28 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Facts and observations rei.atlng to 

 AGRICULTURE & DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



\V0UKI.\O BULLS. 



"The bull ii naturally vicious, anil often be- 

 cotnes so mischievous as to cndatigci many val- 

 uable lives ; an evil which wc conceive mi^ht 

 be remedied by training him to labor. For, 

 being tlie only, beast of his size which is in- 

 dulged in idleness, and as he possesses e(|iial 

 strength with the ox, we doulH not, but ii he 

 were properlj' worked, and allowed to indulge 

 his desires during the breeding season, he woidd, 

 by being inured to labor and attended by man- 

 kind become gradually tame, and harmless, as 

 the horse, or any other naturally vicious ani- 

 mal. Several experiments, indeed, have been 

 made for this purpose ; and from their success- 

 ful result, we think the practice of working 

 bulls maybe advantageously adopted; especi- 

 ally as these animals are not only broken in 

 with little difiiculty, and work well, but also 

 because they recover from fatigue much sooner 

 than an ox." — Complete Grazier. 



REMEDY against ANTS AND SPIDERS. 



Mr. Clutterbuck, Jr. of Watford, washed the 

 walls of his hot-house with a painter's brush, 

 dipped in a solution made of four ounces of cor- 

 rosive sublimate, in two gallons of water : and 

 since that a|>piication, neither the red spider, 

 against which this remedy was employed, nor 

 auts have made their appearance. 



Domestic Encyclopedia. 



CRICKETS. 



An easy method of destroying crickets is to 

 place phials half full of beer, or anv other li- 

 quid near their holes, whence they will crawl 

 into them and cannot escape. Cats are ver\' 

 fond of crickets ; but the great quantities they 

 consume often occasion their death. Hence it 

 is more advisable to destroy these insects, either 

 by pouring hot water into the holes through 

 which they retreat, or exposing boiled peas or 

 carrots, mashed up with quick-silver, in places 

 which they frequent. Another mode of exter- 

 minating them, consists in placing pea straw 

 near their habitations, and then immersing them 

 in water, together with this straw, to which 

 they are peculiarly attached. — ibid. 



REMEDY AGAINST VERMIN WHICH INFEST SWINE. 



Mr. .loscph W. Ballard, of Mount Pleasant, 

 Isle of Wight County, Virginia, directs, in cases 

 where hogs are infested with vermin, to lake 

 " a little tar, and grease of any kind sufficient 

 to make the tar quite thin, then pour it over 

 the hogs, when fed, sufficiently so as to have 

 them quite smeared with the tar; this may be 

 repeated often in the summer and fall, as Icon- 

 ce^e it to be an excellent thing for the health 

 of the hogs — Or in good weather you may give 

 to each hog a small table spoonful of sulphur in 

 the.r food, or in damp weather have them well 

 sprinkled with strong wood ashes ; either of 

 these remedies will prevent or destroy the 

 vermin." — American Farmer. 



SrENT TAN OR TANNEr's WASTE. 



This substance is, we believe, valuable for 

 agricultural purposes, and have therefore been 

 sorry to see a great (Jeal of it accumulating in 

 useless piles al)out tanner's yards, and sciittcred 

 about highways and commons. It is probable, 



however, that if it is employed as a manure in 

 a crude state, it may not prove immediately 

 useful. It would be likely to retain something of 

 the gallic acid, which is we believe unfriendly to 

 vegetation. This acid, however, may easily be 

 neutralized by mixing with the hark a quantity 

 of quick lime. 



The Complete Grazier informs us that " Oak 

 bark, or, (more correctly speaking,) tanner's 

 ivaste, may be accumulated into small heaps, 

 and mixed with lime and a sufficient degree o! 

 water to keep it moist, and promote its decom- 

 position and putrefaction. It is an excellent 

 manure for cold stifl' soils, whether arable or 

 grass lands ; but for the latter it should be made 

 to approach the nature of vegetable mould as 

 much as po.ssible. The best time of spreading 

 it on grass lands is shortly after Michaelmas, 

 (beginning of October) that the winter rains 

 may wash it into the ground ; as, if it be ai>pli- 

 ed in the spring it will burn the grass, and ex- 

 haust rather than improve the soil fur that 

 season." 



It has been said that if boxes are made round 

 peach trees about one foot in height, to hold 

 about a peck, and these tilled with the bark 

 taken from tan vats, pressed a little together, 

 the trees will remain free from worms about 

 their roots, which often prove fatal to them. 

 .Spent tan, likewise, we have been told, will 

 preserve fruit trees from the curculio, (a small 

 worm which is found in jierhaps one half the 

 apples and pears raised in New England.) We 

 apprehend, however, that if this substance is 

 intended as a preservative against insects, it 

 should be applied in a fresh state, and without 

 being mixed with lime, as it is probably the 

 acid which proves destructive to insects, and 

 the acid would be destroyed by quick lime. — 

 Another use of spent tan spread about the roots 

 of fruit trees is to prevent a too early vegeta- 

 tion in the spring, and thus the buds and blos- 

 soms escape early frosts. 



WEIGHT OF SWINE. 



The Complete Grazier gives the following 

 rules to guard the unsuspecting purchaser a- 

 gainst imposition in buying swine : — " When 

 swine are fat, it appears from actual experi- 

 ments that every twenty pounds of live weight 

 will, when killed, produce from twelve to four- 

 teen pounds clear weight. Where the hogs do 

 not exceed twelve stone of fourteen pounds to 

 the stone, the weight will be twelve pounds ; if 

 they be of a larger size, it will be upon an ave- 

 rage about fourteen pounds ; so that if a larmer 

 or breeder weigh his beasts while alive, he will 

 be enabled to ascertain the net profitable weight 

 when dead; and likewise by weighing the hogs 

 every week to fix the best time for disposing ol' 

 them to advantage ; because, as soon as an ani- 

 mal ceases to acquire that daily increase, which 

 makes it beneficial to keep him, the best step 

 that can be followed is to sell or slaughter him 

 without delay." 



MANGEL Wl'RTZEL. 



A writer in the Farmer's Journal, an English 

 periodical publication of much merit, in treating 

 of the culture of Mangel Wurtzel, observes that 

 '' Having noticed the issue of an innumerable 

 quantity of small lateral fibres from the sides of 

 this plant during its vegetation ; considering 

 them conductors of nutriment, and that putres- 



cent vegetable or other matter was the be-i 

 pabulum, a compost of dung and soil (preparcii 

 in autumn^ was ploughed in with tiie whe;i 

 stubble ; the succeeding ploughings. harrowinv-. 

 i;c. well mixed it with the soil. This was the 

 largest crop 1 ever cultivated or have seen ; 

 which I attribute, in a srreat measure, to the 

 intimately mixing the manure with the soil." 

 " This remark," says the editor of that jniper, 

 " is doubly important, as it shews that autumn 

 ploughing, and broadcast dunging (performed in 

 autumn) are best for mangel wurtzel." 



SCRAPINGS OF ROADS, AND MCD FRO.M SWAMPS, &.C. 



.Some little knowledge of chemistry seems in- 

 dispensable for the proper management of ma- 

 nures. A writer in the Farmers" Journal states 

 in substance that turnips manured with scrap- 

 ings from the city road, consisting chiellv of 

 ballast ground to powder, enriched with the 

 droppings of cattle, grew very vigorously until 

 the bulbs should have swelled, when they all 

 turned yellow and died, notwithstandinar they 

 were, from time to time, well watered. The 

 same writer says, •• The experiments of Mr. 

 Malcolm prove that scrapings from gra\ el roads 

 may be generally suspected of containing quali- 

 ties injiirious* to vegetation, although the drop- 

 pings of cattle, &ic. mixed therewith, give a 

 temporary vigor to the plant. On the other 

 hand, scrapings from chalky roads, or any calca- 

 reous stone may be very useful on suitable soils." 



We have likewise know n swamp-mud, appar- 

 ently rich, hut mixed with sulphate of iron 

 (copperas) (as was manifested by that kind of 

 scum on the water drained from the swamp 

 which denotes the presence of that metal) dis- 

 appoint the expectations of farmers, who used 

 it for manure. This may be easily accounted 

 for. " Vitriolic impregnations," according to 

 Sir Humphrey Davy, '"in soils where there is 

 no calcareous matter, are injurious, jirobablv m 

 cons;_'quence of their supplying an excess of 

 ferruginous matter to the sap. Oxide of iron i 

 in small quantities forms a useful part of soil', 

 and probably is hurtful only in acid combina- 

 tions." The remedy, in such cases, is simple, 

 and is thus pointed out by Sir Humphrey Dav\ . 

 " If on washing sterile soil it is found to contain 

 the salts of iron, or any acid matter, it mav be 

 ameliorated by the application of quick lime. 

 A soil of good apparent texture from Lincoln- 

 shire, was put into my hands b« Sir Joseph 

 Banks, as remarkable lor sterililvT on examin- 

 ing it, I t'ound that it contained sulphate of iron ; 

 and 1 offered the obvious remedy of top dres- 

 sing with lime, which converts the sulphate 

 into a manure. "t The sulphuric acid ol the 

 sulphate of iron, combines with the lime and 

 forms sulphate of lime, which is Gypsum, or 

 Piaster of Paris. 



GOOD HINTS. 



The following, extracted from an .\ddress by 

 .Mr. James Garnett, President of the Fredericks- 

 I'urgli Agricultural Society, delivered belore 

 that Society at an anniversary meeting, may be 

 found well worth the attention of those whom 

 it mav concern. 



'• I here beg leave to offer, (although I know 

 that 1 shall receive no thanks for it) a stigges- 



* Probably sulphatf of iron (copperas) or some other 

 combination '>i'acifi« willi metals. 



t Ag;ricultural Chemistry, p. 141, Philadelphia ed. 



