234 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



hailed from Vermont, and who had for sale ma- 

 chines for washing clothes more elegantly, eco- 

 nomically and expeditiously, than clothes ever 

 had been washed before. Mrs. H. begged her 

 husband to relieve her of vexation and trouble, 

 by buying one of these admirable machines, the 

 utility of which was so apparent, and the price 

 so very moderate— only $20. While Mr. H. 

 loved his money, he loved his wife, and as this 

 was the first time she had ever asked him to in- 

 dulge her, he bought a machine and paid the 

 money without a sigh or a tear. The machine 

 soon proved to be utterly worthless and ergo, 

 argues the logical Mr. H., all wheat machines, 

 &c. recommended for agricultural purposes are 

 no better. He congratulated himself, that he 

 only paid $20 for his experience, declares that 

 but for that little enterprise of his dear wife, 

 he would, by this time, have sunk at least $500 

 in buying wheat machines, boasts publicly, that 

 although he has made wheat for nearly forty 

 years, he has never bought or hired a wheat 

 machine, and swears that he never will to the 

 day of judgment. His neighbours confidently 

 assert that he has lost hundreds of dollars for 

 the want of a wheat machine, while he declares 

 that his Vermont friend is the most consum- 

 mate and magnificent swindler in the Union, 

 though indirectly a great benefactor to him as a 

 teacher. 



Mr. I. says that he suffers considerably from 

 the depredations of rats, which he thinks de- 

 stroy annually at least twenty barrels of his 

 corn, besides eating wheat, &c. Being a rigid 

 economist, he peremptorily refuses to buy any 

 rat traps, or any thing else to protect his corn 

 or meat house, lie has never lost a pig or lamb 

 by foxes, to the best of his recollection, and 

 huntsmen contend that foxes are rarely ever 

 heard of in his neighbourhood. Mr. I., how- 

 ever, asserts, that these circumstances do not 

 prove that his lambs and pigs are not in some 

 danger. He had several hounds, but they hav- 

 ing gone off and killed thirty fine Cotswold 

 sheep belonging to a neighbouring farmer, the 

 law of retaliation was promptly enforced upon 

 the aggressors. Determined to protect his lambs 

 and pigs, and having by the way, a slight pen- 

 chant for fox-hunting, Mr. I. shortly after pur- 

 chased six fine hounds which cost him only the 

 small sum of two hundred and fifty dollars. He 

 is proud of his bargain and declares he would 

 not sell them for $500. He spends a great deal 

 of time in fox-hunting, but has never caught a 

 fox. When I last saw him, he swore, that un- 

 less the rascally rats would emigrate, he would 

 sell his premises and move to Texas before the 

 end of the year. 



But enough. The rain is over, the sun is 

 shining, and I must go out and attend to my 

 crops. Wishing you, Christopher, and all of 

 my agricultural brethren, health and prosperi- 

 ty, I remain 



Your kinsman and friend, 



LEWIS LIVINGSTON. 



June 10, 1856. 



DISEASE AMONG FOWLS. 



Spottsylvania, July 12th, 1856. 

 Mr. Editor: — Will you or some of your nu- 

 merous subscribers inform me of a remedy for 

 a disease which has prevailed amongst my 

 fowls of all kinds since 1848. During that year 

 we lost from two to three hundred of different 

 kinds of fowls, viz: Turkeys, ducks, (both 

 kinds,) dunghill and guinea fowls. This year my 

 wife has lost all the goslings she raised, and the 

 disease bids fair to be as fatal as it was in 1848. 

 The first symptoms are a partial loss of the use 

 of their legs, and in some cases, particularly 

 with ducks, thereMs a watery fluid running from 

 the mouth. In a short time they are deprived of 

 all use of their legs, and in a short time die, of- 

 ten the first day of the attack, rarely living be- 

 yond the third day. The disease seems to be 

 confined to my premises, as I have not heard of 

 any of my neighbours having lost any. If you, or 

 any of your subscribers know anything about the 

 disease you will please inform me through 

 your valuable paper. 



A Subscriber. 



OXEN VS. HORSES. 

 The "Wool Grower" says that "the 

 plowing matches throughout the country 

 have established the fact, that oxen can 

 plow a given space of ground as quick and 

 as well as horses." We do not know how 

 this may be, but we do know a gentleman 

 who puts a yoke of De^von oxen to a plow, 

 immediately behind a team of three good 

 horses, and they do the same days work of 

 plowing that the horses do, They are sta- 

 bled and curried and fed like horses, and 

 do all the work* required of them with as 

 much spirit. 



SMUT IN WHEAT. 

 Should there be smut this harvest, will 

 the observer be kind enough to examine 

 the smutted heads carefully, it may be he 

 will find all the smut grains punctured 

 through the chaff by some small insect, 

 (several species perhaps), when in the milk 

 state; the atmosphere being thus admitted 

 into the grain, fermentation may be found 

 to have taken place, and the smut pro- 

 duced. This would account for sound and 

 smutted grains in the same head, and per- 

 haps the only rational way of doing so. 



Don't Forget. 



WET LANDS. 

 If any of your fields are wet make ar- 

 rangementsto have them thoroughly drained, 

 and take our word for it, that the expense 

 the draining may cost you, w T ill be returned 



