February, 1842. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



27 



seven cases out of ten) ]iiO(liices this effect, by 

 raising the heel and preventing the fiog tVom re- 

 ceiving the slightest pressure— and the necessary 

 jtressure can alone give the proper stimulus — it 

 is reasonable to conclude lliat, in most cases of 

 diseased leet in horses, the iliscased action is the 

 effect of bad shoeing. 



If the tarrier would ohserve the horse in a 

 state of nature — if he would examine the yet 

 unbroken, and consequently unshodden colt, 

 he woulti find that the broad, circular foot 

 presses fully on the ground, the li-og receiving, 

 Bs the animal walks, at each elastic rebountl 

 caused by the play of the pastern, a slight 

 pressure against the ground, which excites it, 

 keeps it in~ healthy action, and indeed preserves 

 the whole foot from disease. He would also per- 

 ceive, after a more minute observation, that not 

 only is the frog an elastic body, but that the hoof 

 itself, though a horny substance, is elastic, and 

 that it contracts and expands by the action of the 

 muscles of the sensible foot, of which it is only 

 the case or covering, preservhig it from injury, 

 but yielding to all its impulses. He would then, 

 if he were not a dolt, reason upon what he had 

 observed, and infer that for a horse to he sound 

 upon its feet, it must walk in that exact position 

 which nature designed for it ; and that any devia- 

 tion from that position is unnatural, and deprives 

 the horse of a portion of its ))ower. He would 

 'also think that nature, by placing the animal 

 firmly on its heels, and not on the front edge of 

 its hoof, as most horses stand when injproperly 

 shod, did so for some wise purpose, and that the 

 slight blows given to the frog as the animal walked 

 were not without an object, and therefore ought 

 to be continued even when the shoes were on. 



It is much to be desired tliat a sljoe were in- 

 vented which should have the faculty of yielding 

 to the different impressions w hich the hoof would 

 impart to it through its elastic .-.ciion, which action, 

 however, is but slight. In applying a hard, ini- 

 yielding iron shoe to a linniy substance which 

 gently contracts and expands during the action of 

 walking, a degree of inconvenience must always 

 be felt by the animal ; but this inconvenience is 

 greatly increased when the natural position of the 

 foot is altered. It becomes, therefore, a matter of 

 vital importance to the well-being of the animal 

 that the shoe shoidd be so formed and fastened 

 on as to allow that action to continue unimpeded 

 which nature has imjiarted to the horse's foot. 

 Fortius pm"pose we offer the following directions, 

 hoping that, as we have called the attention of 

 our readers to the subject, they will give it their 

 earnest attention. 



The horse's foot being circular and not oval, 

 the shoe should he made in that form ; or rather 

 the hoof should be measiu'ed, and the shoe made 

 exactly to correspond. An oval or elliptic foot 

 is generally, nay, we may say always, diseased. 

 It has assumed that shape in consequence of the 

 contraction of the bars, brought on solely by a 

 diseased state of the frog for want of pressure ; 

 and in no one instatice of oval-formed feet will 

 the frogs be found healthy. The moment the 

 foot is lifted from the ground, the smell indicates 

 the diseased frog, though perhaps cockney 

 equestrians consider this the natural perfume of 

 the organ when in health. 



The shoe should be as light a.3 possible con- 

 sistently with the labor the animal has to un- 

 dergo. Before it is jiut on, the hoof should be 

 pared away toward the heels, in such a manner 

 that without the shoe the horse .should stand with 

 the frog close to the ground, as when in a state 

 of nature ; when the shoe is on, it should be filed 

 away towards the heels, being left only sufficient- 

 ly thick to enable the frog in the natin-al |)Osition 

 of the animal without a rider or burthen, just to 

 clear the ground ; so that when the horse bears 

 its burtlien or its rider, the frog of the shood ftiot 

 should receive the same pressure from the groimd 

 that it would do if the shoes were taken off and 

 the animal turned loose. When a horse is shod 

 according to the present system, besides the va- 

 rious diseases brought on by the want of the ac- 

 tion of the frog, the animal w<dks upon its toes 

 (the expression cannot be misunderstood,) and 

 the proper muscular action of the foot and leg 

 is perverted. - Hence many horses fall dead lame 

 without the farrier being able to a.ssign any cause 

 for if, although he will talk dogmatically enough 

 on the subject to confound those who know no 

 better Ihan himself. 



ChoctaAV ludians. 



Few of our citizens know that we live nearer 

 to civilized Indians than almost any other section 

 of the United States. The country owned by the 

 Choctaws extends Irom Arkansas to Red River, 

 commencing at Fort Smith, and running up tlie 

 Arkansas to the Canadian, to the lindts of the 

 United States, and with said limits to Red River, 

 down Red River, to where a due south line with 

 Fort Smith, from the State line of Arkansas, 

 strikes Red River. The Choctaws number about 

 fifteen thousand, and are unquestionably highly 

 advanced in civilizatitm. The constitution upon 

 which their laws are based has- been printed in 

 English and Choctaw, and circulated through 

 the nation. Their government is systematic, 

 and regularly organized by the people, in a dem- 

 ocratic form. It consists of a coum-il of forty 

 members. The territory being divided irto four 

 districts, each district elects representatives as 

 we do, in proportion to the amount of their pop- 

 ulation. Each of the four districts have a chief, 

 who sit as a body, for the approval of such laws 

 as are enacted by the council. In the council a 

 speaker and clerk are annually chosen. The 

 members receive $2 a day and their mileage. 

 The council convenes annually on the first Mon- 

 day in October, and is in session generally about 

 two weeks. The house in which the assembly 

 meets is a spacious and comfortable building, 

 erected by treaty stipulations, with convenient 

 rooms for committees, a gallery, and seats lor 

 spectators. 



There are no laws among the Choctaws in re- 

 gard to debt, and the creditor, when he trusts, 

 trusts to the honor of the debtor. It is cmioiis 

 how beautifully republican this one fact makes 

 the government. The people are left with the 

 largest limit of jiower, and it is their loss if this 

 power is not honestly exercised. For the arbi- 

 tration of civil matters, and the trial of criminals, 

 there exists, in form, a judicial system; .ludges 

 are appointed by the Legislature, and they hold 

 their courts at stated periods. The judicial sys- 

 tem is, with some exceptions, very sinjilar to the 

 codes of many of our Slates. 



The cotton produced by the Choctaw [)lanters 

 on Red River will amount this year to over one 

 thousand bales. There are seven cottoi> gins in 

 the nation, with a prospect of a rapid increase ; 

 and on Red River, there are several grist and 

 saw mills. On Baggy, about fifteen njiles from 

 Red River, a very intelligent Choctaw of the 

 name ol Col. David Folsom, has very excellent 

 salt works, which supplies even Texas planters 

 with a large quintiiy of salt. There are eight or 

 ten blacksmiths' sho]is, lour of which have black- 

 smiths liitiiislied muU r treaty stipulations, and 

 the .rest, principally in the ploughing season, are 

 worked by natives. 



The schools of the Ctioctaws are well attend- 

 ed, and an ambitious rivalry exists among their 

 pupils. By our- treaty stipulations, the United 

 States have exj)ended from the date of the first 

 treaty with them (January aOth, 1825) to that of 

 the two last, (Seplend)cr 27th, 1830) the simi of 

 .?aO,.'iOO ; .S2,500 of this sum was appropriated to 

 the general schools in the nation, and the §18,- 

 000 dedicated to the "Choctaw Academy." 



The effect of education is visible at every step. 

 The rude wigwam is- gone, and in its stead may 

 be seen neat and comfortable frame and log 

 dwellings; the matrons, sewing, spinning and 

 weaving; and around them, large plantations, 

 yielding corn, oats, pumpkins, potatoes, and great 

 varieties of vegetables. There have been lately 

 erected several splendid mansions, entirely by 

 native mechanics, and they are now filled and 

 adorned with all fiishionable furniture. 



It must be pleasing to all ourcitizens to behold 

 this advanced slate of society among the Indians 

 of their border country. To every one, indeed, 

 under the American flag, it will be highly inter- 

 esting. We have been accused of injuring and 

 phmdering the Indian — let these facts he our de- 

 fence. 



The Choctaws w ill greatly add to the trade of 

 Red River. This season, they will send down 

 one thousand bales, and next season they will 

 double it. Our interior counUy is very large, 

 and it becomes us as citizens of a town that in 

 time may be of vast extent, to take advantage of 

 every opportunity of securing the trade around 

 us. Tlie rapid increase of the Indians, when 

 employed in civilization, is astonisliiiig. An In- 



dian patriarch will have a dozen pickaninies, 

 where we cannot raise but fvi'o or three; while 

 the difference in Jihysical strength is unequivo- 

 cally in favor of the Indian. — J\/'atcli{toches Herald. 



Mutation of Plants.— The Courier of No- 

 vember 1th contains a paragraph from the Ken- 

 neheck Journal, stating that " Mr. John Smiley 

 of thiit place last year raised potatoes, as he says, 

 from the fiuit or bulbs of the gilliflower. Of 

 the veracity of Mr. Smiley there is no question. 

 The only question is, can he and his family all 

 be mistaken.^" The Maine Cultivator, also, some 

 time since, contained several brief statements of 

 the alleged change of one plant into another. 

 Thus, according to credible accnmits, gilliflower 

 tubers have become potatoes. Tiger ijlies have 

 been procured lioni an aquatic plant, and yellow 

 lilies from the peony. Wheat, in Western New 

 York, has oftentimes turned into chess. Barley 

 has been known to produce oats. A respectable 

 gentleman in the town of Mount Vernon, (in 

 Maine, we presunre) lately remarked, " that some 

 how or other, he did not know why, the farmers 

 of that town could not raise barley with succes.s. 

 They sow barley, and it comes up oats." A sin- 

 gular instance of this was lately mentioned by 

 one of the most respectable physicians in Maine, 

 himself a skilful fitrmer. When he attended the 

 medical lectures at Dartmouth Collage, he bad 

 occasion to sow a batch of barley. It came np, 

 and developed the barley leaf, stock, and heads. 

 In this early state, some cattle broke in, and ate 

 down, in several places, those jilants to the 

 ground. The last grew and ripened into barlc}', 

 but these sent up new stalks, which, proceeding 

 from the old roots, yielded oats in every case. 

 This is ccrtaiidy very strange. Jt would be well 

 for oiu- own curious "farmers to try some experi- 

 ments in tills way, and inform the public of the 

 result. 



Mnapotis, MJ. Jan. 2G//i, 1842. 



To THE Editor of the Courier: — A feu- 

 days after reading the preceding, I by chance 

 met with an article in an old English periodical, 

 [English Annual Register, for the year 1759, p. 

 381] noticing the phenomenon of the transmuta- 

 tion of one species of grain into another. It was 

 first observed in.Sweden, and the discovery was 

 purely accidental. A husbandman, who had 

 sowed oats, being in want of provender for his 

 cattle, mowed them as soon as they were high 

 enough. They quickly took a second growth, 

 and he again cut them. He did this, at intervals, 

 three times. The winter then coining on, no 

 more blades put forth until the following spring, 

 wheii, shooting up as before, they \'\ere permit- 

 ted to grow to perfection ; but the grain, to the 

 surprise of the sower, proved to be "good rye." 

 This fact, on being made public, as might be ex- 

 pected, awakened both astonishn>entand inquiry, 

 and Mr. Jop-Bern Vergin, a distinguished nati'i- 

 ralist of Sweden, suspecting that there might he 

 some deception in the matter, determined to 

 make the experiment himself. Accordingly, in 

 the year 1750, he sowed cats, and having cut 

 them three .several times, as the peasant had 

 done, the residt. was precisely the same — they 

 were transtmitcd into " gnnd rye." Influenced 

 by curiosity, and a desire to promote knowledge, 

 oilier naturalists of Sweden made similar ex- 

 periments, and amongst them, Mr. Syi)ersteiii, 

 President of the Society for the Imiuovcment 

 of the Arts and Sciences, at Harlem, and the 

 issue was the same — the oats he sowed and treat- 

 ed after tlie mjnner of the peasant and Mr. Ver- 

 gin, changed to, and yielded "good rye." 

 Respectfiilly, jour oh't servant, 



JOHN HAMMOND. 



Lime mixed with peat mlck. — Though we 

 have not been guilty of extolling the virtues of 

 lime in agricuhiac, we have often admitted that 

 it mij:lit po.'-sihly be of some service in certain 

 acid soils to correct the acidity ; but wo have 

 long considered liming in this .State a very ex- 

 pensive mode of improving any soil. 



Capt. B. Porter, of Danvers, who owns and in:- 

 proves in that town about forty acres of land, 

 which once belonged to Gov. Endicott, tells us 

 of an accurate experiment which he has recently 

 m.ide wiih jieat muck. He .says ho carted a 

 number of loads of muck on to high land and 

 laid it in two piles ; that in one he put fifty bu.vh- 

 c!6 of ashes and mixed them intimately with ihe 



