No. 13. 



Treatment of Wounds on Horses. 



215 



Tor the Fftrmcrs' Cabintt. 

 Treatment of Wounds on Horses. 



Having seen a oommunication, extracted 

 from the Maine Farmer, requesting informa- 

 tion in regard to tlie treatment of wounds on 

 horses, and having had some experience of 

 the value of the following remedy, I confi- 

 dently recommend its use. It is a solution of 

 saltpetre and blue stone. The saltpetre 

 should be first dissolved in warm water, in 

 such proportions as to be moderately strong 

 to the taste, and blue stone added, until the 

 solution is slightly tinged- This, and nothing 

 else, is to be used as a wasli, two or three 

 times a day. It purifies the wound, destroys 

 proud flesh, produces granulations immedi- 

 ately, and heals tlie worst wounds in a sur- 

 prismgly short time. I have had horses badly 

 kicked and otherwise hurt, in mid-winter, and 

 mid-summer; their cure was equally rapid, 

 and afterwards no scar was visible. The 

 wound requires no covering — flies will not 

 approach it, and dressing it with a small mob 

 of rags, tied to a stick, is very little trouble. 

 Wounds do not require to be sewed up under 

 tills treatment, at least I never saw any ad- 

 vantage from it, as the stitches uniformly have 

 torn out. The skin will approximate as the 

 wound heals. 



Pen."*. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Farmers Work for Febrttary. 



Mr. Libby: — February is a month in which 

 farmers will find sufiicient employment for all 

 their time — their interests will require their 

 undivided attention. It is a mistalvfcn notion 

 that it is a slack time — there are many things 

 claiming the notice of considerate men. If 

 tliere be leisure, (and that there are leisure 

 moments in every season, no one will pretend 1 

 to deny ;) that leisure time ought to be de- 

 voted to the improvement of the mind, and 

 tlie cultivation of those social principles 

 which bind, or ought to bind, neighborlioods 

 together. The cultivation of these princi- 

 ples are all important to the domestic peace 

 and happiness of neighborhoods, and the well 

 being of society. A good farmer, while he 

 cultivates the soil, will also cultivate all those 

 means of social improvement within his 

 reach. Now is the time to attend to your 

 stock. It has been said that an animal well 

 summered is half wintered, and with equal 

 propriety it has been replied that one well 

 wintered is half summered. Every farmer 

 will understand this. At this season, stock 

 of all kinds require particular care. Cows, 

 says Mr. Fessenden, "which are shortly ex- 

 pected to calve ought to be lodged at night 

 ia some convenient pla^e under cover for a 



week or two, previously, as it might be the 

 means of saving the lite of the calf, and per- 

 haps of tte dam likewise. The day and 

 night after a cow has calved, she should be 

 kept under cover, and her drink should be 

 luke warm. Let her not be exposed for some 

 time to the dampness of the night." At thia 

 time cows should be fed with the best and 

 most nourishing food. Pure water is an es- 

 sential article for cows. Dr. Anderson says, 

 that one person acquired great wealth, by 

 attention to things of this nature. One of 

 his principal discoveries was the importance 

 of having an abundant supply of the purest 

 water, and on no account would he permit an 

 animal to set his foot in it, nor allow it even 

 to be tainted by the breath of animals." 



All cattle should be warmly housed, regu- 

 larly fed,and well watered. Turneps, potatoes, 

 magle wurtsle, and ruta baga may be fed to 

 stock at this season to great advantage. If 

 steamed, so much the better. But they should 

 not be kept exclusively on roots; and turneps 

 should on no account be given to sheep at 

 this season. Some few of my neighbors 

 have fed the sugar beet, and I am informed 

 that cattle invariably prefer this to any other 

 root. It; as Its friends allege, it contains so 

 large a proportion of sacharine matter, which 

 is the fattening principle, and so great a yield 

 on proper soil, as I have seen stated in the 

 Cabinet, it will be a most valuable article for 

 j the keeping and tattening of stock, and its 

 introduction into this country will be a pub- 

 lic benefit, althouirh a pound of sugar may 

 never be made from it* 1 design to satisfy 

 myself next season by a thorough experiment. 

 Poultry should in winter, be well and 

 warmly housed, Cobbott, who notwithstand- 

 ing his peculiarities was essentially a great 

 man— a keen observer, and close reasoner, 

 says in his "journal" of a residence in this 

 country, "January 4th, patched up a board- 

 ed building which was formerly a coach house, 

 but whiciris not so necessary to me, m that 

 capacity, as in that of a fowl-house. The 

 nei'^hbors tell me that the poultry will roost 

 out'on the trees all the winter, however, I 



. For stock, the sugar beet is an invaluaWo arti- 

 le,_it i? easily raised in large quantities, and is 

 all that us a.lvocatcs represent it to be. Some of 

 the best mutton ever brought to this market was 

 fattened principally on the sugar beet, and like 

 every good article has met with a ready sale, aiid 

 at an advanced price. For milch cows, we are in- 

 formed, it is excellent— improving the quantity and 

 quality of the milk. We are coUectinc facts for 

 publication, in reference to the culture of the sugar 

 beet in this country, Us peculiar adaptation to our 

 sjil and climate, and the resuU of oxperi-nents 

 I made in feeding it to stock.— Editor, 



