FARMERS' REGISTER— MILK SICKNESS— BYFIELD HOGS, &c. 



319 



The number of plants whicli may be pi 

 an acre— 160 rods or poles— 4840' yards 

 feet, is as follows 



anted on 

 =43,560 



No. of 

 plimts. 



360 



303 



257 



222 



193 



170 



150 



134 



120 



108 



69 



48 



35 



27 



MILK SICKNESS. 



The Danbury (Pennsylvania) " Herald of 

 Freedom" contains a letter dated V'incennes, (In- 

 diana) July 11. The folIo\vin<^ is an extract: 



" At Log-ansport, on the banks of the Wabash, 

 I was cautioned by an elderly lady against using 

 either milk, butter or beef, on my way to Vincen- 

 nes. As a reason for her caution, she informed me 

 that the milk-sickness was common in this state. 

 I had heard of it before, but knew little of it. She 

 informed me, that very many deaths occurred an- 

 nually by this dreadful malady. There is a differ- 

 ence of opinion as to the cause that produces it ; 

 but the general opinion is that it is occasioned by 

 the yellow oxyde of arsenic in the low ground and 

 woodland, and particularly near the Waiiash river 

 and that some weed, [as yet unknown,] imbibes 

 the poison, and when eaten by cattle causes them 

 to quiver, stagger, and die within a few hours. If 

 the cows eat of it, the milk is poisoned, or butter 

 that is made from the milk, and is also as sure death 

 to those who use the milk or butter, as it is to the 

 animal that eats the weed. Great care is taken to 

 bury such cattle as die with it: for it dogs, &c. 

 eat their flesh they share the same fate, and it ope- 

 rates upon them as violently and fatally as upon 

 the creature that was first atfected with it. The 

 butcher uniformly, in this state, runs the victims 

 for his knife a mile, to heal its blood, and, if it has 

 eaten of the weed, it will at once, on stopi)ing, 

 quiver and shake; if it does not, it is considered 

 safe to butcher ; and this is the uniform test, even 

 when beef cattle show no signs of having eaten the 

 weed. Indiana is not alone in this misfortune — 

 there have been many cases in some parts of Ohio 

 and south of St. Louis, and others of the south- 

 western States. I have seen many I'arms, with 

 comfortable buildings and improvements, entirely 

 abandoned, and their owners fled toother quarters, 

 to avoid the dreadful curse. And yet, I confess I 

 have never seen any section of country superior in 

 soil to the land adjoining the Wabash, — and this is 

 the only objection to it." 



BYFIKLD HOGS. 



From the Observer and Reporter. 

 Since the establishment of Agricultural Socie- 

 ties in our country, great attention has been paid, 

 and large sums expended for the improvement of 



stock of every description. Hence i( is, we have 

 iiorses and horned cattle equal to the English 

 breeds, and sheep that produce all grades of wool ; 

 the Merino and Saxon, not inferior to the Spanish 

 and Saxony wools. 



Our hogs have also been greatly improved by a 

 cross of the Chinese and Calcutta breeds. Other 

 descriptions of hogs lately brought to the western 

 country, promise a still greater improvement in 

 the stock of this most valuable animal. They are 

 the Byficld, the Swiss, and the Bitssian. Of the 

 three, the Russian is less preferable, being small 

 and too fat generally to be prolific or ))rofitable; 

 liut when crossed with other stock, a desirable 

 l>reed is produced, Init not equal to the Byfield or 

 Swiss ; of these two, time has not yet developed 

 which is best. Mr. Robb, of Indiana, gives the 

 preference to the Swissj while Mr. Bird Smith, 

 of Woodford county, who is raising the above 

 named stock, gives the preference to a cross pro- 

 duced through the Byfield and Swiss. 



The Swiss hog is a dark brown, lengthy and 

 round bodied, big bone, hair thin and course, very 

 prolific and easily kept; weighing from two to 

 three hundred pounds at a year old; at two years 

 old he will weigh from four to five hundred pounds. 

 The Byfield is a beautiful white hog ; his ears are 

 small, pointing to the nose; broad back, deep 

 chest, large jowls, short nose, dish face, and thin 

 hair. He was brought from Massachusetts (bred 

 l)y G. Parsons, Esq.) to the State of Ohio, where 

 his i)lood is seen mixed through the great variety 

 of breeds of that state, generally producing a stock 

 after his own kind, as well in color as in beauty 

 and size. He is three times as profitable as the 

 common hog, because he will come to maturity in 

 half the time, and will not consume half the food. 

 He is fat from a pig until he is ready for the pick- 

 ling tub, weighing from 200 to 250 at a year old. 

 Grass being his natural food (as it would seem) he 

 is not so subject to the sore throat, a disease pro- 

 duced by two much grazing, particularly on clo- 

 ver. He is said to undergo the flitigue of driving 

 as well if not better than the common hog. This 

 at first view would appear unreasonable trom his 

 bulky appearance; but when we consider that he 

 is never poor, and habituated from a pig to carry 

 his fat, increasing in strength as he increases in 

 weight, he woukl not be so liable to lag as a hog 

 quickly fattened would be. But this quality is of 

 less importance, as the completion of the rail road 

 will give a different direction to our pork. 



We understand that Mr. Smith intends to exhi- 

 bit a few of his hogs at the stock fair next Monday, 



AGRICOLA. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS AND SUBSCRIBERS. 



The communications which have been received for 

 the Farmers' Register, and do not appear in this num- 

 ber, have been omitted because they were too late to 

 be inserted in their proper place. All these will be in 

 No. 6. Our correspondents will oblige us, and will ge- 

 nerally avoid similar delay, in the publication of their 

 communications, by transmitting them as early as con- 

 venient in each month. 



The frequent misdirection of letters, causes both in- 

 convenience and expense, and makes it necessary to ask 



