92 
THE CULTIVATOR 
almost destroyed, and would have been heartily glad to 
have returned the money received, could the stones re¬ 
moved been replaced. A friend has informed us of a 
somewhat similar instance Ih this state. A gentleman 
near the Cayuga bridge, had a field of ten acres of excel- 
ledt soil, producing fine crops of wheat, but rendered 
unsightly by the abundance of broken limestone, large 
and small, with which it was covered. To free it from 
this nuisance, as he considered it, he had all the large or 
suitable sized ones removed and made into walls, and 
those unfit for use removed, and used for filling up a 
swamp in another place. He is now convinced he erred 
greatly in removing them too closely; the land is more 
dense and compact, and in spite of the most careful cul¬ 
tivation, it does not produce wheat near as well as for¬ 
merly, or as well as similar land from which the stones 
have not been removed. All stones have an influence 
more or less on the soil; and the limestone, in addition 
to the effects of common stone, is constantly undergoing 
a decomposition which exerts a powerful action in modi¬ 
fying the character of a soil. 
THE CUT WORM. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —^You will greatly o- 
blige subscribers to your paper on this Island, and doubt¬ 
less many others in other parts of the country, by giving 
in your next number an effectual remedy for the grub 
worm. Last year it destroyed many crops of corn, and 
it has again made its appearance, promising to be as de¬ 
structive as ever. If there is an effectual remedy, an im¬ 
mediate knowledge of it would be very desirable. 
Staten Island, May, 1843. V. 
Therfe are two kinds of depredators known by the name 
of the grub worm; one the larvas of the May beetle, 
which is white, with a red head, and is usually called 
the white grub. The other is the larvre of a moth, is of 
a black color, and we presume is the one referred to by 
our correspondent. For the white grub we know no re¬ 
medy that can be relied upon as effectual; for the black 
grub or cut worm we are aware of but one, and that may 
be found well described on page 206, of the fifth vol. of 
the Cultivator. That we consider infallible, having test¬ 
ed it frequently in the garden and the field. It consists 
in going over the garden or the field, and wherever a 
cut stalk shows his presence, hunting up the gi'ub, and 
killing him at once. He is readily found, just under the 
surface, close by the spot where he has been feeding. 
It is true the remedy requires some time and patience; 
but you have the satisfaction of knowing that when you 
have cleared your field or garden effectually once, the 
work will not need repetition for several years. 
ABORTION IN COWS. 
We have, within a few months, heard many com¬ 
plaints from farmers on the subject of abortion, or the 
slinking of calves by the cow, and as the evil may be 
an increasing one, it may serve a good purpose to direct 
attention to the nature, causes, and prevention of the 
difficulty. Of all the domestic animals, the cow is most 
subject to abortion, and the loss of the calf may occur at 
any time between the third and the eighth month. In 
most cases there are some indications of the coming 
abortion; the cow is dull, off her feed, the milk dries 
up, the belly loses its rotundity, and the animal-exhibits 
other symptoms of illness. One of the most unfailing 
indications is the issuing from the vagina of a yellowish 
or red gla'ry fluid, and this appearance usually immedi¬ 
ately precedes abortion. Sometimes the labor is pro¬ 
tracted and dangerous; at others it is attended with no 
alarming symptoms. 
The causes of abortion are involved in much obscu¬ 
rity. It is moi'e frequent in particular districts than in 
others; and in some seasons seems to assume the form 
of an epidemic. At such times all, or nearly all, the 
cows in a dairy will lose their calves, in spite of every 
effort to prevent it, and the loss from this cause is fre¬ 
quently a serious one. It sometimes appears in the 
herd of the breedei-, and for a time subjects him to 
heavy losses. By some it is considered contagious; 
but the rapidity with which the tendency to abortion 
spreads in a dairy, can, we think, be explained on oth¬ 
er grounds. Among all the cows of a dairy, or all 
those of the same farm, there must exist a tendency to 
the same diseases, as all are exposed to the same cause, 
whether that cause be to jiroduce murrain, hoof-ail or 
abortion. Every dairyman is aware of the effect which 
the smelling of blood or other offensive matters will 
produce among cows, and to the sympathetic irritation 
which the smell of an aborted fcetus will occasion, may 
doubtless be traced the rapidity with which abortion will 
spread through a dairy of pregnant cows, when the 
calf of one is unfortunately lost. But this sympathetic 
irritation will hardly account for those cases that occur 
on farms, at considerable intervals of time, or where 
but few cows are kept. 
Mr. Lindsay attributes abortion to the use of improp¬ 
er food, or a too small quantity ; and gives several in¬ 
stances in which it arose from feeding cows with bad 
hay. In one of these cases a farmer had ten cows out 
of twenty-two, that lost their calves by abortion. 
Chabert, a French veterinarian of great reputation, 
mentions a case in which abortion was prevalent on the 
farm of a dairyman for many years, in spite of every 
precaution and great expense, hut who effectually check¬ 
ed the destructive habit, by changing his entire stock, at 
the suggestion of Mr. C. 
Mr. White, an English veterinarian, says the most 
common cause of abortion is improper food in the win¬ 
ter and spring, added to the impure water which many 
herds are compelled to drink; and he mentions an instance 
in which the disease was eradicated from a farm on 
which it had been long prevalent and fatal, by the sub¬ 
stitution of pure well water for that of the ponds from 
which the cows had before drank. Another cause, ac¬ 
cording to Mr. W., is a vitiated state of the digestive or¬ 
gans. A farmer at Charentin, near Paris, kept his cows 
during a very dry summer, in a wet meadow on the banks 
of the Seine, which frequently flooded it, and the cows 
were generally up to their knees in mud, feeding on the 
coarse grass, crowfoot, rushes, &c. As a natural conse¬ 
quence, out of twenty-eight cows, sixteen lost their calves 
at different periods of gestation. Mr. White is confident 
that keeping cows on food deficient in nutrition and ditfi- 
eult of digestion, is one of the principal causes that in¬ 
duce abortion. 
M. Cruzel, in the French Vet. Journal, gives an ac¬ 
count of several cases in which abortion could be clearly 
traced to high feeding. This high condition keeps them 
in a continual state of excitement; inflammation of the 
uterus frequently occurs under these circumstances, and 
abortion is the natmal result. In one case, where M. 
Cruzel was called professionally, he could discover no 
cause for the abortions, other than the unnecessarily fine 
condition of the animals, and he attributed them at once 
to this cause. He ordered the quantity of their food to 
be reduced—he bled all the remaining cows—the far¬ 
mer was careful that nutriment should not be so danger¬ 
ously wasted, and abortion ceased on the farm. Mr. 
Wedge in his agricultural survey of Cheshire, remarks 
“that slinking occurs generally in wet seasons, or when 
the cattle are in a very high condition, and frequently 
continues for two or three years together.” 
Hoar frost, or allowing cows to feed on grass thickly 
covered with it, is considered by many as the cause of 
abortion. In Switzerland, the beginning of hoar frosts 
is the signal for the appearance of abortion. Coarse, 
rank herbage, or acrid plants, such as grow on low wet 
meadows, are also considered productive of abortion. 
We have named these various causes, to show that it is 
difficult if not impossible to fix on any definite one, 
and the probability that it may arise from numerous 
sources affecting the sympathies or the general health of 
the animal. We are inclined to the belief that it of- 
tener arises from the smell of blood, or of offensive pu¬ 
trid matters, especially if such odors resemble those 
arising from abortion or a decomposing fcetus, than from 
any other cause. Dr. Rudge states that a dairyman of 
Arlingham kept twenty cows in an enclosure, close to 
which was a dog-kennel. In consequence, as was sup¬ 
posed of these cows frequently having horses killed and 
skinned before them, and the smell of the blood and 
other matters, eight lost their calves; the remainder 
were immediately removed to a distant pasture and did 
well. 
Little can be done usually to prevent abortion. When 
symptoms of it are discovered, liberal bleeding may be 
considered as effectually to check the tendency as any 
other course. Where abortion of a cow takes place, es¬ 
pecially among a herd of cows, the greatest care should 
be taken at once to separate her from the others, and if 
the parts of the cow are smeared with tar or other stink¬ 
ing oils, the effect will be good. The calf should be re¬ 
moved and buried where the cows will not approach, 
and every thing that can retain any of the peculiar efflu¬ 
via, should be placed beyond the reach or contact of the 
other cows. Fumigations of the cow buildings by means 
of tar, sulphur, feathers, &c. &c. have been frequently 
resorted to, but the effect has not been so favorable as 
was anticipated. Indeed some have asserted that they 
have never known an instance where fumigation was at¬ 
tended with the slightest success. Change of location; a 
transfer to high and airy pastures; a suitable supply of 
good food and pure water; and the perfect removal of 
all irritating substances or smells, are the things most to 
be relied upon to break up this destructive tendency. 
We have been the more induced to refer to this sub¬ 
ject of abortion in cows, now, since in addition to the 
cases to which we alluded in the beginning of this pa¬ 
per, some have fallen under our notice in this immediate 
vicinity, which, from the circumstances of the case, in¬ 
vest the subject with an unusual degree of importance. 
Mr. Prentice of Mount Hope, near this city, well known 
as the owner of one of the finest herds of Short Horns in 
the United States, has within a few months lost several 
calves, and one from his celebrated cow Matilda, from 
abortion. As usual, this result has been attributed to va¬ 
rious causes, but perhaps more to high feeding than any 
other, by those who are unacquainted with the facts of 
the case, which are these, and which we think will show 
the loss of the calves must be attributed to some other 
cause than high keeping. 
In the winter of 1841-2, being short of hay, Mr. P. 
fed his stock more or less meal, till near spring, when 
oil cake becoming the cheapest, he substituted this 
for the meal ; and this was continued through the 
spring; but in no case did any animal receive more 
than two quarts per day, and only a few of the largest 
cows and deepest milkers had that quantity. Since 
that time, they have had nothing but pasture, hay, and 
straw. His first calf lost, was from a cow imported in 
October, 1841. She was bulled in England, and should 
have calved in January, 1842, but lost her calf some 
six weeks previous to that time, as was supposed, from 
injuries on the voyage. Since that time several cases 
of abortion have taken place among his other cows, one 
at four months, one at five months, and Matilda at sev¬ 
en and a half months. The three last abortions, were 
heifers for the first time in calf ; and neither of these 
three had tasted meal, grain or cake, since some time 
previous to their taking the bull; their keeping was ordi¬ 
nary pasture in the summer, and hay and straw in the win¬ 
ter, and their condition, though good, was by no means 
high. To what cause shall we attribute the appearance 
of abortion in this herd ?—to the sympathetic influences 
described by Youatt, and alluded to above, or to some lo¬ 
cal cause, acting separately or conjointly with these in¬ 
fluences 1 From what we know of the facts in the case, 
we believe that both sympathetic and local causes have 
been operative, if indeed the local cause is not purely 
sympathetic in its action. 
Mr. Prentice uses annually large quantities of refuse 
bits of furs from the Albany manufactories, for enriching 
his grounds. This refuse matter is made into compost, 
large heaps of which may be seen at all times in his 
yards, and which during the process of decomposition, 
will at times emit a strong and offensive animal smell. 
This compost is spread over all his grounds, so that these 
pieces of decaying skins have been constantly within the 
smell of his cows while pasturing; and while undecom¬ 
posed on his meadows, have doubtless been raked up 
with his hay. 
Would not this continual putrid animal effluvia?, 
produce on cows the effect attributed by Youatt and 
others to the odor of the putrid fcetus; and by Dr. Rudge 
to the exhibition and smell of horse flesh and putrid 
matters at the dog-kennel? We think it would; and 
that safety for Mr. P. lies in removing his stock at once, 
so that the destructive habits they are forming may be 
at once broken up. The destruction of such a herd of 
Short Horns as Mr. Prentice, at so much expense, has 
got together, might be considered not more as an indi¬ 
vidual than a national calamity, and We trust that mea¬ 
sures will be speedily taken to arrest successfully this 
tendency. 
USE OF POUDRETTE. 
The suggestion contained in the annexed extract of a 
letter from Long Island, respecting the application of 
poudrette to corn at the first and second hoeings, may be 
of service to many of our readers who are so situated as 
to enable them to obtain it with facility from New-York. 
It will be seen by reference to our advertisements, that 
it can now be procured without delay. 
Extract of a letter to the editors, dated May 23:—“In 
relation to the use of poudrette, I desire to say, that se- 
V'eral years experience has shown our Long Island farm¬ 
ers that it may be used to great advantage as a top-dressing 
for corn at the first and even at the second hoeing, if ap¬ 
plied properly. At the rate of one gill to the hill, spread 
on broadcast before the cultivator is put in at the first or 
even at the second hoeing, has been found of great ad¬ 
vantage, and it seems to me that it may be found exceed¬ 
ingly convenient this backward season to bring forward 
corn which needs encouragement. It has been found, in 
years past, on Long Island, very useful thus applied; and 
it seems now a proper time to call attention to the sub¬ 
ject, that those, if any, who may desire to make the ex¬ 
periment, may have the opportunitj^.” 
Extract of a letter written by Timothy C. Smith, Esq., 
of Smithtown, L. I., dated April 25, 1843“ In reply to 
your inquiry as to my use of poudrette, lean simply state 
that I have used it mainly for corn in the hill, at the rate 
of 20 bushels to the acre, and consider it peculiarly adap¬ 
ted to that crop, both in the economy of its application 
and in bringing the crop to maturity. I consider it supe¬ 
rior to any manure I have overused; answering the same 
purpose, and having the same desirable effect on all soils 
to which that crop is adapted.” 
FOREIGN NOTICES. 
The White Carrot.— Though this carrot has been 
common in Flanders and Germany for two centuries, it 
was not introduced into England till within the last four 
years. It is highly prized, and its cultivation is rapidly 
extending. It has been stated to give 30 tons to the acre, 
each ton selling in some neighborhoods at about $9,00, 
or double the value of Swedish turneps. 
Globe Mangold Wurtzel.— Mr. Pnsey states that 
the cultivation of this variety of beet is increasing; and 
that at Woburn, he was assured by the Duke of Bedford's 
bailiff, that by his highest farming he could grow 22 tons 
of Swedes, 30 tons of turneps, 36 tons of long mangold, 
and no less than 40 tons of globe mangold. 
Worse THAN eatting Hogs on Mutton. —Mr. Hume, 
member of Parliament, is said to have stated at a late 
meeting of the Anti-Corn law league, that Mr. Everett, 
our Minister at St. James, had asserted at a public meet¬ 
ing in September last, “ that bacon, which would bring 
6d. per lb. (12 cents,) in England, was actually used as 
fuel for steaTfiboats in the United States, having no other way 
of getting rid of the superfluityP’ 
Short Horns and Ayrshires. —^In an article on the 
“ Progress of Agricultural knowledge during the last 
four years,^^ by Mr. Pusey, ex-president of the Royal 
Ag. Society, “ it is said, indeed, that better milkers may 
be found than even the Short Horns; and this may be the 
case • but milk alone cannot be made the test of cattle even 
for a dairy farm, because the cows which are necessarily 
discarded each year, for age or barrenness, ought to be 
suited for fatting. In cattle, too, a Scotch breed, the Ayr¬ 
shire, may stand by the side of our own, as it appears to 
unite in a high degree the two requisites of milking and 
grazing, both upon moderate land; but whether it be 
suited to our rich southern meadows must be doubtful.” 
