1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



417 



crop ; and if the cost of the seed be not too great, 

 it would seem to be a good crop for the purpose. 

 The great objection to clover is, that without high 

 manuring, it takes until the second year to get a 

 crop, while it would seem that two crops of peas 

 might be raised and turned in the same year. 

 Th» objection to oats would be, I suppose, that 

 they draw too heavily from the soil, and not 

 enough from the atmosphere. The name "south- 

 ern field pea," seems to indicate a variety grown 

 in the south as a field crop — probably for hog or 

 cattle feed. Then there is the Canada pea, sowed 

 sometimes with oats — the question might arise, 

 what is the value of this pea, with or without the 

 oats, for a green fertilizer ? Probably the south- 

 ern pea, like southern corn, makes a larger growth 

 than the northern varieties. How about winter 

 rye for this purpose ? I should like to hear the 

 opinions of the editor in regard to this question of 

 green manuring. 



Perhaps other crops than wheat would follow 

 buokwheat, as well as oats. John. 



Franklin, Mass., June, 1870. 



Remarks. — Nitrate of potash is, as yon suppose, 

 saltpetre. The experiment with it to which you 

 refer was made before the war, when saltpetre cost 

 much less than at present. 



Used alone, it would probably have the effect 

 upon crops which you indicate,— greatly increasing 

 their size at the expense of strength and firmness. 

 Wheat, on clay loams that are highly manured, 

 sometimes entirely fails to produce grain, but has 

 a heavy growth of stem and leaves which fall to 

 the ground. 



In using saltpetre, we get it as fine as we can 

 conveniently by pounding and sow it broadcast. 

 In the experiment referred to, 160 pounds of salt- 

 petre were used, and the same number of pounds, 

 per acre, of plaster. 



In reply to your question, "What would be the 

 difference in the eflFect of nitrate of soda, and ni- 

 trate of potash," we would say that there is much 

 more of potash in the composition of most vegeta- 

 bles, than of soda. Hence they are more hungry 

 for potash than for soda, and obtain what they 

 need from nitrate of potash. Nitrate of potash 

 contains a larger quantity of nitric acid than does 

 nitrate of soda; hence there is more nitrogen fur- 

 nished for vegetable use than there is from nitrate 

 of soda. In other words, nitrate of potash is more 

 immediately active, and furnishes a larger quan- 

 tity of what vegetables most need. 



Old bog hay, ploughed under, a little at a time, 

 would probably enrich a soil so as to enable it to 

 produce abundant crops, after the process had 

 been continued for some years. 



There are several other points touched upon by 

 our correspondent, all of them of interest and im- 

 portance. We hope others will note and remark 

 Ujjon them. With regard to manuring by green 

 crops, we have often spoken encouragingly. By 

 this process any of our lands may be made pro- 

 ductive. Whether this can hQ profitably done, will 

 depend upon a variety of circumstances, which 

 would require considerable space to discuss. But 

 that our "scrub oak" lands and pine plains may be 

 redeemed, we cannot doubt when, to-day, people 



are making some portions of the desert of Sahara 

 to blossom as the rose. 



Upon the whole, we are inclined to think the 

 clover is to be the great renovator in preference to 

 any plant yet used, in restoring exhausted soils to 

 a state of fertility. 



FOOT ROT IN CATTLE. 



In the autumn of 1868. I went to the pasture to 

 look after and salt my catile. Missing a fine steer 

 from my herd, which always came at my call I 

 searched about and soon found him lying down 

 and unable to rise, — one foot being in the condi- 

 tion described by your correspondent, D. K. W. 



Having a small can of kerosene oil with me, I 

 saturated the foot with it thoroughly and left the 

 animal in the pasture. I returned ogain the same 

 day to note effect of, and to repeat thie application. 

 Three or four applications cured the foot, and the 

 steer did well. 



Several cattle belonging to my neighbors and 

 acquaintances have since been similarly aff'^cted, 

 and I have recommended applications of kerosene 

 oil. and with unvarying success. John Durant. 



BrookHeld, Mass ,June 29, 1870. 



Remarks. — The carboline, or carbolic acid, con- 

 tained in the kerosene oil, was undoubtedly the 

 curative principle in this case, as its use is recom- 

 mended in this disease. In behalf of D. K. W., 

 and others, who may have cattle with this disease, 

 we thank Mr. Durant for his statement. 



BLOOD wart on COLT. 



I have a two-year-old colt that has awai;t on the 

 inside of the hind leg just above the gambrel joint. 

 It is about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, 

 and is what we call here a bloody wart. If you 

 can tell me how to cure it yon will much oblige 



Dudswell, Can., July 4, 1870. J. C. Lassell. 



Remarks. — As warts left to themselves gener- 

 allly disappear when their time comes, a great va- 

 riety of applications have the credit of cures. 

 Caustics are often used. Pare the wart down to 

 the quick, then with a feather, small brush, or a stick 

 broomed or roughed at the end, apply the caustic, 

 being careful not to touch any part but the wart. 

 Yellow Orpiment wetted with a little water, is re- 

 commended by Dr. McClure ; butter of antimony, 

 or nitric or sulphuric acid by others. Dr. McClure 

 says that the Yellow Orpiment will cause consider- 

 able inflammation, but in t. few days the wart will 

 drop oflF, leaving a healthy sore, which soon heals. 

 If the whole wart does not come oflF on the first 

 applicai-ion, a second must be made. We have 

 known a little of the butter of antimony being ap- 

 plied three times a day until the roots of the wart 

 appear to be dead. After the wart is exterminated, 

 a lotion of one pint of rum, half pint water, one 

 ounce of aloes and one-fourth ounce of myrrh, pul- 

 verized, and mixed, is recommended by a corres- 

 pondent of the Rural New Yorker as a wash to 

 be used three times a day on the sore. 



Prof. Law, the Veterinary Lecturer of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Agricultural College, recommends tying 

 a stout hard cord round the neck of the wart as 

 tight as you can draw it. If you succeed in cut- 

 ting off all supply of bloud the wart will drop olf 



