398 



FARMERS' REGISTER— MEASURING CORN CRIBS, &c. 



well enclosed : and by being necessarily reduced to 

 one f'ourlli of their present numbers, and treated as 

 well as tbe change of system woukl permit, the 

 live stock would yield more j)roducts of every 

 kind (except hides ))erhaps,) than at present. 

 The lands kept for tillage, thrice as extensive as 

 the enclosed pastures, if too poor to be grazed, 

 might be safely left without a fence, until their im- 

 provement in after time may make enclosures ne- 

 cessary for the owner's interest. There can be no 

 doubt but if permitted to get rid of the burden of 

 making and repairing three fiiurths of our costly 

 and perishable fences, that the change would be al- 

 most necessarily followed by greatly improved pro- 

 ducts from both live stock and tillage, as well as 

 increased fertility to the whole country exempted 

 from the usual impoverishing and unprofitable 

 grazing of poor fields by poor cattle. 



SUUM CUIQUE. 



EASY MODE OF MEASURING THE CONTENTS 

 OF CORN CRIBS. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Perhaps the following short and easy rule for as- 

 certaining the number of barrels of shelled corn 

 in any crib or house filled with corn in the ears, 

 may be acceptable to some of your readers. 



RULE. 



Find the solid content of the house in feet ; that 

 is, multiply the length, breadth and height of the 

 house continually together ; then multiply their 

 product by 8, and cut ofi' the two last figures ; this 

 will give you the barrels and decimals of a barrel 

 of shelled corn contained in the house. 



EXAMPLE. 



In a crib measuring on the inside 20 feet in 

 length, 12 feet in breadth, and 10 feet high, there 

 will be very nearly 192 barrels of shelled corn. 



20 ■ 



12 



240 

 10 



2400 



192.00 



I found this rule in pretty general use in this 

 neighborhood when I came into it some years ago, 

 but none of those who used it could give a reason 

 for its correctness. It will be easily seen that it is 

 only a substitution of the decimal .08 for the vulgar 

 fraction irrirro ^^ which it is a pretty near approxi- 

 mation. 



The solid feet in a crib are multiplied by 1728, 

 the solid inches in a foot, and tlie product is di- 

 vided by 2150, the solid inches (rejecting § of an 

 inch) in a Winchester bushel ; this shows the con- 

 tent in bushels, which, divided by 5, the number 

 of bushels in a barrel, gives the barrels of corn in 

 ears. And as 2 barrels of corn in ears are sup- 

 posed to be equal to 1 barrel of shelled corn, the 

 quantity of the latter may be expressed by multi- 

 plying the solid feet of the crib by the compound 

 fraction 5 of ^ of iff f , which is equal to j^ very 

 nearly. Those wlio wish to be more exact, may 

 add two bushels and two gallons for each hundred 

 barrels. H. 



SASSAFRAS BUSHES MURRAIN. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Buckingham, Nov. 5th, 1833. 



In the third number of the Farmers' Register, 

 a writer over the signature of Anti-Sassafras, in- 

 quires whether any reader of that periodical can 

 direct how to eradicate the growth of Sassafras in 

 cultivated ground. 



Having succeeded in entirely destroying the 

 shrub, I will now proceed to give the information 

 desired. It is simply to cut down or grub up the 

 Sassafras in the winter, and turn a flock of sheep 

 on the land in the spring, and keep them on the 

 land during the spring and summer of that and the 

 succeeding year. 



The sheep are very fond of the Sassafras, and 

 will browse the young scions as soon as they ap- 

 pear above the ground ; and the twigs not being 

 suffered to grow or put forth leaves, the roots na- 

 turally perish. 



A writer in the same number thinks that there 

 is no cure for the murrain in cattle. I formerly 

 resided in the lower part of this state, where the 

 murrain was very fatal to cattle. I tried many 

 remedies to which I was advised, without success. 

 Discovering that the bladders of the cattle that 

 died were invariably filled with bloody urine, I de- 

 termined to try what effect bleeding would have, 

 and found that it was by far the best remedy I had 

 used. 



My plan was, to bleed them on the neck as you 

 would a horse, and take as much blood as they 

 could bear without fainting. When bleeding was 

 resorted to as soon as the cattle appeared sick, the 

 remedy was generally successful. 



As a preventive, I had all my cattle bled as soon 

 as the disease made its appearance, and generally 

 succeeded, I thought, in lessening the number that 

 sickened, and in mitigating the violence of the dis- 

 ease in those that were attacked. 

 Resj)ectfully yours, 



SKRINICSKY. 



ARTIFICIAL GRASSES IN LOW^ER VIRGINIA. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Fort Monroe, Oct. 30th, 1833. 



My experience as a farmer, will not enable me 

 to add much to the stock of agricultural know- 

 ledge. The consciousness of this fact, however, 

 will not deter me from occasionally troubling you 

 with my reflections : take them for what they are 

 worth ; as I grow older in the profession, they may 

 possibly become more interesting. 



I shall not be accused of pedantry, for having af- 

 fixed my name to this communication : practical 

 subjects, particularly those connected with the 

 science of cultivating the earth, should never be 

 treated anon)'mously. A fact or a suggestion thus 

 promulgated, cannot carry with it the same weight 

 as one made under the authority and responsibility 

 of a name ; and a hint which, over the signature of 

 Arator, might have been imnoticed or ridiculed 

 as visionary, if subscribed by that of John Tay- 

 lor, would have been eagerly seized and acted 

 uj)on.* 



[* We wish that all our correspondents were impress- 

 ed with tliese truths. All communications signed by 

 their authors command far more attention, than they 

 would if anonymous.] 



