102 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
about the bolt. Hang the swingle up close, and perhaps 
you will think, like the fellow who tried mine after I 
had oiled it—I don’t like it, said he. Why? Oh, it 
goes too easy. Cephas. 
Hannibal, N. Y., 1843. 
SHORT AND LONG PLOWS. 
Messes. Gaploed & Tuckee —The Cultivator of 1841, 
pages 10 and 25, contains a long and interesting article, 
giving details of experiments made with plows both in 
this country and in England. Among the conclusions 
arrived at, it is stated that the shorter the working paid 
of the plow, meaning that part which runs in the ground, 
the lighter will be the draft; one of the reasons of which 
is, it has less surface exposed to the friction of the earth; 
but that such plows must not be inferred to do the best 
work, lightness of draft being the only advantage gained. 
I think it may be made to appear that the work will be 
done best in one respect, if the plow is moderately short. 
It is believed that' two plows may be constructed, 
which, when driv^en at the same speed, shall turn the 
furrow equally well, and yet one may pulverize the soil 
better than the other. Of thi my observations have 
convinced me, when using different kinds of plows; and 
it is a point which should not be overlooked in discus¬ 
sions upon the correct form of this implement. None 
will dispute that the degree of pulverization is affected 
by the velocity with which the earth is moved; for eve¬ 
ry farmer knows that the same plow when drawn by a 
team of brisk horses, will break the furrow slice to a 
much finer powder than if the work is done by a pair of 
moping cattle. In comparing the operation of different 
plows, it will be found, I apprehend, that with a given 
height and rear breadth to the working part, a difference 
in the length of the same will influence the degree of 
pulverization. Because an increase of length gives it a 
more acute form; and as it passes forward, a longer 
time will be occupied in elevating or moving the earth 
to a given height or distance; consequently, the fur¬ 
row slice will be lifted and thrown, with a slower, gen¬ 
tler motion, than if the working part were shorter and 
more obtuse. This may be illustrated by comparison 
with a wedge. The more acute the form of the wedge, 
the more slowly does the wood separate in proportion to 
the distance driven. If the working part of the plow 
in one instance is four feet in length, and in another part 
but two feet, the height and rear breadth of both being 
the same, each must pass its whole length before the fur¬ 
row slice will be separated to an equal space from its 
bed; in doing which, the longer plow will take double 
the time, so the earth will be moved with one half the 
velocity. A short plow, therefore, by giving the soil 
a brisker motion, is a more efficient pulverizer; and be¬ 
sides, its more obtuse form makes it better fitted to break 
the furrow slice in pieces, by bending it upwards and 
from the land with greater abruptness. Furthermore, 
the superior lightness of draft favors pulverization, by 
encouraging the team to travel at a quicker pace. It is 
also evident that the more rapidly the eai-th is moved; 
the less liable it is to adhere to the mold-board; which 
is a point of importance on some soils, and is a soiu'ce 
of solicitude on the western prairies. 
If these views be correct, a short plow is better for 
the land as well as the team, And if the imported pre¬ 
mium plow with a working part/ow?’ feet in length, men¬ 
tioned in the Cultivator of 1841, page 63, is to be regard¬ 
ed as one of the most approved specimens of British 
skill, it must be conceded that the Americans have fairly 
beaten their brethren on the other side of the water, in 
approximating the lught form of the most indispensable 
of all farming implements. A. R. M’Cord. 
La Grange, Dutchess co. N. Y., April 19, 1843. 
DAIRY COWS. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —When I gave you a 
brief and verbal statement of what my Herefords were 
doing in milking, I did not tell you that they were all 
three year olds but two, one of those four, and the other 
seven. Nor did I say on what food they were living. 
When my cows first came into winter quarters, (which 
was between the fifteenth and twentieth of November,) 
they were in good store condition, and nothing more. I 
commenced feeding them on rye straw and about a half 
bushel of Swedish turneps per day, until within a fort¬ 
night of calving, when I put them in a loose place to 
ealve, gave them hay, and put the rye straw under them. 
(I purchased this straw at ten shillings per hundred bun¬ 
dles.) The second day I took the calves from them and 
sent them back to their stalls; fed them until this day on 
the same quantity of turneps as before; cut their hay into 
chaff; and added a little oatmeal. 
I do not believe that meal of any description, given in 
the raw and dry state, is at all adapted for milking; there¬ 
fore I am perfectly satisfied I have not done justice to 
them. Nor have I taken all the cream froni the milk 
as I should have done, had I not fed my calves from it, 
to contend against Short Horns that have had new milk. 
These things have to be taken into consideration, 
which every practical man will allow is a very great 
drawback on butter making. 
Another thing, which is of still more importance. This 
is my first season of entering on the farm; all the hay 
that I grew was upon six acres, and that an inferior crop, 
grown on an impoverished soil. I had to feed fifty- 
three head of cattle, four horses, and one hundred and 
fifteen Cotswold sheep; therefore you may well suppose I 
had a great deal of provender to purchase. I went to the 
hay market to try to find some that had been cut young 
and green, but not a load could I procure; therefore I 
was obliged to content myself with feeding old cut hay, 
as dry as barley chafiT, and if much butter can be made 
from such feed, I will pay a good premium to discover 
the secret. I am no advocate for high keeping, but this 
winter I have kept my cattle and sheep too low; there is 
a medium in all things. 
Notwithstanding all this, you shall know at the end of 
the year what they do, and thaXtruly; but it will not be 
any criterion what they can do with proper treatment, 
which they shall have another season. If they do not 
deserve credit, I do not ask it. All the puffs and exalta¬ 
tions, in the uvrld, from a pen, will have no avail if the 
“ breed” cannot speak for themselves and sustain it. 
I thank Mr. Norton for his kind wishes for m};- suc¬ 
cess, and glory in seeing the statement he has made; it 
is a good yield for cows of any breed. I want to see the 
Short Horn dairymen come up to the mark. 
But the milk story is not all that is required in cattle. 
I think the yoke and the shambles of more importance. 
When the best quality of beef can be sold in market, at 
seven cents per pound, and a cow will lay on three pounds 
of beef while she is making one pound of butter on the 
same feed, (or probably more,) and with less trouble and 
expense. And if a breed of cattle can be produced that 
will combine quality of beef fed on less food than any 
other, the most active working oxen, and can contend 
against a.ny other breed for milking, I say give me that 
breed. I am willing to “ stand a brush” with the Here¬ 
fords, without “ bravado.” 
Yours sincerel)', W. H. Sotha,m. 
Hereford Hall, near Albany, May 8, 1843. 
TO THE STOCK BREEDERS OF THE STATE OF 
NEW-YORK, OR ELSEWHERE. 
I will enter for a Sweepstakes, ten dollars entry, a 
three quarter bred Short Horn Steer, 5 years old in May, 
1843, fed while a calf on skimmed milk, and poorly at 
that; and after three months old, with nothing but gi’ass 
and hay till three 3 'earsold; and since then wintered on 
straw, with common pasture in summer. He has never 
been fed a bushel of grain or roots, and has run out doors. 
I will show him against any animal of common breed, at 
the State Fair in Rochester, in September next, to prove 
that grade Short Horns will bear hardship and rough 
keep equal to the native cattle, and retain their superi¬ 
ority of points. He was sired by a thorough bred Short 
Horn bujif 
I will also show a two years old thorough bred Short 
Horn Heifer, kept in the same manner, except sucking 
her dam for four months, which run out in the straw 
yard through the late severe and long winter, against any 
native heifer of like age, (two years old, June. 1843,) and 
for the same sum. Both animals to be judged by one 
the Cattle committees selected by the Society. 
Lewis F. Allen. 
Black Rock, May 6, 1843. 
P. S. Any person wishing to compete with me in this 
challenge, will send notice to Luther Tucker, Esq. Sec¬ 
retary of the Society, Albany. It is understood that no 
animal thus exhibited, is to be fed any thing but grass in 
good pasture. Will the several agricultural papers in 
of the state, please copy the above. 
BOMMER’S MANURE. 
A Committee, consisting of Elias Hubbard, Esq. of 
Flatbush, F. L. Wyckoff of New Lotts, Michael Stryker 
of Flatlands, Henry S. Ditmas of Flatbush, and Johannes 
Lott, Jr. of Flatlands, appointed from a large company 
of farmers, assembled to examine Mr. G. Bommer’s me¬ 
thod for making manure by fermentation, on the premi¬ 
ses of Garret Kouwenhoven, Esq. Flatlands, Long Island, 
respectfully report, 
That after careful examination of aheap laid up on the 
19th of April, and opened this afternoon, 3d of May, they 
most cheerfully acknowledge that the change produced 
upon the material useil, far exceeded the most sanguine 
expectations, said materials consisting of straw, salt hay, 
&c. and presenting when opened, the appearance and 
smell of rich manure. 
The committee farther report, that they also examined 
the book containing Mr. B.’s method, and are fully per¬ 
suaded that the various ingredients used are all in them¬ 
selves beneficial, and in their combination must produce 
the most favorable results. The committee most cor¬ 
dially commend the above method to the seidous conside¬ 
ration of the farmers of Long Island. Signed by order 
of committee. Elias Hubbard, Ch’n. 
Flatlands, May 3, 1843. 
LICE ON POULTRY. 
Messrs. Editors—I have seen a number of receipts 
in the Cultivator lately, for destroying hen lice. Any 
person that will try oil cake meal, according to the di¬ 
rection in one of the back numbers of the Cultivator, I 
think will not be troubled with them. _ I had a hen house 
last season, about 12 feet square, in which I kept 60 hens, 
the most of the time shut up, and the lice became so thick 
that I could not go into it without being almost covered 
with them. I took two quarts of oil meal, and sowed it 
with my hand, throwing it all about the house and nests, 
also up against the rafters and sides of the building, and 
I was not troubled with them afterwards. I used six 
quarts in the course of the summer—two quarts at each 
time—but I do not know but once would have answered, 
as I saw no lice after the first time I used it, and I did not 
clean out the house or nest in the whole summer, which 
should be done two or three times. 
Poughkeepsie, April 18, 1843. A Subscriber. 
b^tfiinar^ mepcrtnient. 
DISEASES OF HOGS. 
“ Editors or the Cultivator —I wish some infor¬ 
mation in regard to a disease which has injured swine 
very much in this district of country. It attacks pigs of 
four lo twelve weeks old, weaned or suckling. The 
symptoms are, a dropsical appearance of body, bloated, 
hams and shoulders wasted, dry cough, staring coat, &c. 
My pigs are part Eerkshires. from the Windsor Castle 
stock, and part Woburns from Dr. Martin’s, Kentucky. 
They live in a five acre grass lot, sleep about the barn 
and in sheds, food altogether dry corn, and waste from 
cattle feeding. I use wheat straw for bedding all my 
stock. Perhaps some of your correspondents will be kind 
enough to enlighten me on the following questions. Is 
stable litter injurious to hogs or pigs? Is any kind of 
straw injurious to hogs at large, whether wet or dry? 
Will hogs put on flesh fastest and grow largest, confined 
or at large, if fed what they 'will eat? Will they grow 
as well fed on dry raw corn unsparingly as on any other 
food, economy aside? Is it as well to have sows fat at 
farrowing, provided you guard the pigs from smothering? 
Is oak or walnut saw-dust good to put on the ground floor 
of a stable? Isaac Hinckley.” 
Audubon, 111., April, 1843. 
We hope some of our subscribers who may be acquain¬ 
ted with the disease of pigs noticed by Mr. H., will re¬ 
spond to his inquiry, and that also his closing queries may 
receive attention. Stable litter we have never found in¬ 
jurious to hogs, unless when accumulated in such masses 
as to heat. In that case hogs should never have their 
beds in it. Hogs should not have their beds under sta¬ 
bles where they are liable to be wet with the urine, or 
the straw saturated with it. We have known had results 
ensue from this cause. We have never known disease as 
the result of using any kind of straw. Hogs will grow 
largest, but not fat fastest, if allowed to run at large. 
From the researches of Spi-engel and others, it would seem 
that corn will make/a? faster than almost any other food, 
hut flesh or muscle not so fast as some others therefore 
fed on corn alone hogs would not grow as fast as if other 
food were used. Experience proves that sows when too 
fat, do not succeed well as hreeders, independent of the 
danger of smothering their young. We can conceive no 
objection to the use of saw-dust from the woods named 
by Mr. H.; on the contrary we think that great advan¬ 
tages result from the use of all saw-dust for littering sta¬ 
bles. 
BREAKING COLTS. 
Somebody has said, “there is no man wholly evil,” 
and we are inclined to the opinion there is no animal 
wholly or irreclaimably vicious. Many are made nearly 
so by injudicious or brutal treatment, and the conse¬ 
quence of our own misconduct is charged upon the beast 
as instinctive or natural. The great secret in the man¬ 
agement of all animals is gentleness; love, in this case 
at least, is more powerful than fear; and the animal 
soon learns that docility and submission go not unre¬ 
warded. Read, in Burkhardt or La Martine, the manner 
in which the Arabs treat their horses, rearing them 
among their children, and frequently dividing their last 
barley cake with them, and we cannot wonder that there 
are no vicious and unmanageable horses among them. 
The mares and foals not unfrequently occupy a part of 
the same tent with the family, and the children climb 
upon and fondle them without fear or injury. The affec¬ 
tion and attachment between the Arab and his horse, is 
reciprocal; the animal meets him with a neigh of plea¬ 
sure, and bows his head to receive the expected caress. 
And throughout the country, it will be found that the 
man who treats his horses and other animals with the 
most kindness and attention, has them most docile and 
manageable, and the most free from vicious propensi¬ 
ties. The following, which we copy from a communi¬ 
cation in the Union Agriculturist, written by Mr. 
Churchill, will better illustrate the e&ct of this law of 
kindness than any remarks of ours: 
“My father, while I was young, kept a number of 
mares for raising colts, among which were two which 
we called pretty high strung; and the colts in that re¬ 
spect were generally after the mares. One in particular, 
after injuring two or three men in the neighborhood by 
throwing them, he sold to a horse dealer, who took it 
to Hartford, Conn., where it killed one negro, and nearly 
killed another in the same way, both noted for sticking 
to a horse's back. After these accidents, the driver 
sold the colt to go to the West Indies, where, as he said, 
there were plenty of negroes to kill. Having another 
colt of the same stock to breali, my father was conclud¬ 
ing to take strong measures to effect his object. 
“I proposed trying more gentle means; told him that 
he had had his smart riders, that could jump from the 
ground on to the back of a wild colt without touching a 
hand, and get thrown as quick. ‘ Give me Dowd,’ said 
I (a young man equally as clumsy as myself, but cau- 
tioL, cool, and withal kind to animals,) ‘ and the colt, 
and we will try what we can do.’ After laughing at us 
to his satisfaction, and some importunity on my part, he 
consented. 
