338 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



contributions, are on hand, AA-hich shall appear 

 soon. AVe hope our correspondents ■will "make 

 a note" of their experiments and operations, as 

 they go along with their crops, and thus supply 

 the data upon which to found articles to be writ- 

 ten next winter, if time cannot be afforded at 

 present. "We embrace the 

 again, our thanks for the 



afforded us by our intelligent corps of correspond 

 ents. We trust the advantages are mutual. 



For llie New England Farmer. 



CURE FOR RHEUMATISM. 



I suppose the New EnfjJand Farmer is intend- 

 ed, as its name indicates, to be the organ of far- 

 mers in all matters pertaining to agriculture. 

 As the agriculturist has duties to perform not 

 : opportunity to express, {strictly agricultural, yet of equal importance to 

 111 11 V.1 -1 the rearing of great crops, and breeding Imc hors- 

 libcral and valuable aid ^^^ ^ ^^^^^^ ^ a communication, less for the bcne- 

 ,..^ e „.. „ g^ ^^ agriculture than for the good of the agri- 



culturist, may not be amiss. 



The health of the farmer and his family is cer- 

 tainly paramount to agricultural achievements, 

 as a slight disease in his physical system may 

 blast all his hopes of success in his common avo- 

 cation, or the illness of his wife, the mother of 

 his family and the mistress of his household, 

 may tax his time and means sufficiently to keep 

 his pecuniary affairs "in statu quo" or put them 

 on the downhill track. 



In a cold and changeable climate as we have in 

 Vermont, a disease often provoked, to those 

 whose business keeps them much in the open air 

 in all kinds of weather, is rheumatism in some of 

 its great variety of forms. This is always a dis- 

 ease of the joints. 



Each joint in the body is covered and protected 

 by a white, smooth, glistening membrane, called 

 "cartilcge," and white librous tissues generally, 

 such as tendons, (the extremities of muscles,) 

 capsules, ligaments and bursa, for protecting, 

 strengthening and lubricating the joints. 



Rheumatism is an inflammation uf some of those 

 fibrous tissues about the joints, and acute rheu- 



TRAPPING GRUBS AND CUT WORMS. 



A writer over the signature of "C. Q." in the 

 May number of the Michigan Fanner, relates his 

 success in preventing the depredations of these 

 pests of the farmer by a new and very ingenious 

 invention of his own. As neither fall plowing 

 nor any other generally known method is much 

 to be relied upon, probably many may be in- 

 duced to try this newly-proposed method. If 

 found as successful as "C. Q." represents it, we 

 shall be happy to make a report thereof, and to 

 be the organ through which those Avho may find it 

 useful may send a vote of thanks to the original 

 inventor. 



"Last spring," says "C. Q.," "I tried an ex- 

 periment with the 'varmints' which I will relate 

 for the benefit of whom it may concern." lie 

 planted liis corn on a clover-sod plowed in spring. 

 Wliile planting, he found plenty of the small 

 gru))s. The corn was planted about the 20th of 



May, and as soon as it came up they commenced jmatism is an exti-emely painful disease. It is 

 their mischief. Knowing no reliable or certain usually, if not always, produced by cold ob- 

 way ^of saving the corn, he concluded to trap 'gtructino- the perspiration of the skin, etc. Sleep- 

 them. For this purpose, he took a round stick, jno- in damp sheets, going with wet feet, or ex- 

 posing the body to cold when heated, andwear- 



3 or 4 feet long, and about 2 inches in diameter, 

 and making one end sharp, and taking two rows 

 at a time, he made from two to four holes 4 or 5 

 inches deep in or close by every hill. After fix- 

 ing sevei'al rows in this way,'he waited to see the 

 result. On examination he found that almost ev- 

 ery hole had one or more worms in it. In one 

 hole he counted as many as six. He then went 

 over the whole field in the same way, and the re- 

 sult was tliat hardly a hill of corn was destroyed 

 after the holes Avere made, Avhile his neighbor's 

 corn just over the fence, Avhich was on ground 

 ploAved very early, Avas more than half cut off 

 with the Avorms. "It might be supposed," says 

 "C. Q.," "that when the felloAvs fell into the 

 traps they would bore into the side and escape ; 

 but on watching them, I found they would al- 

 ways fall back again, Avhcn about twenty-four 

 hours of sunshine and starvation would put an 

 end to them. They usually commit their depre- 

 dations in the night, and wbilc craAvling around 

 to find tiie corn they tumble in." An additional 

 recommendation of this method is, that the birds 

 will not pull up tbe corn, when they find plenty 

 of grub already provided for them. 



"C.£^."' states farther that a portion of this 

 field 01 corn looked green and flourished luxuri- 

 antly, while another portion looked pale and yel- 

 loAV. To the former he had applied (a table- 

 spoonful to each bill) a mixture of 2 parts lime 

 Avith 3 parts ashes. The latter had no such ap- 

 plication. — Country Gentleman. 



ing damp or insufficient clothing, are the imme- 

 diate causes which produce this very troublesome 

 malady. Usually that class of persons Avho wear 

 the lightest fiibrics for garments, and those who 

 are too poor or too penurious to provide them- 

 selves garments adequate to the autumnal and 

 vernal changes in this climate, are most liable to 

 rheumatic affections. 



Spring and fiiU are the seasons that people are 

 most afllicted with what is called chronic rheu- 

 matism, attacking the shoulders,hips, back, or any 

 other joints in the body, and often lasting for 

 months, disabling the patient for performing all 

 kinds of manual labor. 



Now it is a fact not enough appreciated 

 that those who provide themselves with good 

 Avoollen shirts and drawers and other Avoollen 

 garments are most exempt from attacks of this 

 kind. Such flannel and woollen garments are 

 not only preventives of rheumatism, but very of- 

 ten the sole means of cure. 



A near neighbor of mine, some three or four 

 years since, was attacked with pain and lameness 

 in the left hip joint, in the autumn, so as to dis- 

 qualify him for all kinds ot labor. His physi- 

 cian recognized the disease at once, and very Avise- 

 ly prescribed woollen shirts and drawers. He 

 thought he could not afford the expense, but paid 

 dollars for patent medicines, and laid idle through 

 the entire winter, and Avas forced to believehim- 

 iself suffering from ulceration of the hip joint, 



