>. 11. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



165 



. 5. 2 " " boreo ninmirp, " 25^ " 

 mo 30ih, mowed ibe grnaa. 31st weighed it," 

 product ne in the above mbic. 

 be result «f tiic nbove experiment shows most 

 jiusivoly the value of nsbes ns a manure for grass 

 1. Quer4. Is not llie value of the ashes chiefly 

 vcd from ihe poUish they contain? 

 All plants of the grass kind require siliciatc of 

 a/..''— Licbig'sAg. Chem., p. 2(il). 

 'he silica or fint of the soil is dissolved by the 

 ish of the ashes, this forms silicate of potash 

 ch is absorbed by the grosses, forming one of their 

 if constituents, ne found by chemical analysis. le 

 this the true solution of the question t I leave ii 

 our intelligent farmers to make the right use of 

 le facts. R. T. Y. 



•he Mnplcs, Sept. 28, 1842. 

 lur correspondent R. T. Y. will see in our pres- 

 number a highly interesting communication trans- 

 d from the German for our paper, on the use of 

 ■3. 



'lora our friend will sec has anticipated his wishes. 

 Foot Rot in Sheei). 

 Wkvbridge, Vt., June 27, 1842. 

 Ir. Editor, Sir : — I have delayed sometime in 

 ng you my mode of managing and curing foot rot 

 beep, as requested. 



arious opinions have arisen about the foot rot in 

 countries as well as here. Some English authors 

 heir treatises on sheep huEbaudry ascribe the dis- 

 '0 wet pastures, to the superabundant growth 

 le hoof, &c. ttc. I believe none of these causes 

 sufficient to create foot lot. It is a disease that 

 spread only by an inoculation of the infection, 

 :h may be introduced different ways. I have 

 ■«n flocks of sheep to graze for years in diflfereni 

 ures, side by side ; one flock would be trouble I 

 the rot, the other be always clear of it ; and 1 

 known flocks to be cured of the disease and per- 

 13d to graze i.i the same low pastures for years af- 

 lards, and not again become infected. I never 

 d of the diseasa, and presume it was not known 

 ur continent nor the scab on sheep, until it was 

 'duced here by the Saxony sheep. If low wet 

 ires will create the foot rot, as it has been asserted 

 Touatt and other writers, why was not the dis- 

 among us thirty years ag.i ! All the diR'erent 

 ies of sheep are exposed and liable to foot rot it 

 range in the same pasture when any one of the 

 . ia diseased, or when any of the infected sheep 

 |-! been in it months previous. It may be mysterious 

 I lies with some how they came by the disease. It 

 be communicated bv driving them along the high- 

 where a flock of foot rotted sheep passed months 

 re, or by washing them in the same pen wheie 

 isd sheep have been washed. In cold weaihernow 

 then a sheep will carry the disease for monlhs,and 

 bit but little lameness, if any. Those sheep that 

 ■ long hoofs and others with very close hoofs, are 

 3 difficult to cure, and the most liable to be inocu- 

 1, because they are more liable to draw the grass 

 'een the hoofs on which the infection has been de- 

 .ed. Tight hoiiftd sheep are more subject to fric- 

 , and therefore cannot heal as quickly ; lambs and 

 lings are more easy to be cured, because the hoofs 

 jmallcr and more open. 



sharp pointed knile is the best instrument that 

 be used, and blue vitriol is the best and softest 

 icine that can be applied, of the many kinds 

 ch I have tried ; different mixtures and medicines, 

 1 as willow bark, oil of vitirol. alum, butter of nn- 

 iny, saltpetre, corrosive sublimate, &c. &c. Al- 

 t any astringent or medicne of a dryini! nature is 

 J, such as quick lime or dry dust of the rood, coal 

 , &c. The infection therelore spreads most in 



moist lands and in wet seasons, because there is no 

 dry dust or any thing of a drying nature to 

 ■operate between the hoofs — however it scarcely ever 

 is eradicated from a flock without some labor and ex- 

 ternal means ore applied. I have known it to leave 

 small flocks in dry season in dry pastures, and aUo 

 in winter, because if all the iafection freezes, it kills 

 the vitality. In England and Ireland they are lees 

 subject to frost and their soil is naturally more moist 

 than with us — therefore the foot rot may be expected 

 to be more prevalent. 



Before I proceed farther I will inform your readers 

 that I have cured thousands of sheep so that they 

 '* staid cured," unless in some inetancee they were 

 again exposed by infected sheep getting among them. 

 t have now several hundred sheep on my farm that 

 were infected with the rot two years ago, that were 

 then soon cured by the application of a solution of blue 

 vitriol and zig between the hoops with a swab, after 

 nil the infected part had been thoroughly and care- 

 fully pared. 



The winter season or when we have frosts, is the 

 best and surest time to cure the infected flocks, be- 

 cause all the infection that leaves the hoof is frozen, 

 and is as surely destroyed as would be the infection of 

 small or kine pox. When of long standing it cannot 

 he entirely eradicated from a flock, especially in warm 

 wet weather, unless they are permitted to range in 

 another pasture where there is no exposure after the 

 treniment. When they are to be examined, it is not 

 only saving in time but labor to constiuct a trough 

 out of two boards, set up flaring about fourteen inches 

 from the ground, something iife a butcher's trough, in 

 which the abccp arc placed upon their backs, where 

 they require no other fastening to keep them quiet 

 while the examination is going on. The horn ol 

 every infected hoof must be paired off so far as the 

 disease has got under, and all the feet swabbed whether 

 sound or unsound ; and if the application be in win- 

 ter, the medicines should be worm. If thoroughly 

 done by a skilful hand, the rot will be removed, and 

 ihe foot healed in less than one week. The diseased 

 animals should all be separated from the flock if it be 

 warm weather, and examined again in five or six 

 days. I have known them to become lame in 3 dojs 

 after they were inoculated. I never knew a sheep ot 

 a strong constitution to die with this disfp^e, except- 

 ing that in warm weather the infection getting on 

 the body of the sheep when lying down, creates a sore 

 on the body which becomes infested with maggets, 

 and eventually killing the sheep it let alone. I have 

 prevented its raging in worm weather by obliginc 

 them to pass through a trough of vitriol water now 

 and then, according to the state of the disease and 

 weather. 



As for sheep ranging in a swamp breeding fool 

 rot, puts me in mind of what I have heard asserted 

 by some people, that man lying in the woods on h 

 bed of leaves for a length of time, would breed fleoe. 

 If I had been informed that they would and could 

 thus breed the rhinoceros, I would the sooner have 

 iielicved them, because the machinery and mechanism 

 would not be so very minute and complicated but of a 

 coarser kind. 



Yours very respectfully, 

 S- W. JEW ETT. 



Large Cattle. 

 Wo saw the beautif.d animal mentioned below re- 

 peatedly, from his steerage to his oxhood. We ad- 

 vised his making the Grand Tour. A friend of ours, 

 who had resided in England nearly thir y years, and 

 assumed to be an eminent connoisseur in Cattle, un- 

 dertook to say he would receive no notice there : and 

 a good deal else indicating how easily prejudici 

 I warps the judgmen. even in intelligent minds. We 



are glad that he proved a false prophet, and that the 

 British Sjiriculiurist public hove so strongly sanciion- 

 I our own opinions. This animal was not of the 

 puro blood, but half blood. He was an exceedingly 

 well-formed animal. We were about to speak of his 

 good points, but he was so fat and smooth, it would bo 

 difTicult to find any points about him but the point» 

 of his hoofs and his horns. 



The noble ox belonging to Mr. Rnst, of Syracuse, 

 Onondaga Co., is ol pure native stock : he weighs 

 4 UIU bis , and is still healthy and thrifty. We had 

 hie dimensions taken a year since, at the Syracuse 

 Fair, but as he has grown largely since, we prefer 

 waiting for a more recent measurement before we 

 give tht m. We apprehend that he is destined to bear 

 the palm from all the mammoth oxen on record. Mr. 

 Godfrey's oxen, (of Geneva,) exhibited at the Stata 

 Fair at Albany, were most remarkable animals, ofaa- 

 lonishing size, fatness, and thrift. There were re- 

 presented OS [native stock. We cannot however de- 

 cide definiicly on this point. We shall, as is ths 

 fashion in Court Gazettes, know more about the 

 movements and exploits of all these Great Folks pres- 

 ently, and shall duly chronicle them. — Ed. 

 THE AMERICAN MAMMOTH OX OLYMPUS. 

 This astonishing animal was bred by Isaac Hub- 

 bard, Esq., in the town of Claremont, State of New 

 Hampshire. He was sold in October 1837, and ta. 

 ken down the Connecticut river to New- York, from 

 thence to Boston ; and was imported to England in 

 the fall of 1838 under a heavy bond to Her Majesty'* 

 customs to be re shipped to America in six months. 

 Her Majesty's government was pleased to extend lh» 

 Bond ; at this period his name was changed, and wai 

 called Brother Jonathan. He weighed at New Lon- 

 don before leaving the country 3600 Ibe. He was 

 sold late in the fall of 1838 to a company of gentle- 

 men for large sum, who exhibited him over most 

 of England. This beautiful creature was exhibited 

 at the Egyptian Hall, Peccadilly, London, seven 

 weeks, during which time 22,368 persons visited him, 

 including most every branch of the Royal Family, 

 and the leading agricultural noblemen and gentlemen. 

 By special permission he was admitted into the great 

 Fair at Oxford as an American Ox, and over four 

 hundred dollars was received in one day. In 1840 

 he was slaughtered at Horucastle, his weight being 

 3700 lbs., and it was the opinii>n off good judges had 

 be hove been quiet a few months, with good atten- 

 tion, he could have been made 400 lbs. heavier. Ho 

 was of the Short Horned Durham breed, and in form 

 considered by connoisseurs to be the most perfect 

 model of his kind ; color. Dapple Bay. Ho was 

 calved January 4th, 1832, and his weight at differout 

 periods wos as follows : 



Jan. 4th, 1833, being 1 year old, he weighed 874 lbs 

 Deo. 23d, '33, wght 1280 lbs. gain 11 m 19 ds 406 " 

 Jnn 5th, '35, " 1800 ' " 12ml3d6520" 

 Dec. 26th, '36, " 2350" " 11 m 21 d« 550 '« 

 Feb. 15ih. '37, " 2910" " 13ml0ds560'« 

 April 4ih, '3H. " 3370" " 13 m 17 ds 460 " 

 '40, " 3700 " 330 ". 



PBOPOBTIONS. 



Measuring in length from nose to ntmp, 11 ft. 10 in. 



" Heighth over fore shouldeis, -^ It 1 1 in. 



" Girth, 10 ft 9 in. 



" Loins, 9 ft 11 in. 



" Breadth of Hips. 3 ft 1 in. 



" " Shoulders, 2 ft II in. 



" Girth of fore arm, 2 ft 6 in. 



• ■ Height of b.-.n»,f,„m.>rmind.l |tll in. 



GREAT VIELU Vt iiUl'sS. 

 Gurdon Avery, in the village of Waterville, Oneida 

 county, N. Y., raised this yeor on 12 acres of land, 

 29,937 lbs. of hops. He proposes to challenge tho 

 world to excel him as to quantity and quality, on the 

 same quantity of land, for $1,000 — or separately — - 

 quality without q' amity, or quantity without quality, 

 or $J'JO, on satisfactory evidence. 



