1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



317 



them to it, as we now have it, in the fourteenth 

 volume of the New England Farmer. This single 

 article is worth more than the price of a whole 

 volume, and may be, and will be, we trust, to some 

 young men, Avorth more than the price of all the 

 volumes of this journal which may be published 

 during their life-time. 



Concentrated Manures — Wile they Pay? 

 The communication with the above heading, from 

 the pen of Thomas Ellis, of Rochester, Mass., is 

 worthy of consideration hy practical farmers, es- 

 pecially in these days when puffing is so exten- 

 sively practiced, and certificates seem to be so 

 i-eadily obtainable, on two accounts at least. This 

 communication may be found in the weekly edi- 

 tion of March 29th, and in the monthly for May ; 

 and is noteworth}-, as we have said, on two ac- 

 counts : First, for its candid and discriminating 

 estimate of the real purport and value of the mass 

 of certificates and reports of experiments with 

 concentrated manures, in regard to which Mr. E. 

 testifies that among all that have fallen under his 

 observation, he has as yet seen none which prove 

 the fii'st tiling wliich a practical farmer wants to be 

 assured of, viz., that they will pay. He admits 

 that they all agree that these manures will cause 

 vegetation to start rapidly, and usually to produce 

 more or less increase of crops, but fail to show 

 that the increase in the crops will pay back the 

 money invested in the fertilizer used. So far as 

 orclinari/ farm crops are concerned, excluding 

 from present consideration garden produce and 

 farm crops of an extraordinary kind, or in extra- 

 ordinary circumstances, there is just such a want 

 of proof that investments in manufactured fertili- 

 zers will pay, as is asserted by Mr. EUiSi Pru- 

 dent and practical men, therefore, and all who 

 farm for a living or for profit, ought to feel under 

 obligatioA to Mr. Ellis for opening their eyes so 

 that they may see more clearly the rather ambigu- 

 ous, (if not sometimes, also, the deceptive,) and en- 

 tirely unsatisfactory character of the most of the 

 certificates and reports of experiments which are 

 put forth so abundantly by those interested in the 

 sale of manufactured manures. The just inference 

 from the observations of Mr. E. is tliis — that it is 

 the dictate of prudence not to spend money for 

 manufactured manures until there is more satis- 

 factory proof that they "will pay." 



The second of the reasons referred to as making 

 this article by Mr. E. worthy of attention, is, that 

 it furnishes one instance and proof of the not un- 

 frequent unprofitableness of applying manufac- 

 tured manures to ordinary farm crops. The in- 

 crease of corn thus obtained by Mr. E. cost him, 

 in one case §7 per bushel, and in another 84 cents. 

 There is need, then, of caution and prudence, at 

 least. More Anon. 



The Progress, of Lyons, states that an engi- 

 neer has just discovered a Celtic barque sunk in the 

 mud in the Upper Rhone, which is supposed to 

 have remained there, in a bed of sand and gravel, 

 for several centuries. The barque is a single 

 piece of timber, hollowed out like an Indian ca- 

 noe. It measures 27 feet in length and 8 in 

 breadth. The wood of wliich it is composed is 

 completely petrified. This curious vestige of the 

 navigation of the AUobroges is to be placed in the 

 Museum of Lyons, where it will be conveyed on 

 one of the rafts which descend the Rhone. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SPREADIN-Q MILK—CRIBBLNQ. 



Mr. Editor: — I have a very valuable heifer 

 whose milk spreads so bad that I can hardly hit 

 the pail. Will some one tell me a remedy for it ? 

 Crops in this part of the State are looking well. 

 Grass, for the time of year and lateness of the sea- 

 son, looks finely. Apple trees, big and little, all 

 sorts and kinds, are in full blossom, and if we have 

 nothing to blight them, we shall have such a crop 

 as will be long remembered. 



I have been much pleased with the receipts that 

 have been given in the Farmer ; some of them 

 are worth the price of subscription alone, but I 

 think I could suggest an improvement to those 

 who give the receipt, to give the manner of mak- 

 ing and applying the remedy. The remedy may 

 be an effective one, yet still of no use, because we 

 do not know how to make and apply it. Among 

 all the receipts given I think I have never seen 

 one for 



CRIBBING. 



This disease originates from a sour stomach. ■ 

 First caused by a habit of biting the crib whilst 

 eating, and in so doing, the horse swallows wind, 

 which causes the stomach to become sour. Over- 

 eating and drinking would aid in this disease. A 

 horse with this disease is the same as a person 

 who, after eating, belches up wind from the stom- 

 ach, and will, in time become a dyspeptic. 



Cure. — Take one tablespoonful of pulverized 

 charcoal, one teaspoonful of sal soda, mix in a gill 

 of corn meal, and give three times a week until a 

 cure is effected, which will depend on the length 

 of time the horse has been addicted to the habit. 

 The horse should be fastened in the middle of the 

 barn floor by a rope from the beam overhead, so 

 that he cannot get hold of anything to bite, and 

 feed him from a basket fastened on the head. It 

 is said by those who have tried it to be a sure cure. 



New ilampshire, 1862. m. 



Remarks. — One leading cause of the habit of 

 "cribbing," is in the irregularity of feeding, and 

 in not satisfying the appetite of the animal. If a 

 horse is fed liberally and regularly, we doubt 

 whether he will ever contract the unpleasant hab- 

 it of "cribbing." Is it not the neglect of this reg- 

 ularity and supply that occasions the "sour stom- 

 ach ?" 



Effects of Lime Water. — It is well known 

 that the water of several of the Middle and South- 

 ern States is largely impregnated with lime, the 

 efiect of which is to impair the normal action of 

 the alimentary canal. Already our troops have 

 begun to sufi'er from drinking it, as we learn from 

 various sources. A gentleman of this city, who 

 has travelled extensively in the lime-water region, 

 informs us that he made constant use of vinegar 

 with success as an antidote to its effects. He used 

 about a teaspoonful of vinegar to a common sized 

 tumbler of water. It is his opinion that any oth- 

 er kind of acid will have the same beneficial effect 

 which he realized from, the use of vinegar. We 

 hope our soldiers will practice upon this sugges- 

 tion. — Fall Bicer Netcs. 



