1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEJUER. 



383 



crop that will result from an increase of ma- 

 nure consequent on ^n increase of hay, and of 

 other improvements, and also the increased value 

 of the farm' itself. 



Besides the superior quality of the hay made 

 from early cut grass, there are other advantages 

 to be gained by cutting grass early. The fertility 

 .of the soil is supposed to be less exhausted. The 

 second crop certainly has a longer time to grow, 

 and if not large enough to be profitable to cut 

 there will 1)6 more to protect the roots in winter 

 and to fertilize the fields. Grass will also start 

 earlier the next spring and mature quicker ; or if 

 it does not mature quicker, it will yield a good 

 crop of hay earlier, thus often escaping a drought 

 that pinches later grass. Early Cut. 



Concord, N. II., June 26] 1868. 



HORSE MANGER. 



At a late visit to Mr. Charles Thrasher's, in Cov- 

 entry, Vt., whose floi;k of half-blood Cotswolds is 

 attracting some attention, I was shown a manger 

 that had proved very satisfactory to him, and 

 doubtless would to other farmers who wish to save 

 the orts of the horse. The trqugh and rack is 

 similar to the usual hotel stj'le. In addition to 

 which about eighteen inches in front is a tight par- 

 tition or screen rising a little higher than the 

 trough, and forming one side of a l)ox, into which 

 all feed from the rack and trough not consumed 

 by the horse drops, and rendering it almost impos- 

 sible for a horse to waste any feed. These drop- 

 pings can be taken out and fed to other stock. 

 Mr. Thrasher uses saw dust for bedding. 



End view of Back, 



1. — Rack for hay. 



2. — G^rain trough. 



8. — Partition or screen to 

 which horse is fasten- 

 ed. 



4. — Receptacle for orts, 



5. — Place to take them out 

 if there is a walk in 

 front. 



TOP DRESSING WITH STRAW. 



Last fall I spread a ton of poor India wheat 

 straw upon my dry grass ground, and now, June 

 1, the grass is much larger where this dressing 

 was applied. I don't believe in rotting clear straw 

 down to manure in heaps near the ))arn. The 

 benefit of straw as a mulch on grass is at least 

 equal to the fertilizing properties of its decom- 

 posed substance. 



Irasburg, Vt., June 1, 1868. Z. E. Jameson. 



CArSE OF GREASE OR SCRATCHES IN HORSES. 



In Monthly New England Fabmer, Jan., 1868, 

 page 54, you give the opinions of several corres- 

 pondents as to the cause and cure of the scratches. 

 Now I do not believe, as some say, that it is caused 

 by impure blood. Did you ever see a horse's leg 

 sweat ? No. Did you ever see what different peo- 

 ple call the "issues" or "castors" or "warts" on 

 horses legs ? Yes. Well, here is the cause of the 

 disease. These should be kept open by peeling off 

 the hard outside, but not so as to cause them to 

 bleed, in order that the steam, heat, &c., can issue 

 through them as nature designed. If this outlet is 

 stopped the heat or humors of the liinl) find vent 

 in the thousand little sores or holes that we call 

 "scratches." In every horse troubled with this 

 disease, the castors will be found contracted, or 

 nearly or quite gone; and all through neglect, but 

 not always carelessness, for most people do not 



know what the castor is for, and some will not be- 

 lieve it, when they are told. If these issues are 

 kept open and smooth from colts up, no horse will 

 have the scratches, even if he is in the mud all the 

 time and not cleaned. 



I have no trouble in curing the worst cases of 

 scratches. I take one pijit of lard, and half a pint 

 of common tar, mix well by heating moderately. 

 Apply with the hand and rub it in thoroughly and 

 plentifully among the hair, then swaddle. Keep the 

 castor clean and exercise the horse, but not harness 

 or ride him, and wash the sores three times a week 

 with soft water and soft soap, (bar soap is better, 

 but castile is of no use whatever). 



Marysburgh, Minn., 1868. J. S. Foster, 



Remarks.— Dr. Dadd says that before veterinary 

 surgeons were employed in the British army many 

 thousands of valuable horses were condemned as 

 useless for active service in consequence of the 

 prevalence of this loathsome disease. Mr. Youatt 

 also remarks that it has been driven from our cav- 

 alry, and it will be the fault of the gentleman and 

 the farmer if it is not speedily driven from eveiy 

 stable. Still in no veterinary work at hand do we 

 find anything to corroborate the views of our cor- 

 respondent. Mr. Youatt says, that about the skin 

 of the heel of the horse, in its healthy state, there 

 is a secretion of greasy matter which prevents ex- 

 coriation, and chapping, and keeps the skin soft 

 and pliable. Too often, however, from bad man- 

 agement, the secretion of this greasy matter is 

 stopped or altered, and the skin of the heel becomes 

 red, and dry, and scurvy ; cracks of the skin begin 

 to appear, and these, if neglected, rapidly extend 

 and the heel becomes a mass of soreness and ulcer- 

 ation. 



CITY WASTE OF FERTILIZERS. 



The sewers of Boston discharge fertilizing mate- 

 rials, which if applied to the soil would be worth 

 more than one million dollars every year. The 

 consideration of this fact should be sufficient to in- 

 duce wealthy farmers to emploj' a good chemist 

 to try experiments in order to ascertain whether 

 some large portion of this waste may be saved. 



If a small quantity of chloride of calcium in solu- 

 tion is mixed with sewerage, a decomposition in- 

 stantly takes place. The phosphoric acid combines 

 with the lime forming phosphate of lime, which 

 by its superior gravity immediately settles, carry- 

 ing with it all mechanical and nitrogenous sub- 

 stances, but leaving in the clear solution above, 

 most of the ammonia. This clear solution may be 

 allowed to flow into extensive shallow reservoirs, 

 containing any kind of earth with 25 per cent, clay 

 to absorb the ammonia. These reservoirs should 

 be used alternately. After one is saturated it 

 should be left to dry, while the other is saturated. 



This earth will make a valuable application to . 

 sandy soils. The semi-fluid precipitate of phos- 

 phate of lime may be allowed to flow out upon 

 sand filters until it is dry enough to mix with 

 peat, when it will make a valuable concentrated 

 fertilizer, which will be worth barrelling and trans- 

 porting to any distance within two or three hun- 

 dred miles. An enterprise of this kind would re- 

 quh-e a capital of a few hundred thousand dollars. 

 Ample grounds (say the brick yards on the Fitch- 

 burg railroad, near Charlestown,) capacious pipes, 

 steam pumps, large tanks elevated high enough 

 that their contents will flow where you want them, 



I make the suggestion for others. I am con- 

 vinced, by experiments, that clay is a cheap-and 



