AND H R T 1 (Ui 1. T C K A L R K G I S T E R 



2<J 



8 formcriy. Pn'vious to their being alfvcteil with 

 he ili«cnsp, I cotiid lind none of thin ;;rnss ; sincR 

 flit titno I hitro discovered xomr, lhnii|;h iho 

 uantity is small Ccniipared "'iih torrnor yours. 



From the above iiioiitioned circumstances nnd 

 ict^i, I om led tu conclude, that tJio (.'rasi which I 

 :\ve described is the trtio cuuso of slavers in hnr- 



I. I leave it lor the CMiiiiliiatioii uf others, and 



those more nciiiinintcd »iili diseosca than I am, 



prescribe a rt'iiiedy. 



LOVETT PETERS. 



H'titboro', Sept. ITi, 1S.>3. 



Knim (he Maine Farmer. 



SLOBBERING IN HORSES. 



.\t this senson of (he year, horses that are kept 

 pon (jrass lire troubled with what is considered n 

 iseasL' called slobberingr. It is a profuse dis- 

 bargo of watery in-itter from the mouth, which 

 ndoubtedly comes from the stomach. Sometimes 

 is dischargi'd in almost a continual stream, and 

 other liiiies the horse- iets it from his mouth at 

 lort intervals. The horse appears .■>omewhat dull 

 nd sleepy at the time, and does not thrive so well 

 hen not attended with this discharge or sali- 

 ition. What is the cauj^c of this ? is often asked, 

 nd n'liat is the cure.' The cure is very simple 

 id ea.^y. Put the horse up to hay or dry food, 

 id it will soon cease. The cause is not so easily 

 Id. It has generally been ascribed to some one 

 ant which it is supposed the horse has eaten ; and 

 liflfcront parts of the country it is attributed to 

 fTerent plants. In the middle and southern states 

 is thought that the Spotted Spurge (Euphorbium 

 aculatum) is the cause of it, and a long article 

 pearcd not long since in the Farmer's Cabinet, 

 c purport of which was to prove this to be the 

 use. (For the article here alluded to, see N. E. 

 armer of the 7th inst.) But here in Maine, horses 

 e troubled with this complaint as much as they 

 e further south or west; and yet we have never 

 en this plant in the pastures of 'Maine, and we 

 esume it does not grow in this vicinity, at least, 

 it does in any part of the Stale. So lliat cannot 

 I the only cause. Here, some attribute it to Lo- 

 ilia, 'I'his grows abundantly in our pastures, but 

 D doubt if horses eat much of it. They may oc- 

 sionally take a nip of it when biting off the grass, 

 It they do not use it as an article of diet, by any 

 eans. Besides, we have known horses tu slobber 

 lien feeding in pastures where none of the Lobe- 

 i could be found. Others attribute the complaint 

 the eating of Canada thistles. The horse is not 

 ry fond of the thistle until it begins to blossom, 

 len they like to eat off the tops, and this i.s very 

 larly at the time of yeor that the slobbering coin- 

 enccs. Yt't we have seen horses th.il run in pas- 

 res where not a thistle was to be found, slobber 

 ost copiously, while one which run in ii pasture 

 here thistles were abundant, did not slobber any. 

 his »e think proves that Canada thistles cannot 

 the sole cause. What then is the cause of it? 

 c are not ccrlain what it is, but will venture a 

 ies3 with the rest of you. We are inclined to 

 ink that all the grasses and plants which the 

 irso takes into his stomach, contribute to produce 

 livation, provided the state of the horse's stomach 

 also in the right state to assist in the operation. 

 he horse, being ki'pt at grass, must as a natural 

 inseqnence have hi-s digestive organs in quite a 

 fferent state from what they are when kept on 

 E y food. The salivation commences at a season 



of Iho year when the gracses arc nioKt succuli-nt, 

 I nnd are thenisolve.^ undi'rgoing a change in their 

 'juices, .ind beginning to blossom proparntory to 

 [pcrfecling the seed. This being lh<.' ciise, tlie/rr- 

 . mriifniion in food, if ymi please solo call the 

 I change which goes on in the horso's stomach, cans- 

 jus the tldw of inoro fluid ninller than the systoin 

 I re.]iiires, nnd nature, over ready to ndicvo, throws 

 I it off in this way. We do not assert this to bo the 

 true cause, but it appears to us more likely to bo 

 the true one than any other explanation that has 

 been advanced. Wr have seen horses slobber in 

 iho winter as profusely as they ever did in the 

 summer. We once had a horse that was so affect- 

 ed in the month of February, when the snow wos 

 on the ground. Wo examined his hay, and could 

 tiiid neither Lobelia nor thistles, and yet wo pre- 

 sume it was owing to some particular state or con- 

 dition of the hay, fur upon keeping him upon nut 

 straw n day or two, the flow of saliva ceased. Con- 

 nected with this subject, we wish to ask another 

 question. Did you ever know a horse to be hovcn, 

 or in other words to swell up and die as neat cat- 

 tle sometimes do, in consequence of eating too 

 much green stuff, such as clover, &c. ? We have 

 never senii a horse so affected. But we have seen 

 a horse timl had broken into a field of clover nnd 

 eaten lill he brought on the slobbers, while had an 

 ox enten the same amount of that same clover, he 

 would in all probability have been hoven, and died 

 unless medical relief had been given. 



From these facts and observations we are inclin- 

 ed to the belief that the complaint in question is 

 caused by the peculiar state of the grass, united 

 with the peculiar condition of the stomach that re- 

 ceives those grasses, and not to any one plant, and 

 that it is, under existing circumstances, a salutary 

 operation for the time being. 



ACTION OF MANURES. 

 The following observations on the action of ma- 

 nures are e.vtracted from Robinson's lectures on 

 chemistry as applied to agriculture : 



"Manures are intended to supply food to plants 

 and ultimately to become constituent parts of them. 

 Thus when wo wish to apply manure in the case 

 of wiieat, it will be proper to ascertain from the 

 stalk and grain, what substances are required. In 

 the stalk we have potass combined with silicious 

 acid ; if the soil then, contain neither of the.'^e con- 

 stituents, we must supply them by artificial means 

 or by manuring. In tli(? grain, again, we find on 

 analysis, phosphoric acid in combination with mag- 

 nesia and potass. In like manner, these must be 

 supplied, if deficient in the soil. The usual ma- 

 nures give these substances, though the subject is 

 not scientifically understood by mere 'practical 

 men. 



" In the cultivation of the turnip this is striking- 

 ly clear. As that vegetable contains phosphoric 

 acid in quantity, phosphoric acid, if not present in 

 the soil in sufficient quantity, as it rarely is, must 

 be supplied to it. For instance, bone dust answers 

 this purpose, as hone is composed chiefly of phos- 

 plioric acid and lime. The excrements of man 

 and anim lis contain also phosphoric acid. Fish 

 manure acts precisely in the same way, as fish con- 

 tain phosphoric acid in abundance. Fish oil is 

 proper for turnips on the same grounds. The in- 

 stances might be multiplied to a great length. It 

 may not here be out of place to remark that all 

 substances, whether organic, earthy, or saline, 



which are employed to fertilize tho aoil, or be- 

 coiiio tlir food of plants, can only bo rendered thus 

 »ervicrnble to vogptntion whim they nrc prcHuiitcd 

 to the roots in a fluid state; and such is the fact, 

 that the compost of the farm-yar.l, the crnahcd 

 bones of the turnip cultivator, the oil and bones of 

 fish, the gypsum o( the grazier, the earths, lime, 

 magnesia, and even silica, and all the autinp ma- 

 nures, are dissolved by some process or other, bo- 

 ' fore they can bo absorbed by vegetables." 



PRESERVATION OF BUTTER. 



I At a late Council of the Royal AgricuUnrnl So- 

 I ciety of England, a jnr of butter was received from 

 i Henry Wood, Esii., as n specimen of the bucccss- 

 j fill mode adopted for its preservation when that 

 I article is in intended for export to foreign climates. 

 I Mr Wood informed the Council that this butter 

 I had been prepared on tho lihh inst., (June,) accord- 

 , ing to the process adopted in eastern countries, 

 I where it was used for culinary purposes instead of 

 ; hog's lard, which the Mahometan law prohibited, 

 land would keep for any length of time in a perfect 

 I state of preservation, although it contained no salt 

 or other additional substance. This preservative 

 I slate of the butter was induced by the removal of 

 scum, and the dissipation of the watery particles 

 of fresh butter, effected by the gentlest possible 

 application ofsuflicient heat to produce llm result. 

 Mr Wood slated thnt in .\sia this gentle heat was 

 obtained by tho natives by filling a large open 

 earthen-ware pan with powdered and well dried 

 cow dung, nnd then setting fire to it, introducing 

 into the midst of the burning cow dung an earthen 

 vessel containing the' butler, which thus became 

 melted ; and when the scum, as it rose, had been 

 successively removed, and the watery particles 

 driven off by ihe'hoat, it was poured into a jar and 

 preserved for use. Mr Wood suggested that a 

 sand-bath, properly regulated, might answer the 

 same purpose as the dried cow dung, and as the 

 process was so very simple, there could be no difli- 

 culty in preparing it ; and that, when once prepar- 

 ed, the butter never became tainted. Mr Wood 

 slated that he carried with him to the Cape of 

 Good Hope some butter prepared in tlie same way, 

 a year previously, and which was there pronounced 

 to be superior to tho sailed butter of the colony, 

 and for culinary purpoi^es far superior to lard. 



Weiks. — Wage nn unceasing warfare with 

 weeds ill every form. They are continually in- 

 creasing on most farms, and new ones are yearly 

 added to the catalogue of nuisances. It is not 

 loo much to say that in many cases, the annual 

 profits of a farm are diminished from one third to 

 one half by this cause alone. Thorough fallowing 

 in the English iiielliod, is the best remedy for the 

 thistle — culling johnswort, and applying plaster to 

 invigorate the other grasses, will check if not de- 

 stroy this wood ; the annuals, such as wild mus- 

 tard, cockle, steink-root, &c., must be pulled by 

 hand carefully before ripening their seeds; and 

 the elder, life-cverlasting, nnd others, must be cut 

 up by the roots SfUclcd. 



Avarice begets more vices than Priam did child- 

 ren, and like him survives them all. It starves its 

 keeper to surfeit those who Avish him dead, and 

 subjects him to more mortifications to lose heaven, 

 than the martyr undergoes to gain it Laeon. 



