176 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
been under the care of Dr. A. Liautard, of the 
New York College of Veterinary Surgeons, -who 
gives the following description of her case : 
" I found her on the afternoon of the day of 
the fire, (Tuesday, March 3d), then suffering from 
a large but superficial burn of the right hip, and 
also from a fracture of the lower jaw. This 
fracture, on examination, proved to be trans- 
verse through both brandies of the lower jaw 
bone, where they are quite close to each other. 
The animal was removed to the infirmary of 
the college on the following Thursday. In the 
afternoon she laid down ; being then secured by 
means of ropes and hobbles, and covered with 
a heavy canvas, she was kept down, and witli the 
very kind assistance of Prof. John Gamgee, of 
London, and Prof. A. Large, of Brooklyn, I re- 
duced her fracture in the following manner: 
Two holes were pierced with a very fine drill, 
through both sides of the jaw, one in front of 
Fig. 1. — nE.vn of giraffe. 
the fracture, the other behind, as shown in fig. 
3. A broad piece of thick sole leather was pre- 
pared, which may be seen in fig. 1, the central 
part to rest on the jaw, the ends extending up- 
wards on each side, a little behind the corners 
of the mouth. A silver wire was first intro- 
duced through the leather, then passed 
through the jaw, through the other end of the 
Fig. 2.— JAW OF GIRAFFE. 
leather, and back again, as shown in fig. 3. The 
ends were secured by several twists, and the 
fractured ends of bone brought closely in con- 
tact. The narrow space between the two 
branches of the bone prevented my making two 
separate sutures, and at the same time favored 
the operation in opposing lateral displacement. 
A piece of webbing passed through eyes pierced 
Fig. 3. — HORIZONTAL SECTION OF JAW. 
in the leather was fastened over the nose, and 
then round the horns, to prevent the bandage 
from slipping down, and pads of oakum were 
put near the skin, where necessary, to pre- 
vent chafing. The operation lasted 20 minutes ; 
she stood it quietly, and was afterwards allowed 
to get up. She lias been fed with thick oat-meal 
gruel and milk, and her general condition has 
been improving every day. The burn has been 
treated on general principles, and the chances 
are that she will soon be able to eat full rations." 
This operation, which, up to the time of our 
going to press, promises to be so successful, 
might have been equally well performed upon a 
horse or an ox, and suggests a ready means of 
bringing the parts of a fractured bone together, 
applicable under many similar circumstances. 
The Corn Crop. 
There is not the shadow of a doubt that there 
will be an immense breadth of corn put in this 
year in all parts of the United States. The 
prices which have prevailed, both East and 
West, would be stimulus enough, were there 
no other reason, and there are many. Facili- 
ties for transportation have increased; the dull- 
ness of trade and manufactures has reinforced 
the ranks of tillers of the soil ; labor is less ex- 
pensive ; and every thing tends to induce exten- 
sive planting of our great staples. In regard to 
preparation of the soil, we earnestly advocate 
thoroughness, and abundant manuring. Who 
ever saw land too rich for corn, if properly culti- 
vated ? The plowing should be deep ; the manure 
incorporated with the soil ; and the harrowing 
and tillage previous to planting, in proportion 
to the amount of weed seed in the land, or grass 
and sorrel which repeated harrowings or rat- 
ings are required to eradicate. The first of May 
should see the land plowed, especially if it is 
given to being weedy, and if the weather is 
warm and the weeds start, about once a week 
the harrow should be thoroughly put over it, 
and across it. The land gains enough to pay 
for the extra labor, and there may be multitudes 
of weeds destroyed in the seed-leaf. Tillage 
by horse-power, before the crop is planted, may 
be much more thorough than any subsequent 
working it can have, exceptcareful hand-hoeing. 
In regard to what kind of corn to plant, we say 
take the earliest that yields good crops. Select 
medium-sized ears, well filled out, compact, 
even-rowed, and close at the buts. As a rule, 
rather small-stalked kinds are preferable — they 
may be planted closer, and do not shut out so 
much sunlight from the soil, and when the 
proper distance to have the plants or hills apart 
is known and followed, we think they yield the 
largest crop. Be sure that the variety will ma- 
ture early for your latitude — then one fruitful 
source of disappointment and loss is shunned. 
As to planting, we say be in no hurry, provided 
the corn is just coming up by the first of June. 
Much excellent corn is raised every year which 
is planted after the first of June. It is far more 
important to have an early kind, and to have 
one crop of seedling weeds killed, than to plant 
before that date. This observation applies with 
especial force to the country north of the lati- 
tude of Washington. The warm weather which 
reaches us in June above that parallel comes 
earlier to the Southern States. Whenever it 
may come, corn waits for it — and we see little 
vigorous growth of this crop before we have 
hot summer weather. The rows should be 
put so far apart that as much as possible of the 
tillage may be done by horse-power. This is 
the limit of closeness, and cannot practically be 
less than three feet, except for dwarf varieties. 
Plant in drills, dropping the kernels so that they 
will average about two to the running foot. 
This will be an allowance of fully one-third for 
worms, etc., which leaves enough, and ordina- 
rily too much, to stand. It must be thinned out 
as soon as danger from the cut-worm and grub 
has passed. Summer cultivation comes in June, 
and until then we will defer its consideration. 
Pure Water for Hens and Chickens. 
Pure water is essential to the health of chick- 
ens. It should be changed frequently, and no 
dirt allowed to contaminate their vessel. We 
have been annoyed not to be able to set a shal- 
low vessel of water close to the coop, so that 
the old hen can drink and not have it filled 
with dirt from the floor of the coop, thrown into 
it by her scratching. This is supposed to con- 
tain the eggs of the gap-worms, which are taken 
into the throats of the chickens with the water, 
either before or just after hatching. Whether 
this view is true or not, pure water is scarcely 
the less a great desideratum, and it has been an 
PDRE WATER COOP. 
important problem how to secure it. ' If we are 
not mistaken, this question has been somewhere 
proposed to our readers, but the method exhib- 
ited in the accompanying engraving has sug- 
gested itself to us, and has been carried into ef- 
fect thus far with so great satisfaction that we 
describe it to our readers. The water dish is 
set at the side of the coop, and a hole is cut so 
that the hen may put her head through con- 
veniently and drink. If she scratches hard 
enough to throw dirt through the hole, in all 
probability it will overshoot the water. We 
may find it necessary after the hen learns where 
to go to drink, to tack a light curtain of cloth 
partly over the hole. We think this plan will 
prove effectively useful in preventing the gapes. 
Varieties and Variation. 
That animals and plants vary, i. e., the child 
is not always in all respects like its parent, must 
be admitted by all. That the peculiarities which 
mark this variation maybe transmitted, and that 
by breeding from animals possessing desirable 
peculiarities in the most marked degree, a race 
may be so well established that it is quite cer- 
tain to "come true every time" is known to 
every stock-breeder and every intelligent farmer. 
How great these variations, what a difference 
from the wild type of animals and plants our 
domestic ones present — a difference caused by 
man's agency in selecting for perpetuation those 
possessing qualities best suited to his use or his 
fancy — few are aware. It remained for Mr. 
Charles Darwin, the distinguished English nat- 
uralist, to bring together in his recent work, on 
