COLIC IN MULES.—REVIEW OF THE MARCH NO. OF THE AG.—NO. 3 . 
219 
there appears to be no way to eradicate it but pull¬ 
ing up every plant. But in doing this, the root 
often breaVs, and leaves a part in the ground, to 
become the progenitor of a new stock of weeds. 
Besides thi$, wherever this spinous weed grows 
with wheat\or other grain, a great deal of the latter 
is obliged to be wasted, as it cannot be reaped; for 
no man can put his hand into a bed of burrweed 
with impunity. In short, though unknown among 
us a few yeafs ago, it is now spreading wkh alarm¬ 
ing rapidity, and laughs at our efforts to control it. 
Another pernicious weed is likewise becoming 
an object of some attention ; though it has not yet 
attained the notoriety of the former. I allude to 
spurry (Spergula arvensis ), so abhorred by some of 
our farmers, that they have given it the name of 
'* devil’s gut.” It has a long, but very slender 
stem, trailing on the ground, with nodules, about 
an inch apart, at each of which the stem forms an 
angle. The leaves and flowers are inconspicuous; 
the seed vessels are numerous, globular, and about 
as large as peas; the stems trail a long way from 
the root, and twine and entangle one with another. 
It chiefly infests new land; but I suppose the seed 
has been imported with other seeds from Europe. 
There, I have understood, it is sometimes sown for 
the sake of its herbage, which affords an abundant 
and nutritious food for cattle (6). These three are 
the worst weeds that infest our crops. We have 
many others; but they do not spread so rapidly as 
these, and can in some measure be kept under. 
Canadian Naturalist. 
Compton , Canada East. 
(a) As the Canada thistle abounds in fertilizing 
salts it may be advantageously plowed in after the 
manner of clover, buckwheat, and other green crops. 
(b) In Germany and Belgium, the seeds of spurry 
are sown in fields of stubble after the grain has 
been harvested, to supply a tender bite for sheep 
during winter. It may be sown and reaped in eight 
weeks either in autumn or spring. It is said to 
enrich the milk of cows so much as to render the 
butter more excellent; and the mutton fed upon it 
is preferable to that fed on turnips. It is greedily 
eaten by hens, dry or green, and is supposed to 
cause them to lay a greater number of eggs. In 
the United States, however, it is doubtful whether 
it would pay the expense of cultivation. 
COLIC IN MULES. 
In your last No., page 187, in an article signed 
Gaston, the writer complains that his mules die of 
colic. I will merely say to him, that mules are but 
little subject to disease, except by inflammation of 
the intestines, caused by the grossest exposure to 
cold and wet, and excessive drinking of cold water 
after severe labor, and while in a high state of 
perspiration. Crushed corn and cob is the best 
food for them ; neither rye nor wheat straw should 
be given them while working, as it renders them 
unfit for labor, but in times of rest it is a good food. 
They have been lost by feeding on cut straw and 
corn meal. 
In breaking them, they should be mated with a 
swift walking horse, and if treated kindly, will be 
gentle; but if treated inhumanly, they will treasure 
up their revenge for years, until an opportunity 
offers to gratify it. They are called obstinate by 
mulish drivers , and by none else. No opinion is 
more erroneous than that mules can thrive on 
brambles and briars. They may live, but cannot 
thrive. A mule requires one-third less of nutritive 
substance than a horse, but his quantum he must 
have, or, like other animals, he will starve; and 
though not so much of an epicure or glutton as 
man, he is as much opposed to scanty doses in 
feeding as his master. James Boyle. 
Annapolis, Md. 
A REVIEW OF THEMVIARCH NO. OF THE 
AGRICULTURIST.—No, 3. 
Method of Fastening Horses. —Very sensible, 
S. Y.,—short and to the point; I like such articles. 
But I don’t like your big heavy headstall and blind¬ 
ers and check reins. Check reins are wicked; 
blinds are useless; and breeching too, nine times 
out of ten; and in fact the least possible quantity 
of leather about a harness is the best—and Mr. 
Editor, I am not convinced by your argument in 
favor of attaching a weight to the halter. The 
truth is, I like that “ Southern barn,” where a 
horse can “ take his ease” in his own stable, “ with 
none to make him afraid.” [So do we; and our 
correspondent will find box and stalls, as in the 
Southern barn, often recommended in our paper; 
but all cannot have them, and therefore we give 
the most comfortable method we know of, to fasten 
horses in their stables.] It is but too true, that 
most of our fashionable usage of this most noble of 
domestic animals, is but a refined kind of cruelty. 
I suppose we might get used to sleeping with a 
halter round our necks, but it is not comfortable. 
The Southern plan, if put to vote among the horses, 
would be the one adopted as best. 
Farm and Villa of Mr. Donaldson. —Don’t we 
wish, Mr. Editor, that it was ours, and that we'had 
the wherewithal to enjoy that same ? And yet I 
covet it not. It is in good hands, and blithe may it 
ever be to its present owner. If many of our city 
millionaires would go and do likewise, it would be 
better for them and the world in general. These 
descriptive views of yours are always read with 
pleasure and profit. They are calculated to make 
the owners feel justly proud to see their labors of 
improvement duly and honorably appreciated, and 
are well calculated to induce thousands of city 
dwellers who have the time and means to enable 
them to enjoy rural life, to go out upon some ill cul¬ 
tivated or desolate and barren spot, and make it 
blossom like the rose, as Mr. Donaldson has done. 
To my mind there is no enjoyment for a man of 
wealth, equal to that of creating a little world of 
comfort and beauty for and around his own house¬ 
hold. I hope you will continue your visits and 
descriptions, till every similar house is described, 
and that you will thereby create a taste, that will 
cause them to be erected faster than you can give 
us an account of them. 
Machine for Cleaning Gravel Walks. —Will'that 
machine answer in the southern latitude for a 
“ cotton scraper?” Let them that know, speak. It 
looks to me as though it would take the place of 
“ the sweep,” in the hands of a white man; with a 
negro, doubtful. 
