NEW ENGLA.ND FARMER. 



235 



-were of course stripped clean in very little time. On 

 one occasion, they were said to be the indirect cause 

 of the death of about a million of men and animals. 

 Surely, here is a display of power which redeems 

 insects from the stigma of insigniftcance. — Selected. 



BLIND DITCHES. 



As agriculture, and every thing else connected 

 with the tillage of the soil, is every day becoming 

 more and more an object of solicitude amongst the 

 farming community, it is gratifying to see a portion 

 of your excellent paper devoted to that imjjortant 

 subject. The extended circulation of the Dollar 

 Newspaper makes it a medium through which the 

 different sections of our country may be mutually 

 benefited, by the scientific knowledge and practical 

 experience of each other. The productions of the 

 soil being the source from which the human family 

 is fed and clothed, and from which the elegancies as 

 well as the luxuries of life are derived, it is impor- 

 tant that the best methods of preparing and culti- 

 vathig the soil, should be well understood^by every 

 farmer. It is a subject of regret that farmers in 

 general are not better educated, "in order," as a 

 certain writer expresses it, " to make the profession 

 more respectable." But we must take things as they 

 are, and not as we would wish. We will leave to 

 the chemist to analyze the various kinds of soils, and 

 tell their different qualities, Avhile we practical farm- 

 ers give our experience in our own way, no matter 

 how much it smells of the soil. But to the subject. 

 A large portion of the land in Indiana, as well as 

 some other of the Western States, is technically 

 called " flat woods," " wet land," " black slashes," &c. 

 This land, particularly the black slashes, is the most 

 valuable land in the country. First, it is the best 

 timbered. Second, it requires less labor to enrich 

 it, as it retains whatever substance is put on it better 

 than the dry land ; for this reason, there is less gravel 

 and sand in it. I think there is no observing or 

 thinking farmer in Indiana but will admit the truth 

 of this ; hence the advantage of draining it is ap- 

 parent to all. The best mode of draining this land 

 is beginning to exercise the minds and bodies of the 

 farmers in this section. So far as has come under 

 my observation, trenches are dug eighteen inches 

 wide, and to average the same in depth, then covered 

 first with boards, and then with earth, so that they 

 can be ploughed over. This is what is called blind 

 ditching, and it has been found to dry the land 

 sufficiently for the raising of any kind of grain. But 

 how long will the wood work in the ditch last ? is a 

 question not yet solved by experience in this vicinity. 

 The oldest ditch I know of was made ten years ago. 

 Some think the timber will soon rot ; others think 

 it will last a long time. Will some of the farmers of 

 older states give us their experience in the matter, 

 tell us how long oak timber will last under ground, 

 that kind of timber being more plenty on our wet 

 land than any other ; and I think the subject one of 

 great importance to the west — vastly more impor- 

 tant than the discovery of a gold miue would be. 



C S. 



HARTsviLiiE, Indiana, 1849. 



— Philadelphia Dollar Neiospaper. 



ACORNS. 



The fruit of the red, white, and yellow oak consti- 

 tutes an excellent and palatable food for swine, and 

 in seasons Avhen it is abundant, may be gathered in 

 almost any quantity and at small expense. AVhere 

 there are extensive forests of these valuable trees, it 

 is common for farmers in the vicinity to turn their 

 swine into them as soon as the acorns begia to fall, 



and allow them a free range till late in the fall. In 

 this way, a very considerable saving is effected, as 

 the animals not only " get their own living," to adopt 

 a rustic phrase, but frequently return to the pen in 

 much better condition than when they went out. 

 Some farmers gather acorns as a winter feed for their 

 swine, and regard them as about e<iual to corn, 

 bushel for bushel. In plentiful seasons, an indus- 

 trious man will gather two or three bushels, often 

 more, of red oak in a day, and from one to two of 

 the other kinds. One thing is certain : whatever 

 may be the specific or relative value of acorns, swine 

 will winter well on them without the assistance of 

 other food ; and in several instances pork of a very 

 fine quality has been made on uncooked acorns, and 

 in as short a period as is generally consumed in 

 fattening on corn or meal. 



Reckoning acorns at the common price of corn, 

 and supposing one hand to gather, on an average, 

 two bushels per day, the business will be seen at 

 once to be profitable, and especially so in seasons 

 when the corn crop is short, and its place is to be 

 supplied by other food. That the acorn constitutes 

 a large proportion of nutritive matter, is a position 

 that has already been abundantly proved. Accord- 

 ing to a recent analysis, it contains of soluble nutri- 

 tive matter, sixty parts ; of starch, forty do. ; of 

 vegetable fibrin or albumen, twenty- seven do. ; of 

 saccharine matter, two do. The analysis was made 

 by a distinguished chemist, and is no doubt sub- 

 stantially correct. The acorns submitted to his ex- 

 amination were not green, but had been two months 

 dried in a free atmosphere, without the aid of arti- 

 ficial heat, or exposure to the calorific rays. By 

 grinding and cooking, the nutritive power of the 

 acorn, like that of all vegetable matter, would no 

 doubt be greatly improved. AGRICOLA. 



LowEE Dublin, June 13, 1849. 

 — Germantown Telegraph, 



SORE SHOULDERS, ETC. 



Farm horses are liable to be injured on the shoul- 

 der or back with a collar or cart saddle. In these 

 cases, styptics are commonly ifeod to dry up the 

 wound, which is quite contrary to the nature of this 

 kind of sores. Lime-water and linseed-oil are what 

 I have found most beneficial in those cases. It may 

 be prepared in the following way : Put two quarts 

 of water upon two quarts of unslaked lime ; let it 

 stand till the ebullition is over ; then pour off the 

 liquor for use, and add five gills of linsood-oil, and 

 two ounces of sugar of lead. Mix them well to- 

 gether, and keep the solution in a bottle for use. 

 When the animal comes in from work at night, the 

 sores should be washed with soap and water, dried 

 with a soft towel, and dressed with a feather dipped 

 in the mixture. This process should be repeated 

 every night till the sores are healed, observing to 

 shako the mixture well every time it is used. 



When a horse is injured by the harness, it is 

 necessary to examine what part of it caused the 

 injury, and get it removed by altering the stuffing 

 of the collar or saddle, that it do not press on the 

 sore ; for if a wound be constantly irritated, it is 

 hardly possible to heal it. Too few that have the 

 charge of horses consider properly how little is the 

 cause that irritates and injures them, and makes 

 them either dull and spiritless or refractory and 

 spiteful ; and I would therefore enforce on those 

 who work them the incumbent duty that devolves 

 on them to adjust the harness for the care or comfort 

 of the animal as much as possible. — Selected. 



" Love labor," cried a philosopher ; " if you do not 

 want it for food, you may for physic." 



