362 
THE CULTIVATOR 
Not.* 
which they might consider analogous to dropsy—an 
impure fluid accumulated in various parts of the 
body, chiefly beneath the cellular tissue: and then 
there was several names given to it;: some called it 
the water rot. others the fluke rot; but it was noth¬ 
ing more nor less than the same disease in different 
stages. If flukes were present, it was evident that 
in order to strike at the root of the disease they 
must get rid of these animals, and that could only 
be done by bringing about a healthy condition of 
the system. Nothing that could be done by the ap¬ 
plication of medicine would act on them to affect 
their vitality. It is only by strengthening the ani¬ 
mal power that they were enabled to give it suffi¬ 
cient tone to throw off the flukes. The next thing 
was to lessen the action of the ova on the intesti¬ 
nal canal; for this purpose many advocated salt. 
It was an excellent stimulative of the digestive or¬ 
gans, and might also be of service from the chloride 
of sodium which it contained. So well is its stimu¬ 
lative action known, that some individuals always 
keep salt in the troughs. That it was an excellent 
preventive, they had good proof, seeing that it 
mattered not how moist the pasture be in salt marsh¬ 
es ; no sheep were ever attacked by rot in them, 
whilst those sent there infected very often came back 
free. Salt therefore must not be neglected; but 
then came the question, could they not do something 
more? he believed they could. They must throw 7 
tonics into the system, especially those which they 
got from the mineral kingdom. He should prefer 
sulphate of iron,—iron w T as found in animals,—it 
was one of the constituents of the blood, and used 
in the form of sulphate it gave a greater tone and 
energy than in any other form. Its use, therefore, 
ought never to be neglected in the earlier stages of 
the disease. He had already alluded to the fact, 
that when the liver did not perform its functions, an 
effort w r as made by the kidneys to carry out its func¬ 
tions, the kidneys should therefore be stimulated; 
but he must not be supposed to recommend the ex¬ 
hibition of diuretics which would produce debility, 
but of medicines which would give tone and strength 
to the system and act on the kidneys as well, for 
which purpose nitric ether w r as an agent which ought 
to be administered. The principles he wished to 
lay dow r n w 7 ere, to sustain the animal by placing 
them in a situation where they should not be exposed 
to the debilitating effects of cold storms, to supply 
them with the most nutritious food, such as contain¬ 
ed but a very small quantity of water, and, as a 
stimulant, to mix w r ith it salt. To administer sul¬ 
phate of iron, and occasionally doses of nitric ether. 
He made no doubt that if those principles were 
carried out, that instead of sending their sheep to 
the knacker’s yard, they would be able, at least in 
its early stages, to cure the disease and send their 
sheep to the butcher. 
Fall Plowing. 
The question is often asked, whether fall plowing 
is advisable? It may be advantageous or injurious, 
according to the character of the soil, and the cir¬ 
cumstances under which it is performed. Soils 
w 7 hich are too loose in their texture are liable to 
have their soluble matter drenched out of them, if 
stirred late in the fall, by the heavy rains of winter 
and spring. Hill-sides are, also, liable to be washed 
and gullied by the same causes. 
Again, the particular time in the fall at which 
plowing should be done, is an important point, and 
this must be determined by the objects w 7 hich it is 
sought to attain. If the land is in grass, anff.it is 
w 7 ished to have the $w 7 ard rotted by the following 
spring, the plowing should be done early in autumn, 
in order that the warm weather may bring on de¬ 
composition before winter. If plowing is deferred 
till the commencement of cold weather, but little 
change will take place in the sward before spring— 
so little that if cross-plowed, much of the grass will 
be found alive, and by being again brought to the 
surface, will grow and obstruct the growth of the 
crop which is put on the land, or increase the ex¬ 
pense of cultivation. 
On clayey soils, there is still another disadvantage 
in connection with late plowing, if it is done in the 
ordinary way. The soil is liable to be made into mor¬ 
tar and run together by rains, so that by seeding-time 
it becomes closely packed. It is difficult after this to 
bring the soil into the friable condition required to 
fit it for a crop, without plowing again, and that 
operation would bring back the undecomposed sod, 
to which, as just remarked, there are weighty ob¬ 
jections. 
So far as regards the improvement of the texture 
of soils, it may be assumed that those of a clayey 
and tenacious nature, and those only, may be bene¬ 
fited by late plowing. The improvement in such 
cases results from the division of their particles 
by the action of frost; by this their cohesion is 
overcome, and access given to the air, which dis¬ 
pels acids injurious to vegetation—thus rendering 
soluble and available to plants, the food which was 
before inert. But these desirable results can only be 
obtained by the soil being frozen when it is in a 
comparatively dry state. If it is wet at the time it 
is frozen, and remains so till it is thawed and settled, 
no pulverizing effect is produced, the favorable 
agency of the air is excluded, and the soil remains 
in an ungenial state. 
To obtain these advantages of frost, the soil should 
be thrown into narrow ridges, by turning two fur¬ 
rows together, in the manner called back-furrows. 
The furrows should be made in the direction best 
calculated to drain off the water, without allowing 
it to form large streams, as these might gully the 
soil. This kind of plowing can be done to the best 
advantage on land that has been under cultivation 
one season, or more. It can be done with sward- 
ground, but, as before stated, the grass will come 
to the surface when it is cross-plowed in spring, re¬ 
quiring much labor to destroy it. If, however, 
sward-ground were plowed in August or the first of 
September, the sward would become dead and so far 
decomposed by November, that it might be cross- 
plowed in ridges w 7 ith advantage. The later in 
the season the ridging can be done, the better, as the 
soil will be more fully exposed to the action of frost, 
before the ridges have been washed down with rains. 
The ridges should be made as high and narrow as 
practicable, in order that the frost and air may act 
thoroughly on the soil. 
There is no operation which tends so much to pro¬ 
duce friability in tenacious soils, or which so much 
developes their fertility, and insures the growth of 
crops, as plowing them late in the fall, in the man¬ 
ner above described. But to derive the full advan¬ 
tages of the operation, the soil should be properly 
under-drained. This will admit the descent of wa¬ 
ter so readily that the soil will remain permeable and 
open; but if the water remains long in the soil, the 
beneficial effects of pulverization will be compara¬ 
tively temporary. The soaking of the soil will re¬ 
duce it to its former heavy condition. 
Other advantages are claimed for fall plowing, 
which do not relate to the improvement of the soil j 
such as that the destruction of worms, in some install- 
