NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



197 



between the thumb and fore-finger, in half a pint 

 of boiling water, and then sweetening it with su- 

 gar. To a grown person M. Negrier prescribed 

 from two to three teacupsfull of this daily. This 

 medicine is a slightly aromatic bitter, its efficiency 

 is nearly uniform in scrofulous disorders, and it is 

 stated never to have caused any unpleasant effects. 

 It augments the activity of circulation and diges- 

 tion, and to the functions imparts much energy 

 It is supposed to act upon the lymphatic system, as 

 under its influence the muscles become firm, and 

 tiie skin acquires a ruddier hue. Dry leaves may 

 be used throughout the winter, but a syrup made 

 of the green leaves is more aromatic. A salve 

 made of a strong extract of the leaves mixed along 

 with clean lard, and a few drops of the oil of ber- 

 gomont, is most excellent for sores. A strong de- 

 coction of the leaves is excellent for washing them. 

 The salutary effects of this medicine do not appear 

 on a sudden — no visible effect may be noticed for 

 twenty days, but perseverance in it, says M. Negri- 

 er, will certainly effect a cure. 



As walnut-tree leaves are plenty and cheap 

 enough in America, and as the extract of them is 

 in no way dangerous nor unpleasant to use, and as 

 scrofula cases are not uncommon, a trial of this 

 simple medicine should be made. In directing at- 

 tention to it, good results may be expected. It is 

 our opinion that every country has within its own 

 borders those medicines best suited to the wants of 

 its inhabitants; to discover where and what those 

 medicines are should engage the attention of our 

 physicians. — Scientific American. 



a crack where their noses can snuff a little breath; 

 but if fought down and covered over, will finally 

 give it up. So if a tree be thrust into close clay, 

 or its roots are kept under water, it refuses either 

 to be an aquatic or to put up with its aheminous 

 prison. It will grow as little as possible and die 

 the first opportunity. — Prairie Farmer. 



HOW CATTLE KILL TREES. 



It is a noticeable fact that a tree ever so thrifty 

 and of whatever kind, to which cattle can gain ac- 

 cess, and under |which they become habituated to 

 stand, will very soon die. In the case of a solita- 

 ry shade tree in a pasture, or by the road-side, this 

 is of common occurrence. The query may have 

 been suggested, to what this is owing. In the 

 first place the rubbing of a tree by the necks of cat- 

 tle is highly pernicious, and if persisted in it will 

 commonly destroy them sooner or later; but if the 

 body of the tree be cased so that their necks cannot 

 touch it, death will ensue just as certainly if they 

 are allowed to tramp the earth about it. But why 

 should tramping the earth destroy the tree ? The 

 reason is one of wide and important application to 

 the laws of vegetable growth. The roots of plants 

 need air, if not as much, yet just as truly as the 

 leaves and branches. Their case is analogous to 

 that of fishes, which though they must have water 

 must have air also: viz., just about as much as per- 

 meates the water. If it be all shut off, so that none 

 which is fresh can get to them, they will exhaust 

 the supply on hand, and then die; precisely as a 

 man in a close room will use up the air he has and 

 then die for want of more. 



So the loots of trees and vegetables want air. — 

 When the earth is in a normal or natural condition, 

 it is full of interstices and channels by which air 

 gets to them. But if cattle are allowed to tramp 

 down the earth, and the sun aids their work by 

 baking it at the same time, a crust like a brick is 

 formed, wholly impervious to the atmosphere, and 

 the tree yields to its fate. So a tree cannot live if 

 its roots are covered with a close-pavement. They 

 will struggle for life by creeping to the surface and 

 hoisting out a brick here and a stone there, or find 



SOWING CORN FOR FODDER. 



Mr. Editor : — I observe, in a late number of 

 the Michigan Farmer an inquiry for the best mode 

 of raising corn for fodder, and having tried several 

 different ways, the results may be of benefit to oth- 

 ers. 



A common, and a very objectionable practice, is 

 to sow broadcast. This requires at least four bush- 

 els to the acre, and eren with this amount of seed, 

 the growth is not dense enough to keep down the 

 weeds, and as a consequence, the ground is left in 

 a foul condition. 



The best way is to sow in drills. First plough 

 and harrow the ground, as if for corn or potatoes; 

 run furrows in one direction, with one horse, about 

 three feet apart; with a hand-basket of corn on the 

 left arm, walk rapidly along side of the furrow, 

 strewing the seed with the right hand, at the rate 

 of about fifty grains to the foot, which will be about 

 two bushels and a half to three bushels per acre. 

 A little practice will enable any one to do this even- 

 ly and expeditiously. The seed may be covered 

 in the best manner, by means of a one-horse har- 

 row, a one-horse cultivator, or a two-horse harrow, 

 passed lengthwise with the furrows. Two men will 

 thus put in five or six acres in a day. 



The only subsequent culture needed, is to pass a 

 one-horse cultivator between the lows, when the 

 corn is about a foot high. No hoeing is required. 

 Its growth will soon cover the whole ground, and 

 all weeds, no matter how thick they may be, will 

 be completely smothered and destroyed; and when, 

 at the close of summer, the crop is removed, the 

 ground will be left as smooth and clean as a floor. 

 No crop have I ever seen equal to this, for reduc- 

 ing grassy, weedy soil, into mellow condition, in a 

 single summer. 



If the crop stands erect, it is most conveniently 

 cut with a stiff scythe. A little practice will en- 

 able the workman to throw it all in an even swath, 

 with the heads in one direction, so as to admit of 

 easy binding in bundles. If much thrown down by 

 storms, it may be cut with a corn-cutter. When 

 bound, it is to be put up in large, substantial shocks, 

 to stand several weeks, or till winter, unless the 

 ground is to be sown with wheat, in which case 

 the crop must be drawn off and deposited to dry, 

 elsewhere. 



Every beginner spoils his first crop, by its heat- 

 ing in the stack. Even after drying several weeks, 

 there is moisture enough in the stalks to cause vio- 

 lent fermentation. The only mode of preventing 

 this disease, is either to leave the shocks on the 

 ground till winter, or to build very small sacks, 

 with three rails placed upright together at the cen- 

 tre, for ventilation, and applying plenty of salt. 



Fodder thus grown, and well cured and salted, 

 is greatly pieferred, by cattle, to hay. A neigh- 

 bor thinks three tons are as good as four tons of 

 good hay. It should be grown so thick, that the 

 stalks will be quite small; then they will be wholly 

 eaten by cattle, and none lost. 



