1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARAIER. 



247 



developed by his urine, and other considerations ] 

 that will occur to those who keep horses, make 

 the question of the proper construction of the | 

 floors of stables a very important one, and we 

 hope the inquiry of E. T. will call out the experi- 

 ence of horsemen. To save the urine, the floor 

 should be so contrived that it will pass off readily, 

 but at the same time it should not slant so as to 

 incDnvenience the horse that stands upon it. The 

 fact that horses so frequently stand across a floor 

 that pitches, shows that they do not like to have 

 their toes much higher than their heels. 



IMPROVEMENT OF SANDT SOIL. 



I have a piece of land that in all probability was 

 once the bed of a lake, as the suh.<oil is pond sand. 

 Last season planted to corn with a pood coat of 

 manure ploughed under, and 1 had yellow corn the 

 whole season, but no eai's in the fall. Can any 

 one tell me how to improve the now worthless 

 bed of pray sand ? Gaius Holmes. 



Kingston, Mass., March 4, 1870. 



Remakks. — Sell it for what it will fetch, and 

 buy better land, is the first answer that comes to 

 car mind. But if there is a clay bed near by and 

 you have faith and works enough to put a good 

 dressing of it on a small piece, to begin with, say 

 in the fall, to be mellowed by the frosts of winter, 

 we should be glad to know how it works. But 

 here we will stop, and ask "any one" who is ac- 

 quanted with a better mode to make a soil out of 

 hungry sand, to speak out, lest we repeat our first 

 advice. 



lame swine. 



I have a sow which has lost all power in her 

 hind legs. She can set upon her haunches, yet is 

 urable to stand up. Do you know of a remedy ? 



Hudson, N. H., March 2, 1870. Reader. 



Remarks. — This singular disease seems to be 

 quite common, particularly with "shotes." Its 

 cause does not appear to be understood. In most 

 cases the pigs recover, if left to themselves, parti- 

 cularly if they can be turned out on to fresh earth, 

 and not fed. Let the animal go without food till 

 it has a good appetite, and then put into a mess of 

 swill a teacupful of powdered charcoal, the same 

 quantity of ashes, and two or three spoonfuls of 

 sulphur, also throw ashes and coal into the pen, 

 lor it to eat. In extreme cases a tablespoonful of 

 copperas may be given in daily doses for a week. 



FOOT ROT IN SHEEP. 



I am aware that there has been enough said 

 upon this subject, at least for the present. Still 

 an explanation may be allowed in reply to Dr. 

 Boynton's communication in your issue of Febru- 

 ary 19. 



It was not my intention to criticise his mode of 

 treating foot rot, any further than as it would 

 apply to about nineteen men out of twenty. He 

 assumes that if a dozen sheep can be cured by 

 specific treatment, four hundred may be, — that he 

 has in fact done it. I do not doubt it, and I sup- 

 pose that about one man in twenty is possessed of 

 a suflicient amount of energy, patience and per- 

 severance to pursue the matter to the bitter end, 

 and accomplish what he has done. But, of the 



other nineteen, I am fearful that when they get to 

 about the three hundred and ninety-ninth sheep, 

 they will begin to slight their work, and will 

 leave enough of virus, as the doctor says, to con- 

 taminate the whole flock ; that their patience and 

 perseverance will about that time begin to flag 

 out, and that their "eternal vigilance" would in 

 fact come to an untimely end, and they would 

 eventually have all their work to do over again. 



Now it was for the special benefit of those nine- 

 teen men that I recommended a mode as described 

 in your issue of January 22, which you recollect 

 was merely placing a trough partially filled with a 

 composition at the entrance of the salt yard, where 

 the sheep would be obliged to pass throuch it, and 

 thus in a measure doctor themselves, and also ob- 

 viate the difficulty of doctoring with the thor- 

 oughness necessary to effect a permanent cure by 

 the plan recommended by him. 



As to the curative qualities of tobacco, or either 

 of the other ingredients I named, I have nothing 

 to say — there may be something better. It was not 

 so much my purpose to prescribe a specific and 

 infallible cure for foot rot, as to describe the man- 

 ner of applying that cure, and any one may fix up 

 nostrum or a combination of nostrums to suit 

 his taste. 



The appellation of "Wool Grower" does not 

 now properly belong to me, for although a farmer, 

 I have not kept sheep for many years. I wrote of 

 my treatment of foot rot a long time ago. 



» A. G. NoYES. 



Lancaster, N. H., March 24, 1870. 



SUPERPHOSPHATE ON CORN. — WHEAT CROP. 



While sending my fourth year's subscription for 

 New England Farmer, I wish to say that I used 

 Bradley's phosphate last year on corn with good 

 success. I spread about ten cartloads of manure 

 to the acre, ploughed light, harrowed well and 

 put one spoontul in a hill, all but three rows. In 

 each hill of one of these rows I put a shovelful of 

 green manure from the horse stable, and a hand- 

 ful of plaster and ashes was put in each hill. The 

 other two rows were planted without anything. 

 The fertilizers were all covered with earth before 

 planting the corn. During the fore part of the 

 season the corn on the manure looked the best ; 

 but later the phosphated came forward rapidly, 

 and was the heaviest at harvest. Several persons 

 while contrasting the three rows with the rest of 

 the piece remarked, that the fodder on the other 

 part was enough better to pay for the phosphate. 



The season was very cold in this section, and 

 corn was very light generally ; but with the agents 

 used, we gathered one hundred and seventy bush- 

 els of ears of sound, and twenty of soft com from 

 two acres. 



I raised twenty bushels of wheat on one acre 

 last year, and shall sow two acres this. 



ahelburne, N. U., 1870. H. T. CuMMiNOS. 



FLORICULTURE. 



This is the gem of the "cultures," and one emi- 

 nently worthy our appreciation. Agriculture, hor- 

 ticulture, arboriculture are all admirable in their 

 places, and we might say, without them we should 

 cease to live ; so without floriculture we should 

 cease to enjoy — at least much which gives to earth 

 its beauty, and goes to make life pleasant and 

 home attractive. 



What a change has been wrought in the minds 

 and tastes of the people in regard to the care and 

 culture of flowers within the last half— yes, quar- 

 ter of a century ! Then the privileged few had 

 their flower gardens, with now and tben an arbor 

 and greenhouse. Now, where is the home desti- 

 tute of flowers ? and how many have their culti- 

 vated flower plots of greater or less pretentions, 



