54 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
CULTURE OF INDIAN CORN IN OHIO. 
Messes. Gaylord & Tucker —I wish to make afew 
remarks on the culture of Indian Corn, and also the im¬ 
portance of improving the seed. Sometime in March 
last, while in conversation with several of my neighbors 
on the subject of Agriculture, and the importance of 
forming an Agricultural Society in our county, one of 
them bantered me to compete with him for five dollars 
on the best acre of corn, without manure; agreed, said 
I, but I would prefer manuring. He objected, no doubt 
supposing he had the strongest land. What kind of seed 
will you plant, said he. The yellow, the same I had 
planted for many years. Perhaps it is better than mine, 
said he. If so. I’ll profit by it. Where did you get it, 
said he. I made it. Will you furnish me with seed to 
plant my acre? I answered in the negative. Why not? 
It would not be a fair way to test our skill in agricul¬ 
ture. 
One of ray fields included a part of a pond, the soil of 
which was a deposite of decomposed vegetable matter, 
but was considered worthless by many, in consequence of 
stagnant water that covered it three-fourths of the year. 
I cut a ditch lengthwise of the pond, and drawee! off the 
surface water, and then laid off the field in lands precise¬ 
ly two rods wide, crosswise of the main ditch, broke up 
the lands as deep as I could, harrowed well, let it lie two 
weeks; plowed again precisely as before, taking care 
both times, to throw out as much dirt as possible, with 
the finishing furrows, and where the plow failed to throw 
the dirt out deep enough, I used the hoe; that left the 
field throwed up into beds two rods wide, separated by 
ditches about fourteen inches deep, running across the 
main ditch; harrowed lengthwise of lands, laid off eight 
furrows to each land, lengthwise of course, which made 
the rows precisely four feet wide, except the eighth row, 
which was five feet of course, and came at the ditch; so 
every eighth row covered the ditch, and being five feet 
wide, gave a free circulation of air, a very essential thing 
with our large varieties of corn. I then laid the ground 
off iii lands five rods wide the other way, and there left 
open spaces also for the air to circulate at right angles 
with the rows. Planted in drills, midelle of April, one 
stalk in a hill, from ten to twelve inches apart. As soon 
as the corn made its appearance, went through it with a 
very narrow toothed cultivator, close to the corn; then 
raked through the hills with a pronged hoe, with four 
prongs, similar to the tines of a pitch fork. This left 
the earth as mellow as ashes, about the corn. Seven 
days after first cultivating, passed the cultivator through 
again; then hoed as before and thinned; next week, cul¬ 
tivator again; next week run the shovel plow as deep as 
possible; next week, cultivator; next week, run the sho¬ 
vel plow as deep as before; ten days after, passed the 
cultivator for the last time, taking care to hold up the 
side next the row, to prevent injuring the lateral roots. 
The corn was then from 8 to 10 feet high, and of the 
most luxuriant growth I ever saw. On the 19th of July, 
we had a tremendous hail storm; it prostrated nearly 
all the corn for miles up and down the river; the oats and 
grass that was not cut, as well as the corn, presented the 
appearance of a field that had just been rolled all one 
way. My corn was then 12 feet high, and not one stalk 
out of 100, showed its tassels; a great deal of it was bro¬ 
ken off, and still more turned out by the roots, and a 
great deal that was bent down, was too heavy to rise, and 
rotted in piles. 
In October, I wrote a few lines to my competitor, sta¬ 
ting that our corn was ripe, and it was time to appoint a 
committee to measure the corn and ground; or if he pre¬ 
ferred, we would lay it over till next year, 1843, and try 
it over again. He wrote back, he would prefer laying 
it over. 
Now w'hat I want is, for some one to inform me how 
to improve on my manner of cultivation. Would I have 
made more corn, had 1 quit working when the corn was 
3 feet high? Did I plant it too thick or too thin? Were 
those wide spaces or v^entilators, beneficial or detrimen¬ 
tal? 
Had I not abundant testimony to prove the following 
statements, I never would publish them, knowing how 
hard it is to make people believe we can raise more corn 
now, than our fathers could forty years ago. Roman 
Minage, an excellent farmer of Mercer’s Bottom, Mason 
CO., Va., heard of my corn, and came down 20 miles to 
see it. He went into the middle of the field, laid down 
a rod pole by the row, gathered and shelled in a half 
bushel the length of pole, carried to house, measured 
half bushel with square, found it to be three-fourths full, 
shook down measure; after reserving one stalk that I 
would not have, shelled, it producing five good sound 
ears, measuring four feet, save one inch, running mea¬ 
sure. Shelled the five ears this day; product three pints 
corn perfectly kiln dried, and numbered 3,940 grains; 
product of one grain. The rod measured, had but one 
stalk broken down. I measured one-fourth of a square 
rod at>a different part of the field, that gave at the rate 
of 233 bushels to the acre. We measured a square rod 
at the side of the field, on ground that has been under 
cultivation 20 years, without manure, but laid idle four 
or five years, had obtained a good sward, yield one bush¬ 
el and ten quarts, or 210 bushels to the acre; 17 stalks 
broken down. I have been persuaded in my own mind 
for a number of years, that my corn would yield an ave¬ 
rage of one pint to the stalk, provided the ground was in 
the highest state of cultivation. I will give an extract 
of a calculation I made a year ago, viz: Corn planted 
four feet one way and one the other, makes 68 stalks to 
square rod; if they produce one pint each, will be 170 
bushels per acre ; 4 feet by 10 inches makes 82 stalks per 
rod, 204 bushels per acre; 4 feet by 8 inches makes 102 
stalks per rod, product 255 bushels per acre. I have re¬ 
alized what I layed it at when planting, where it was not 
injured by the storm. H. N. Gillet. 
Evergreens Farm, Lawrence co., O., Jan. 23,1843. 
N. B. I meant to have said something on the' subject 
of.improving seed corn, but time and space fails. 
tJetmnarg SDeiiairttnent. 
DISEASE OF THE SKIN OF CATTLE. 
‘‘Messrs. Editors —About three months since, I no¬ 
ticed that some of my cattle had lost or rubbed the hair 
off around their eyes; and ever since, it has been spread¬ 
ing from the youngest to the oldest. Some have spots 
under their ears; and the skin looks scabby . or scaley, 
something like a large seed wart of a whitish color; 
some are bare on their legs, and others on their fore¬ 
head. There does not appear to be any itching, at least 
I have never seen them rubbing the part affected. If you 
know any thing respecting the disease, and can prescribe 
a cure, you will much oblige. Yours, &c. W. L-” 
The disease spoken of by our correspondent, belongs 
to that class of affections of the skin, usually called the 
mange, by veterinarians, or that kind of it known as the 
angle 'berry, from its frequently assuming a warty appear¬ 
ance, in addition to the usual scurfiness of the skin, cha¬ 
racteristic of mange. The cause does not appear to be 
well understood, as the disease occasionally shows itself 
at all seasons of the year, though most frequently in the 
fall and winter months. Checked perspiration probably 
has its influence, and all those causes that produce scur- 
finess,or a bad condition of the skin, doubtless contribute 
to the result. Simple mange, or when the skin is scurfy, 
the hair comes off in spots and there is much itching, is 
frequently cured by rubbing in common sulphur ointment, 
made of sulphur and lard. In more advanced stages, 
when the skin is cracked, &c., an ointment prepared of 
1 lb. sulphur, 4 ounces common turpentine, 2 ounces 
mercurial ointment, (unguentum,) and linseed oil one 
pint, will cure. The oil must be warmed, and the tur¬ 
pentine melted in it; then partially cooled and the sul¬ 
phur stirred in, and when cool, the mercurial ointment 
is added, and well rubbed together with the other ingre¬ 
dients. This preparation rubbed in on the places affect¬ 
ed, by the hand, will speedily check the disease. When 
there is little itching, but a tendency to form a warty sur¬ 
face, camphorated oil is a good remedy; and will gene¬ 
rally effect a cure, if carefully rubbed over the scabby 
parts of the skin. A few applications of spirits of tur¬ 
pentine, will also, in most cases, remove the disease com¬ 
pletely. If warts appear on parts where they are trou¬ 
blesome to the animals, they may be cut off with a silk 
or India rubber thread, drawn tight around the smallest 
part; or it may be cut off at once with a knife, and the 
part cauterized or touched with a hot iron, to prevent 
bleeding. Mange, in all its forms, is doubtless infectious, 
and the separation of diseased from healthy animals, 
should always be practiced. If animals were occasion¬ 
ally fed with a small quantity of sulphur mixed with their 
food, diseases of the skin would be much less frequent; 
and as in all such cases of disease, there is more or less 
derangement of the system, it is advisable to give doses 
of sulphur to the beast, while making the external appli¬ 
cations for the cure. In the treatment of all diseases of 
the skin, it should be remembered that the earlier the 
disease is met, the easier is the cure; and that cleanliness 
is one of the best and surest preventives in all cases of 
the kind. 
“HOLLOW HORN”—“HORN DISTEMPER,” &c. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —There is no subject 
connected with husbandry, on which light is more need¬ 
ed, than on the treatment of diseases of domestic animals. 
Many die annually from neglect and inattention, and ma¬ 
ny more from improper management of their diseases. 
If an animal is sick, and it is thought advisable to make an 
attempt to cure him, the course frequently taken is to give 
him all the nostrums of all the bystanders, each prescrip¬ 
tion being a “perfect cure,” though in its nature and 
composition as opposite to all the rest as are the poles 
to each other, and though, perhaps, not one of the advi¬ 
sers has any correct idea of the disorder. I have often 
been amused at the various specimens of quackery which 
farmers will suffer to be played off upon them by igno¬ 
rant cow leeches.. Take for instance, many of the thou¬ 
sand prescriptions for curing a disease in cattle, called 
“ horn ail,” “ hollow horn,” &c. Some “ certain cure,” 
or prevention for this disease, is almost every day being 
brought before the public. I have just taken up a paper 
in which some “ down east” empiric declares that cut¬ 
ting off a part of the tail, and splitting several inches of 
the remainder, and “tying a piece of onion into it, will 
effectually cure the horn ail.” _ Sometimes it is said that 
“ painting the horns, or covering them with a coat of 
pitch or tar,” or “ putting spirits of turpentine or tar on 
the top of the head, and round the roots of the horns, is 
an infallible prevention.” 
All such prescriptions, indicate an ignorance of the 
pathology of the disease to which they refer. 
I have no doubt that the disease to which the name of 
“ hollow horn,” &c. has been given, (though perhaps 
improperly,) is a somewhat formidable one, and that it 
is the remote, if not the immediate cause of the death of 
many cattle annually. It is obvious, that before the most 
proper treatment of a disease can be pursued, its nature 
and causes must be fully understood. There is very- lit- 
tie information of this kind, in such specifics as are quo¬ 
ted above. What, then, it may be asked, is the nature 
of the disease under consideration? I answer, an inflam¬ 
mation of the membrane which lines the nostrils, and 
the sinuses, or cavities of the head and horns. This in¬ 
flammation sometimes extends itself even to the brain, 
producing vertigo, &c. and in the more advanced stages 
of the disease, the whole system becomes more or less 
deranged, the digestive organs lose their tone, the heart 
and limgs become affected, and death ensues. 
The predisposing causes of this disease, are weakness 
and debility; frequently produced by poor keeping, and 
exposure beyond what the animal can endure. In this 
state of feebleness, the animal is predisposed to disease 
of every kind; because it has not the constitutional vigor 
necessary'to resist attacks, and bear up under difficulties, 
and they seize on the system and break it down. Sup¬ 
pose, then, that an animal in the debilitated condition 
just described, should be exposed to a cold storm, what 
might reasonably be expected as the consequence? Why, 
in common parlance, a bad cold. The effecis would be 
analagous to those which are seen and felt in the human 
species from the same cause. The membrane which 
lines the nostrils, is inflamed, the nostrils appear to be 
stopped up, and sometimes a violent pain is felt extend¬ 
ing up the internal part of the nose, and over the eye. 
This shows that the membrane which lines the sinuses, 
is inflamed throughout the extent to which pain is felt. 
These sinuses, or cavities, are common to several spe¬ 
cies of animals. In cattle there is a continuation of them 
from the nose almost to the tips of the horns, and in fact, 
nearly round the upper part of the head. But it is not 
necessary that an animal should have horns, to have the 
“ horn distemper;” for the same disease is seen in horn¬ 
less cattle, and even man, as has been before stated, is si- 
marly affected. 
If these premises are correct, what is the proper treat- 
of “horn distemper?” Anything that will allay inflam¬ 
mation. Bleeding, physicing, together with proper shel¬ 
tering and feeding. “ Cutting off the tail,” as some blood 
would follow, would be likely to do some good; but a 
better course would be to bleed at the jugular vein, and 
to regulate the quantity of blood taken, by the degree of 
fever in the subject. Boring the horns is advisable, for 
if matter has collected, letting it off, will afford relief. 
But if the disorder is much advanced, and the viscera af¬ 
fected, boring the horns, or syringing them, will do but 
little, without other aids, towards effecting a cure. Be¬ 
sides, this “ grand specific” cannot be resorted to, in ca¬ 
ses where the beast has no horns. 
As to the kind of medicines, it may be remarked, that 
the more simple they are in their nature, the better. In 
all cases of constipation, the simplest cathartics are to be 
preferred. Castor oil, or glauber salts and molasses, in 
from five to eight times the quantity usually given to 
man, will, if taken in season, be generally found suffi¬ 
ciently effective. 
It may be observed here, that I have never seen what 
we call “horn distemper,” “horn ail,” or “hollow horn,” 
described by any of these names, in English work;. .It 
is briefly noticed in that part of Youatt’s work entitled 
the “ Anatomical structure and diseases of Cattle,” under 
the head of “ Inflammation Of the Frontal Sinuses.” [See 
p. 275, 276.) Sanford Howard. 
Zanesville, O., Feb. 1, 1843. 
CURE FOR WEAK LOINS IN SWINE, &c. 
Messrs. Editors —At page 168, of vol. VII, of the 
Cultivator, there is an inquiry of J. M. Hudson, of Way- 
landsburg, (Va.) relative to a disease among swine, de¬ 
scribed as a weakness of the loins, and inability to rise 
on the hind legs. This is a disease quite common in this 
country, and in a residence of ten years here, there has 
not been a year but some of my swine have had this dis¬ 
ease, and yet I have lost but few, none I believe, when 
the proposed remedy was applied in time. 
The remedy I use, is to immediately bleed, by cutting 
off the tail, and to rub freely tar or spirits of turpentine 
on the loins, and give them internally, soap or soap suds, 
which they will di-ink freely. 
I have just butchered my swine, and among the rest, 
have butchered one which a few months ago was unable 
to walk, but by using the above remedies was cured, aiid 
was as fat as any one in my pen. 
Cure for Scours and Colic in Horses. —I would 
also give a remedy which I have often tried with suc¬ 
cess, for the scours in horses, or sucking colts- A pint 
of strong coffee, moderately warm, with t'w^o or three 
eggs broken in it, and one gill of flour, all stirred toge¬ 
ther, and given inwardly by drenching. If the first dose 
does not effect a cure, it may safely be repeated. 
If the above is applied in time, I have never kno'wn it 
fail to produce a speedy cure. Sometime since, I had a 
fine young horse taken with the colic, and after trying 
all the remedies usually given in such , cases, all those 
present gave him up for lost; but upon giving him about 
half an ounce of laudanum, in less than ten minutes he 
appeared perfectly easy, and got perfectly well. 
^ John M. Johnson. 
Hannibal, Mo., Dec. 28, 1842. 
The British American Cultivator says “ that a strong 
wash made of pearlash and water, applied thrice a day, 
will remove tumors and warts.” 
“ The poorest of all family goods are indolent females.” 
