SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
177 
L.AMPAS IN HORSES — HOW CURED. 
BY R. JENNINGS, V. S., CLEVELAND, OHIO. 
Lampas, as it is termed, is a fulness or swelling of the 
bars, or roof of the mouth, caused by the cutting of the 
molar teeth. In all colts, lampas will be found. In ma- 
ny, however, little or no inconvenience may be observa- 
ble ; while in others, the great tenderness of the parts in- 
volved, causes the animal to refuse his food, submitting 
to hunger rather than pain; in consequence of which, he 
is compelled to submit to an operation as barbarous as it 
is cruel, which is no less than burning out the bars with 
a red hot iron, leaving the mouth sore for some time after. 
This mode of treating lampas, has been practiced for 
years, and is, at the present day, almost the only course 
pursued in such cases, notwithstanding it is of no practi- 
cal benefit whatever; but on the contrary, is often very 
injurious. Still, the owner will generally ridicule the 
idea of remedying the evil by any other means. It is an 
established fact, that children, during the period of denti- 
tion, are subject to the same disease. While some cut 
their teeth with little or no pain, others suffer severely. 
What father would submit to an operation upon his childl 
what mother would see her darling babe thus cruelly tor- 
tured! Wobe to the practitioner who would dare to make 
such a proposition ; yet men will submit their favorite 
steed to such torture, believing that course to be the only 
sure means of abating the evil. In this they are much 
mistaken. We do not deny that a horse thus dealt with, 
will regain his former appetite, but we assert, that, 
nad not this operation been performed, he would have re 
sumed his feeding equally soon, by means less painful 
and more humane. In the child, the humane practitioner, 
seldom does more than lance the gums. This, certainly, 
is a more rational mode of operating, and my experience 
teaches me, that my lancing the inflamed parts, the 
swelling .soon subsides, and the horse soon feeds as usual. 
For this purpose, a common pocket knife will answer tbe 
purpose verj.' well, after which, the mouth should be 
washed with a solution of tincture of myrrh, two ounces 
to a pint of water; this should be repeated tvvice a day, 
for three or four days, during which time, bran mashes, 
flax seed gruel, and, if to be obtained, new grass would 
be very desirable. No hay, corn or oats should be given 
for a week ; the teeth, then, will be in condition to masti- 
cate such food. By pursuing this course, you save your 
animal much inconvenience and suffering, without doing 
h;m any injury. — Ohio Farmer. 
TETHERTNH WORK HORSES AT GRASS. 
A good many years since, when we lived in the county 
of King Vv^illiam, where, if we were twins, one of ns 
would live again — either there or in Albermarle — we saw 
Gen. A.ylett's horses and mules staked out on clover, and 
.secured by a very simple contrivance beyond the possi- 
bility of escape or danger from the tether. The thing 
was made in this wise ; take two small hickory or white 
oak poles, seasoned is best, and slightly flatten each end : 
get two links of an old chain or have two made; have 
made also two staples in the form of a je wsharp, with two 
small holes in the jaws thereof ; connect them by the 
links, and then secure them by wrought iron nails to the 
ends of the poles. Now fix a similar shape to each other 
end ; secure- one of these ends to the ground by an iron 
pin 15 inches long, strap the mule by his neck to the oth- 
er end and “ let him rip.” 
Our esteemed friend, Mr. Wm. S. Fontaine of the same 
neighborhood, thus speaks of them, and of a still simpler 
plan. 
“I used these tethers for some 5 or G y^ears, and never 
knew any accident to occur. They were discontinued 
stmply because I had grazing lots and pastures enclosed, 
though I have tethered my mules out at night on the clo- 
ver field for many years, simply for the convenience of 
catching them in the morning. I, however, with them, 
use a large rope 12 feet long, fastened to a leather halter, 
and tied to an iron pin 15 inces long — made thus, q, of 
half inch round iron; The whole businees costs 60 cents, 
and it will last three seasons. When I do my mules thus 
I work one set half a day, stake them out, take up the 
other set and work the ballance of the day. In this man- 
ner I never give my mules a grain of corn ora blade of 
fodder from the lOth or 15th of May, till the oats crop 
comes in. Under this treatment they become very sleek. 
When you first tether a mule he will wind himself up, 
but in a few days he becomes perfectly acquainted with 
the whole machinery, and never ties himself up at all. I 
was apprehensive that they would cut themselves, but I 
have had 12 mules tethered out every summer since 1847, 
and never yet have had one injured in the slightest man- 
ner. I had a wild horse somewhat cut by the rope on his 
hind leg ; and with a small rope, particularly, there must 
be more danger than if the animal were running at large 
without any tether.” — Southcryi Planter. 
COTl'ON FOR ROOFING— IMPORTANT IN- 
veiition. 
We are favored by our friend, Mr, Legare, with the 
following letter, which originally appeared in the 
Charleston Courier; and having had the pleasure of in- 
specting some samples of the new material for roofing, as 
prepared and applied by the inventor, we must say that 
we have the strongest , hope that it will fully realize his ex- 
pectations, and prove of great value to the country at 
large; 
Aiken, S. C., April 28, 1857. 
To the Editors of the Courier'. 
Gentlemen, — Any invention tending to increase the de- 
mand for a staple, cannot be without interest in a community 
more or less directly concerned in its culture or sale; for 
which reason I beg to make the tollowing statement through 
your columns. 
j A few rough specimens of work in plastic cotton exhibited 
in Novemoer last, were so fortunate as to obtain a gold 
medal from the Institute; and the value of the inventioa 
has been since fully recognized by the press in various parts 
of the United States. At the time of the above named exhi- 
bition, however, the plastic mass had resisted all my efforts 
to render it capable of being moulded, as well as worked 
by hand. This quality I have since succeeded in obtaining 
t„r it, as well as a more valuable application as a substitute 
for the expensive roofing materials now in use. 
Many exp^ riments during the three or four past months 
have, 1 think, established the following facts : That cotton 
can be rendered fire and weather proof, and plastic at the 
same time, and laid upon roofs, either flat or inclin d, so as 
to form a single unbroken covering, at a cost much below 
that of pine shingles, namely, from three to four dollars 
per square of 100 square feet. A single thickness, (| inch) of 
Plastic Cotton costs not more than $2®2.50 per square-, a 
roof of double thickness (| inch) will cost from $3@4 50; the 
last named gross amount is scaicely justified, however, by 
even the present price of cotton. 
The chemical salts used in its preparation, I need scarcely 
say, are among the cheapest of their kind, or the above re- 
sults could not have been obtained. The hardness of the 
material is remarkable when dry — that is, from twenty-four 
to forty-eight hours after being laid on. In color it some- 
what resembles olate, though this may be altered at pleasure. 
The different solutions for the menstruum may be ke it aa 
unlimited time, in casks or smaller vessels, and mingled ia 
proper proportions (cold) when ‘the raw staple is to be im- 
meised. The immersion itself requires but 15 or 20 minutes, 
or, where the quantity is small, a still shorter time willsuflSce. 
I would only further say, tliat the menstruum referred to* 
above is applicable not merely to cotton, but to any other 
fibrous mate-ial, and that the values I have assigned are' 
consequently rather above the average. 
The retention of vegetable fibre, in all cases, is the best safe- 
guard against cracking or injvuious contraction or expanaioit 
