AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
133 
the spare and oblique shoulders, the finest 
color, the horizontal and uncloven croup, 
and the quick temperament of the former ; 
and on that account to be alike well adapted 
to bring up the diminished substance, size 
and power of our Virginia part bred horses, 
and to impart more action and muscularity, 
without too much diminution of weight, to 
the soft and lymphatic Conestogas, for ser 
vice in trucks, drays, and heavy wagons. In 
this country we have comparatively but lit¬ 
tle division of labor among men, and so it is 
with our horses, althongh we have at least 
three times as many of the latter as Great 
Britain, and a million more than France. 
The national interest and chief demand are 
for a horse of general utility, a horse that 
can move with activity and some quickness, 
as well as walk with a good load, or be ser¬ 
viceable in the plow. I do not think that I 
have seen twenty horses in Virginia and 
New-York, that would be deemed large 
enough to pass muster at a show in England 
of agricultural horses. The diffusion of 
blood through nearly the whole mass of our 
horses was, I remember, remarked by you 
in a walk in Broadway the day after your 
last return from France, and it has often been 
the subject of comment by intelligent Euro¬ 
peans. It would seem that we should aim to 
breed horses of such size that if they failed 
occasionally for pleasure vehicles or the 
saddle, they would be of use in humbler 
spheres. 
[To be continued.] 
Time for Altering Colts. —The month of 
May or June is the most seasonable period 
for performing the operation devised to pre¬ 
vent colts from propagating their species. 
There is a phenomenon attendant upon this, 
regarding the cause of which I never could 
obtain any satisfactory explanation ; never¬ 
theless, general observation confirms the 
fact that colts which have been castrated at 
a season of the year when their coats are 
long and rough, are never fine during the 
winter, whereas those which have been ope¬ 
rated upon soon after they have shed their 
coats, almost invariably look well. This 
should not be delayed too late, from causes 
which it is not necessary to enumerate, and 
likewise that the patients may recover before 
the hot weather sets in. 
* 
WORMS IN COLTS. 
Those foals which have been fed upon an 
abundance of grass, are very subject to be 
troubled with worms; and some pastures 
are very liable to produce them. Many 
remedies have been adopted for their expul¬ 
sion, but I have never found anything so ef¬ 
fectual as calomel or emetic tartar if prop 
erly administered ; that not always being at¬ 
tended to, has led to the conclusion that the 
remedies are infallible. Neither calomel nor 
emetic tartar should ever be given if the 
expulsion of worms be intended, with the 
medicine administered to work it off; nor 
should soap, or any other alkali, form a por¬ 
tion of the ball, as those substances counter¬ 
act the effect by decomposing both calomel 
and emetic tartar. The plan which I have al¬ 
ways found successful to dislodge worms 
from horses, at any ase, has been as follows, 
apportioning the quantity of medicine to the 
age and constitution of the subject : Keep 
the patient without any kind of food six or 
eight hours, when the appetites of the in¬ 
sects will become keen. A small quantity of 
bran mash is then offered to the animal, in 
which is mixed the calomel or emetic tartar: 
for a foal the proportion is from 12 to 15 
grains, and for a yearling from fifteen to 
twenty. This dose is repeated after an in¬ 
terval of ten or twelve hours, during which 
period no other kind of food must be pre¬ 
sented ; otherwise the worms, seizing upon 
the nutriment which it affords, will not be 
destroyed. Six hours after the last dose has 
been given, it must be worked off with lin¬ 
seed oil or aloes. The quantity of the for¬ 
mer is from four to six ounces ; but if aloes 
be preferred, the dose will be from one 
drachm to one drachm and a half, which 
should be dissolved over the fire in a small 
quantity of oil or lard, and made into a ball 
with ginger and treacle. The quantity of 
calomel or emetic tartar for horses at a more 
advanced age may be augmented to the ex¬ 
tent of sixty grains ; but for two or three- 
year-olds, from twenty to thirty grains is 
sufficient, with the purgative remedy in pro¬ 
portion.— Cecil, in Mark-Lane Express. 
-—c«a nanawirirtr iiB ..— - 
WOOL CIRCULAR. 
The following circular prepared for Euro¬ 
pean dealers by a leading house in this city 
is interesting to wool growers in this coun¬ 
try. 
Our wool market has presented much ac¬ 
tivity for the last two months, (March and 
April.) in all kinds of native wools, and a 
considerable advance in prices, say from 10 
to 15 per cent in every description (but more 
particularly in the finer grades and better 
class of wools,) has occurred. This advance 
compared with the prices of last year, when 
at the lowest point, is attributed to the small 
stock in the various mark' ts—an increased 
demand resulting from the reemployment of 
a large share of machinery which had been 
stoped during the winter; and easier money 
market and a reestablishing of credit. The 
present valuations will no doubt bring for 
ward from the interior to our market, a large 
amount of wool now in the hands of growers, 
and become at the same time a wise balance 
at the approaching clip season. The wool- 
growers are now better convinced than they 
ever were before of the difficulties our manu¬ 
facturers have had to content with, not being 
favored, as the foreign manufacturers are 
(with whom they have to complete,) will, of 
course, consider the present prices all they 
can expect, and, therefore, feel disposed to 
meet the views of buyers. 
Dealers may have lound some of their last 
purchases not paying, and cause them to re¬ 
main more quiet—leading, perhaps, to some 
depression; but as our markets are not 
overstocked with manufactured goods, and 
less goods than heretofore manufactured in 
this and foreign countries, we have good 
reason to anticipate a sound and safe busi¬ 
ness, if not interrupted by great political 
events, accompanied with difficulties in Eu¬ 
rope, and their influences upon this country. 
We can not report so much of an improve¬ 
ment in all the foreign low w ools, which 
since Decemberlast,have experienced an ad¬ 
vance of 5 to 10 per cent, and this surpassed 
only in a few instances. The sellers sus¬ 
tained by firmness, comparatively, higher 
prices than the domestic, and, therefore, 
present quotations may be considered as the 
proper ones. The transactions remain lim¬ 
ited in consequence of the unprofitable busi 
ness the manufacturers are doing and com¬ 
plaining of, but the holders of foreign low 
wools are looking for a better prospect. 
Foreign wools, best suited for blankets 
and clothing for troops, have been in good 
request in Europe, and no importation of 
them can consequently be looked for here 
(at least of any importance) for some weeks 
to come. Carpet wools are, likewise, not 
over abundant abroad, and prices will not be 
lower than now. After a duluess of about 
six-months, Australia and Cape wools will 
necessarily attract our attention, having been 
sold at the last London auction sales, at 
about 10 per cent cheaper than in Novem¬ 
ber last, and offering sufficient advantages. 
We have received by the last steamer, Aus¬ 
tralian, Cape and other samples, of about 
1,200 bales, ready for examination and re¬ 
ceiving orders. Of foreign low wools, our 
market is well assorted, but should any 
quantity be wanting, we can procure it from 
abroad, having many lots on hand. Domes¬ 
tic fleece and pulled will soon be arriving 
more plentifully and offer good selections. 
The system we shall base our business 
upon will, we sincerely hope, meet the ap¬ 
probation of our friends—prove our inde¬ 
pendence as brokers and agents, and gain for 
us a good amount of your confidence and 
g g 10 6 in, 
TELLKAMPF & KITCHING, Wool Brokers. 
New-York, May 1, 1855. 
POTATO ROT. 
Below we give (from the Hannibal, Illinois 
Messenger,) a letter on the “ potato rot,” not 
to endorse it in the least, but to furnish as 
far as possible an outline of what is thought 
and written upon this subject in different 
parts of the country : 
Messrs. Editors .—I noticed an article in 
your paper, of the 15th of February, stating 
that the Legislature of Massachusetts had 
offered a reward of ten thousand dollars for 
the discovery of the cause of the potato dis¬ 
ease, known as the “ potato rot.” I claim 
the reward, gentlemen; for I can tell you 
the cause, and show you a remedy that, if 
you will please follow my directions, I am 
very certain will cure the rot, and enable 
you to raise potatoes that will have no blight 
in them. In the first place, plant early, and 
cultivate them well until the plant commen¬ 
ces to blossom, at which time lay them by, 
etc. In the second, place, the rot is pro¬ 
duced by a bug called “the potato bug,” 
which bug is produced from the vines of the 
potato. These bugs never appear till the 
vines are shedding their blows. This is a 
happy thing for the farmer; for, if they came 
otherwise, there would be no preventive 
against their ravages. But the potato by this 
time has received its generative properties 
from the flower. The flower nor the vine is 
no longer necessary to the producing and en¬ 
largement of the roots ; therefore I recom¬ 
mend as a remedy—to mow the vines all off, 
being careful to leave some three or four 
inches above the ground ; there should be no 
leaves left on the stubbs; and then keep the 
hills clean, and the bugs will soon leave you. 
I have tried this plan for the last two years 
with great success. The first year I cut my 
vines, it was done more through vexation at 
the bugs than anything else; but, to my 
great surprise, when the usual digging time 
arrived, I had as fine potatoes as I had ever 
raised. 
Last year, while mowing off the vines, I 
left two rows unmowed for the bugs, as an ex¬ 
periment. Those two rows produced a few 
small potatoes, which were full of rot, while 
the others were perfectly sound. The same 
bugs fell to eating my tomatoes and beets. 
The beets stopped growing, and were of no 
use, and the tomatoes had a similar rot to 
that of the potatoes. This led me to believe 
that these bugs deposit a poison of a blight 
ing nature in every vegetable they bite. 
Please try my experiment, and I am very 
certain you will succeed. W. Fugate. 
Kinderhook, Ill., March 12, 1855. 
Forest Trees. — The Hon. John C. Gray, 
in a communication to the Board of Agricul¬ 
ture, slates that there grow in the United 
States one hundred and fifty varieties of for¬ 
est trees, which attain a greater height than 
thirty feet, while according to Michaux, the 
