1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



209 



the nidus, in which they are deposited, affords the 

 requisite nutriment for the fungus." 



Although Prof. Johnson devotes a pretty long 

 article to the subject of cure and prevention, we do 

 not see as anything new or hopeful is suggested, 

 further than that by "precautions based on the fun- 

 gus theory, we may hope to raise fair crops of 

 fairly sound potatoes." 



PLEURODYNIA, OR FOUNDER. 



To illustrate the proper treatment of a horse 

 that is badly used up by over exertion. Dr. Dadd 

 gives the following details of his treatment of 

 an animal which had been so shamefully abused 

 by an inconsiderate or cruel driver that, on his re- 

 turn to the stable, he could scarcely stand, but re- 

 ceived proper attention and care during the night. 

 The next morning his feet were found to be more 

 affected than other parts of the body, and it was 

 impossible to get him to move. On being called, 

 the treatment recommended by Dr. Dadd is thus 

 described by himself: 



I had his feet bathed, constantly, with cold wa- 

 ter, and his joints, back and sides, were rubbed 

 with a liniment, composed of equal parts of cod- 

 liver oil and spirits of camphor. The medicine 

 administered was one ounce of powdered nitre, 

 night and morning, for three days ; the pulse had 

 decreased to thirty-six per minute, and the respi- 

 rations were more tranquil ; so I discontinued the 

 nitre, and commenced an alterative plan of treat- 

 ment by giving one ounce of fluid extract of Stil- 

 lingia, night and morning, at the same time con- 

 tinuing the local applications, until they were no 

 longer needed. One ounce of fluid extract of 

 Buchu was occasionally given, in view of exciting 

 the kidneys to action, and this is all the medicine 

 the patient got, until convalesence was established, 

 when he was put under tonic treatment; the tonic 

 used was one ounce and a half of fluid extract of 

 golden seal. 



The treatment occupied a period of two weeks, 

 during which time the animal stood but little on 

 his limbs, seldom rising except to partake of food, 

 which consisted of bran and water, a few oats and 

 small quantities of hay. 



So soon as the patient had regained some 

 strength, he was led to pasture where he is now 

 doing well. It appears that in the treatment of 

 a disease of this character, light diet, a few sim- 

 ple medicines and good nursing, are all that are 

 indicated. 



Hilling up Potatoes. — A correspondent of 

 the Genesee Farmer gives the result of two exper- 

 iments in hilling potatoes. In one case, a large 

 flat hill was made, and the potatoes all rotted. 

 In the other, the hills were made of a sharp coni- 

 cal form, that would shed water, and the potatoes 

 were all sound. 



Coal. — A tabular statement of the amount of 

 Pennsylvania anthracite coal transported over the 

 Reading Railroad during the year ending June 

 11th. compared with the number of tons shipped 

 up to the same date in 1862, is published in the 

 N. Y. Herald, and shows that the excess this year 

 over the last is o8G,663 tons. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 NON-PRODUCERS. 



^Iessrs. Editors .- — I have often heard it re- 

 marked by a class of public nuisances, that the 

 "world owed them a living." What evidence 

 those non-producers of good, in any form, can 

 show as evidence that the world is indebted to 

 them, is beyond my comprehension. There is a 

 variety of non-producers, as well as of tho^se who 

 are public benefactors; the non-producers of good 

 are generally productive of evil. There might be 

 a long category of non-producers named, of dif- 

 ferent grades of depravity, which in a time of 

 peace might be dispensed with to advantage. 

 This fraternity, to make out a world, consists of 

 demagogues, gamblers, swindlers, thieves, pick- 

 pockets, idlers, and an unfortunate class whose 

 parents (considering their "geese all swans") un- 

 fit their sons for laborious employments by a long 

 course of schooling, and after all have not talents 

 to satisfy a fault-finding public, and prove a fail- 

 ure ; such ones are more objects of pity than con- 

 tempt. The class of non-producers of good is 

 an incubus and an aggravation to the industrious 

 part of the community, and what the wars do not 

 absorb must be dealt with on Christian principles; 

 a living they must have, (those that escape the 

 gallows,) whether the world owes it to them or 

 not. 



The industrious merchant selects and furnishes 

 us with all kinds of goods, if he does not produce 

 them. The good judge furnishes us with justice, 

 the clergyman with the knowledge of righteous- 

 ness and the way to heaven, and the physician 

 with the means to restore health, the mechanic 

 with every conceivable implement to facilitate la- 

 bor and every other useful purpose. But the 

 farmer is the king producer ; he, above all others, 

 sustains the whole, from the root to all the branch- 

 es, of every other occupation. If the farmer is the 

 proprietor of the subsoil, as well as the surface 

 of his farm, then all the minerals and vegetable 

 productions are equally his own to dispose of. 

 He can furnish materials to construct and replen- 

 ish one of our most magnificent steamships of 

 war, or to build a palace and supply it with luxu- 

 ries. Now, what is that interesting class of non- 

 producers about ? Why some of them are gam- 

 bling away the money which was left them by 

 their industrious parents, some pious aunt or old 

 bachelor uncle. Another deserving class cojues 

 under the head of "swans," whose parents con- 

 sider their ofts])ring of a finer texture, and having 

 a horror at defiling their delicate kid-gloved liands, 

 grow up ignorant of any trade or occupation that 

 would, by industry, afford them a living ; this 

 class lives by their "wits ;" they are guilty of all 

 manner of swindling and meanness to be able to 

 imitate style, and are upon the lookout for prey 

 on the one hand, and on the other to see if there 

 are any constables or police officers in pursuit. 

 That unfortunate class, the descendants of low, 

 ignorant, degraded parentage, are deserving of 

 more respect and sympathy than either of the 

 others, as, in some measure, sinning ignorantly ; 

 as necessity knows no law, they commit depreda- 

 tions like sheep-stealing dogs or beasts of the 

 wilderness. The deplorable war which is now 

 raging in our country, is one of the sad eff"ccts of 

 the non-producing chivalry of the South. Idleness 

 creates want, and want is the parent of envy, and 



