No. 2. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



39 



pot the Ntte Genesee Farmer. 



Bots and Itorse Bees. 



Messrs. Editors — I wrote n few observations upon 

 the horse Bee and Bot for the Genesee Farmer, which 

 were published in vol 5, page 85. Some suggestions I 

 there made, which I thought true at the time; but 

 some further light upon the subject, has somewhat 

 changed my views — which to acknowledge, is only 

 to admit that we are wiser to day than we were yes- 

 terday. 



Anything that directly or indirectly concerns the 

 worth or welfare of that noble animal, the Horse, 

 should not be disregarded. The bot or horse bee, 

 of themselves, we care not a pin about; but as far as 

 they concern the horse, we have the best of reasons to 

 be deeply concerned. 



About the 4th of August I found several bots in one 

 of my stobles, where I kept two of my horses. I se- 

 lected three of them and put them into the box of my 

 carriage for safe keeping, until I should go to my 

 house. 1 had supposed a bot unable to crawl, having 

 never seen them do it, and never seeing any legs or ap- 

 paratus for progression; I therefore concluded they 

 were unable to advance or retreat of their own voli- 

 tion; but I soon saw they had the power of crawling 

 with tolerable speed in a manner that I bad not eus. 

 peeled. The body of the bot seems encased in seve- 

 ral circles, and incapable of but a little motion more 

 than a slight elongation and contraction; but their 

 heads and necks are very ductile, and capable of 

 much motion, being about frve-eighths of an inch 

 long when contracted, and seven-eighths of on inch 

 when elongated. Their motion, like the maggot 

 tribe in general, seemed to be by a distending of the 

 head and neck, then seizing hold with the mouth, and 

 instantly contracting the neck so as to draw the body 

 forward. Any little unevenness would jostle and up- 

 set them. They crawled about my carriage box for 

 some hours, searching every depression, or knot, or 

 nail hole, eagerly, as if intent to escape from the air, 

 or light, or both. I observed, when they were search- 

 fng a crack, knot, or nail hole, they would root up 

 and throw out dirt like little pigs. When I went to 

 my house I took them along, and put them into a wide 

 mouthed vial, tied a cloth over the mouth, and laid 

 them by in a drawer to see what would be their end. 

 After occasionally crawling about a little for ten or 

 twelve hours, they contracted, changed from an 

 opaque or horn color, to a reddish chestnut color, and 

 then lay dry and immovable until the 8th of Septem- 

 ber, being 35 days. When they came forth, three 

 Horse Bees, two females, full of eggs or nits, the 

 other having none, I think it was a male. Whether 

 the eggs are fecundated, or impregnated, I have made 

 no experiment yet lo ascertain. Their close confine- 

 ment might have made them unhealthy, and deprived 

 them of the inclination to fecundity. They seemed 

 inclosed in nine circles, and armed with short, stilT 



hair, between the segments of the circles. 



Inconsequence of all three of the bots passing into 

 their chrysalis state in one day, and all coming forth 

 horse bees (^Estrus equs.) in another day, I am led 

 to infer that the times of their changes are quite 

 regular, especially the time they remain in the chrysa- 

 lis state; also the time they remain a horse bee or bot 

 fly; but the time they generally remain a bot maggot, 

 or larvae, in the stomach of the horse, I am now una- 

 ble 10 siy; but we may safely conclude if they are cast 

 out any season but a warm season, tbey must perish. 

 As the temperature of the stomach of the horse is a- 

 bout the same, summer or winter, I think it most 

 probable they come to maturity at some certain time 

 from the period they reach the stomach of the horse, 

 probably ten or eleven months. 



Whether a bot is armed with teeth or other apparatus 

 sufficient to perforate the coats of the stomach of a 

 horse, I cannot now decide; but that they possess ample 

 means to trouble and greatly annoy the horse, I have 

 no doubt. It is a well known fact that all the insect 

 tribe while they are in the maggot or larva stale, are 

 very active and voracious. 



Whenever the bot is in any way disturbed, 

 it contracts itself into its coat of mail, cnpapie, 

 which renders it invulnerable to the most of subs- 

 tances that a horse can endure, which probably is 

 the reason of the difficulty generally of ridding the 

 horse of them. I have much faith in the use of spirits 

 of turpentine, in doses of from a gill to half a pint, in 

 molasses or sugar, every one or two hours, until it 

 gives relief, whether it be bots or colic, as we cannot 

 often know which is the trouble, knowing that all the 

 insect and vermin tribe are so much annoyed or des- 

 troyed by the contact with spirits of turpentine; be- 

 side, the horse or human subject may safely use lorge 

 doses of it, if they use sugar freely with and after it, 

 to abate its acrimony. Another remedy I think is en- 

 titled to a trial at least, viz: one quart of new milk, 

 saturated with honey, molasses, or sugar, in the ordei 

 named, (fasting if possible, ) two hours after, drench 

 with a pint of brine, as strong as boiling water can 

 make it; two hours after give half a pint of flax seed 

 oil. 



It is asserted that the bot will fill itself so full of the 

 first mixture, that the action of the other destroys it. 



Baron Cnvier says, the different classes of the fly 

 (cEstri) in their larvje state, inhabit the ox, horse, ass, 

 rein deer, stag, antelope, camel, sheep, and hare. 



SFECTATOR. 



Brighton, N. V. Jany. 1841. 



Use of Swamp Muck. 



Messrs. Editors — A Young Farmer asks if mar- 

 shy black earth cim be made a good dressing for up- 

 land. I think it can. First, cart it from the bed on 

 the land you wish to manure, or any other place con- 

 venient, in heaps, or, which is better, in rows, like 

 winrows of hay, and about the same size, and after it 

 has lain a month or two, or six, all the better, take 

 stone lime, lay it along on the top of the row, say one 

 bushel of lime to 15 or 20 of black earth; put on wa- 

 ter sufficiently to slack it, and cover it with the earth 

 slightly; as soon as it is perfectly slacked, and while 

 hot, begin at one end of the pile and mix well togeth- 

 er, and apply it to the land when wanted, and it will 

 be found an excellent manure. Another good way is, 

 when you have cleaned out the barn yard in the 

 spring, cart in the black earth to the depth of 10 or 

 12 inches; throw on occasionally straw, leaves, green 

 weeds, &e.; let the cattle run on it through the sea- 

 son; it will get saturated with urine, (the strongest of 

 manure,) and in the spring following when carted 

 out, will be fine manure. Shell, or calcareous marl, 

 is also an excellent mixture, (and possibly a Young 

 Farmer may find some by digging two or three feet 

 deep in his black, swampy earth.) Farmers often 

 cart swampy earth on the land and immediately 

 plough it in, but I think with little profit. It is too 

 sour — it wants to be laid up to the air, and mixed with 

 lime, marl, or something to sweeten it. 



As to the best ami cheapest kind of fence across 

 the marsh, T cannot say from experience; but think 

 that a live fence of willow, swamp elm, or American 

 thorn, would be the best. Throw up the bank, a foot 

 or two high, or sufficient to be tolerably dry, and plant 

 cuttings of the basket willow, 10 or 12 inches apart; 

 and in two or three years it can be cut yearly for ma- 

 king baskets, (Sec; but probably the native thorn 

 would make the best and most durable fence, and it 

 would require more labor and expense. The ground 

 must be thrown up dry, and well prepared with lime^ 



manure, &c. ; the plonts put in 6 or 8 inches apart; 

 kept clean and dipt, and in a few years it will make 

 a beautiful and durable fence. 



A Frieno To Improtemkkts. 

 NcwluTgh, N. v., Fely, 1841. 



For the Ncu Genesee Farmer. 

 RECEIPTS. 



TO KILL LICE ON CATTLE. 



Feed thetn a quantity of sulphur in small doses at 

 a time, mixed with cut roots, hay, salt, or any thing 

 else. [Thi3 we believe very efficacious, the sulphur 

 passing to the surface and repelling the lice. — Eds.] 



TO MAKE CALVES EAT ROOTS. 



Found the roots fine, mix with them cut hoy, bran, 

 orany thing they will eat, and in two or three days 

 they become fond of the roots. 



The following were handed me by a lady of no 

 small stonding, so you may depend upon their ac- 

 curacy. 



TO MAKE WISCONSIN MINCE PIES. 

 Take the usual quantity of meat, ond substitute 

 beets for apples, but in only one-third the quantity of 

 the latter,— boil the beets, pickle them in vinegar 12 

 hours, chop them very fine, and add the vinegar they 

 were pickled in. Add one-eighth of grotcd bread, 

 and spice to suit you. 



TO MAKE INDIAN LOAF BREAD. 



Stir Indian meal in skim milk to the consistency of 

 pon-coke batter, obout two quarts. Add 2 teaspoon- 

 fuls of molasses, 1 of saleratus, 2 of shortening, and 

 2 teacups of wheat flour. Stir in the evening, bake in 

 the morning, and eat while hot. 



TO MAKE WISCONSIN SPONGE CAKE. 



Take 2 eggs, (or omit them if wished,) 1 teacup of 

 buttermilk, 1 tea-spoon of saleratus 2 table-spoons of 

 cream, and salt to suit. Stir to the consistency of pan- 

 cake batter. Bake 20 minutes on tin pans, and eat 

 while hot with butter. F. H. SIPERLY. 



WiscOTisin. 



Summer all the Year. 



Messrs. Editors— The "Hot Air Fnmacc," which 

 was designed by W. R. Smith, of Macedon, and 

 described by you in the October number of your val- 

 uable paper, has been tested by me for the last four 

 months, and I am now prepared to give my testimony 

 concerning it. It will take about twelve cords of 

 wood to warm three or four rooms in my house, day 

 and night, for one yeor, or about two cords for one 

 month, during winter. This is about the same quan- 

 tity that I have been accustomed to use in one fire- 

 place, to burn me on one side and freeze me on the 

 other, through the day only, while it saves much ex- 

 pense in preparing fuel for the fire, the furnace recei- 

 ving wood forty inches in length and sixteen inches 

 in diameter. We use no more bedding in winter 

 than in summer. We keep milk and other things 

 in the buttery at such a temperature as we please. In 

 short we can keep any room in the house at any de- 

 sired temperature, and all this from one fire in the cel- 

 lar, while the rooms are free from smoke, soot, and 

 ashes. I find in the furnace, all the benefits descri- 

 bed by you, and can cheerfully recommend it to the 

 public. I would advise all who design building new 

 houses, whether privole dwellings, meeting houses, 

 or public schools, to examine the subject. Mr. Wil- 

 liams, of Palmyra, who furnishes the castings, de- 

 signs to make some improvements in his patterns, by 

 which the price will be somewhat reduced. Summer 

 is the time to build, and the winter to enjoy it. 

 Yours truly, 



V. YEOMANS.' 

 Walworth, Wayve Co., N. F, Fehy.-iSM. 



