26 



NEAV ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



portant a consideration on a faiin, that we cannot 

 afford to haul material out of our yards, in the 

 same state in which we haul it in. I tliink those 

 who have a sui)ply of muck on hand, and liigh 

 lands requiring its use, Avill do well to use a part 

 of it in the manner I have practiced. 



John F. Fkench. 

 North Eampton, N. H., Nov., 1861. 



Remarks. — We are always gratified on finding 

 our friends properly appreciating the value of 

 meadow or swamp muck. It is capable, we have 

 no doubt, when properly used, of doubling the pro- 

 ductive power of many of our New England forms. 

 Standing by the side of a grass field of twenty 

 acres some time since, with a friend, he inquired if 

 we could observe a difference in the crop on any 

 portion of the field ? We replied in the affirma- 

 tive, and readily pointed out that portion where 

 the grass was thicker and more luxuriant than on 

 any other part of the lot. "Well," said he, 'Hhirty 

 years ago, that strip where the grass is so much 

 better, was heavily dressed with meadow muck, 

 and with that exception has always been treated 

 just Uke the rest of the field !" The land is a sandy 

 loam, and all lies on nearly the same level. The 

 etrip dressed with muck had annually given a bet- 

 ter crop than the rest of the field. 



For the New Englatid Farmer. 

 SHINGLING. 



Can I aid the readers of the Farmer by a word 

 or two about shingling ? Every farmer is put to 

 great expense for roofing. It is quite obvious that 

 some of the expense is needless. 



In the first place, a roof should have a good 

 pitch. Many roofs in our country are too flat ; 

 tlie wet don't drain off readily. The English peo- 

 ple build Avith liigh peaked roofs ; more necessary 

 with them, on account of their damp climate. A 

 flat roof, if tight at first, will last but a short time ; 

 water will find its way under the shingles and not 

 dry out, and decay will at once commence. 



The kind of Shingles. — I don't believe much is 

 saved by using cheap shingles. The labor is more 

 in laying them. They last from seven to fifteen 

 years. A good shaved pine or cedar shingle will 

 last forty years. A shingle should wear out, not 

 rot out. How often it is seen that roofs v/ith rows 

 of shingles of full size and tliickness, are one mass 

 of spongy rot. 



The result of my experience is, that shaved shin- 

 gles are ])referable to sawed. Water has a ten- 

 dency to follow the grain of the wood, and often- 

 times a sawed shingle will soak through. The 

 principal reason why a shaved shingle lasts so long 

 is, that it does not hug down so tight to the roof 

 as the sawed one, and soon dries after rain. Car- 

 penters are often careless about the breaking of 

 joints. If the sliingle has but a small lap, in a few 

 years it will have worn off the edge, and have 

 shrunk so as to let in v/ct. 



I have been amused at some new methods of 

 .shingling recommended in the Farmer. OncAvas, 

 to shingle right over the old roof, without disturb- 

 ing it ! A man who would do that v.ould make 



his toilet by putting on his clean shirt over the 

 soiled one. 



Somebody has a preparation to swab on which 

 will make any roof water-proof. The few who 

 have tried in tliis vicinity, for a short time, the 

 brown paper and highly fragrant coal tar, for pro- 

 tection from the weather, have gone back to shin- 

 gles again — sadder, wiser and drier men. 



Wm. D. Brown. 



Concord, Mass., Nov., 1861. 



GLANDERS. 



Although this disease has been pronounced in- 

 curable by Mr. Bauley, of Alfort, some cases are 

 reported in the Gazette dcs Ilopitaux, in wliich 

 the attempts at a cure proved successful. In April, 

 18o9, writes l)r. Joufflet, of iMontrouge, I bought 

 a thorough bred mare, seven years old, and appar- 

 ently sound. One month later ; pustules in the 

 legs ulcerating ; sub-cutaneous abscess, glands, 

 oedema of the limbs. Mr. lleynal, of ALfort, di- 

 agnosticated chronic glanders requiring slaughter- 

 ing. No running at the nose ; notliing there, nor 

 in the pharnyx or the mouth. I could not consent 

 to such a sacrifice, but instituted tliis treatment : 

 75 grains of sulphur twice a day, common salt, 

 iodine, good diet. The sub-cutaneous abscess 

 opened of itself; a degenerated ganglion formed 

 an enormous vegetation. I removed it, and to 

 combat suppuration, I administered the fresh leaves 

 of aconite. The animal was losing flesh. I con- 

 tinued this treatment for four months, aided by 

 good diet : barley, wheat, oats ; and to-day my 

 mare looks so well that I am beset by amateurs, 

 who want to buy her. 



One of my friends had a horse in the same con- 

 dition, and was going to have it slaughtered, as it 

 did not cat. It was placed under the same treat- 

 ment : injections, tincture of iodine, sulphur at 

 meals. After a few days, the appetite returned, 

 and with it the strength, etc. 



Two farmers, flither and son, contracted the 

 glanders from five horses affected with it. The fa- 

 ther fell rapidly as a victim of the disease. The 

 son, whose disease assumed the chronic form, was 

 placed by Dr. Lesur luider a mercurial treatment ; 

 calomel internally and cauterization of the pus- 

 tules with the acid nitrate of mercury. One month 

 after, the cure was complete. — American Medical 

 Times. 



A NEW FENCE. 



Mr. Charles R. Smith, of Haverhill, N. H., 

 recently put up on our farm a few panels of a 

 fence which he has invented, and wliich is well 

 worth the attention of all our farmers who are 

 obhged to resort to materials of wood for their 

 fences. It is so constructed as not to come in con- 

 tact witli the ground at all, but rests upon com- 

 mon stones, such as may be found in most stone 

 wiJls between fields. It seems to us to be an 

 economical and durable fence, and that one well 

 put up and kept wliltewashed, would last at least 

 fifty years. We are not able to give the cost per 

 rod, but intend to learn what that will be, the 

 coming spring. 



