmen ; but by the above 

 method, there is neither ditficulty nor danger in 

 completing the work with the utmost solidity. 

 ^ is obvious that in cleansing vaults, and in HORSE RAKE 



worTiing in any other subterraneous place, sub- We had the pleasure on Saturday last of wit- 

 ject to damps, as they are called, the same meth- 1 nessing the operation of (he horse rake, (a de- 

 ed must be attended with the same beneficial scription of which, we lately published from the 

 **^"^'' New England Farmer.) on the f^irm of Col. 



Wilson. The rake was very similar in construc- 

 tion to Hint described in a late number of Ihis' 

 p.Tper. The rajiidity, and neatness with which 

 the work was pertbrmed by (his implement tully 



From the T}iomaslon Regislsr 



BOTTS. 



tn the Register of the 14th inst several rem- equalled the cxpeclalion w« had (brmed uf its 

 edies for the bots are inserted. These and other operation. The grass among which it was used 

 prescriptions may induce many to apply reme-| '^l"^ clover and herdsgrass, and was raked into 

 dies which are often destructive to horses. A ' '^'^rows without leaving so much scattering hay 

 large proportion of the internal diseases of hors- "''^ ^^ usually left after a hand rake in a field of 

 es are attributed to bots; and rum, aloes, jalap, '"'''' description. Col. Wilson is satislied by an 

 brine, pepper, tobacco &c. &c. are indiscrimin- , experiment of two years that (he horse rake is 

 ately given ; and with how little effect, any one : " valuable improvement in husbandry, and that 

 may judge, when it is known that these insects!"" "^e coar.se kinds of grass land, one man and 

 are provided with two sharp hooks by which!" ''">' "'" perlbrm (he labor of six men wi(h 

 they can retain themselves in any part of (he ""''''e'- An .^ddidonal boy, to gather the scat 

 intestines of a horse, and by which they can re 



place themselves in the stomach sliouhl they 

 from choice or accident be removed from il. — 

 Bots are also armed with a hard skin, or shell, 

 which, like a coat of mail defends them from 

 the operation of any remedies, which might 

 with safely be introduced into the stomach. — 

 Nearly full grown bols taken from the stomach 

 of a dead horse will live more than 20 hours in 

 rum, — from 8 to 12 hours in a strong decoction 

 of tobacco, — more than 2 hours in strong elixir 

 of vi(riol, and 45 minutes in spirits of tur])en(ine; 

 and in beef brine, decocdon of piiik, soap suds 

 &c. &c. as long as they will in water. Spirits 

 of turpentine appears to be the most obnoxious 

 medicine to them of any thing which can with 

 safety be administered or applied to a horse. — 

 If ever hots that had taken hold on the stomach 

 of a horse, were expelled, it probably has been 

 done by an external application of spirits of 

 turpentine to the breast J; sides, driven in hy 



terings, ivill be necessary in fine grass field? 



We have no doubt of the correctness of this 

 opinion ; and we trust the fiirmers in this neigh- 

 borhood, to the level surface of which this rake 

 is particularly adapted, will profit by the expe- 

 rience of Col. W'ilson, as well as by, many oth- 

 er valuable hints for improvemeni, which may 

 be derived from the excellent management of 

 his fiurn.- -Franklin Post. 



POTATO. 



The history of (his plant is strikingly illustra- 

 tive of the omnipotent influence of authorily ; 

 its introduction received, for more than two cen- 

 turies, an unexampled opposition from vulgar 

 prejudice which all the philosophy of the age 

 was unable to dissipate, until Louis" XV. wore n 



bunch of the flowers of (he potato in the midst 

 of his court, on a day of t'estivity ; the people 

 then for the (5rsl limt" obsequiously acknowledg- 

 ed its utility, and began to express their aston- 

 ishment at the a[)atby which had so long pre- 

 vailed with regard lo its general cultivation ; 

 that which authorily thus established, time and 

 experience have fully ratified, and scientific re- 

 search has extended the numerous resources 

 which this plant is so well calculated to furnish ; 

 thus its stalk, considered as a textile plant, pro- 

 duces in Austria a cottony flax — in Sweden su- 

 gar is extracted from its root — by combustion, 

 its difierent parts yield a very considerable quan- 

 tity of potass — its apples, when ripe, ferment 

 and yield vinegar by exposure, or spirit by dis- 

 tillation — its tubercles made into a'pulp, are a 

 substitute for soap in bleaching — cooked by 

 sleam, the potato is the most wholesome and 

 nutritious, and at the same time the most eco- 

 nomical of all vegetable aliments— by different 

 manipulalions it furnishes two kinds of flour, a 

 gruel, and a parenchyma, which in times of scar- 

 city may be made into bread, or applied to in- 

 crease the bulk cf bread made from grain. — to 

 the invalid it furnishes both aliment and medi- 

 cine ; its starch is not in the least inferior to the 

 Indian arrow-root, and it has been lately showa 

 that an extract may be prepared from its leaves 

 and (lowers which possesses valuable properties 

 as an anodyne remedy. 



*The pttbable effect of tliia cxtfrnal appli'-ation ot 

 spirit of tu^entine, is to malie the bots let go their hold 

 on the stomach, and then they may be expelled by ad- 

 ministering a brisk purge of Aloes, or other cathartic. 



NEW ENGl^A ND FARMER. 



FRI D AY, JULY S, 1325. 



ARRACHACA, OR >;FAV SOUTH AMERICAN 

 POTATO. 



We published ia our paper, No. 19, page 152 of the 

 current volume, an article from the New York States- 

 man, relative to this plant. It was said that several 

 j^rowing^ and thrifty speciineus had arrived in the city 

 of New York last autuoiD. We should be happy to 

 receive further information respecting tliis vegetable, 

 as it appears to be a plant of great promise, and to bid 

 fair to become a successful rival to our good old-fash- 

 ioned potato. Several of our readers have likewise ex- 

 pressed a wish to obtain some knowledge of the Arra- 

 chaca, and what prospect there may be of its introduc- 

 tion into the United States. 



SLUGS. 

 Since publishing the articles on these insects, pa'es 

 390, 391 of the N. E. Farmer, a friend of the Editor 

 has mentioned a simple mode of destroying them, which 

 he has practised with entire success. Make a decoc- 

 tion of tobacco by cutting the leaves fine and iufusingf 

 them in water cither hot or cold (but cold water will 

 require the longest time to extract the strength of the 

 tobacco), and apply this liquor to the irjsects and leaves 

 which they infest with a common apothecary's syringe; 

 and it will instantaneously destroy th« slugs without 

 injury to the trees or plants which they intest. Our 

 iaformant says, he was not particular to note the 

 strength of his solution, or the quantity of tobacco in- 

 fused, but the quantity was small in proportion to the 

 effect produced. A substitute for an apothecary's svr- 

 ihge may be made of a stalk of elder, by any Farmer's 

 boy of ordinary ingenuity. 



SALT YOUR CATTLE. 

 Neat stock and sheep frequently thrive but little ia 

 fresh and good pastures, io consequence of the negli- 



