1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FAiaiER. 



273 



should, but much that he should not. Many far- 

 mers think their hired help have no business to 

 inquire why or how they do their work. If they 

 desire intelligent, reliable laborers, they must pay 

 more money, or make the farm a school where the 

 knowledge acquired shall be an equivalent for part 

 of the services performed. I would send a boy to 

 any respectable work, rather than to a farmer who 

 savs "farmine does not pay." f. 



'Mast Tard^N. H., 1870. 



HORN AIL. 



I have read your valuable paper for some time, 

 and as I have been much benefited by the sugges- 

 tions of others, I will give a little of my own "ex- 

 perience in a few things, hoping that, though the 

 first time I ever wrote any thing with the idea of 

 having it read by the public, I may thereby in 

 some measure do to others as they have done to 

 me. 



And first, for horn ail. Take a good handful of 

 of tanzy stalks, dry thoroughly, strip the leaves 

 and blows otf, pulverize fine, one tablespoonful of 

 cayenne pepper, one pint of rye meal. M:x the 

 three ingredients together, and wet with vinegar. 

 Then make the same into nine pills. Give one a 

 day for tiiree days, then omit three days; and 

 thus alternate until all are used, if necessary. I 

 have known this to save a cow that was so weak 

 that she could not get up. 



FILM ON A CREATrRE'S EYE. 



Melt a tablespoonful of lard and turn it in the op- 

 posite ear. I have repeatedly effected a cure in 

 this way. 



CHOKED CATTLE. 



A potato or turnip in a creature's throat can, in 

 most cases, be removed by turning the animal on 

 to a rough piece of land or where there is a ditch, 

 and make it run or jump. If this fails, take a 

 stick about three-eighths of an inch in diameter 

 and four feet long, with a bunch a'lout the size of 

 of a hen's egg on one end, over which put a piece 

 of pork rind, and fasten firmly, with which the 

 potato may be carefully pushed down. 



YELLOW WATER IN HORSES. 



Take one ounce of Antimony ; one tablespoonful 

 of Aloes, and same of Sulphur and Peruvian Bark ; 

 put tbem mto a bottle wi'h a gill of rura, and 

 after shaking well add one and a half pint of 

 water, shake well again and turn down. My 

 mode of giving such a dose is to put on a bridle, 

 throw the lines over a joist, so as to bring the 

 horse's head pretty well up, then insert tlie neck 

 of the bottle into one side of the mouth, (never 

 pull out the tongue) and turn it in as fast as the 

 horse can swallow. 



HOW VERMONT BOYS MAKE SUGAR. 



First, they want good clean sweet buckets. 

 Then tap with a five-eighths pod-bit, from three- 

 fourths to two inches deep, according to size of the 

 tree. There are various kinds of spouts, but the 

 one I prtfer is in shape like the nose of a tunnel 

 with one side shorter than the other, drive it into 

 the bark ofthe tree so as to cover the hole, then 

 drive a nail under it to hang the bucket on. The 

 sap is gathered mostly by a team. Pans from six 

 to eight inches deep are used to boil the sap and 

 to sugar off in. After boiling all day, it is syruped 

 down, then strained through a flannel strainer. 

 Tne syrup after standing in tubs over night to 

 settle, is ready to be made into sugar. The pan 

 which is used for sugaring off in, is thoroughly 

 cleansed. The syrup is carefully turned into the 

 pan as long as it will run clear. Some use about 

 one quart of milk for two hundred pounds of 

 sugar to raise a scum to cleanse the sugar, others 



use the white of eggs, and some use cold sap. A 

 man that understands the business can sugar off 

 two hundred pounds in from two to three hmirs. 

 Groton, Mass., April, 1870. G. T. Williams. 



SrOAR FOR FILM ON EYE. 



I notice in your issue of the 26th, an inquiry for 

 a remedy for a film on the eye. I have u^ed suc- 

 cessfully common granulated sugar, and have 

 known it to remove the film in many cases where 

 alum and other remedies have failed. 



A Subscriber. 



East Dover, Me., March 28, 1870. 



TO REMOVE FILM FROM THE EYE. 



Please publish the following for the benefit of 

 "A Subscriber" and the rest of mankind : To re- 

 move a film from a creature's eye, put a lump of 

 fresh butter, about the size of a wa'nut, into the 

 ear on the opposite side from the eve with the 

 film. L. N. WiLLOBT. 



Winchendon, Mass., April, 1870. 



Remarks. — Mr. Willoby must be responsible 

 for this prescription ; we know nothing of it. 



In relation to putting medicine into the ear of 

 animals, an organ furnished with such sensitive 

 nerves that a slight vibration of the air is trans- 

 mitted by them to the brain ; or into the nose 

 which is so delicately lined that the least odor 

 affects the sensibilities of that organ, a correspon- 

 dent in Vermont informs us that a "cattle doctor" 

 ordered some spirits of turpentine to be poured 

 into the ears and rubbed in back of the horns of 

 a heifer supposed to have the horn ail, which 

 threw her into such terrible convulsions that her 

 owner, a neighbor of his, ordered her to be Killed 

 to put her out of misery. Another man was ad- 

 vised to put a little of the same medicine into the 

 nose of a sheep to cure grubs in the head. He 

 tried it on one, but as the patient dropped stone 

 dead from his hands, he gave up the "practice." 

 A little butter in the ear m.ight not be as fatal ; but 

 if we had a film on our eye we should require 

 good authority for a dose of butter in the ear. 



THE use of muck. 



I see that Mr. Loring Barrus says that the far- 

 mers had better have muck on the brain than so 

 much fog. I think he had better have muck on 

 the brain than on the ground. I see that this man 

 lives in Goshen. If he has lived there five years, 

 and used muck as a fertilizer, I imagine that his 

 farm must be in rather a poor condition, and if he 

 supports a large family on its productions, I think 

 his farm must be a remarkable one. He draws 

 his muck to the barn and throws his manure on 

 to it, and in that way has all the juices ofthe ma- 

 nure in the muck, and that is what gives it its 

 value. But let him try the murk alone, just 

 as it comes from the swamp, and see how he will 

 come out. If he will go to his swamp and get a load 

 of muck and not mix it with anything, and spread 

 it on or plough it in to his land, I think he will 

 sing a different song. I tell you, sir, in my opin- 

 ion there is no goodness in it. It is of a cold, sour 

 nature. If you tiave to mix manure with muck 

 to make it good for anything, what is gained? 

 Why not use the stable manure by itselt? 

 And then when you seed down your land you 

 will be able to cut two or three tons of hay to the 

 acre, while if you use composted muck you will not 



