340 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
[COPY EIGHT SKCUBED.] ., 
INDIANS GATHERING COTTON-WOOD BARK .— DRAWS BY W. M. CauY.— Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
owner told me, "That cow is going to die — the 
most offensive mortification has set in, and I 
see no way on earth to help her. It's a pity; 
she is a very good animal" — and he evidently 
felt (in dollars and cents) the full weight of his 
misfortune. I told him, if ho considered her al- 
ready a lost cow, I would suggest another rem- 
edy that might succeed, but it was one which, as 
it was only an experiment, I would not advise in 
any but a desperate case. He said the cow was 
worth her hide, and no more, and he was ready 
to try any thing. I knew my prescription would 
lessen the poor animal's pain, and would re- 
move the offeusiveness of her mortifying wound, 
and so I gave it. "Take some of the finest 
earth of your garden (clay loam) ; make it air- 
dry ; sift it finely, so as to get out all small 
stones, and fibres of roots ; and fill the womb 
with it, Wheu some of this is expelled, put in 
a fresh supply, so as to keep as much dry earth — 
or pure earth — in constant contact with the 
wounded parts, as you can. Abandon every 
other form of treatment, and give the earth a 
fair chance." He promised to follow the direc- 
tions, and drove on. From that time until the 
middle of July, when I met him again on the 
road, I thought nothing of his cow, and proba- 
bly should never have thought of her again. 
He accosted me with : " Well, that cow got 
well after all. I did exactly what you told me 
to, and it stopped the mortification right off. 
She is as well as ever now." 
This is the whole stoiy ; but it is a story full of 
suggestiveness for all owners of live-stock. For- 
tunately such cases as this are of rare occurrence, 
but there are all manner of wounds and ab- 
scesses and ulcers — which give infinite trouble, 
and which, under ordinary treatment, give 
much pain to the animal — that may be suc- 
cessfully treated with dressings of dry, clayey 
earth, and with immediate relief from pain. 
This is a remedy which all who can procure 
suitable earth can readily use. The only caution 
necessary is to avoid making the application to 
anj r sore that it is best to keep open. 
.-. -»■« ■ ' « 
Gathering Cotton-wood Bark for Forage. 
— ♦ 
The inner bark of some trees is very rich in 
mucilaginous matter, sometimes in sufficient 
quantities to be available as an article of food. 
This is notably the case in our Slippery Elm, 
the inner bark of which readily yields to water 
a rich mucilage, and the flour made from it is 
used as a nutriment for invalids. The barks of 
some poplars and willows are nutritious, and in 
times of scarcity are used by the people of Nor- 
thern Europe cither as a substitute for grain, or 
to mix with their scanty supply of flour. Deer, 
rabbits, and other animals, both wild and do- 
mestic, in the absence of other food, frequently 
sustain themselves by eating the bark of trees, 
often to the annoyance of the cultivator. Some 
of the Indian tribes of the West rely upon the 
bark of the Cotton-wood (Populus monilifera and 
other species) as a forage for their hardy ponies, 
and gather stores of it for use in winter when 
other food is not to be obtained. The engra- 
ving is from a drawing by Mr. Cary, and repre- 
sents a party of Indians laying in their winter 
stock of cotton-wood bark, and shews their 
rude means of transportation. The writer has, 
on more than one occasion, found the cotton- 
wood the only available forage for his animals. 
On reaching camp, trees were felled, and the 
animals allowed to browse upon the small 
branches and twigs, which were eaten with great 
avidity by the half-starved horses and mules. 
