THE CULTIVATOR. 
9& 
But I will not enlarge—leaving this subject with you, 
and wishing you all that success and enjoyment which 
labors like yours deserve, I am, with great respect, 
Yours, &c. WM. P. VAIL. 
Jesse Btjel. 
Joint-Murrain, or Garget. 
Judge Buel:—A disorder has prevailed among 
cows in this vicinity, for the last twelve or fifteen 
years, which I have never seen described, and which 
baffles all attempts at immediate cure. It generally 
attacks young cows in rmlk, and rarely extends to 
any other stock. 
The animal is taken suddenly lame, generally in 
one foot, but is soon lame in all. No local inflamma¬ 
tion is perceptible. Slight costiveness and some fe¬ 
ver generally attend it., On examining one recently, 
I found the hip bones carious to such a degree, that 
they might be cut with a knife. The spinal marrow 
was dissolved to a watery substance, in the vicinity 
of the diseased part. The animal had been helpless 
in its hind parts for a month before it was killed.— 
The rotten bones were broken from the spine. Fre¬ 
quently the disorder commences in the fore feet. I 
have never examined one thus taken. 
Cows in high flesh are as liable to the disorder as 
any. In some instances, it has been cured by drying 
the cow immediately; in others, this,remedy has fail¬ 
ed. 
Having never had any of my own cows affected 
with the D disease, perhaps I cannot describe it so mi¬ 
nutely as some others—the above, however, are the 
general characteristics. Can you, or any of your cor¬ 
respondents, give information as to the cause of it, or 
suggest a preventive or remedy I If so, you will 
advance the cause of agriculture in this section of the 
country, by giving it publicity through the columns of 
the Cultivator. J. K. SMITH. 
Dublin, N. H. June , 1838. 
Remarks. —We are not skilled in the diseases of cat¬ 
tle ; and we are satisfied that we are suffering immense 
losses annually, in the death, by diseases, of our domes¬ 
tic animals, which might he avoided, had we schools, 
like those of Europe, to teach and promulgate correct 
knowledge in the veterinary art. Having no resource 
of this kind, to apply to, we avail ourselves of such au¬ 
thorities as we have at hand, to answer the questions 
of our correspondent, and invite further information 
from any of our readers who feel competent and willing 
to impart it. 
Lawrence Iras grouped together a number of diseases, 
sill of which, he says, indicate the same disease in dif¬ 
ferent stages. These are known by the popular names 
of skewt of blood—vomit of blood — blood in the back — 
Mood in the legs or cratench—blane in the tongue, or 
overflow of blood—striking in or rising of the blood — 
higham or iron .striking — joint murrain or garget — 
iilack quarter — quarter evil — black leg. “ All our ani¬ 
mals,'” says he, “ oxen, sheep and pigs, I have observ¬ 
ed, are subject to sanguineous effusion, or overflow of 
the blood, on being put, when in a low and weak state, 
to rich or succulent keep. One termination of the dis¬ 
ease is by a deposition of matter upon the joints, whence 
the term of joint garget or murrain.” “ This disease 
has swept off great numbers of yearling and two year 
old cattle, and become indeed endemical, in certain dis¬ 
tricts, where any such scourge was unknown, it is said, 
previously to the introduction of artificial grasses, with 
I the full feeding on which, the animals become surfeited; 
I thus the improvident use of good produces evil.” 
“ Prevention of this malady is the only cure worth no- 
i tice, because after the attack, the very nature of the 
! case renders all remedy either uncertain, or of very lit- 
1 tie profit, even if successful, on account of the expense 
of time and money. With this view the young cattle 
must not be put so forward in condition, and indeed the 
same precaution may be useful, in some degree, with 
respect to the full aged. Those observed to advance 
very fast, may be bled monthly for several months, or 
i may be purged with six drachms, daily, for a month, of 
equal parts of sulpher and antimony, in fine povyder, 
or salt might re of use. Rowelling also might be 
: an efficacious preventive. Keep two rowels or setons 
[open in each breast during several months. The dis¬ 
ease having fallen on the joints, the best cure, I should 
i apprehend, is to kill the beast, hut if that will not agree, 
I am aware of no better method than to take him home 
-foment his joints, and give two or three brisk mercurial 
ipurges.” See Lawrence upon cattle, London 2d ed. p. 
294, &c. 
Prevention, we all know, is better than cure; and if 
we would profit by this adage, we should make the 
transitions from low to high feed, in our demos tic ani¬ 
mals, slow and progressive ; and give them daily ac¬ 
cess to salt, a condiment as essential to health and 
comfort in the daily food of the brute, as it is in the 
idaily food of man. The best authorities, and most ex¬ 
perienced farmers, concur in the opinion, that salt is 
the grand preservative of health to domestic animals.— 
To test its value of the animal, daily, let any one take 
it in his food only monthly, weekly or semi-weekly, as 
he is accustomed to dispense it to his stock, and he will 
soon become a proselyte to our belief.— Cond. Cult. 
'.or pisces —in the ram or the fish. The superstitions you men¬ 
tion belong to a by-gone age, when seeing the new moon 
s aver the left shoulder was deemed an infallible sign of ill luck. 
On Summer Fallowing. 
Schaghlicoke, June 5th, 1838. 
Sik—W ith a desire to gain information, permit me 
while I give my own, to ask your opinion as well as 
that of some of your numerous correspondents, upon 
the subject of summer fallows. 1st. Are they ever 
beneficial to the land or crop which it is intended to 
produce 1 2d. If beneficial, are the benefits an equi¬ 
valent to the enormous expense attending them'? 3d. 
Would not a clover sod be a better preparation for 
wheat than the naked fallows '! Satisfactory answers 
to these queries, I conceive to be of immense impor¬ 
tance to your readers. Some of the agricultural wri¬ 
ters of Great Britain, contend that the general aban¬ 
donment of the naked fallow system in that kingdom, 
has tended more to produce the high stand which her 
agriculture now sustains, than every other improve¬ 
ment combined. If such is the fact in relation to 
Great Britain, why would not its abandonment in this 
country be attended with a like good result ? Look 
at the immense expense in preparing our lands for 
wheat. Our farmers, by the course they pursue, are 
not only at the expense of one or two extra plough- 
ings, but lose the use of their lands through the sum¬ 
mer, which could be made to support an immense 
number ot cattle, and thereby greatly augment the 
profits of these farmers, and increase the quantity 
and improve the quality of those manures, which have 
been rightly termed, “the magic wand that the far¬ 
mer uses,” and upon the production and just applica¬ 
tion of which not only depends our immediate inte¬ 
rests, but the high reputation which we hope ere 
long to see our agriculture sustain. “ Nature seems 
to require no rest, and the earth was evidently de¬ 
signed to produce a constant uninterrupted vegeta¬ 
tion.” If then the productive quality of the earth ne¬ 
ver ceases, why should this principle of nature be 
perverted, and our lands laid bare and exposed to 
evaporation, instead of being covered and protected. 
One argument often produced in favor of the fallow 
system is, that it cleans the land from weeds. Tull, 
in speaking of the British fallows, said, they present¬ 
ed nothing but a conflict between the farmer and his 
weeds, in which the latter generally prevailed. Our 
lands well laid down in grass, are free from weeds, 
and why are they not ; in as good a condition to re¬ 
ceive a crop with one good ploughing as a half a do¬ 
zen ? It is a fact incontrovertible, that the decompo¬ 
sition of vegetable matter produces food for plants.— 
By summer fallowing, the vegetable matter is all de¬ 
composed and evaporated before the crop is put upon 
the land. The old school of farmers tell us that the 
sod should be well rotted before the soil is fit to re¬ 
ceive the seed. This idea appears as absurd to me 
as that straw should be reduced to a powder before 
we apply it to our soils. The general practice which 
has been pursued upon the wheat farms in this coun¬ 
ty, is to sow wheat every other year after summer 
fallow, until the occupants found that their lands 
would no longer produce wheat. It would have been 
millions in their pockets had they pursued an alterna¬ 
tive system, and known that it was the fallow, not 
the wheat, that so soon exhausted their lands.— 
Wheat farms should be made stock farms. Every 
farm of 200 acres, by alternating wheat and clover, 
and cultivating a few acres of roots, can be made to 
support more stock than 100 acres upon which a 
plough is never used, as the straw would help to win¬ 
ter them, and with the increased quantity of ma¬ 
nure, their crops would, in a few years, be doubled, 
and the soil continually enriched. I have been per¬ 
fectly successful in raising wheat upon a clover sod ; 
and so fully am I convinced of the bad effects of sum¬ 
mer fallows, that unless this mistaken kindness to¬ 
wards the wheat crop can be abandoned, I believe it 
would be a benefit to this country should the wheat 
insect spread over every part of it, and leave us de¬ 
pendant upon the eastern world for this part of our 
bread stuffs. Yours, with respect, 
J. C. MATHER. 
Remarks. —The reasoning of our correspondent is 
sound, and its correctness is verified by results of all 
who have given a fair trial to fallow crops, as a substi 
tnte for summer fallows. The only cases, in our opi¬ 
nion, where naked fallows should be tolerated, that is 
repeated summer ploughings given for a wheat or rye 
crop, is where the soil is a stiff wet clay, which will 
not grow clover, and lands which abound in fibrous, 
woody matter, when first reclaimed by draining. Good 
draining, and especially what is termed furrow drain¬ 
ing, will supersede the necessity of summer fallowing 
wet and stiff clays, and vastly improve the texture and 
productiveness of the soil. If such grounds are plough¬ 
ed in narrow ridges in autumn, and the furrows well 
cleaned, that the surplus water may pass off, they may 
be sown with oats early in the spring, and be in fine 
condition for winter grain in September. The differ¬ 
ence in profit between the two modes of converting 
sward into wheat, may be stated thus: The three 
ploughings and harrowings for summer fallow, may be 
estimated at $8, and the use of the land is virtually lost 
for the season. In the other mode two ploughings suf¬ 
fice,- for the oat and wheat crop, thus saving at least 
$2.50 of the outlay—while the oat crop, if any way to¬ 
lerable, will make a return of twelve or fifteen dollars 
additional. The land will be richer, and in better con¬ 
dition for wheat, because it will retain the vegetable- 
matter of the sod, than if it is summer fallowed. The 
fertilizing matter of the sward is exposed and wasted by 
the cross ploughings. To render a fallow a cleaning' 
process, it is customary, in Britain, to pick and gather, 
after the harrowings, the perrennial roots and quack- 
grass, and to burn, or mix them with the dung—a labor 
which our farmers seldom or ever incur.— Cond. Cult. 
EXTRACTS. 
Character of Dutton Corn. 
We copy the two following articles from the Hartford 
Times, at the request of a respectable correspondent. 
Mr. Editor-— An article has been copied in several 
papers from the Springfield Republican, commending 
in the highest terms the Dutton or Canadian. corn.— 
Had not the writer of this article been explicit in his 
statements, giving names, dates, &c., the agricultural 
portion of the community would have considered it a 
gross imposition. We saw the article advertised last 
spring, perhaps in your paper, as peculiarly adapted to 
this cold region, sure to ripen three weeks earlier than 
the “ old fashioned” corn, &c. 
In common with many of my neighbors, I repaired 
immediately to the advertiser, hag in hand, and as a 
special favor, at the rate of four dollars per bushel, ob¬ 
tained a few quarts. Our children and friends looked 
at it as one of the great discoveries of modern times, 
and it was no effort of our imagination to see the fruits 
of it early in store, long before the appearance of au¬ 
tumnal frosts. I planted it on the 18th of May, in my 
garden, and at the same time, and adjoining, planted an 
equal quantity of the “ old fashioned” corn. As the or¬ 
dinary time arrived for family use, I looked, but looked 
in vain, for the ripening of the Dutton corn. My faith, 
however, did not fail, until the 4th of October, when, 
after the old fashioned corn had been ripe more than 
two weeks, this celebrated corn was in the milk, hardly 
ripe enough to roast. The frosts came about this time 
and destroyed it, and with it all my confidence in Dut¬ 
ton corn. 
Now, sir, ! if this was the result of my experience 
alone, there might, perhaps, be some question as to the 
fairness of the experiment. But since reading the arti¬ 
cle alluded to, I have conversed with at least six of my 
neighbors, whose experiments and opinions on this 
point correspond with my own. If necessary, we are 
willing to give our names, and think it our duty to ex¬ 
press our opinion, that, as regards this section of coun¬ 
try, at least, it is an imposition to recommend it. It 
may seem a slight matter to the “ soft handed,” who 
labor by proxy, hut to those of us who earn our bread by 
the “sweat of our brow,” it is not only a serious loss 
thus to plant and not to reap, hut it is exceedingly mor¬ 
tifying and provoking. 
For a time we thought of prosecuting the advertiser, 
but we consoled ourselves with the idea that as “mon¬ 
sters cannot beget their own species,” no more seed of 
this kind would very soon be offered to the public. 
A LITCHFIELD COUNTY FARMER. 
Mr. Editor, —In your paper of the 12th inst. I no¬ 
ticed an article signed “A Litchfield County Farmer,” 
giving a somewhat ludicrous account of his experiment, 
and of those of six others of his neighbors, in planting 
and attempting to raise that variety of Indian corn now 
known by the name of the Dutton corn. 
It is to be regretted that xvhen gentlemen undertake 
to place before the public any statements, respecting 
their own experiments in agriculture, by which any be¬ 
nefit may be expected to result for the common inte¬ 
rest, that they withhold their names from the publica¬ 
tion of facts, on which their opinions are formed, and 
their conclusions drawn—leaving the reading part of 
community at a loss what degree of credit ought to be 
attached to such anonymous statements. 
That frauds and impositions have been practised by 
certain persons, in selling seed corn under the name of 
Dutton corn, is well known; but these very frauds go 
to establish the truth of the fact that this variety has 
acquired a distinguished reputation, after several years 
trial by the most experienced farmers in our section of 
the country, and of course greatly raised the price of 
this seed—witness the “few quarts” bought by the 
“Litchfield County Farmer at the rate of four dollars 
per bushel.” 
I have, Mr. Editor, no other interest in this subject 
than that of an ordinary farmer in raising corn for my 
own use. Such have been our seasons for several years 
past, that I, with many others, have been solicitous to 
obtain a variety of that useful article which should ar¬ 
rive at maturity as early as might be, to avoid injury 
by our autumnal frosts. In these endeavors I have suc¬ 
ceeded beyond my expectations. I will now slate the 
facts. 
In the spring of 1837, I bought of Mr. St. John, of 
Hartford, a small quantity of the Dutton corn for seed- 
On the 28th and 29th days of April, I planted in one 
field sixteen acres—eight of which with the seed of the 
Dutton, and the other eight with the seed of the com¬ 
mon yellow, or, as is denominated by the “ Litchfield 
County Farmer,” the old fashioned corn. The land 
throughout was of the same quality, and had the same 
tilth arid culture: The Duttoh was fully ripe and fit for 
