NEW ENGL.AND FARMER, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY GEORGE C. BARRETT, NO. 62, NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aobicultoral Warehouse.) — T. G. FESSENDEN, EniTOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 29, 1836. 



NO. 51. 



.\n additional fact in relation to the fertilizing 

 quality of lime seems to be rendered very proha- 

 hle, if not certain, by some experiments wliirh 

 havo been recently made, in this town. A ,Mr 

 IVIoore, in digging a well, hit upon a formation of 

 soft or friable limestone, combined with fossil 

 shells of great diversity of formation. Specimens 

 were sent in different directions, and there was 

 bnt one opinion among those who tasted them, 

 that it was a limestone formation. .\ bed of gyp- 

 sum is very valuable. Mr Moore and his neigh- 

 bors appeared determined to believe that they had 

 discovered a valuable gypsum formation on their 

 farms. They sent wagon loads to Plaster Mills 

 and Grist Mills, and caused, what they pronounc- 

 ed gypsum, to be spread on a great number of 

 fields, during last fall and this s[)ring. The re- 

 sults have been in every instance, that the clover, 

 wheat and spring crops have been essentially ben- 

 efited by the application: and Mr Moore and his 

 neighbors still believe the substance which they 

 are selling as gy|sum, surpasses in efficacy, either 

 the Wheatland or the Cayuga plaster. That this 

 formation is equally efficacious with the plaster 

 wliich is generally used iu this section of the 

 State, there seems no reason to doubt, and that it 

 is a limestons formation, is beyond the possibility 

 of doubt. 



It is possible that the rnechairical operation of 

 grinding or pulverizing crude or unburnt lime 

 stone, renders it equally fertilizing with gypsum ? 

 Itappears ditrcult to avoM this difference. Mr 

 'Moore has erected a windmill, — in digging ami 

 ■vending what ho calls plaster, in great quantities; 

 ■and the farmers, from hundreds of experiments, 

 entertain the most entire confidence in its effica- 

 cy. 



With a view of obtaining some additional facts 

 on this subject, which in its present age, is a little 

 perplexing, a person called on Mr Moore with a 

 jal of muriatic acid in his pocket. Mr Moore 

 howed him specimens of Chittenango, Cayuga, 

 'helpstown and Wheatland plaster — each of 

 :hese specimens effervesced on the application of 

 acid. This fact seenis to add to the perplexity of 

 he subject, and would appear lo indicate that we 

 ^ire using (and certainly deriving great benefit 

 rom the use,) a certain description of limestone, 

 )ut which is not gypsum. If tliis is a fact, it 

 Cocs to confirm the idea that limestone in a pul- 

 erized state is equally fertilizing as gypsum. 



This subject is important to the farming inter- 

 st, and certainly merits further investigation. It 

 vould not be difficult to erect machinery which 

 vould crush the hardest limestone, and prepare it 

 or grinding in a common plaster mill. — Living- 

 ton Democrat. 



An EnglisJi clergyman, has invented anew mo- 

 ive power, arising from the compression of fluids. 



RtJTA BAGA AND POTATOES. 



I annex an account of the results of a small 

 crop of ruta baga and potatoes, which if yon think 

 worth a place in your valuable pa|)er you may in- 

 sert it. The ground occupied was gravelly loam, 

 on which th(! preceding year was a cro]i of rye ; 

 that occupied for turnips I ploughed three times 

 and harrowed twice ; after the last ploughing I 

 put on three cart loads of manure, (without toj) 

 boards,) — harrowed — then ridged with a horse 

 plough, making the ridges about 2 1-2 feet apart. 

 I then went across the ridges with an instrument, 

 having five blunt teeth 12 inches apart, always 

 letting one outside tooth run in the last mark made 

 — then with fingers dropped the seed. It took 

 myself and boy about half a day to ridge, mark 

 the ground and plant the seed. They came up 

 well, but the turnip fly destroyed nearly one third 

 njy crop. Thi.s however, I transplanted at time 

 of first hoeing, (29th of July.) The plants grew 

 very well, so that at tlie time of pulling it was 

 h: i-dly 'liscernable which was the transplanted. I 

 planted 24th June, hoed 27th July and lOtli Au- 

 gust — harvested 13tli and 14th November. The 

 ground occupied was 30 rods and the produce 100 

 bushels of fine roots. I have some few bushels 

 left, which I feed to my milch cows. I think them 

 very valuable, not oiily for store cattle, but fur 

 fatting, they containing much more r\utrinipnt than 

 potatoes. I had one fourth of an acre of potatoes 

 adjoining the turmps, which I planted with pi- 

 geon or i)ink eyes — ploughed twice, then fur- 

 rowed, and put four loads of manure into the fur- 

 rows, except two, in which 1 put a single handful 

 of plaster in each hill. The potatoes were phiut- 

 ed the 30th May, from 12 to 13 inches in the fur- 

 rows — ploughed and hoed twice. The produce 

 was 90 bushels — not as great a yield as 1 have 

 seen accounts of, but I am so well satisfied with 

 the experiment, that I shall plant in the same way 

 this season. The use of plaster 1 do not think as 

 good as yard manure; the rows in which I put 

 plaster the ))Otatoes were not as productive, most 

 of the hills not having more than half, neither in 

 size nor quantity. I am well satisfied that our 

 fiirmers generally endeavor to cultivate too much 

 land ; a little well taken care of is better than 

 much poorly. 



Yours respectfully, William. 



P. S. I also tried a few mangel wurtzels : I es- 

 teem them very highly for milch cows. — Genesee 

 Far. 



Lampas of hokses. — As the season of the year 

 is now approaching, when some people commence 

 one of the most cruel and barbarous practices, 

 ever retained by any people, pretending to be civ- 

 ilized — viz: that of liurningout the lampas fi-om 

 the mouths of young horses, we cannot refrain 

 from making a few remarks upon that subject. 



We are sensii)le, that some of our most enlight- 

 ened readers, will say that this article should ap- 

 pear under the head of Vulgar errors; but yet 

 we have what we consider a reasonable excuse 



for not putting it there. Most of the articles 

 which have been placed under that head, in our 

 [(ap(-r, are rather imiocent di'lusions, than partak- 

 ing of the barbarous; rather superstitious rites 

 and ceremonies, apjiertaining to property ; than 

 any retained usages of the dark ages of barbarity. 

 /\t what time or with what people this practice 

 originated, we will not pretend to say ; hut there 

 is one nation, who should either discontinue the 

 practice, or else say less of the general diffusion 

 of useful information; thalis America. 



The idea that the enlargement of that part of 

 the roof of a horse's mouth, is a disease, has long 

 been exploded by all veterinary surgeons. All 

 horses are subject to it, between the ages of three 

 and five, more or less; and many dases, this soft 

 spongy enlargement, descend to a level with the 

 fore teeth, yet upon examining it, there will not be ' 

 found any marks of tenderness or inflammation in- 

 dicating disease ; and if left to the operations of 

 nature will disappear, and the horse will have a 

 sound and healthy moutli ; not to speak of the 

 danger of bleeding the horse too freely, by opening 

 the palatine artery, the manner of performing the 

 operation, is shocking to the feelings of humanity, 

 as well as painful to the animal. It is uncalled 

 for, anil must be considered a piece of wanton 

 cruelty. — Gen. Far. 



CuRK KOR cHOL-c IN HORSES.— SiB, — Noticing 

 in No. 45, of the Farmer, the case of your sorrel 

 horse, induces me to inform you of a never failing 

 remedy for th« cholic in the horse, having used 

 it invariably with success lor the last 25 years. I 

 obtained my information from a travelling gentle- 

 man, who said also that he never knew it fail. It 

 is nothing more than a Ijalf ofa (lound of glaubcr 

 salts administered in a drench. 1 generally guess 

 at the qnantiiy, and no doidit frequently give more, 

 for it will do no harm. How it has this powerful 

 and immediate effect, I submit to others to point 

 out; but it certainly will give entire relief in fif- 

 teen or twenty minutes, not only to the horse 

 but to the ox. Although I have had a knort-ledge 

 of this remedy for such a length of time, and have 

 always recommended it to others who had hor- 

 ses laboring under this disease, with success too, 

 still there are only a few, who, knowing of this 

 remedy, are willing on all occasions to apply it, 

 which can be accounted for in no other way than 

 that its simplicity makes them incredulous as to 

 its effects. After you Sir, have been convinced of 

 the efficacy of this remedy, you would do a signal 

 service to the community, to endeavorthroughyour 

 paper to impress them with a sense of its utility. 



Some time since, I cautioned my son of this 

 remedy, who has his first horse ; a few days after- 

 wards one of Diy horses was taken with a violent 

 spasm of the stomach ; I carried my son out with 

 his watch, to witness the happy effects of salts ; the 

 horse was in such pain as to be unable to stand to 

 be drenched, it was given him as he lay ; in fif- 

 teen minutes, he appeared to be perfectly easy and 

 went to a pool to drink. — American Far. 



