VOL. X»I. .\0. IT. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



373 



Agriculturists luivo not the same resources. In 

 I gnrt'en, straw mats or pieces of canvass, dry 

 talks or leaves, can to a certain extent ward off 

 ransicnl frosts, as tlioso generally are wliicli conio 

 ut of season. In tlio field, the evil is often irrenie- 

 iable. 



Aiioiher evil of frosts is, by throwing up soils 

 if a certain kjnd, they unroot and partly destroy 

 tie fall grain. But thus, by the same action, they 

 id the good efTocts of the plowing of stony soils, 

 nd besides they render real service in destroying 

 ^e larvfB of insects and whole generations of inju- 

 ious animals. 



Snow is formed when the aqueous vapors lose, 

 y the sudden cooling of the air, a quantity of cal- 

 ric more than sulficient to condense them into 

 rops of water. It is certain that the prolonged 

 resencc of snow upon the surface of the soil, is 

 enelicial to the products of culture. Without 

 Beking to explain this, as elsewhere, by the che- 

 lical properties which snow cannot possess in a 

 reat degree more than rain, it is natural to sup- 

 ose that it acts meclianicaliy in warding off the 

 ost, and retaining for the benefit of vegetation 

 ie heat of the earth, and the small quantity of gas 

 hich may be disengaged under its influence. It 



therefore a real protection, which provident na- 

 ire has destined for cold countries." 



LIQUID MANURE. 



At an agricultural meeting in England, Mr Kin- 

 lonts made the following remarks: 



"It is nearly twenty years since I first cnmmenc- 

 d using liquid manure on grass lands. I have a 



rge lank, 30 feet by 10, and 3 feet in depth, which 

 Ae urine from the cattle sheds, &c. runs into. I 



,ve a large barrel with which I carry it out to 

 lie fields. Attached to the cart is a small trough, 



11 of holes, such as is used for watering the 

 treets. It may also be used to advantage by being 

 iiixed with compost. I have found it useful in 

 ap-dressing, and good for the turnip crop. 



The urine of six cows, fed on turnips in winter, 



ill enrich a quantity of earth sufficient to top- 

 ress an English acre of grass land. It would re- 

 luire about £5 worth of manure to perform the 



me operation. 



The advantage of irrigating grass land with 

 Tine, I have proved on a small piece of ground, 

 own with Italian grass, convenient to the cistern, 



hich I cut four times in one season, each cutting 

 iveraging four feet. 

 I would recommend farmers to make a trial of 

 The expanse of making the cistern convenient 

 !j the cow-sheds is but trifling ; it should be situa- 

 3d, also, where the slops from the house would 

 un into it. They will be more benefited by pur- 

 uing this plan, than by allowing such a quantity 



f valuable manure to be lost." — English pap. 



Gypsum, or Plaster, first introduced into the 

 Jniled States from Paris, by Dr. Franklin, has ef- 

 icted most important improvements in agriculture, 

 loth in this and other countries. In Germany, 

 ays Lampodius, one of her own agricultural wri- 

 ers, " It may with certainty be stated, that by the 

 _ise of gypsum, the produce of clover and conse- 

 [uent amount of live stock, have been increased at 

 east one-third." — Footers Essay on Manures. 



Vtom ihi'Alliiiiiy Cullivulor. 



TAN AS A FERTIM'/KK. 



Eiliiors of Ihc Ciillivittor — I avail myself of the 

 opportunity you afliird me by the inquiry of Mr J. 

 \V. Saunders, of Virginia, to give you some infor- 

 mation respecting the value of tan as a manure, 

 and to point out the mode of using it most advan- 

 tageously. It is indeed a subject hitherto not sat- 

 isfactorily resolved, whether the residue of the 

 bark of oak, after having been employed for the 

 purpose of tanning, can be of any utility to agri- 

 culture. I have investigated the matter thorough- 

 ly, and made several comparative experiments, and 

 the fidlowing is the substance of precise results I 

 have obtained during several years of trial. 



Tan, as such, is almost inefficacious, and even 

 detrimental to certain soils ; but blended with veg- 

 etable substances, especially when these are green, 

 and then subjected to violent and long fermenta- 

 tion, it may be successfully applied to every soil, 

 not as constituting manure by itself, but as a re- 

 tainer of the valuable properties of the matters 

 with which it is mixed, and as hindering the es- 

 cape of the carbon which is in the soil ; for by the 

 operation of tanning, the bark has lost the greater 

 portion of the salt and alkalies which every woody 

 fibre contains. Tan, however, has still some stim- 

 ulus, which, in contact with lime, serves to excite 

 the humus and make it soluble. 



If your correspondent chooses to make use of 

 his tan in its natural state, and without any other 

 preparation, meadow land is the best recipient fiir 

 it; there its utility is most certain, for it increases 

 the vegetable bed, warms the new plant, checks 

 the emission of the carbonic acid developed in the 

 soil by manure or by vegetable or animal mutter; 

 there it is the most speedily decomposed, by reason 

 of the greater abundance of humidity. However, 

 it is well to mix a little plaster of Paris with it. 

 GEO. BOMMER. 



.Yew York, Jlpril 1,3, 1843. 



From the same. 



A christian's life is nothing else but a short trial 

 )f his graces. 



COLIC IN THE HORSE. 



There are few diseases more troublesome or 

 dangerous to the horse than the colic. One of the 

 best descriptions of the disease, and its mode of 

 treatment, is to be found in Stewart's Stable Econ- 

 omy, from which we have condensed the following: 



" The horse is usually attacked by the colic sud- 

 denly. In the stable, he paws the ground with 

 his fore feet, lies down, rolls, lies on his back, but 

 at times, when the distension of the belly is not 

 great, will sometimes lie still for several minutes. 

 When the distension is great, he neither lies or 

 stands still a minute, but lies down and gets up in- 

 cessantly, strikes his belly with his hind feet, and 

 looks wistfully at his flanks. When standing, ho 

 makes many and fruitless attempts to urinate, and 

 the owner generally imagines there is something 

 wrong with the water.'' Sometimes in the worst 

 case3°the swelling is very inconsiderable ; but in 

 all cases, as the disease proceeds, the pain becomes 

 more and more intense ; the horse dashes himself 

 about with frightful violence; the perspiration runs 

 off him in streams ; his countenance betrays ex- 

 cessive agony, and his contortions are not .sus- 

 pended for a moment. 



Sometimes he is attacked on the road. " If his 

 pace is fast, he should be stopped at once. To 



push him oil beyond a walk, even for n Klnirl dis- 

 tance, is certain death. The hnw(;l.'»arc displaced, 

 tyisti'd and 9tran:;iilated, partly by the dislenlioii, 

 hut aided a great deal by the ex>'rlion, and im ined- 

 iciue will restnre their, to their proper position." 

 When death ensues, the bowels are fcniiid inflamed, 

 twisted, and generally ruptured. 



In the treatment of colic, the first ohjoct is to 

 arrest the fermentation that is the primary cause, 

 and re-establish the digestive powers. " In mild 

 cases, a good domestic remedy in common use 

 among old-fashioned people, who have never hoard 

 of inflamed, spasmed or strangulated bowels, in 

 whiskey and pepper, or gin and popper. About 

 half a tumbler of spirits, with a teaspoonful of pep- 

 per, given ill a quart bottle of milk or warm water, 

 will often aflTord immediate relief. If the pain do 

 not abate in twenty or thirty minutes, repeat the 

 dose. Four ounces of spirits of turpentine, with 

 twice as much sweet oil, is mucli stronger ; but if 

 the horse is much averse to the medicine, turpen- 

 tine is not always safe." 



" There is, however, a bettor remedy, which 

 should always be in readiness wherever several 

 draft horses are kept. Take a quart of brandy, 

 add to it four ounces of sweet spirits of nitre, and 

 three ounces of cloves. In eight days this mix- 

 ture or tincture is ready for use ; the cloves may 

 still remain in the bottle, but tlicy are not to be 

 given. Set the bottle by, and label it distinctly, 

 ' Colic Tincture.' The dose is six ounces, to be 

 given in a quart of milk or warm water, every fif- 

 teen or twenty minutes, till the horse is cured. 

 Keep his head straight and not too high when it is 

 given. Do not pull out his tongue, as some stupid 

 people do when giving a drink. Give him room, 

 and if he will not stand till the drink be given, 

 watch him when down, and give it, though he be 

 lying, whenever you can get him to take a mouth- 

 ful ; hut give the dose as quickly as possible. Af- 

 ter that, rub the body with a soft wisp, walk. the 

 horse about very slowly, or give him a good bed 

 and room to roll. In eight cases out of nine, this 

 treatment will succeed, provided tlie medicine be 

 got down the horse's throat before his bowels be- 

 come inflamed, or strangulated, or burst. The de- 

 lay of half an hour may be fatal. When the se- 

 cond dose does not produce the relief desired, the 

 third may be of double or treble quantity. I have 

 given a full quart in about an hour, but the horse 

 was very ill." 



Bottles are generally used for giving medicine 

 to horses, but unless the neck is wound with twine, 

 there is danger of the horse breaking it with his 

 teeth, and injuring himself with the pieces. A 

 large horn, with a small point for insertion in the 

 mouth, is preferred by many, as exempt from this 

 danger. 



Lnnl Lamps. — According to the experiments 

 which I have made, G5 lbs. of lard will supply two 

 lamps in constant use 'or four hours in each 24, the 

 year through, and each give as much light as a 

 common spermaceti candle. The advantages 

 which the lard lamps have over common candles, 

 are, the light is clearer, they need no snuffing, and 

 they are cheaper ; while the trouble of filling them 

 is no more than that of cleaning candlesticks. 

 They have none of the unpleasant odor of whale 

 oil lamps ; and are attended with less than half the 

 expense. [The writer refers to lard, as such, not 

 the oil separate.] — Cor. Alh. Cult. 



