422 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



ment, the farmer can shortly tell what manure 

 acts best on each soil, and for each plant. He 

 needs the aid of the chemist though. 



Chemists have tried to establish rules; they 

 won't work. "General principles," as our ven- 

 erable lobturer on Theory and Practice used to 

 say, while his form was stretched up full five feet 

 four, and his spectacles mounted up "where the 

 hair ouglit to grow," "General principles are all 

 you want, and you must apply them to your case, 

 and give your remedies till you make the system 

 respond." And he was right. Rules can have lit- 

 tle place in medicine or farming. General princi- 

 ples are the things, and they must be applied to 

 each soil and crop, and the manure and cultiva- 

 tion applied till the soil responds. A quick eye 

 and a well-trained mind will enable one to do 

 this. I. H. Nutting, M. D. 



Orford,N. H., 1854. 



BOTS. 



In looking over an old number of the Medical 

 Register, we noticed an article from the pen of a 

 Mr. Greene, of this State, on the nature and hab- 

 its of this insect. Many of the remedies indicated, 

 although they have become quite extensively pop- 

 ularized through the use and recommendations of 

 empyrical pretenders to veterinary skill, and 

 have been generally regarded as both safe and ef- 

 ficacious, appear from the statement of Mr. Greene 

 to be not invariably so. In some instances the 

 bot, even when exposed to their most concentrated 

 and intensified action, remains either wholly un- 

 affected by them, or at most, only slightly injured. 



Immersed ia rum, they lived 26 hours. 



" decoction of tobacco, 11 hours. 



" strong eUxir of vitriol, 2 hours, 18 minutes. 



" essential oil of mint, 2 hours 5 minutes. 



" volatile spirit, 56 minutes. 



" spirits of turpentine, 45 minutes. 



The following articles produced no effect. 



Deeoction of pink root 10 hours. 



Fish oil 10 " 



Linseed oil 10 " 



Tincture of aloes 10 " 



Brine 10 " 



Solution of indigo 10 " 



Elixir camphor 10 " 



The assertion so confidently advanced by many, 

 that mercury is certain destruction to the bot, 

 Mr. Greene, by his experiments, has demonstrated 

 to be wholly untrue. Of three of these insects, 

 two of which were small, and one of mature size, 

 immersed in corrosive sublimate, the first two on- 

 ly were destroyed. Six hours after immersion, 

 the mature, or full-grown insect, was removed 

 from the fluid without exhibiting even the slight- 

 est apparent diminution of its normal activity or 

 sprightlincss, and, to all appearance unharmed. 



From the data furnished by Mr. Greene it ap- 

 pears extremely questionable, whether the appli- 

 cation of any remedy, not sufficiently powerful to 

 destroy the life of tlie horse, is capable of effect- 

 ing the dislodgment of these insects, when they 

 have once concentrated their attack. According 

 to Clark, and Youatt, whose investigations on 



this subject are of great value, the larvae attach 

 themselves to the stomach by the tentacula of the 

 head, and often puncture or perforate its coats. 

 Horses, however, have died, as was supposed, from 

 bots, in which the coats of this organ have, upon 

 examination, been found perfectly whole, and in 

 an apparently healthy state. When attacked by 

 bots, perhaps the most effectual remedy that can 

 be applied, is a quart of warm sweetened milk, 

 with, immediately after, a powerful dose of physic. 

 The milk will cause them to relax their hold up- 

 on the stomach to partake of the liquid, of which 

 they are instinctively fond, and the effect of the 

 physic will tend speedily and effectually to dis- 

 lodge them. This remedy has proved effectual. 



The eggs from which bots are batched are at- 

 tached to the fore leg, and taken from thence into 

 the mouth of the animal and swallowed. Now as 

 prevention is better than cure, difficulties occa- 

 sioned by bots may, in most cases, be prevented, 

 by scraping the eggs from the hair to which they 

 are attached, with a pocket knife. It is easily 

 and quickly done, and in no way dangerous ; and 

 where this practice is carefully observed there will 

 be few cases of suffering from bots. 



Dr. Dadd, in his "Modern llorsc Doctor," re- 

 commends the following compound for the expul- 

 sion of bots. 



"Powdered male fern 2 ounces. 



" poplar bark 4 " 



White mustard seed 2 " 



Common salt 6 " 



Sulphur 3 " 



Powdered aloes 1 ounce. 



Mix, divide into 18 powders, and give one, night 

 and morning, in the food. The animal should 

 have a daily allowance of green food if the season 

 permits." 



For the New England Farmer. 



FARMERS OH POOR LANDS. 



Friend Brown : — I was amused with Dr. 

 Brown's article in the last number of the Far- 

 mer on the "advantages of living on poor land." 

 While I regard his views as correct and ingen- 

 ious, it struck me that there must be very many 

 people in New England the most advantageously 

 situated of any in the universe ; and why not ? 1 

 verily believe it to be the fact. 



And again, if the asperous soil of these elder 

 members of the confederation has a direct ten- 

 dency to burnish the morals of the people, then 

 virtue should shine with a lustre, the reflection of 

 which would extend to the very confines of the 

 continent ; and this even may be measurably the 

 case, though the fear is that if the curtains were 

 uplifted, that veils the hidden things of darkness, 

 the vision would be fearful, and virtue would 

 weep bitter tears of lamentation. I believe it to 

 be more creditable to a man to live on poor land 

 and cultivate a rugged soil and increase its^ pro- 

 duction while he causes it to increase in perma- 

 nent value, than to locate on a more rich and fii- 

 vored soil, and by an indolent and slovenly style 

 of husbandry deteriorate and effectually run out 

 his once rich and virgin soil. 



