Q06 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[JULY, 
Contraction of Horses’ Feet. 
This is not so great a misfortune, as some sup¬ 
pose. It is an unnatural condition of the hoof, 
but it does not necessarily produce unsoundness. 
If a horse has good action, and is otherwise un¬ 
exceptionable, he is hardly less valuable for a 
slight contraction of the foot. Still, we should 
try to prevent it. 
Bad shoeing is one cause of contraction. The 
blacksmith sometimes cuts away a part of the 
frog, which causes it to loose some of its mois¬ 
ture and elasticity. Then, again, he makes the 
shoe too much inclined inward from the outside, 
which prevents the natural expansion of the 
hoof. A pressure is thereby made upon the ten¬ 
der parts of the foot, and hence come fever and 
lameness, corns and unnatural deposits of hoof. 
The shoe should be made perfectly level “ on the 
quarters,” so as to allow the natural expansion 
of the foot. The shoes, moreover, should be 
forged, not twisted into shape, as is sometimes 
done by bungling workmen. As a general rule, 
shoes are worn too long without resetting. 
Every three or four weeks, they should be taken 
off, the toe shortened in, the sole thinned, and 
the heels lowered. 
Contraction is often caused in stable-horses, 
by want of natural moisture. Where there is a 
strong tendency to contraction, the hoof should 
be “stopped” or plugged with a mixture of 
cow-dung and clay. Or, better still, a piece of 
thick felt, cut to the shape of the sole, and soaked 
in water, should be applied daily. 
The broad, flat foot of the cart-horse, is seldom 
troubled with contraction. Blood horses are quite 
liable to it. 
Ordinary cases of contraction will be cured by 
the treatment above suggested; but where it 
becomes excessive, and is combined with any 
other disease, the animal should be put under the 
care of a skillful veterinary surgeon. We Will 
only add that horses of our own have been cured 
by turning them out to pasture for several months, 
wearing, meanwhile, very light shoes, and these 
frequently changed. * 
Raising Silk Worms’ Eggs—Will it Pay? 
During the past year we have received repeat¬ 
ed inquiries from abroad, as to whether eggs of 
the Silk Worm could be obtained in this country. 
The parties applying state that the worms in the 
silk producing regions of Europe have become 
diseased to an extent that threatens to seriously 
affect this branch of industry ; perhaps to destroy 
it, unless supplies of eggs from healthy worms 
can be procured. Recently, parties in this City 
have renewed the inquiry, stating that after con¬ 
siderable search they find silk-culture in the 
United Slates almost if not quite extinct. The 
last census report showed that in 1844, this coun¬ 
try produced 390,796 lbs. of cocoons, of which 
170,210 were raised In Connecticut alone. Some 
of our readers may know by experience the cause 
of failure after such a start had been made. It 
resulted mainly from the comparatively high 
price of labor, preventing successful competition 
with European manufactures, and also from the 
want of practical experience in the business. 
Many persons expecting an immediate fortune, 
experimented a year or two, swelling the amount 
produced to a large aggregate, but abandoned it 
when their fever was cured by copious bleeding 
at the pocket. 
A correspondent suggests that although-it may 
not be practicable at present, in this country, to 
roduce silk profitably, yet the rearing of worms 
to produce eggs for export would be remunera¬ 
tive. He says a hundred pounds of cocoons are 
worth seventy dollars for silk, but the same 
amount of cocoons left to produce insects, would 
yield six pounds of eggs worth twenty eight dol¬ 
lars per pound, amounting to one hundred and 
sixty eight dollars, which he says would pay well. 
It might be profitable in some localities where 
mulberry trees still survive, provided one or two 
things are certain. First, it should be known 
whether worms raised from eggs produced here, 
would remain healthy in Europe. If the disease 
there exists only as a hereditary taint, eggs 
brought from new sources would he valuable; 
but if the worms contract the infection from some 
other cause, then the imported stock would be 
equally exposed to it, and would soon have no 
sale. Again, the disease may be only of tem¬ 
porary duration, and the demand would then cease 
when a healthy progeny could be secured at home. 
From these considerations we could hardly ad¬ 
vise any extensive operations in this line, at least 
until some definite prices could be assured for a 
sufficient time to warrant necessary outlay. 
-—--—<*«—--- 
Deep Plowing—Is it Injurious? 
A Texas subscriber writes to the Agriculturist 
as follows : Last Fall I plowed a field very deep¬ 
ly, using a team of five yoke of oxen, going down 
eighteen to twenty inches. It was plowed again 
this Spring, and wheat and corn were put in. The 
soil is rich, black and partly sandy clay. The 
wheat looks well, and shows a fine, healthy green 
color, but the corn is only six inches high, while 
corn planted at the same time on land plowed 
not so deep, is two or three feet high. After such 
experience one would think it better to adopt the 
Mexican method ; they scratch their land open a 
little with an old wooden plow, and usually se¬ 
cure good crops of corn. What do you advise 1 
Remarks. —Where too much of poor subsoil is 
brought at once to the surface, it will, at first, yield 
but poorly. In many sections substances poison¬ 
ous to vegetation, chiefly salts of iron, are found 
at a depth of from ten to twenty inches, and these 
will act unfavorably, until rendered harmless by 
exposure to the air. It is better in such soils, to 
deepen gradually, say an inch or two at each 
plowing. Still our correspondent need not des¬ 
pair from the seeming ill success of this first ex¬ 
periment. Subsequent deep working of the land, 
with proper manuring, will ultimately give a seed 
bed that will yield sufficient to more than repay 
temporary loss. Even during the present sea¬ 
son, should a period of drouth occur, he may find 
the deep plowing to have been profitable. The 
results of this year can only be told when the 
crop is harvested. W r e should be pleased to 
know what story the corn crib tells next Fall. 
Stirring the Soil in Drouth. 
An old topic, surely, but one of the greatest 
practical importance. An old topic, but one 
about which men are not agreed in opinion. 
There is theory and practice on both sides. 
Some farmers hold that stirring the earth in dry 
weather, injures the roots of plants, and exposes 
the soil to the sun and the dry air so much, as to 
do more harm than good. But the other side of 
the question has, also, its good arguments. We 
will hint at one or two : 
Frequent stirring of the soil in drouth renders 
it more porous, and so fits it to absorb moisture 
from the atmosphere, and to draw it up from the 
wet subsoil. By being frequently broken up it 
becomes like a sponge. Any one can easily sat- 
isfy himself of this. Go into your garden and 
loosen up the soil over a space of a few feet 
square, and then see if, for several mornings af¬ 
ter, that patch is not moist, while the surround¬ 
ing surface is dry 1 A neighbor of ours had a 
potato patch last Summer, which being in a warm 
and sandy soil became badly parched in July. 
The stalks drooped, and a total loss of the crop 
was threatened. Here was a fair subject for a 
desperate experiment. Accordingly, on one of 
the hottest and dryest days of the month, he gave 
them a thorough plowing, passing the plow four 
times through each furrow, first plowing two 
furrows from the hills, and then returning the 
ground back by two other furrows. No rain fell 
for ten days after. In three days, the vines stood 
erect and began to take on a dark green color and 
to grow again. The soil was moistened by the 
dews of every night; the crop was saved, and it 
proved quite an abundant one. 
Again: the stirring of the soil in drouth ren¬ 
ders the earth a poorer conductor of heat than it 
would be if it remained unbroken and hard. 
Every one knows that a stone or any metallic 
substance lying in the sun, becomes hotter than 
a bunch of cotton, because it is a better conduc¬ 
tor of heat. So, when the surface of the earth 
becomes baked and hard, it absorbs heat much 
more than when it is broken and pulverized. In 
a well-tilled garden, the ground, two or three 
inches below the surface, is quite cool at mid¬ 
day. It is partly on the same principle, that a few 
inches of mulching material will keep the ground 
cool and moist all Summer long. Hence, it is 
easy to see that stirring the soil in drouth will 
keep the roots of plants cool and moist, and so 
promote their growth. 
But let the theory be as it may, th-e fact re¬ 
mains, that thorough tillage is the best possible 
security against drouth. 
- » -- — -- 
A Word for Weeds. 
Our neighbor has just made an argument for 
weeds, which should not go unpublished. “ I let 
them grow in my garden,” he says, “ to keep off 
the hot sun and the bugs from my cucumbers. I 
would not, indeed, let enough grow t-o exactly 
smother the vines, but enough to keep off the in¬ 
sects, and to shade the ground and keep it cool.” 
As he said this, the muscles of his face seemed 
a little disturbed, as though he half distrusted his 
own theory, but he kept his countenance quite 
well. 
What a dunce ! Even if the leaves shade the 
ground, what do the roots do meanwhile 1 Pump 
it of its moisture and send the vapor off into 
mid-air, rendering the soil dryer than it would 
have been if exposed to the full rays of the sun. 
Let any one try the experiment, and lie will be 
satisfied. And then, as to protecting the vines 
from bugs, we very much question it. No, no. 
The only rational way to garden successfully, is 
to keep down the weeds. If the ground is suffer¬ 
ing froth drouth, run the cultivator through it, 
keep the hoes bright, and this will keep the soil 
in the best possible condition for absorbing the 
nightly dews. Cultivate the cucumbers well, sur¬ 
round them with boxes, and they will soon run 
away from the insects. 
QUESTIONS FOR THE N. V. FARMERS* CLUB. 
Will soiling improve neat cattle! 
Which will make the best butt-cr, an Ayreshire 
cow, or a Southdown buck 1 
Will the-introduction of short-Ztonis be favora¬ 
ble to the temperance cause! 
