^ 01-. XVH. NO. 19 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



147 



.jie, is sung- by all our country damsels far and 

 jar, anil tlie litlle mimic verse of the Thrush, is 

 in thn Mouth of every urchin. H. Y. 



H'vrtesler County, JVb». 1838. 



PVom the Practical Farmer. 

 CLEANING NEAT CATTLE. 

 The following we translated, and we would in- 

 vite the attention of farmer.s to the subject. Our 

 German correspondent is the riffht kind of a man. 

 He gives his notions well confirmed by experience. 

 —E'litoi: 



Xeiiia, Ohio, June 14rt, 1838. 

 Ma Editor, — Allow nie through the "Farmer," 

 to say a word to my fellow farmers on, what seems 

 to me, an important subject In this country, you 

 will seldom find a curry-comb and hand brush in 

 the cow-stable ; but I consider them indispensable 

 in the cow-stable, as in the horse-stable. Why 

 farmers do not ciury and brush their cows, I know 

 not, unless it be that they think cleanliness is not 

 so necessary to llie cow as to the horse. 



But if we will, for a moment, consider the evils 

 arising from this neglect, the importance of keep- 

 ing cows clean must strike every reflecting mind. 

 It is well known that no animal, neither horse nor 

 cow, can be healthy ; unless the insensible perspi- 

 ratiiin ^^oes on regularly, and this can never be go- 

 ing on if cows are kept in a dirty stable, and no 

 pains taken to rub off carefully the dirt or matter 

 which obstructs the vessels or pores of the skin. 



Wherever cows are regularly curried and rubbed, 

 they are invariably stronger, and in a healthy con- 

 dition; not liable to cutaneous and other diseases ; 

 and from experience I know they yield more milk, 

 and that too of a better quality— a cleaner milk, 

 richer ere an and sweeter butter, necessarily fol- 

 lows. 



I make it a practice to curry my cows once a 

 day very carefully — I never suffer any dung to 

 stick to their coats — it looks bad and injures the 

 cows. This useful animal does not deserve such 

 dirty treatment. Give them litter sufficient, and 

 remove the dung regularly, and this part is accom- 

 plished. 



Many of our farmers seem to think that in order 

 to have healthy and good cows, you need only feed 

 them with a sufficiency of food ; however, I am 

 fully convinced from experience, that cows may be 

 well supplied with food, still they will not bo as 

 profitable as they would be if kept perfectly clean, 

 and free from all kind of dirt and matter obstruct- 

 ing peispiration, as above stated; besides this, if 

 cows are kept perfectly clean, they will thrive upon 

 a less quantity of food. 



Cows are often subject to have swollen teats and 

 udders, as well as other excrescences. These may 

 be prevented if the parts be occasionally washed 

 with warm water. The udder and teats should be 

 carefully washed immediately before the cow is 

 milked. It has been well said by Lodon : " Go 

 to the cow stall — take with you cold water and a 

 sponge, and wash each cow's udder clean before 

 milking ; dowse the udder with cold water, winter 

 and summer, as it braces and repels heat." 



Yours, DAVID HEYMACKER. 



the quantity of their manure. It is the very base 

 of their prosperity ; without it little can be acliiev- 

 ed that is important or valuable ; with it, every- 

 thing can be accomplished that is within their reach. 

 By the use of lime applied to grass lands, and 

 great care in bringing all decomposable articles 

 into the dung heap, the quantity on some farms has 

 been doubled in seven years. After it has been 

 obtained it requires a little skill and judgment to 

 preserve its m'>st valuable parts from being drench- 

 ed and washed away by frequent rains ; for although 

 it is not best to keep it too dry, yet it is much more 

 frequently suffered to become so often wetted with 

 drenching rains as to wash away the most nutritious 

 portions of it. Dung that has remained under 

 open sheds where it was but partially exposed to 

 the elements, has been found to be much richer in 

 quality than tliat which was entirely exposed to the 

 rain. In some situations, much is lest by water 

 running through barn yards during heavy showers, 

 and in some cases they are perfect quagmires for 

 half the year, rendering it disagreeable, if not dan- 

 gerous to approach a stable door. This state of 

 things constitutes an absolute nuisance, and ought 

 to be provided against by every farmer who has a 

 pro]>er sense of propriety, and a due regard to the 

 female members of his family, who are obliged, 

 twice a day, to trudge through wet and filth to 

 milk the cows. 



The autumn is the proper season for making 

 suitable footways to stable doors, and other arrange- 

 ments for preserving the manure to be made during 

 the approaching winter from loss by washing, and 

 to protect it from being filtered by rains till it loses 

 its most valuable component parts. A shrewd old 

 gent'eman of Montgomery county, estimates the 

 importance of a farmer by the number of loads of 

 manure he makes annually. A fifty load farmer is 

 rather a small article ; one of a hundred loads ■stands 

 a little stiffer ; one of one hundred and fifty loads 

 holds up his head pretty well and begins to be quite 

 respectable ; and the two hundred, two hundred 

 and fifty, and three hundred load farmers are enti- 

 tled to have the word Mr as a prefix to their names, 

 and the letters Esq. placed after it. These are the 

 solid yeomanry, in his estimation ; the men of sub- 

 stance and stamina, out of which, in his opinion, 

 any useful article can be manufactured, even up to 

 a Congressman or Governor. Whether he is alto- 

 gether right in his way of estimating farmers, we 

 must leave others to judgej but one thing is pretty 

 certain, that it is a good thing for every farmer to 

 have an abundance of manure to furnish nutriment 

 to his crops, and this he won't be likely to obtain 



unless he is very industrious and manages we.l 



Farmer's Cabinet. 



lungs, or breathing vessels of animals or insects, 

 sulphurous acid is usually generated, and the lunga 

 refusing to act under such circumstances, suffoca- 

 tion is produced. Of this, any one can easily sat- 

 isfy himself by experiment. 



Taking the hint from these facts, it was proposed 

 to attempt the suffocation or destruction of the 

 wheat fly or grain worm by fumigation on its first 

 appearance, and we are happy to learn it has been 

 tried the present season with entire success. It is 

 stated in the Amsterdam paper, (a Journal on the 

 Mohawk in Montgocnery county,) that a farmer in 

 Herkimer has preserved a large wheat crop from 

 the worm the past season, by using brimstone in 

 fumigation liberally, while all around him who did 

 not adopt tills preventive, had their crops seriously 

 injured or destroyed. The brimstone was prepared 

 by melting, and in this strips of old woollen cloth 

 were dipped. These fixed on sticks, and fixed in 

 different parts of the field, were set on fire, gene- 

 rally at evening. The matches were given in the 

 greatest numbers to the windward side of the fields, 

 and the offensive and destructive smoke of course 

 driven over every part, proving fatal to the insects 

 that inhale the gas. About 100 pounds of brim- 

 stone were used to 100 bushels of sowing, and the 

 preservation was complete ; thus proving, in this 

 instance at least, a remedy equally cheap and effi- 

 cacious. — Genesee Farmer. 



MANURE. 

 Feed your plants and they tvillfeed you. 

 It is a subject of much regret that more vigilaifce 

 and care is not taken by many farmers to increase 



SMOKING WITH SULPHUR. 



In England the fumigation of plants with sulphur, 

 to destroy plant lice, aphides, the turnip fly, insects 

 on trees, where the top could be covered or exposed 

 to the suffocating fumes, has been for some time, 

 practised with great success. To most animals 

 and insects the fumes of sulphur are almost instant- 

 ly fatal. The rationale appears to be this. The 

 smoke of sulphur immediately combines with water 

 when brought in contact with it ; and in this way, 

 by combining tlie smoke of sulphur in leaden 

 chambers with water that covers the floor, and is 

 frequently agitated, the sulphuric acid of commerce 

 is formed. Thus when the fumes of sulphur are 

 brought in contact with the moist surface of the 



Hogs better Coaxed than Driven. — Seve- 

 ral of our good cits residing about the foot of De- 

 lancy street, and the neighborhood, have for some 

 weeks past missed a great number of their pigs ; 

 and setting their wits to work, have ascertained 

 that they have been taken on board the Eastern 

 coasters — not by force, but by the free will and 

 consent of the porkers themselves. The plan was 

 to lay a trail of grain down the wharf, and when 

 at high water tlie vessel's deck was level with the 

 wharf, the trail was e.xtended on board across a 

 plank. The unsuspecting grunters of course took 

 the bait — but were no sooner on deck than they 

 were seized and thrust below the hatches. It was 

 ascertained, that two schooners, which sailed last 

 week, had on board each some seven or eight fine 

 hogs, which had been decoyed on board in this 

 manner. On Thursday, Mr George Bell of Delan- 

 cy street, missing several of his pigs, obtained the 

 aid of Officer Foster, went on board of the schooner 

 Eliza Ann, of Machias, and on searching the hold, 

 found, nicely stowed away among some flour bar- 

 rels, four of these animals, which he identified as 

 his property. The pigs were liberated, and the 

 matter settled, by the captain's prompt payment of 

 all necessary expenses incurred in the search. — 

 vV. F. Express. 



Henevolehce. — The late Archbishop of Bor- 

 deaux ivas remarkable for his tolerance and en- 

 lightened benevolence. The following' anecdote 

 will not be read williout interest. " .My lord," 

 said a person to him one day, " here is a poor wo- 

 iiiaii come to ask diiirity ; what do joii wish to 

 do for her ?" '• How old is she ?" " Seventy." 

 " Is she in great distress ?" " She says so." — 

 "She must be relieved; give her twentyfive 

 friiiirs." " I'wentyfive francs, my lord, is too much, 

 especially as she is a Jewess." '' A Jewess !" — 

 "Yes my loicl." '• Oh, that makes a great differ- 

 eni-e. Give lu'r fitly trance, then, and thank her 

 for coming." 



