360 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



VOL. I. 



ing a partial security as the season for the | 

 flies has passed away before the wheat was 

 in condition for their attack. 



Sprinij wheat sown as late as the 7th and 

 8th of June, has been untouclied, thougli in 

 case of such very late sowing, the farmer 

 will be fortunate if, in attempting to escape 

 the lly, he does not get nipt by tiie frost. 



I Jiave now, iiowever, the extraordinary 

 happiness of announcing to the agricultural 

 public, what there is reason to believe, will 

 prove an effectual, as it is a reasonable and 

 feasible preventive. Should it prove effec- 

 tual, the remedy will be worth millions and 

 millions of dollars to the country. It was 

 communicated to me, on a late tour of agri- 

 cultural inquiry and observation, by Dr. Eli-i 

 quant Lyman, of Lancaster, N. H., an intel- 

 ligent, enlightened, and practical farmer, 

 whose crop of wheat usually averages from 

 25 to 39 bushels per acre. It consists in the 

 application of tine slacked lime to the wheat 

 just at the time of its heading out and flower- 

 ing, at the rate of about a peck to the acre. 



It is sown broadcast upon the wheat while 

 the dew is on, and the field is rendered white 

 with it. The best mode of applying it is with 

 the hand, and for the person who sows it, 

 taking his proper breadth or cast, to walk 

 backwards, so that he may not cover himself 

 with the lime. It must be sown while the 

 wheat is wet or the dew is en, and the philo- 

 sophy of its application is very fdmple. The 

 maggot of the fly is deposited between the 

 grain and the stalk. It is, of course an ani- 

 mal substance. The lime, or alkali, mixed 

 with the dew, is carried down upon, and 

 neutralizes or destroys it. Dr. Lyman has 

 now tried this preventive three successive 

 years, and has invariably, as he assures me, 

 saved his crops, while those of his neighbors 

 have been destroyed. 



I visited, at the same time, the field of a 

 Mr. Bellows, in the same town, who had been 

 advised by Dr. Lyman to make this applica- 

 tion. The field consisted of several acres. 

 He did it ; it has proved successful, and what 

 is strongly confirmatory of the value of this 

 remedy, is the fact that a field of rye, be- 

 longing to Mr. Bellows, adjoining his wheat, 

 and I think within the same enclosure, which 

 was not limed, has been nearly destroyed by 

 the fly. 



These are certainly vary important ex- 

 periments, and I made no delay in presenting 

 them to the public. Dr. Lyman has pro- 

 mised me a more particular account of the 

 experiment and result, and likewise Mr. I 

 Bellows, which as soon as received, I shall be 

 happy to communicate. I have received in- 

 direct and indefinite communications that 

 the same experiment has been successfully 

 made in Gilmanton, N. H. ; but I have not 



yet been able to obtain either the name or 

 the details. 



Henry Coleman. 

 Meadowhanks, May 15, 1837, 



The following article was handed to us by 

 an esteemed friend, from Pembcrton, N. J. 

 It is taken, we believe, from the Graziers' 

 Guide. 



Symptoms of Murrain. 



Decrease of appetite, a stretching out of the 

 neck as if there was a difficulty in swallow- 

 ing ; a shaking of the head, as if the ears 

 were tickled ; a hanging down of the ears, 

 and deafness, a dullness of the eyes, and a 

 moving to and fro, in a constant uneasiness. 



All ihese signs, except the last, increase 

 till the fourth day ; then ensues a stupidity, 

 and unwillingness to move, great debility, a 

 total loss of appetite, a running at the eyes 

 and nose, sometimes sickness, and throwino- 

 up of bile, a husky cough and shivering. The 

 fever which was continued the three first 

 days, now rises and increases towards the 

 evening. The pulse all along quick, con- 

 tracted, and uneven, a constant diarrhoea or 

 scouring of fceted green excrement, a stink- 

 ing breathe, a naseous steam from the skin, 

 infects the air. Tumors or boils are to be 

 felt under the fleshy membrane of the skin, 

 and eruptions appear all along the lim*)?. 

 These symptoms increase till the 7th day, 

 when the crises or turn takes place, for bet- 

 ter or worse. 



REMEDY. 



As soon as there is reason to believe the 

 animal is infected, remove it from the rest, 

 and put it by itself in a house or shed well 

 ventilated. Bleed it copiously, even to faint- 

 ing, wash the body all over with water and 

 vinegar, milk-warm ; 'to clear the skin from 

 filth, rub it frequently, and it will derive 

 much benefit from the pores being open. 



Make a rowel as soon as possible in the 

 dew lap, and keep it open till a cure be ef- 

 fected. If the dung be hard a cooling purge 

 of 4 oz. of alum in powder, 1 oz. nitre, 1 oz. 

 each of grains of paradise and anniseed pow- 

 dered, ^ dram solid opium cut small, 4 table 

 spoons of molasses, and plenty of drink of 

 bran water, vinegar, bitters and salts, dilut- 

 ed with water; but no hay till the beast ia 

 sufliciently recovered to chew the cud ; if a 

 purging comes on by the fourth day, check it 

 by warm medicines, as snake weed or Venice 

 treacle, or the following drink: 4 oz. pre- 

 pared chalk, 2 oz. powdered anniseed, I oz. 

 powdered ginger, 1 dram opium cut small, 

 mix and give it in a quart of warm ale or 

 gruel. 



All the litter used about an animal sick 



