1857. 



NEW ENGLAND F/RMER. 



185 



rousing switch in the face with a rigorous cow's tail. 

 It does rather disturb one's equanimity, especially 

 if the animal has just risen from her bed, where the 

 tail has been recumbent in what certainly tvill give 

 color and fragrance to the rose ; but we should not 

 be willing to jeopardize our veracity by saying that 

 it is either of them in its present form." 



The instrument is described and shown by a draw- 

 ing in the above page of the Farmer, and the writ- 

 er says : "It is made of brass, is perfectly simple, 

 and will be wanted by all who have not razeed their 

 cows' tails. The Hon. John M. Ware, of Seabrook, 

 N. H., is the inventor of the implement, and, we 

 understand, has received a patent for it." Thus a 

 cow's tail appears as sensitive as a horse's ears. 



Mansfield, 1857. Isaac Stearns. 



For the New England Farmer. 



WHAT WILL YOTJ DO WITH THAT 

 DEAD ANIMAL ?-lfo. 1. 



Pay your neighbor a dollar to drag the remains 

 to the sea, and give them to the waves ? But friend, 

 don't you remember what a nuisance you found that 

 corrupt carcass to be, that was drifted to the beach 

 last year, what a wide berth you gave it when col- 

 lecting kelp and sea-weed, and what hard words 

 were squeezed out of your contorted visage by the 

 awful stench ? Perhaps, too, you chanced to notice 

 what a nuisance it was to others beside yourself; 

 that it tabooed quite a region around, and as effect- 

 ually excluded it from the approach of the conva- 

 lescents, who came for a breath of pure ocean air, 

 of the excursionists from the city, who had fled from 

 their hot, dusty, noisome prison for the boasted pu- 

 rity of the sea-side, or of those cultivated minds 

 who came to appreciate all that was beautiful, and 

 were equally sensitive to all that was disgusting, as 

 though the whole immediate neighborhood had, for 

 the time being, been fenced in against all approach. 

 Had he who was once owner of that dead animal, 

 in person taken possession of that spot, and prohib- 

 ited all approach for a given tim.e, under pains and 

 penalties, what an outcry we would have raised 

 against him ! And yet, my friend, are you not shrewd 

 Yankee enough to perceive that the transgressor 

 north or south of you, who set that nuisance afloat, 

 while it remained there, really did prohibit all ap- 

 proach to the desecrated spot under pains and pen- 

 alties ? And all the while you were within the pol- 

 luted region, didn't you feel that blame ought to 

 rest somev/here? Now then, brother, are j'ou a 

 Christian, or a barbarian ? Will you stick to what 

 may be your legal rights, or will you waive your le- 

 gal rights that you may do what is morally, really 

 right ? Will you do unto many as a certain one 

 did unto you, or will you the rather do unto others, 

 as you would have others do unto you ? 



But perhaps you live in the country, and drag 

 out your carcasses into some bye-place where peo- 

 ple seldom or never pass, though nine chances to 

 one, people are more cosmopolite than you calcu- 

 late on, and are often annoyed by the stench. There 

 is a wide difference between concealing the remains, 

 and concealing the foul gases which arise from it, 

 and this latter is by far the greater annoyance. 

 But, presuming one farmer to have done a Chris- 

 tian act, and so disposed of the animal he has been 

 so unfortunate as to lose, as that it can give no of- 

 fence to any of the senses, is he certain that it wUl 



not attract the crows, and better them, and keep 

 them in the vicinity to make him plenty of work 

 next season when his corn starts ? 



Thus far, we have considered a carcass as of no 

 value, but purely an encumbrance, which we are in 

 duty bound so to dispose of, that it shall not be a 

 nuisance to others. When the poor creature dies, 

 we are certainly done with all the capacities with 

 which life endowed it, we are done with its soul, 

 but by no means with his body, if we are prudent 

 men. The carcass of a horse in the city of New York 

 is valued at $17 50 ; there the flesh, the bones, the 

 entrails, the fat, the hoofs, the skin, the hair are 

 readily disposed of; but let us affirm that none of 

 these markets are profitably accessible to the far- 

 mer, is the carcass then of any value to him ? The 

 reason why the animal is removed far from the 

 premises, is because of the exceedingly disagreea- 

 ble effluvium which escapes during the progress of 

 decomposition. This is the iveightiest reason why 

 it should by all means be used as a fertilizer. For 

 chemistry tells us that the value of manure is, as a 

 general rule, in proportion to the strength and dis- 

 agreeableness of the odor escaping from it during 

 the process of decomposition, — a rule which ranks 

 animal remains at the head of all manures. Why, 

 then, will the intelligent and prudent farmer be at 

 pains to throw away a carcass, and yet add with in- 

 creasing and most praiseworthy industry, muck, 

 leaves, and litter of all kinds, to his manure pile ? 

 Let him be consistent, and not studiously reject that 

 dead horse, cow, or ox, (either of which is, at a low 

 estimate, equal in fertilizing power to half a cord 

 of good barn manure,) and still go seeking after 

 refuse, some of which can hardly be ranked higher 

 than an absorbent. 



The bones make a large portion of the weight of 

 an animal, and these no one can afford to waste, as 

 they contain that precious phosphate which enters 

 so very sparingly into, and yet is so essential to all 

 soils. These, after the decomposition of the fleshy 

 parts, may be coarsely broken with other waste bones 

 in a bottomless barrel resting on a smooth stone, 

 and scattered over the soil ; or they may be burnt 

 with the refuse of the tillage land, and then pulver- 

 ized and scattered ; or dissolved in a wooden vessel 

 by diluted sulphuric acid ; or finally, buried in the 

 soil below the reach of the plowshare, near those 

 hungry trees whose roots will envelop them in a 

 network of fibres, and enjoy them as choice morsels. 



But perhaps it is objected that in the winter sea- 

 son the remains are unmanageable. When the frost 

 is but an inch or two in dejjth, it would be no great 

 labor to bury them three or four feet below the sur- 

 face, that the gases may not escape, than letting 

 them permanently remain, if it should be thought 

 best to give the strong stimulant to fruit trees, or 

 vigorous grape vines ; and we will guarantee that 

 the effects will be seen in the wonderful increased 

 vigor of the trees or vines for many years. If the 

 farmer should desire hereafter to remove the fer- 

 tilizer, he will of course select the locality, and 

 mark the spot with reference to this. If the soil is 

 frozen too deep to be opened, the carcass might be 

 dragged to some convenient spot, and a cartload of 

 muck from the compost heap be thrown over it, 

 which would serve to prevent decomposition until 

 in some portion of the tillage land, the soil should 

 be sufficiently thawed to allow of enough earth be- 

 ing added to make a good compost heap when all 

 shall be decayed. It may be hardly necessary to 



