NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



2-13 



ick of some destructive insect; but could 

 nothing to justity such conclusion. The 



k stilt remains whole and entire, without 

 least appearance ot" any bruise or incision 



ng made in it. To what then can its prema- 



^ death be attributed ? to the taking off of the 

 in the manner, and circtnnstanccs, in li-hic/i 

 was dune in grefting ? If this be the case 



d I have scarcely a remaining^ doubt on the 



ject) it is a I'act certainly of importance ; and 

 ofwhich farmers generally oiia^ht to be ap- 



r.ed. I am, sir, very respectfully, vour obt. 



^HHt. JOHN E. HOWARD. 



■om llie Philadelphia American Daily .Vdverliser. 



FATTING SWINE. 



Belmont, Dec. 10, 1323. 



Ir. Pori.soN — Several of my neighbors have 



ently suflered heavy losses, by diseases fatal 



"atting swine ; when preventive precautions 



not been taken. With the view to avert such 



ortunes, when 1 farmed, on an extensive 



2 previously to and since the revolutionary 



I tried many experiments in precautionary 



sures, as well as in cures. I most frequenl- 



liled in the latter; but at length I adverted 



y having been informed of a simple prevcn- 



which I CHn confidently declare, has, 



me, always succeeded. That I might be 



lin of this point, I have fortified my recol- 



on by inquiry of an old farming laborer, 



is yet in my employ, and who had the 



?e of fatting my hogs, in pens, during a 



portion of the time since the close of that 



He recollects the loss ol one hog only ; 



hat by improper feeding. I deemitincum- 



on me to re publish, under a hope that the 



ct of it may be as beneficial to others as it 



een to me, part of a note to a communi- 



1 I made to The Philadelphia Society for 



oiing Agriculture, March 8tb, 1808; see 



St. AJemoirs of the Society — page 229. 



tut sour food is the most grateful and ali- 



iry to swine. One gallon of sour wash, 



further than two of sweet." 1 mean the 



acidulated to the degree required for dis- 



)n — not acetous. 



'RY Rotten Wood should be constantly in 

 JDS, that the hogs when confined for fat- 

 nay eat it at pleasure. Nature points out 

 bsorbent, (or whatever it may be,) as a 

 ly, or preventive. They will leave their 

 D devour the rotten wood, when they re- 

 lit. I have not lost a fatting hog for more 

 10 years, when 1 used it, but have suffer- 

 neglecting it. Some of my neighbors 

 vith frequent losses of fatting hogs fill 1 

 ;ed them of my practice; of which 1 w.is 

 / a woman from East Jersey, before our 

 utionary war. She said it was then 

 and practised there." 

 d my experience since the foregoing was 

 led; which has been uniformly similar 

 li le 2d volume, page 32, near the close of 

 valuable communication from Mr. De 

 I, of Northumberland, in our state ; who 

 great numbers of Swine, prepared at 

 Ih wash from a large dislillery, and final- 

 ;d with Indian corn: the following ini- 

 t information will be found. The whole 

 mication is worthy the perusal of every 



■y Rotten Wood is a good thing j but I will 



lake the liberty to mention what I think a bet- 

 ter ; we have three blacksmiths in this town; 

 and my hogs eat up all the ashes or cinders they 

 make ; we haul it into the pens by cart loads, 

 ami the hogs will, as yoM observe by the lintlen 

 Wood — devour this at times with more avidity 

 than their ordinary food." 



The carbonated cinders contain some of the 

 ingredients of rotten wood; and perhaps in 

 greater proportions. Be this as it may, every 

 farmer can readily obtain the latter; and many 

 can procure the former. It is anxiously desira- 

 ble that a preventive so etlicacious as either 

 has been found to be, may not be unwisely and 

 fatally overlooked and neglected. Nothing in 

 human art is invariably inlallible ; but the ex- 

 periment is so easy and cheap that the most in- 

 credulous should be induced to give it a fair 

 trial. Clean elevated sties or pens, dry litter 

 and a small enclosure, adjacent to the pens, 

 for air and exercise, and a moderate, but con- 

 stant supply of salt, no doubt add to the efficacy 

 of the preventive. — The diseases 1 have seldom 

 known to be cured. The most formidable of 

 them are sudden, violent, and rapidly fatal, nev- 

 er allowing time for remedies. Their victims 

 lire unexpectedly (for gradual approaches are 

 unperceived,) attacked with the last paroxysms, 

 before their danger is decisively known. 



Pigs and sheep aVe subject to sudden and in- 

 curable maladies. 



Preventives are, therefore, of the first impor- 

 tance. Professed cures are too ofltn, mere 

 quackeries in relation to both these estimable 

 parts of our stock. 



RICHARD PETERS. 



.Vo/e. — It is said tliat Charcoal -n-iU answer the same 

 purpose for fatting hog^s that is effected by Blacksmith''s 

 Cinders or Dry Jiotlen Wood. See N. E. Farmer, 

 vol. i. pages 144, 206. 



From the National ^T^gis. 



AGRICULTURAL. 



Mr. Rogers, — Having leisure, I feel disposed 

 to make a few remark', on the culture and man- 

 agement of Clover; v\liich, if you think worthy, 

 you will please to lay before the public, by an 

 insertion in your paper. 



1 am induced to make the following remarks, 

 by a practice which prevails with many farmers 

 of my acquaintance; that of not sowing Clover 

 seed, when seeding down tillage land to grass. 

 This practice, 1 hold, to be at variance with the 

 farmer's best interest. They say. Clover is a 

 poor kind of hay, and besides, there is enough 

 already, in my land to prevent the growth ol 

 any thing else, the first season, at least ; — bat 

 does it thence follow, that it is best not to sow ? 

 I think otherwise, I admit, that it may sometimes 

 be the case, when land is very rich, whether 

 sowed or not. But it is well knovvn to all who 

 have paid due attention to the subject, that Clo- 

 ver which is not sown, or which may spring up 

 spontaneously, will not remain in the land, or 

 continue to vegetate, more than half as long as 

 that which is sown, and that it is not generally 

 so luxuriant and productive. And 1 believe 

 most farmers will admit that the root must 

 hear a just proportion to the branch, thence 

 the greater the root, the greater the advan- 

 tage to the soil, when decayed or pulverized. 

 It is a truth that land seeded with Clover and 

 Timothy, or Foxtail, at the same time, will 



produce about as much Timothy, after the Clo- 

 ver fails, as it would in Ihe same number of 

 years, if seeded with Timothy only, at first. 

 The Clover roots, greatly tend lo enrich and 

 pulveri/.e the soil, while thnsc of Tiniothv bind 

 and impoverish it. To ascertain the truth of 

 this statement, let a f.irnier take two pieces of 

 land, equal in size and culiivHtion, and a[)pro- 

 priate one.to Clover, and the other to Timothy, 

 the term of three years, then let each be suc- 

 ceeded by a Corn crop, with equal manaijenicnt, 

 anil the produce of each piece, will furnish a 

 criterion, by which the strength and quality of 

 soil, will be readily determined. I do not pre- 

 tend that Clover is equal in quality with Tin - 

 othy for hay, but I believe it to be much bet- 

 ter tor feed in summer, and that when sowed 

 with, or about the time of sowing spring grain, 

 which I hold to be the best time tor sowing 

 both ; the clover will produce feed, after the 

 harvest of the grain, the same season, suflicient 

 to pay for the seed, while the Timothy will 

 produce little or none. 



I am far from admitting that Clover is not 

 valuable for hay ; much, bowever, depends on 

 the time of cutting, and the manner of curing it. 



If it be permitted lo stand, or rather remain 

 in the field until it is beaten down, and the 

 leaves are gone three fourths of the length of 

 the stalk, it is of little value, compared with 

 what it might be, by ditferent management. 



The best method to prevent its growing too 

 rank, is to sow it thick ; many suffer great loss 

 from the want of proper feeding: by endeavor- 

 ing to save the price of a pound of seed they lose 

 dollars^ in the worth of the first crop, and in 

 short, are emphatically, ' penny wise, and pound 

 foolish,' in the outset. 



If Clover be permitted to stand until it be- 

 comes large, it ought not to be dried till the 

 leaves crumble off, but carried in quite green, 

 and cured with salt. 



I am, however, of opinion the better way is, 

 to cut it two or three times, during the season, 

 before the winds and rains beat it down ; it may 

 then be dried sufficiently to save itself, and 

 makes excellent hay. 



A Friend to Agriculture. 



While a young gentleman was gunning on 

 Saturday last, on the beach at the mouth of 

 East Chester, Bay, about 14 miles from this 

 city, he discovered something on the water, 

 which he found to be some marine animal, upon 

 which he pursued it for several hours, and at 

 last, as the animal approached the shore and 

 extended its jaws, presenting a frightful appear- 

 ance to one unaccustomed to view the monsters 

 of the deep, he discharged his piece directly 

 in its mouth; upon which it bellowed most tre- 

 mendously, and became so furious that it at- 

 tacked and beat off the gunner's dog who had 

 sprung towards the animal the moment it was 

 fired at. The gunner repeated his fire, and 

 the third shot proved mortal. It has since been 

 brought to this city, and proves to be a Sea 

 Elephant, weighing upwards of 600 pounds, and 

 measuring about nine feet in length. This an- 

 imal is rarely seen in northern latitudes. 



JV. Y. Mer. Adv. 



Wool. — We understand the importation of wool 

 from foreign places, into Boston, during the year 

 1823, was 733,140 pounds— cost, $96,649. 



