390 



NEW EN(n.AND FAUMEU, 



.Tiine-22, IS31. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVEiNlNO, JUNE 3-3, 1831. ' 



FARMERS' AND GARDENERS' WORK FOR 

 JUNE. 



Ill feeding cattle witli greisn clover or turn- 

 ing tlieiii into a fresli clover pasture, great allentioii 

 is necessary to prevent tliem from becoming 

 swollen or lioven which is very apt to take place 

 when they are first put on this food, especially if 

 it is wet with rain or dew. Callle arc ex|)Osed to 

 this danger,whether tliey are sent to feed on clover 

 in a pasture or have it cut and brought to them; 

 but there is less hazard in the latter than in the 

 foriner mode of using tins grass, espec^ialiy if the 

 plants are growing rapidly, and are very full of sap. 

 After being accustomed tr) this rich food for a few 

 days, during which it slioulil be given rather spar- 

 ingly the danger is mucli diininislied ; but it is 

 never safe to allow milch cows in particular to eat 

 large quantities of wet clover. The best mode of 

 management, in many cases, is to turn cattle into a 

 fresh (dover field for about half au hour near the 

 middle of a fair day, and then tmn them out of 

 that field into a poorer pasture. The next day 

 the baiting, as it is calleil, may be repeated, and the 

 cattle allowed to stay a little longer in the clover 

 field, till at length they may be perjnitted to remain 

 in it during the day time, but as long a's the grass 

 retains any considerable degree of luxuriance, it 

 will be safest to yard the cattle at night, and not 

 tarn them into their clover pasture till the dew is 

 off in the morning. 



If however in consequence of negligence or 

 accident, cattle or sheep are sivollen or hovcn, or the 

 stomach is rendered incapable of discharging its 

 contents, a remeily must be speeilily applied or 

 tl>e animal is lost. The usual remedy for- this dis- 

 or<ler bus been to stab the animal with a penknife, 

 or other sharp instrumeui under the short ribs, and 

 put into the orifice a tube of ivory, elder, a goose 

 quill, or something of the kind to give vent to the 

 confined air. The wound in then dressed with 

 some sort of adhesive plaster, and thus, in general 

 the cure is easily effected. The following remedies 

 are also recommended. 'Apply a dose of train 

 oil, pro|>ortioived to the age and size of the animal. 

 Give to an ox or cow a pint from a bottle, and rub 

 the stomach well in order to make it go down, and 

 give the anitnal exercise. — Farmers' Mng. 



Make about a pint of ley either with hot embers 

 thrown into a suflicient quantity of water, orby dis- 

 solving therein about an ounce of pot or pearl ash, 

 and turn it down the throat of the ox or cow affect 

 ed. A porportionably les-^ quantity will answer 

 for a sheep. This is said to give immediate relief 

 by neutralizing the carlxmic acid gas in the stom- 

 ach of the animal, which causes the swelling and 

 other symptoms of the conijilaint to sub-side. 



Loudon says there are three modes of relieving 

 this complaint, which may be adverKMl to according 

 to the degree of distention, and length of time 

 which it has existed. These are internal medi- 

 cines; the introduction of aprohang of some kind 

 into the paunch by the throat; and the punctur- 

 ing it by the sides. Dr Whyatt of Edinburgh, 

 is said to have cured eighteen out of twenty hoved 

 cows, by giving a pint of gin to each. Oil, by 

 condensing the air; has been successfully tried. 

 Any other I'subslance also, that lias a strong power 

 •of absorbing air, may be advantageously given ; 

 ^common salt and water made strongly saline is 



a usual country remedy. New milk with a 

 proportion of tar etpial to one sixth of the milk 

 is hiudily spoken of. A strong solution of prepared 

 ammonia i i water often brmgs off a great quanlily 

 nf air, and relieves the animal. Any of these in- 

 ternal remedies may be made use of when the 

 Iioven has recently taken place, and is not in a 

 violent degree. But when otherwise the introduc- 

 tion of an instrument is proper and is now very 

 generally resorted to. The one principally in use 

 is a species of probang, inverite<l by Dr Miinro, of 

 Edinburgh, Another, consisting of a cane of six 

 feet in length, and of considerable diameter, hav- 

 ing a bulbous knob of wood, has been invented by 

 Eager, which is a more simple machine, but is 

 hardly so efficacious. It is probable that in cases 

 of emergency, even the larger end of a common 

 cart whip dexterously used might answer the end. 

 But by far the best instrument for relieving hoven 

 cattle, as well as for clystering them, is Read's enema 

 apparatus, which is alike applicable to horses, 

 cattle and dogs. It consists of a syringe to which 

 tubes of din>;rent kinds are applied, according to 

 the purpose and the kind of animal to be oj)erated 

 upon. There is a long flexible tube forgiving an 

 enema to horses anil cattle, and a smaller one for 

 dogs. To relieve boven bullocks eflTectually it is 

 necessary not only to free the stomach from an 

 accmnulation of gas, but from the fermenting 

 mixture which generates it ; for this purpose a 

 tube is applied to the extremity of the syringe, 

 and then passed into the animal's stomach through 

 the mouth, and being put in action, the offending 

 matter is discharged by a opening. When the same 

 operation is performed on sheep a smaller tube is 

 made use of. The characteristic excellency of 

 Read's instrument is, that there is no limit to the 

 quantity of fluid that may be injected or extracted. 

 The same syringe is used for extracting' (loison 

 fronr the stomach of man, for smoking insects, ex- 

 tinguishing fires, and syringing fruit trees. The 

 introduction of any of these instruments maybe 

 effected by the help of an assistant, who shoidd 

 hold the horn of the animal with one hand and 

 the dividing cartilage of the nose with the other, 

 while the operator himself, taking the tongue in 

 Ins left hand, employs his right in skilfully and 

 carefully introducing the instrument ; the assistant 

 bringing the bead and neck into such an attitude 

 as to make the passage nearly straight, which will 

 facilitate the operation. But when no instruments 

 can be procured, or as cases may occur when 

 indeed it is not advisable to try them, as when the 

 disease has existed a considerable time, or the 

 animal has become outrageous, or the stomach so 

 much distended with air that there is danger of 

 immediate sufl'ocation or bursting, the puncture 

 of the maw must be instantly performed, which is 

 called paunching. This may lie done with the 

 ttreatcst ease, midway between the ilium, or 

 haunch bone, and the last rib of the left side to 

 which the haunch inclines ; a sharp penknife is 

 frequently used ; and persons in veterinary practice 

 should always keep a long trochar, which will be 

 found much the most efficacious, and by fiir the 

 most safe, as it permiis the air escaping certainly 

 and quickly, at the same time that it prevents its 

 entrance into the cavity of the abdomen, which 

 would occasion au equal <listention. As soon as 

 the air is perfectly evacuated, and the paunch re- 

 sumes its office the trochar may be removed ; and, 

 in whatever way it is done the wound sliouUI be 

 carefully closed with sticking plaster or other 



adhesive mailer. It is nece.>isary to observe thai 

 the operation is so safe that whenever a medical 

 assistant cannot be obtained, no pcr.-ou should 

 hesitate a inument about doing it himself. Aftei 

 relief has been affonbd by means of either the 

 probang or of paunching, a stimulant drink maj 

 yet be very jiroperly given, such as half a pint ol 

 common gin; or one ounce of spirit ofbartshorr 

 in a pint of ale, or two ounces of spirits of til rpen. 

 tine in ale, may any of them be used as an assist 

 ant stimuliiiis. 



Charcoal. — The American Faiiucr sa\s, tin 

 ravages of the yellow striped bug mi luruinbcr.s 

 and melons may be effectually pnvinled by siftinj 

 charcoal dust over the plants. If repeated two oi 

 three times the plants will be entirely secure from 

 annoyance. There is in charcoal some property ol. 

 so obnoxious to those troublesome insects thatthoy 

 fly from it the instant it is applied. 



Charcoal is not only used as an antidote against e 

 insects but is a valuable manure. Dr Deane sla^ 

 ted that he had long ago observed where coal 

 piles had been burnt, the ground has discovered 

 a remarkable fertility for many years after and 

 more especially when it has been a cold and wel 

 soil. The dust of the coals and that of the burn; 

 turf have conspired to produce this effect. Beinj 

 extremely porous, the pieces of coal imbibe much 

 of the superfluous water, as well as increase the 

 heat on the surface as all black substances do 

 and when the weather becomes dry, they dis. 

 charge the moisture, jiarily into the soil, when it 

 grows dry enough to attract it, and partly into the 

 air by the action of the sun upon it. 



It is stated in the last Amcricau edition of Willich's 

 Domestic Encyclopedia, vol. i. p. G55, that ' a friend 

 of Dr Mease informed him, that some years since 

 nearly all the cucumber and melon vines in New 

 Jersey were destroyed by a fly or bug. One day 

 he had occasion to ride past a miserable hut in the 

 woods, and perceiving a very flourishing patch ol 

 cucumbers, he wasinducQd to dismount and exam- 

 ine it, On approaching the spot be found it had 

 formerly been a charcoal heap. He took the hint 

 and by strewing charcoal round about the vines when 

 they first come up, jneserves bis cucumbers effec- 

 tually. 



A writer whose comniunleation was originally 

 publisbeil in the Transactions of the London llor- 

 licullural Society and republished in the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, vol. vii. p. 3o4, recoiiimeiids charcoal 

 dust as a top dressing fur onions and a cure for 

 the clubbing in cabbages. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FAIllMF.R. 



Ma Fessenuen — I observed in the N. E. Far- 

 mer of the 15th inst. that the committtee on fruits 

 and fruit trees propose among other premiums for 

 this year, one of twenty dollars. — ' For the best 

 method of cultivaliiig foreign gra|ics, in open 

 ground, which shall be superior to any other now 

 practised in this country with reference to plant- 

 ing, training, shelter, &c — and for a length of 

 trellis, not less than thirty fcLt.' — The committee 

 then add that ' they have hopes that the mode now 

 universally acknowledged in France to be the 

 best practised in that country for open culture, 

 may be successfully introduced into the United' 

 States ;' that ' they allude to the Thomery meth- 

 od, a particular description of which may be found 

 in the Bon Jardinier for 1830, &c. 



I shall be thankful to the chairman of that coin- 



