SUPERIOR MODE OF CURING HAMS.-COLIC IN MULES.-DOMESTIC FISH-PONDS. 
187 
ing thinned out to a stand. The draft is light on 
the animal, which is a very important considera¬ 
tion. H. 
Barbour County, Alabama. 
SUPERIOR MODE (Tf CURING HAMS. 
Agreeably to your request I herewith send you 
the process of curing the hams I sent you in 
March, which recently called forth the admiration 
of the American Agricultural Association, and the 
Farmer’s Club, at New York. 
I made a pickle of two quarts of salt, to which I 
added one ounce of summer savory, one ditto sweet 
marjoram, one ditto allspice, half ditto saltpetre, 
and one pound brown sugar; boiled the whole to¬ 
gether, and applied the mixture boiling hot, to one 
hundred pounds of hams, and kept them in the 
pickle three or four weeks. 
My process of smoking was not the most expen¬ 
sive, but may not be the less available on that ac¬ 
count. I smoked the hams in a seed cask, with 
one head in, with a small hole for the smoke to 
pass out, hung my hams to the head, and used 
about a peck of mahogany sawdust for fuel, which 
I happened to have on hand for packing goods. I 
smoked them but one week. Wm. Stickney. 
Boston , May 6th, 1846. 
COLIC IN MULES. 
I have been a constant reader of your paper from 
tts commencement, but have not yet seen an article 
on a subject of great importance to us Southerners, 
namely, the cause of so many of our mules and 
horses dying with the colic. 
We are the most unfortunate people in the 
world as regards our stock. I lose three, and 
sometimes five mules every year by the colic; 
every day there is a rnule brought to me from the 
field sick with the colic. Now I cannot see the 
reason of this, unless it is our mode of treating 
them. Our treatment is this. We plow them 
hard ; give them as much water as they can drink 
when they are taken out to be fed; feed them in a 
lot in which there is a trough with plenty of corn 
in it: no stable for our mules whatever. 
You would confer a favor if you or some of your 
correspondents would enlighten us on the subject, 
for it is a matter of importance that we should know 
how to prevent this disease. Gaston. 
Tallahassee, Florida. 
No treatment of mules or horses, that we are 
acquainted with, would be more sure to induce 
colic than such as is spoken of above by our cor¬ 
respondent ; and if he wishes a preventive, he 
must change his system, for no medicine would be 
efficacious under it. To water a mule or horse 
when hot frequently produces colic; and to feed 
him hard, dry corn, will do the same. Oats are 
much better feed in every respect, and may be given 
dry without danger in any quantity, though it is 
better to grind, or at least soak them in water a 
few hours before feeding. Oats make tougher 
muscle and harder flesh to work on than corn. If 
corn is used, it ought to be ground with the cob, 
and mixed up with water, slightly salted, a day or 
so before being used. If it ferments previous to 
feeding, or if it can be boiled like mush or hasty 
pudding, so much the better, as it then goes much 
further, and is healthier for the animal. When 
mules are taken out to be fed, let them get a little 
cool before being allowed to drink ; then give them 
a small quantity of water, say one or two quarts, 
and as they cool give them more, till they finally 
drink as much as they desire. If the water be very 
cold, a handful of hot wood-ashes should be thrown 
into the bucket before drinking—this is generally 
sure to prevent any ill effects. A gill of ashes 
should be given to each mule or horse once a week 
in their feed. Ashes keep the system open, and 
kill worms and bots in the intestines. It would be 
better to stable the mules, especially when feeding 
during very hot weather, in copious dewy nights, 
and in cold rainy weather. Their principal meal 
should be at night. During the long, hard working 
days of the season, they ought to have two hours 
rest at noon, and one to one and a half hour’s rest 
in the shorter ones. 
DOMESTIC FISH-PONDS.—No. 1. 
On the continent of Europe, particularly in 
France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands, 
the rearing of fish affords a regular source of profit 
to landed proprietors, and the establishment of 
artificial ponds, and the management of this species 
of game, are well understood. In most of the cities 
and larger towns, the stalls in the markets are fur¬ 
nished with two or more tubs of water, crowded 
with living fresh-water fish, in excellent condition, 
but painfully panting and struggling in their con¬ 
finement, which are obtained from private fish¬ 
ponds, where they are regularly bred for the mar¬ 
ket, in a similar manner as our farmers’ wives 
breed geese, ducks, and other fowls. 
In most parts of the United States there are 
either natural ponds, or lakes, or waste.places, ca¬ 
pable of being converted into artificial ponds, 
which, if properly stocked and attended to, would 
greatly add to the luxuries and prosperity of the 
country, and would furnish the whole population, 
both in the country and in cities, with an increased 
supply, at all times, of wholesome and nutritious 
food. Few acts of our government, or of private 
individuals, would be more praiseworthy than to 
introduce into our waters, from Europe, a quantity 
of tench and carp, for the purpose of breeding, or 
to bring the celebrated white fish, muscalonge, 
Mackinaw trout, and other tribes of our great 
lakes, to the ponds or lakes nearer the sea-board, 
for the same object. On this point 1 shall speak 
more in detail hereafter. 
A few years ago Dr. Gottlieb Boccius published 
a pamphlet on the management of fresh-water fish 
in Germany, with a view of making them a source 
of profit to landed proprietors. From this work, 
and several other sources, I have derived the in¬ 
formation which follows in this, and will be con¬ 
tinued in the succeeding numbers, with a hope that 
an attempt will be made to introduce this branch of 
rural economy into this country. 
Formation of the Ponds—As the first formation 
of fish-ponds is expensive if the proprietor has to 
excavate the ground, it is desirable to choose a 
natural hollow, to form an embankment where ne¬ 
cessary, and to provide a feeder leading into it. If 
these ponds are not made entirely for profit, it will 
