THE GENESEE FARMER. 



245 



be out. and directed my men to take the sheep to 

 the washing-place and wash them, each flock by 

 themselves:; but before they got to the place, a 

 large flock of skeep, having the foot-rot very badly, 

 liad been put in; as soon as they were out, mine 

 followed in two flocks, one after the other. When 

 through with these, the men came for their dinner 

 ^nd the third flock of sheep ; I inquired what had 

 detained them, and they told me such a flock was 

 in before them. I then directed them to take the 

 other flock to another place, where there had been 

 no foot-rot ; they did so, and that flock escaped the 

 rot, but botii the others had it in about two weeks, 

 aearly every sheep in the flock at the same time; 

 and i have never known a flock escape having it, 

 that had beea exposed in the same way. S. M. 

 Ely, — Ripley^ Ghautauque Co.^ N. T. 



In the July number of the Farmer, Mr. Brown, 

 ©f Clark county, Ohio, wishes to know the cause 

 and cure of foot-rot. It is caused by running in 

 wet pastures, and is contagious. To cure, take 

 equal parts of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) and 

 verdigris, pulverize, and apply after paring ofl" the 

 foot to get at the part affected. E. A. G. Hyde. — 

 East Aurora, Erie Co., N. Y. 



MULES vs. HORSES. 



CITEE FOR FOirNDER IN HORSES. 



Ik the February No. of the Genesee Farmer, page 

 55, is found a receipt for founder in horses, 1 will 

 give you mj plan, which I have followed for thirty 

 years, more or less, and have never known it fail : 

 "When a horse is exposed by eating grain, or drink- 

 ing when hot, I take a rope or stout strap and tie 

 up one foot so that he cannot get it to the ground, 

 thus compelling him to stand on three legs ; I then 

 take a nail gimlet and bore into the frog of the foot 

 until I start fresh blood. If the horse has not been 

 foundered before, and the operation is speedily per- 

 formed, a cure will be accomplished : twenty-four 

 hours after the founder may be too late. The gim- 

 let will bring out clotted blood, but by perseverance 

 fresh blood will come, if the work has not been too 

 long deferred. Great care must be exercised, or 

 the horse, by a quick start, will twitch the gimlet' 

 out of the hand, get his foot loose, and stamp the 

 gimlet into his foot ; this would ruin the horse. If 

 a gimlet can not be had, a sharp knife, or any thing 

 that will let out tlie blood under tbe frog, will an- 

 swer the purpose. 



Also, by boring into the frog of the foot of any 

 horse, you can tell whether the horse is foundered 

 any, or how bad. If badly foundered, it will be 

 difficult to start blood ; if only partially, particles 

 of clotted blood will appear in the gimlet. 



Gibson, Siisquehannah Co., Pa. • 



To MAKE A GOOD Cemext Cellar Bottom. — Take 

 one-third hydraulic cenient to two-thirds good clean 

 coarse sand, (very coarse,) put on two inches thick, 

 all put on at once. The sides may be of the same, 

 put on in two coats, three- fourths of an inch thick 

 each. H. B. Ward. — Sugar Greek, Ind. 



Large Yield of Corn. — Dr. J. "W. Parker, of 

 Columbia, South Carolina, according to the report 

 of a committee of the State Agricultural Society, 

 raised the premium crop of Indian corn, amounting 

 to two huTidred bicshels and twelve qiuirts per acre. 



The mule, in some parts of the country, is taking 

 the place of the horse, t > a great extent, and if our 

 farmers would make experiments to find the rela- 

 tive value of the two, they would adopt the mule 

 to a much greater extent than they have done here- 

 tofore. We should try to have those animals which 

 will cost the least for raii?ing and keeping, and do 

 the most work, as tar as we possibly can ; and in 

 order to do this, I know of no better ])lan than to 

 learn the experience of the farmers, through the 

 agricultural papers. I think mules are preferable 

 to horses in several respects; — 



1. They are much more easily kept than horses. 

 They eat less than horses, — are better able to sus- 

 tain themselves on wild pasture, — will stand harder 

 treatment, coarser and inferior fare, and do not 

 give as much trouble. Their bill for shoeing and 

 doctoring is not one-half as much. The cost of 

 raising a horse, till it is three years old, is variously 

 estimated at from $35 to $85, and of the mule, for 

 the same length of time, from $20 to §30, and 

 sometimes even less. 



2. They are more easily disposed of, in lots, at 

 any time, at good prices ; prices ranging from $90 

 to §130, and in some places, good, large sized five- 

 year-olds bring from $175 to $200. 



3. They are fit for service much sooner than 

 horses. At two years old, they are generally con- 

 sidered capable of performing labor, while the 

 horse is not for at least a year later. 



4. They are almost entirely exempt from disease, 

 and such diseases as they are liable to, are easily 

 cured. The horse, being excitable and suspicious, 

 is easily urge:! to a mucli greater amount of exer- 

 tion than he can bear, especially so with speed ; 

 but the mule, being calm and pertinacious, is able 

 to resist all the stimulants to over-exertion. 



5. They live to a much greater age than horses, 

 having been known to attain the age of seventy- 

 years. They are strong and good workers at the 

 age of twenty-rive to thirty years, or more. The 

 average age of the mule is twice that of the herse. 



If mules are managed properly in breaking, not 



one in ten will be stubborn. In plowing corn, &c., 



they do not break down near as much as horses. 



Laceyaryille, Ohio, F. 

 — — ^ I ^ 



Fattening Sheep. — About the beginning of Oc- 

 tober I set apart the sheep that I intend to make 

 fat, put them into a good pasture, and give them a 

 little grain once or twice a day ; on-s bushel of grain 

 at this season is better than two bushels in cold 

 weather. When winter begins to set in, I prefer a 

 shed open to the south, with cribs to hold their 

 feed. In the morning I give them peas in the^ 

 straw, cut green, and turnips after; a couple of 

 sheaves of oats at noon, and turnips and peas at 

 night. Common sheep, fed in this way, can be 

 made in the spring worth $8 or $10. Those that 

 are disposed to feed sheep or cattle, ought to raise 

 three or four acres of Swedish turnips; feeding on 

 grain is expensive, and sometimes does not pay very 

 well. Give them plenty of litter, and as many tur- 

 nips as they can eat, and you will have a heaj) of 

 manure that will pay you for your trouble, and of 

 far more value than all the composts of old loaves, 

 old shoes, and old trash, that you can scrape to- 

 gether. W, X.— London, G. W. 



