THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



699 



self, while he will be protected from the 

 gauls so common among work-horses and 

 mules. My object, at present, is not to discuss 

 particularly that center draft-line, and how to 

 obtain it, but simply to call attention to the 

 fact iisclf. I wish also to call attention to the 

 erroneous mode of hitching horses and mules 

 io XhQ shafts oi carts instead of to a swingle- 

 tree, as is done to buggies, wagons, &c. ^ I 

 have but a moment to write, and therefore will 

 waive the discussion and explanation of the 

 mode, or advantages hinted at. Indeed, if I 

 had ample time, I think it would be better 

 first, to excite, if possible, a curious interest in 

 the subject, and then gratify it. For the pres- 

 ent I leave the subject in your hands, and will 

 wait to see if the farmers do really feel an in- 

 terest in the matter referred to. 



Yours truly, 

 OBSERVER. 



Remarks. — We hope our friend W. will con- 

 tiaue bis observations on all agricultural mat- 

 ters and give our readers the benefit of his ex- 

 perience and teaching. We know him to be a 

 keen and careful " observer," and a thoroughly 

 practical man in every respect. It is from just 

 such men that we expect to derive benefit in 

 farming, and we have no doubt our readers 

 will be glad to hear from "Observer" fre- 

 quently. 



For the Planter. 



"Bots" or ''Grubs." in Horses. 

 Dear Planter : 



I hand you a recipe for eutirehj destroijing 

 "Grubs" or "Bots" in horses. It is furnished 

 me by a friend who is very skilful in veterina- 

 ry matters. 



Take of Indigo, half oz. 



" Molasses, " pint. 



" Water, one quart. 



Mix these well together in a bottle, and 

 drench the horse with it. I am assured that 

 after taking this drench, the horse will begin, 

 in ten or twelve hours, to pass the worms from 

 the bowels, and that it will certainly " knock 

 them blue." 



Origin of Brandy. 



Brandy began to be distilled in France about 

 the year 1313, but it was prepared only as a 

 medicine, and was considered as possessing 

 such marvelous strengthing and sanitary pow' 

 ers, that the physicians named it "the water 

 of life," {V can de vie,] a name it still retains, 

 though now rendered, by excessive potations, 

 one of life's most powerful destroyers. 



Raymond Lully, a disciple of Arnald Villa 

 Nova, considered this admirable essence of 



wine to be an emination from the Divinity, 

 and that it was intended to reanimate and 

 prolong the life of man. He even thought that 

 this discovery indicated that the time had ar- 

 rived for the consummation of all things — the 

 end of the world. Bef )re the means of deter- 

 mining the true quantity of alcohol in spirits 

 were known, the dealers were in the habit of 

 employing a very rude method of forming a 

 notion of the strength. A given quantity of 

 the spirits was poured upon a quantity of gun- 

 powder in a dish and set on fire. If a.t the 

 end of the combustion the gunpowder contin- 

 ued dry enough it exploded, but if it had been 

 wetted by the water in the spirits, the flame 

 of the alcohol went out without setting the 

 powder on fire. This was called the proof. 

 Spirits which kindled gunpowder were said 

 to be above proof. 



From the origin of the term ** proof," it is 

 obvious that its meaning must at first have 

 been very indefinite. It could serve only to 

 point out those spirits which are too weak to 

 kindle gunpowder, but could not give any in- 

 formation respecting the relative strength of 

 those spirits which were above proof. Even 

 the strength of proof was not fixed, because it 

 was influenced by the quantity of spirits 

 employed — a small quantity of weaker spirits 

 might be made to kindle gunpowder, while a 

 greater quantity of stronger might fail. 



Clark, in his hydrometer, which was invent- 

 ed about. 1830, fixed the strength of proof 

 spirits on the stem at the specific gravity of 

 0920 at the temperature of 60 degrees. This 

 is the strength at which proof spirit is fixed in 

 Great Britain by act of Parliament, and at this 

 strength it is no more than a mixture of 49 

 pounds of pure alcohol with 51 pounds of wa- 

 ter. Brand}^ rum, gin, and whiskey, contain 

 nearly similar proportions. 



Scientific American. 



From the Cotton Planter and Soil of the Sonth. 



Untie the Hame String-. 



Dr. Cloud : 



Dear Sir,— 'Not a year passes but what we 

 hear of some negro being thrown fiom his 

 mule or horse, going to or from the field, his 

 feet hanging in the traces, and getting killed, 

 or badly injured-— perhaps for life. I have 

 thought for five or six years past that I would 

 give, through some agricultural Journal, a 

 remedy for these disasters, which never fails 

 to prevent all accidents of this sort, but kept 

 forgetting it ; being reminded of it only when 

 I would hear of some unfortunate plowman 

 being thrown and badly mangled. Had I done 

 so sooner, it might have saved the life of some 

 one now in his grave. I now give the remedy 

 without charge, but beg " everybod}'' and the 

 rest of mankind" to adopt it at once. Never 

 ycrmit a negro to gel vpoii the hack of a mule 



