358 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



by his practical knowledge of good fai-ming, com- 

 bined with industry and economy. 



A TRAVELLER. 



— Jottrnai of Commerce. 



DIARRHOEA IN COLTS. 



As soon as the disease is evident, the mare and 

 colt must bo taken from the pasture, if they were at 

 grass, and their treatment must be different, accord- 

 ing to the deforce of ai^pctite retained by the colt : if 

 he eats or sucks heartily, give him cow's milk boiled 

 with a little flour, and with warm injections of mul- 

 lein, flaxseed tea, or slippery elm ; if, on the con- 

 trary, the animal is without appetite, it is a sign that 

 the evacuation is dangerous, and ought to be checked : 

 give something more than a quarter of an ounce of 

 assafcetida diluted in one of the above teas, which 

 he must be made to swallow milk- warm; besides 

 which, ho must have injections morning and evening 

 until the disease seems to be checked ; then suppress 

 the evening remedies, and suppress them entirely, 

 as soon as the colt is evidently better. It is more 

 prudent to keep the mare out of pasture, and feed 

 her on di-y hay, &c. A careful attendant on the 

 colt will best know whether to continue the reme- 

 dies or not. Mind that the mother's milk has a 

 great influence on the colt. — Kentucky Farmer, 



PLOUGHING. 



The committee on ploughing, of the Bristol Agri- 

 cultural Society, in their report at the late cattle 

 show, make the following j udicious remarks : — 



The committee on ploughing are unwilling to com- 

 mence their report without first making an effort to 

 impress upon the minds of members of the society, 

 that our object in coming together at this time, and 

 at each and all our meetings, is to call into action 

 our latent energies, to excite us to greater industry, 

 and to wake up in our minds a spirit of inquiry into 

 the best mode of doing the most labor, and doing it 

 in the best manner, with the least or smallest means, 

 and which will be more useful than a few paltry 

 dollars and cents. The importance and utility of 

 ploughing matches may be, yea, have been ques- 

 tioned by some persons ; but as they are generally 

 considered the most exciting and interesting part of 

 the show, very few are found who discourage them, 

 and no one who has made himself well and thor- 

 oughly acquainted with the subject will speak lightly 

 of them. 



All persons who are much advanced in life can 

 well remember when no one thought of ploughing 

 sward ground without four good oxen ; and it was 

 then often deemed necessary to add a horse ; and a 

 team of this size would always require, at least, one 

 experienced driver, and often a boy in addition, to 

 lead or ride the horse ; but now the work is better 

 done (as we have this day had abundant evidence) 

 with one yoke of oxen and one hand. And this 

 state of things has, in a great measure, been brought 

 about by jjloughing matches, which has led directly 

 to the better training of cattle, and the general emu- 

 lation excited by them has also led to great improve- 

 ments in ploughs, as well as in the use of them. 



Agriculturists should never forget that the finest 

 and impalpable i)arts of the soil are the principal, if 

 not the only actual portions in the vegetable growth ; 

 hence the necessity and importance of a thorough 

 pulverizing ; and I believe that the modern plough 

 inverts the ground as well, if not better than any 

 Other instrument whatever. 



The depth of ploughing is a subject about which 



men diff'er in opinion ; and this depends much, as 

 your committee think, upon the character and depth 

 of the arable soil. But I suppose all will agree, that 

 when the soil is loosened deep, it will cause the 

 crops to be better guarded against drought, and also 

 against a superabundance of rain. Honor is gen- 

 erally given to the victors in the conflict. But I have 

 often thought of the vast ditt'crence to the world be- 

 tween victories obtained upon the battle-field, and 

 those obtained upon the ploughing-field — the one 

 sending weeping, distress, and death, while the other 

 blesses the race with plenty, happiness, joy, and life. 

 If mother Earth yielded her productions spontane- 

 ously to the inhabitants of the garden of Eden, she 

 is not so indulgent now ; for she must needs be con- 

 tinually stirred and vexed by the plough and the 

 hand of cultivation, or her children wiU want. 



The comi^etitors have contended earnestly to-day, 

 but fairlj% manfully, and peaceably for the prize, 

 bringing vividly to mind that passage of sacred writ, 

 which predicts that swords shall be beat into plough- 

 shares. 



The committee suggest that lands somewhat un- 

 subdued should always be selected for trial ; other- 

 wise it would be only to see who could do an easy 

 thing best ; and the lands this day selected were tol- 

 erably well suited to the purpose. 



AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS. 



That distinguished veteran farmer. Rev. Morrill 

 Allen, in his report for the committee on improve- 

 ments, of the Plymouth Agricultural Society, makes 

 the following remarks on experiments : — 



Many practical farmers take, as their surest guides 

 in new processes, the results of experiments. This 

 is well when it leads to no wrong views of the im- 

 portance and uses of theory. The confinement of 

 attention exclusively to practices established by cus- 

 tom would place an eff"ectual obstacle to the progress 

 of improvement. With a numerous class of ftirmers 

 there is danger of falling into these confined views, 

 and consequently neglect in the employment of ne- 

 cessary means of advancement. The deductions of 

 scientific research do sometimes disappoint in their 

 application to practice. It must be so, because some 

 of the laws of vegetable life- are beyond human reach ; 

 and hence the foundation of the cautions so often 

 given not to practise extensively on any theory till 

 its correctness has been proved in experience. If 

 science will not at once and with certainty teach 

 what to do, if the lessons of it must be subjected to 

 the test of experience, the conclusion is easily formed, 

 that it is of little or no importance in the art of agri- 

 culture, that v.'c may as well proceed without its 

 lessons, as labor in the attainment of them. These 

 conclusions would be not less unjust than denuncia- 

 tions of theory in other occupations. Take for illus- 

 tration the medical art : let the physician practise 

 exclusively on theory, without any regard to the re- 

 sults of experience, and he would be very certain to 

 kill the largest half of his patients. We do not on 

 this account think science of little or no importance 

 to the physician ; we should esteem it the height of 

 imprudence to commit the management of the body 

 under disease to a man who, rejecting all teachings 

 of science, should ground all his prescriptions exclu- 

 sively on personal exijcrience of the character and 

 progress of disease. 



All theories in the art of agriculture have been 

 formed from observation and experience. The appli- 

 cation of them in practice will bo greatly afl'ected by 

 those numerous changes which are taking place in 

 the composition of soils and the variations in seasons. 

 What is the best practice in a particular location and 



