1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



85 



is always increasing. He relies on nature, who la- 

 bors for liiin continually, and on nature's God 

 who never slumbers. 



If a young man wants to engage in business that 

 will insure hiin in middle age the greatest amount 

 of leisure time, there is nothing more sure than 

 farmin'--. If he has an independent turn of inind, 

 let hiiirbe a farmer. If he wants to engage in a 

 healthy occupation, let him till the soil. In short, 

 if ho would ho independent let him get a spot of 

 earth ; keep within his means, to shun the lawyer ; 

 be temperate, to avoid the doctor ; be honest, that 

 he may have a clear, conscience ; improve the soils 

 so as to leave the world better than he found it ; 

 and then if he cannot live happily and die con- 

 tented, there is no hope for him. s. f., jr. 



Ltjme, Dec. 2S(h, 1852. 



Reu.vrks. — [a.] ^yesay^otoo. Even if h*lacks 

 capital to manage his farm matters as he would 

 be glad to, he is out in the free sunlight, goes and 

 comes as he will, sustains his health, and calls no 

 man master. AVe thank you, friend "F.," for the 

 utterance of these just thoughts. 



For the New England Farmer 



Mr. Brown : — Having been a regular subscriber 

 of your valuable farming journal from the com 

 mencement to the present time, I wish to inquire 

 if you, some of your correspondents, or numerous 

 readers, will describe the, symptoms of glanders in 

 the horse ; also 'prescribe a cure, if any there is. 

 Also the symptoms of horse ail with a cure. Also 

 the best medicine for cleansing the blood of the 

 horse , and you will greatly oblige a 



Bridgewater, Jan., 1853. Subscriber. 



Remarks. — The first symptom of glanders in the 

 horse is a discharge at the nose. Eventually pus 

 (matter) mingles with the discharge. If there is 

 a discharge from both nostrils the glands within 

 the under jaw will be on both sides enlarged, and 

 spots of ulceration will probably appear on the 

 membrane covering the cartilage of the nose — not 

 mere sore places, but small ulcers, with the edges 

 abrupt and prominent. As the disease progresses, 

 other symptoms appear. The hind legs swell to a 

 great size, and become stiff, and hot, and tender. 

 The membrane of the nose becomes of a dirty livid 

 color, and the animal loses flesh and strength every 

 day. The disease is almost always fatal. Various 

 remedies are prescribed, but we have little confi- 

 dence in them. Turn the horse to grass, if in the 

 summer, and let him enjoy a pure atmosphere, and 

 if he is occasionally giddy give him a few globules 

 of stramonium. 



The glanders is the most danger ms disease to 

 which the horse is subjected ; it is also infectious 

 both to man and beast. 



There is some similarity between the disease 

 termed "horse-ail," and the glanders. 



The best medicine for "cleansing the blood of 

 the horse,'* is careful attention, proper feeding. 



and demanding from him only a reasonable service 

 in return. With these his blood will be pure, his 

 spirits good, and he will yield you an annual 

 profit. 



For a full description of the liorse and his dis- 

 eases we refer yon to Youatt on the Horse, pub- 

 lished by Saxton, N. Y., price $1,25, or to one of 

 Saxton's Rural Hand Books, on Horses, their Va- 

 rieties, Breeding and INIanagement in Health and 

 Disease, by H. D. Richardson, price 25 cents. Or 

 to Cole's Book on the Diseases of Animals, pub- 

 lished by J. P. Jewett & Co., Boston, price 5§ 

 cents. In these you will find full treatises on ev- 

 ery thing relative to the horse. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ALUM, 

 The alum of commerce consists of sulph. acid, 

 alumina and potash. Alumina is never found 

 pure in nature except in the ruby an*l sapphire, 

 which consist of crystalized alumina combined with 

 some coloring matter. Alum is the_ basis yf all 

 clay soils, in which it is always combined with si- 

 lex or sand. The purity of the clay used in the 

 arts, depends upon the greater or less amount of 

 sand combined with it. Clay has a strong affini- 

 ty for water, and absorbs and retains it in large 

 quantity, thus rendering the soil in Avhich it 

 abounds, wet and cold. 



It is very adhesive. Its particles have a strong 

 attraction for each other, rendering the soil firm 

 and compact. Much force is required to plow or 

 work it. The roots of trees and other vegetables 

 penetrate it with difficultv. Hence a strong clay 

 soil is both difficult to cultivate and unproductive. 

 It requires sufficient sand mixed with it to separ- 

 ate its particles, and overcome their tenacity, so 

 that the tender and delicate radicles of plants can 

 readily penetrate them. In a sandy soil, the par- 

 ticles are so loosely attached to each other, and 

 have so little tenacity, that water percolates freely 

 through them, and sufficient moisture is not re- 

 tained to supply the demands of vegetation. _ 



A mixture of these two elements in suitable 

 proportions constitutes the basis of all good soils. 

 Different vegetables require different proportions 

 of these ingredients. Some require more clay and 

 some more sand, some love a moist soil and some a 

 dry one. Clay has another property also, besides 

 that of absorbing and retaining moisture, which is 

 of immense importance to vegetation. It has a 

 strong affinity for carbonic acid and ammonia, and 

 whenliurned up by the subsoil plow, it rapidly con- 

 denses them from the atmospUere. 



In light sandy soils, a certain amount of clay 

 is always found, commonly from ten to fifteen 

 per cent. A sandy loam contains from thirty 

 to forty per cent, of clay. A clayey loam sev- 

 enty to eighty per cent. The stiSest clay soils con- 

 tain from eiahty to ninety per cent. 



It is often desirable to ascertain what propor- 

 tions of clay or sand are found in particular soils. 

 This may be done with sufficient accuracy for all 

 agricultural purposes, by putting a portion of the 

 soil into five or six times its weight of water, shak- 

 ino' it smartly, and pour in the mixture into a deep 

 glass vessel or tube. A common lamp funnel, 

 with one end set upon a ball of putty or clay, wiU 



