1871] 



XEW ENGLAND FAR3HER. 



41 



wonid thank us for, it would be for the cool shade 

 of trees in summer, set out and growing by the 

 roadside. Now is the time to set them out. I 

 have near two hundred growing on my highways 

 at a cost of less than fifty dollars, and certainly 

 two hundred dollars would not buy them. 



T. L. Haet. 

 West Cornwall, Conn., Nov., 1870. , 



F0UL8 OK FOOT-ROT IN C.VTTLE. 



We should have appended the following state- 

 ment to our remarks, if it had come under our 

 eye at the time we replied to the inquiry of Mr. 

 Harris, in our last paper. It may not be too late 

 to be of some service to him and to others, whose 

 stock may be similarly affected. The writer in 

 reply to a question by another correspondent says : 



I applied nitric acid to kill the disease, and car- 

 bolic acid to heal the sore. The latter I mixed 

 one part acid to three paits of lard, for an oint- 

 ment ; and for a wash mixed more of the acid 

 with water in the same proportions as with the 

 lard. The lard should be melted, the acid put in, 

 and then stirred until cool, as otherwise they will 

 not unite. 



My treatment of the sore was as follows : After 

 washing thoroughly with strong soap suds, I ap- 

 plied the acid and water sufficiently to touch all 

 pans of the sore, and then applied the ointment. 

 I then covered a cloth with tar and bound up the 

 foot for the purpose of keeping the air irom it, the 

 acid being exceedingly volatile. A little batting, 

 with a cabbage leaf and cloth, would answer the 

 same purpose equally well or better. 



The ointment should be kept in a closed vessel, 

 a fruit jar answers a good purpose, and the wash 

 corked. One or two applications of the nitric acid 

 after it can reach the sore, are sufficient. I am of 

 the opinion that the carbolic acid alone would be 

 sufficient to interrupt the disease and effect a cure. 

 Since I began to use the carbolic acid, I have had 

 no new cases, and therefore have not enjoyed the 

 opportunity of testing its efficiency alone. But it 

 works like a charm in cleansing the sore, and thus 

 affords nature a good opportunity to heal the 

 wound.— Ff. B. Riggs, Palmyra, N. T.,in Ohio 

 Farmer. 



HARD AND DRY FEET IN HORSES. 



I would like to say to the gentleman that wishes 

 to know what to do for a horse's feet that have be- 

 come hard and dry, so that the horse is lame, — 

 that if he will take some clay and put it into a box 

 some three to four inches deep, and moisten the 

 same with kerosene oil, and let the horse stand in 

 it while in the stable, or even wet the hoofs three 

 or four times a day, it will make them as soft as 

 ever. 



This was told me by a great horse doctor and 

 tamer. I should like to have him try it and report 

 the results. But the question with me is, whether 

 the hardness and dryness of the feet are not the 

 effect of some disease, which, as you say, is 

 shrouded in mystery. If we could get at the 

 cause and remove that, it would be much better 

 than to doctor the effect. But there may be some 

 principle in the kerosene that may have a tendency 

 to remove the cause, as well as soften the hoof. 



Keene, S. H , Nov. 28, 1870. C. 



Having had something to do with horses with 

 pinched feet, I would say, that I have improved 

 them very much in three months time, by simply 

 pairmg the hoof very thin, even until the blood 

 starts through the hoof, then have them shod by a 

 g-)od blacksmith, and fill the shoe with warm or 

 hjt tar, and mixed with horse dung, to keep the 



tar in place ; also wash the feet with saltpetre and 

 water, which will cool them. The tar mixture 

 must be applied as often as it falls out. This 

 treatment greatly adds to the comfort and improve- 

 ment of the animal. H. B. 

 Bethel, Me., Nov. 28, 1870. 



DEEP PLOUGHING. 



With considerable interest, I have observed the 

 discussions on deep ploughing. Dillerent writers 

 seem to vary much in opinion. But it may be 

 that all their differences would disappear if the 

 conditions were properly considered. If the land 

 is a tine, loam soil, several feet thick and of nearly 

 equal richness, it may be presumed that no one 

 would object to running the plough oue foot deep, 

 or even two feet, if possible. 



1 think, both theory and experience agree in the 

 conclusion that there is no danger of pulverizing 

 the earth too deeply, or too finely, for the best 

 results in the production of vegetables. But in 

 this, as in every thing else, difl'ering conditions re- 

 quire corresponding changes in action. 



Every cultivator knows it is useless to turn two 

 or three inches of hard clay subsoil over a few 

 inches of loam, with the expectation of getting 

 much of a crop, even though manure be freely 

 used. If he does not know it, a few experiments 

 will fully satisfy him. 



It is probably about impossible to bring thin 

 land into a high state of cultivation at once. But 

 where clay predominates, and sand is easily ob- 

 tained, by mixing the two together in proper pro- 

 portions, with sufficient manure to make a rich 

 loam when combined with the natural top soil, all 

 the evils of deep ploughing will be obviated, and 

 the best results obtained. I have seen land which 

 had been nearly worthless, made very productive 

 by such treatment. 



Some land, however, cannot be so treated, be- 

 cause the subsoil is a hard gravel, com'posed of 

 stones and clay or sand, or all three combined, in 

 so compact a mass that it cannot be ploughed. 

 Still such land may be made to produce large 

 crops of excellent hay, by proper treatment, if the 

 means are at hand, if not, it had better be let alone.* 

 I think the same remark will hold true of all deep 

 cultivation. Every inch of pure clay or sand 

 which is brought to the surface, is a damage to 

 the crops, unless well mixed with loam and fer- 

 tilizers, or my observation has been greatly at 

 fault. If the last named condition can be properly 

 secured, I think deep ploughing is sure to pay. 



Florida, Mass., Nov. 28, 1870. Jacou Davis. 



SEED POTATOES. 



1 saw in this week's Farmer an experiment of 

 A. W. Hamilton, Superinttndent of the Experi- 

 mental Farm, Indiana, Penn., reported to the New 

 York Farmers' Club on seed potatoes. This re- 

 port will I suppose have a large circulation, and 

 may I fear mislead many farmers. 



The report should have given the vahie of each 

 production, as well as the weight. I am led to say 

 this much from having tried ihe same experiment 

 myself. With me the one big potato produced two 

 or three large, and quite a number i«i small pota- 

 toes, while the midaling sized and the cut, gave 

 more marketable ones, and conseqiuntly the most 

 valuable production. N. P. Ckam. 



Hampton Falls, N. H., Nov. 25, 1S70. 



TOIIACCO IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 



Buyers have commenced looking at the lots in 

 this vicinity, but are not making luuny bids. It 

 is feared that prices will not quite come up to last 

 year. It is said that some lots have been pur- 

 chased in Ohio at twelve cents per pound, through. 



