vol.. XX. MO. «7. 



AND H R T I C U L T n R A L R E G I S T K R 



133 



liold iliKicn, 9|>oml tlioirtiine in a very lisl!t»8 man- 

 ner. I bi'liofo llioy nro gunerslly sirluous, oxccpl 

 iht virluo of ncatiiosD. 



riut I will leuve llio Indian to his wijwam, and 

 foil in your more comfortable home, to reflect how 

 iro ill the West live nml prow and iinprovo in the 

 :ivili/.od comforts of life, which from the spocimen.t 

 ' have here tjiven, 1 expect yon will soy may yet 

 >e l"iirlher improved, before you will be willing to 

 )arlako of such things as are enjoyed by 

 Yours, most afl'ertionatelv, 



SOLON ROBINSON. 



For (he N. E. Farmer. 



MUCK, 



I Good .Ihsorhtnt of the If'asle from the Tnn-yard. 

 Mr EniTOR — Knowing it to be a satisfaction to 

 ou to learn of any benefits resulting from your la- 

 ors, I herewith sciiJ you the results of some ex- 

 criments which I have been induced to make by 

 ic cry of "Muck I Muck 1" which your predeccs- 

 or and yourself have sent through the community 

 I the columns of your most valuable paper. 



In the first place, sir, I am a farmer, and like 

 lany others, thought little of enriching my farm 

 om my tan-yard, or at least to that extent that I 

 m now able to do, 'till, as I before said, I was in- 

 uced to try some experiments in muck. 



I caused to be dug out directly below my tan 

 ouse and where my limes, drenches and water 

 Its were drawn, a hole sufficiently large to hold 

 ly thirty to forty cartloads. This I filled with 

 uck or peat, letting it remain say eight or ten 

 eeks, in which time it became well saturated with 

 me, and had accumulated a good portion of ani- 

 al matter from the hides: 1 then cleaned it out, 

 verhaulcd it, and mixed it well together, letting 

 remain from fall to spring; I then mixed it in 

 qual parts with stable manure, and used it in 

 anting corn, potatoes and squashes, and the re- 

 lit was a larger crop of corn than had been raised 

 I my neighborhood for many years, ■being little 

 uort of one hundred bushels of shelled corn to the 

 en. I have also used it with equal success in 

 ip-dressing for grass. Therefore you see that 

 rthe small sum paid yearly for your paper, I have 

 sen able to make from one hundred and fifty to 

 fO hundred loads of the first quality of manure 

 reryyear, and at a very small expense. But, sir, 

 lis is only one of many benefits I have derived 

 om your most valuable publication. You will 

 erefore receive the grateful thanks of 



A LIFE SUBSCRIBER. 

 Od. 17, 1841. 



face (for from such hoiI;! tlio ainiiiuiiin incupi'ii up- 

 I ward Iriun tlio increaseil power of the nun, and not 

 I downward) may he iniido highly fertile with the 

 aid of an iiicrci'ibly siniill portion of alumina. 



Tlioro are many swamps on which the vogota- 

 blu matter, peat, muck or mud, lies at no great 

 depth, (somotimos only ten inches,) one foot to 

 ' eighloun inches. At the bottom of these is often 

 fouml a sharp white gravel, resembling wjiat is | 

 called sea sand. We do not think il likely that 

 the quality of this swampsand is always the same; 

 hut it is our opinion that all of it found along the 

 coaBt where the swamp does not riso many feet 

 above the level of" the sea, will be found to be a 

 species of marl highly valuable as a fructifier of 

 the soils lying near these swamps and even upon 

 the surface of the swamps themselves. 



A very intelligent gentleman, a subscriber for 

 the Visitor, of Hamilton, in Essex county, Alass., 

 (Mr Antipas Dodge,) called upon us a few days 

 ago, and remarked that in consequence of advice 

 made by the Rev. Henry Colman, while visiting 

 him about five years ago, to make top dressing of 

 the subsoil sand found at the bottom of swamps on 

 his premises at no very great distance below the 

 surface, he had made trial of it. The swamp was 

 a quagmire wherever there was any depth of soil : 

 it was ditched and 'drained. The under soil of 

 grey or white sand, dug from the ditches and the 

 bottom of the swamp, was spread upon the surface: 

 on exposure to the atmosphere it slacked like lime. 

 The first year the land produced well ; and the 

 second year the crop was still belter ; ho raised 

 upon the swamp good rye, and, laid down to hay, 

 it produced great crops of herdsgrass. Mr Dodge 

 has succeeded well in reclaiming several pieces of 

 low sunken swamp. — Jar. Monthly Visitor. 



VIRTUE OF THE SUBSOIL. 

 There is much virtue in that material directly 

 low the upper soil in miny parts of the country : 

 e are not sure that the subsoil, whether it be hard 

 in, clay, admixture of clay, gravel or sand, is not 

 wiys valuable. The idea of its uselessness ur 

 ant of value is derived from the fact that on its 

 8t exposure it is cold and lifeless, and until ex- 

 Med to both a winter and a summer atmosphere, 

 ill not beneficially operate upon the soil. Expe- 

 ence proves to us thst after exposure, the hardest 

 in gravel will become fruitful — clayey sand upon 

 luvion ground often becomes fertile ; and even 

 le sand gravel of the lightest soils which arc er- 

 meously supposed to be so open as to leach down 

 le virtue that is near or may be put upon the sur- 



IIORSES AND OXEN FOR TEAMS. 



I have observed that in many places horses have 

 taken the place of oxen, and are used for the pur- 

 poses of fanning — introduced, I suppose, under tfie 

 impression that they are better adapted to the ser- 

 vice, and more profitable to the owner. I am not 

 about to contradict the truth of this supposition, or 

 prove that a man cannot plow and harrow as fast 

 and as well with horses as with oxen, but shall 

 merely mention a few of the comparative merits 

 and demerits of these animals, that may determine 

 which is most useful and profitable. 



The horse, when put to service, must have ar- 

 rived at his full strength nnd value, consequently 

 there is no gain on the capital invested, besides 

 what arises from service, and as he is good for 

 nothing at the end of service, there will be a dis- 

 count at last equal to the amount of his cost. 



The ox may submit to the yoke when young, 

 and partly remunerate his owner for cost of keep- 

 ing while obtaining his growth, when he may be 

 sold to the butcher, and the money invested in 

 younger stock ; thus there will be a constant gain 

 in growth while the services will be sufficient for 

 the purposes of farming. The horse, if kept on 

 hay alone, must have his masticating powers in al- 

 most perpetual motion. The ox reserves some of 

 his lime for rumination ; — hence there may be a 

 difference in the cost of keeping. The cost of 

 equipping a horse for the rcgulor farm service is 

 greater than that of an nx, and more time is re- 

 quired to put on and off these equipments. In 

 shoeing, the difference of cost is in favor of the 

 ox, as also it is in the quality of the manure they 



innko. The ox has an intrinsic value arising frum 

 the good <iualilie« of his flesh nnd skin, the one 

 being good for food, the other for leather — where- 

 as very lilllu can he made out of a dond horse. 



For some kinds of farm service the liorso is pro- 

 fcrnblc to the ox, such as light plowing ond har- 

 rowing, but for carting, hauling stones, nnd other 

 heavy work ho is not so good. He is bolter adnpl- 

 ed to the road service, nnd is useful fur milling, 

 marketing, and miitcnin/; ; he also may bo used in 

 journeying and visiting. It is convenient, and 

 perhaps profilablo to keep both these useful ani- 

 mals, as well us cows, sheep, and other stock ; but 

 when the number of horses greatly exceed those 

 of oxen or even cows, it is time to begin to count 

 the cost, which may he done by opening account 

 current with each animal, keeping debt and credit, 

 or what you give or receive from each. — Elaine 

 Farmer. 



TILLING THE EARTH. 



In tilling the earth, soma people go upon the 

 same principle that regulates their business inter- 

 course with men. They must be sure to get the 

 advantage of the trade ; and if this cannot be se- 

 cured without, they must cheat and deceive the 

 person with whom they deal. And they think to 

 practice the same artifice upon old mother Earth. 

 You will see them on their grounds in the spring, 

 as sly as dogs, apparently calculating that Earth 

 has forgotten the exhausting crops that were taken 

 from her the last year — perhaps they will give a 

 sprinkling of manure, and throw it on so as to make 

 the Earth think there is a noble lot of it. Well, 

 they go to work. But the Eartli wont be cheated. 

 She will reward every man according to his works, 

 and till the truth in the autumn. You cannot get 

 the advantage of her as you can with human cus- 

 tomers. Treat her well, and she will reward your 

 expenditure and toil ; but attempt to cheat her, and 

 she will make you sorry for it when harvest comes. 

 — Maine Cult. 



HYDATED IN SHEEP. 

 This disease by some is called " water in the 

 head," but it has been shown that instead of water 

 in the head, it is produced by a parasitic animal 

 called the Ai/rfoferf; it is found in the brain of the 

 animal. The sheep thus affected, leans its head 

 to one side, staggers, mopes by itself, shows o-rent 

 symptoms of distress, and finally dies. If situated 

 at the surface of the brain, the part affected feels 

 soft, and should be reached with a sharp instrument, 

 an awl or a gimblet. If deep seated, the scull may 

 be trepanned. A small portion of the scull may be 

 taken out, or cut so as to be raised up. Tlie hy- 

 daled may then be extracted by pincers; the blood 

 absorbed by a sponge or linen cloth. Then the 

 piece ol skull should be replaced, and dressed with 

 tar put upon a piece of leather, to keep the piece 

 firm in its place, and prevent the rain from pene- 

 trating the head — Canadian Farmer. 



[In the name of all that is merciful, we would 

 inquire if there is no other remedy known for this 



disease in the sheep, than that above mentioned. 



Sooner than subject an animal to jurA a surgical 

 operation as the one above proposed, we would 

 prefer to deprive it of life at once. — ..inon.] 



Wear your learning, like your watch, in a pri- 

 vate pocket. Avoid display. Merit will show itself. 



