170 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



discovere.l, or any tfTectual mode of preventive, 

 except sepamting the henlthy from the sick ; 

 be recommeiiJ'S however, bleeding^ aud purpn^ 

 at the commeucemcnt of the disorder, «ith se- 

 4ons in the dev;hi|). After the operation of the 

 purgative, he considers opiates, aromatics, &c. 

 such as caraway seeds, ginger, cascarilia, k.c. as 

 the most proper medicines. 



A writer in the Gentleman's Magazine, quoted 

 with approbation, by Dr. VV. Pecli, a late learn- 

 ed and judicious writer on veterinary medicine 

 gives tiie following directions to prevent and 

 cure the disease. 



First. Avoid the infection with the utmost dil- 

 igence. Sccotidly. Trust to none of the celebra- 

 ted remedies that tnay be proposed to you, un- 

 less founded on experience ; most that liave 

 been offered by farriers are known to be inef- 

 fectual, and many of tiiera extremely injurious. 

 Thirdly. If your cr.ttle arc attacked, lileed plen- 

 tifully, repeatedly, and keep their bodies open. 

 Fourthly. Give them no dry meat ("rom the com- 

 mencement of the attack till the fever abates ; 

 let their mashes be thin, given warm, and very 

 often, a little at once ; keep them dry and warm. 

 Fifthly. Give no warm spicy drenches, at the 

 commencement of the disease. 



The following extract from an English work is illus- 

 trative of the infectious nature of this disonicr. 



" A farmer in Essex, who had the distemper 

 among his cows, invited a neighboring farmer to 

 come and assist him in giving drenches to some 

 of his sick cattle ; the good natured man went 

 accordingly and spent the best part of the day 

 with his neighbor, to leud him his help in dis- 

 tress, little dreaming of the ill consequence of 

 being so many hours with the diseased cows ; 

 so much of the infectious effluvia adhered to his 

 clothes, that, as he was walking liorae, though a 

 anile and a half, through a field in which several 

 of his cows were feeding, he no sooner entered, 

 but they left off grazing, ran to the further end 

 snorting and llinging up their noses as though 

 they smelt something very disagreeable ; and so 

 indeed it [)roved to them, for the very next day, 

 iDany of them fell sick, and died in a few days." 



(to be CONTINUr.L'.) 



From the Plough Coy. 

 Mr. Sopthwick, 



It appears from our statute books, that ouri 

 state has ap(>ropriated .ibout one and a half mil- 

 lions of dollars, lor the benefit of rolleges and 

 academies. Tliis amount has gone almost exclu- 

 sively for the education of young men designed 

 for the professional and mercantile classes. And 

 what has been done for the education of Plough 

 Boys, — whose i>roductive labors are the life- 

 blood of our commerce, the sinews of our man- 

 ufactories, and the food and raiment of our pro- 

 Jessions ? Comparatively nothing. It is ardently 

 to be hoped, that the example of Virginia, 

 prompted as it is by the intelligent mind of a 

 Madison, will awaken our legislature to a just 

 sense of the importance of establishing a school 

 of agriculture. I have no doubt but it would 

 tend, more than any other measure, to improve 

 our husbandry ; and that the increased tolls up- 

 on our canals, which it would cause, by increas- 

 ing the productions and profits of our farms, 

 would remunerate the state, in ten years, the 

 whole expense of the establishment. 



You have said there is at least one establish- 

 ment of this kind. 1 presume you allude to that 



of M. Fellenburgh, at Hofwyl, in Switzerland. \ 

 This school affords a demonstration not only of i 

 the practicability, but of the usefulness, of| 

 teachincr, conjointly, the theory and practice of i 

 agriculture. So high has its reputation become,! 

 that many of the young German noblemen are 

 sent to IVi. de Fellenburgh for instruction ; and 

 his pupils receive extravagant salaries as man- 

 agers upon many of the great estates on the con- 

 tinent 1 advise you to procure and publish an 

 account of the institution. It may be found in 

 one of the Edingburgh Reviews ; I think, in the 

 volume for 1817. There is also a report of it, 

 made to the Emperor of Russia, in 1814, by the 

 Count de Capo d'Istria ; a pamphlet by M. 

 Pictet, of Geneva, and considerable said in its 

 commendation by Mr. Brougham, in a report to 

 the commons ofGreat-Britian, made in 1818, on 

 the subject of education. Mr. B. spent some 

 time at Hofwyl. But this is not the only school. 

 In a volume of recent travels through Hungary, 

 Dr. Bright enumerates six or eight, and says 

 there are others, which have been established 

 in the Austrian dominions, t)y the government 

 and by individuals, on tbe Hofwyl plan. Accum, 

 the w ell known chemist, has recently received 

 an appointment in a similar school, from the 

 King of Prussia. 



But why seek for European precedent? We 

 have a double inducement for such a school 

 here. It will give us good statesmen as well 

 as good farmers. We want farmers whose 

 education will qualify them to speak in our leg- 

 islative halls, to draft bills and reports, and to 

 discharge the duties of any of our public offices. 

 We want the yeomanry of our state to possess 

 the influence which their numbers and republi- 

 can virtue entitle them to ; and we wish to in- 

 struct them, that their influence may be direct- 

 ed to public good. COLUMELLA. 



On the means of promuting the grozvth of Young' 

 Fruit Trees., particularly in grass land. By the 

 Rev. Mr. Gennershausen. 



From the Transactions of the Economical Society of 

 Leipsic. 



When young trees stand in grass-land, or in 

 gardens where the earth is not dug up every 

 year around them, and freed from weeds, they 

 do not at first increase properly in growth, and 

 will not thrive so well as those v.'bich have been 

 planted in cultivated ground. It has been re- 

 marked also, in orchards, that the more the 

 ground becomes grassy, and, as it were, convert- 

 ed into turf, ibe Iruit is smaller and not so well 

 tasted. Tiie latter circumstance takes place 

 particularly with regard to plums. 



Having planted several young plum trees, I 

 covered the ground, for some years, around the 

 trunks, as far as the roots extended, with flax- 

 shows,* by which means these trees, though in 

 a grass-field, increased in a wonderful manner, 

 and far excelled others planted in cultivated 

 ground. As far as the shows reached, the grass 

 and weeds were choaked ; and the soil under 

 tliim was so tender and soft, that no better 

 mould could have been wished for by a florist. 



When I observed this, I covered the ground 

 with the same substance, as far as the roots ex- 

 tended, around an old plum tree, whicU aj)poar- 

 ed to be in a languishing state, and which stood 



♦Shows arc the refuse of flax when it is fcutched or 

 hackled. 





in a grass field. The consequences were, tbi ^"'' 

 it ac(|uired a strong new bark; produced large ^" 

 and better tasted fruit ; and that those youn "'' 

 siioots which before grew up around the sterr *^ 

 and which it was every year necessary to des '''"' 

 troy, were prevented from sprouting forth, a '!''' 

 the covering of flax-shows impeded the fre^ >"*' 

 access of air at the bottom of the trunk. i'" 



Last year 1 transplanted from seed-beds, int "." 

 the nursery, several fruit trees ; the grouni ^" 

 around some of which I covered, as above, witl ''^° 

 flax-shows. Notwithstanding tiie great heat o * 

 the summer, none of those trees where the eartl '*' 

 was covered with shows, died or decayed ; be ?'" 

 cause the shows prevented the earth under then '"' 

 from being dried by the sun. Of those treei *"' 

 arounil which the ground was not covered,a3 be '■* 

 fore mentioned, the fourth part miscarried ; anc i*^' 

 those that continued alive were far weaker thatl *''' 

 tbe fbrmdr. 8it> 



The leaves which fall from trees in autumi) f' 

 may also be employed for covering the ground, 

 in like manner : but stones, or logs of wood 

 must be laid on them, to prevent their beinj^ 

 dispersed by the wind. In grass land, a smaL 

 trend, may ba made around the roots of the "!' 

 tree, when planted, in order to receive the '• 

 leave'. If flax shows are used, this is not ne- 

 cessary ; they lie on Ibe surface of the ground 

 so fa*! as to resist the force of the most violent 

 storm. The leaves which I have found most 

 effectual, in promoting the growth and fertility 

 of t'ruit trees, are those of the walnut tree. — 

 Whether it is, that, on account of their contain- 

 ing a freat abundance of saline particles, they 

 conuninicate manure to the ground, which 

 thereb/ becomes tender under them ; or that 

 they attract nitrous particles from the atmos- 

 phere or that, by both these means, they fend 

 to nourish the tree, both above and below. 



These who are desirous of raising tender ex- 

 otic trees from tbe seed, in order to accustom 

 them io our climate, may, when they transplant 

 them, employ flax-shows with great advantage. 

 This covering will~prevent the frost from ma- 

 king its way to the roots ; and rats and mice, 

 on account of tbe sharp prickly points of the 

 llax shows, will not be able to shelter themselves 

 under them. 



Tan or the refuse bark which h.as been used 

 hy tanners, has been recommended for the same 

 purpose for which flax shows are advised as 

 above. Tessicr's Annals of Agriculture advise 

 to use the breakings or refuse of hemp in the 

 manner above directed. Wood ashes and slack- 

 ed lime are likewise stated to be useful, not 

 only for manure, but for the destruction of in- 1 

 sects. It would be well if trials were made of 

 all these substances, on different trees in the 

 same orchard, and the results of such trials not- 

 ed and published for the benefit of the commu- 

 nity. — Ed. A*. E. Farmer. 



From Sinclair's Code of Agriculture. ' ' 



Rollers. — The roller is the most useful im- 

 plement for breaking hard clods expeditiously, 

 and smoothing the surface of land when in til- 

 lage, ever yet invented. It is likewise of use- 

 to grass lands laid down for hay ; and heavjf 

 rollers would prevent those ant hills, by which' 

 so many pasture? are deformed. Rollers «re 



