THE CULTIVATOR. 
141 
feet, and after returning the guts once more, left them in 
that position. My two men had now become so accus¬ 
tomed to the operation, that they acted without my aid. 
We left the shoals standing heads down, an hour or more 
until they were perfectly tame from fatigue in standing* 
in such an unusual position. And when they were re¬ 
leased, they nestled in the straw and went to sleep. 
Nothing was given to them the first day but a little drink, 
and next day some Indian meal gruel. They recovered, 
and at the end of the year made heavy pork. 
4. Cow losing her hcrn. —On New-Year’s day, 
1845, one of my cows in fighting another with a fence 
between them, caught the horn in the rail and complete¬ 
ly separated it from the pith. I was absent at the time, 
but my man who acted as assistant surgeon in the cases 
of the cow and the shoats. and who thought he had lear¬ 
ned something from a book farmer, undertook to practice 
on his own account. He concluded by reasoning on the 
nature of things, that as the horn was made to cover the 
pith, the pith ought to be covered, especially in winter. 
He accordingly shut up the cow by herself, and looking 
around, found the horn beside the fence lying on the 
ground, and as cold as a stone. It was replaced, and he 
went to my farm medicine-chest, and taking therefrom a 
roll of sticking plaster, spread long strips of muslin with 
it, and wound the strips around the base of the horn. 
The result was, that next day the horn became warm at 
the base, and gradually extended upwards until the whole 
assumed its natural temperature. The plaster adhered 
more than a week, anti upon examination at that time, the 
horn was found to be united. It is now three months 
since the accident, the horn is firmly fixed in its natural 
position, and the cow is well, and running at large with 
the others. 
If these facts and observations will be useful to any one 
of the agricultural community, please to accept them 
from your friend, Richmond. 
Staten Island, March 28, 1845. 
NOTES OF A TRAVELER—No. I. 
Botanical Notices—The best country for Sheep. 
Mr. Editor— In March 1842, I left the southern part 
of Alabama with a horse and buggy for the purpose of 
making a botanical tour among the mountains of Tennes¬ 
see and North Carolina. Already many flowers were in 
bloom; the woods and trees were green, and all nature 
looked gay and smiling. Among the flowers, the yel¬ 
low Jasmine, ( Gelsemium sempervirens,) Bignonia cap- 
riolata, the dwarf horse chestnut or small buckeye, 
(uEsculus pavia,) Carolina allspice, ( Calycanfhus fiori- 
dus,) many species of Phlox, Silene Pennsylvania, and 
numerous others, were of frequent occurrence. On the 
top of the mountain south of Huntsville, two or three 
miles from the Tennessee river, were numerous small 
trees in flower, and among them the Rhus cotinoides of 
Nuttall. This beautiful tree is scarcely distinct from the 
Rhus cotinus of Europe, so frequent in cultivation at the 
north. Its leaves are larger, and it often attains a greater 
size than the cultivated species, some trees being from 
SO to 40 feet high. It was.originally found by Mr. Nut- 
tall on the high rocky banks of the Grand river in Ar¬ 
kansas, and these two localities are all that are known to 
botanists. It is well worthy of cultivation, and owing to 
its elevated situation it would be apt to succeed well in 
our climate. In the vicinity of Huntsville, I first saw 
fields of red clover; neither this or timothy flourish well 
much south of that latitude; they being unable to with¬ 
stand the long dry summers of the low southern country. 
Here I met with an old northern friend, the Dandelion, 
(Leontodon taraxacum ,) which gave rise to sweet recol¬ 
lections of home, and the scenes of childhood. The 
common locust, (Robinia pseudacacia,) is indigenous to 
the mountains near Huntsville, and is also frequently met 
among the Cumberland mountains and the mountains of 
North Carolina. On passing into the State of Tennessee, 
hay was offered for the first time to my horse; he being 
a native of South Alabama, had never seen the article 
before, and showed his displeasure by throwing back his 
ears and shaking his head, but finally ventured to eat spa¬ 
ringly of it, though ever after he preferred corn fodder. 
Tennessee is so remote from market, and provisions 
are so abundant, that the price of produce is perhaps low¬ 
er here than in any other Slate in the Union, consequent¬ 
ly traveling expenses through this Stateare cheap indeed; 
there are few sections of the United States through which 
the traveler who has his own conveyance, can go with 
so little expense. Many of the inhabitant of middle and 
eastern Tennessee raise hors s, mules and hogj, for the 
southern market, which are generally cl riven into the 
cotton growing Slates during the month of December, and 
sold to the planters. I passed through middle Tennessee 
to Sparta, near the base of the Cumberland mountains, on 
the stage road leading from Nashville to Knoxville. 
Here I ascended the mountains and drove along a table 
land until I descended the mountain again at Kingston, it 
being more than 30 miles across. This table land abounds 
in streams of pure water, and is clothed with grass and 
weeds, among scattering trees and shrubs resembling the 
oak openings at the west. These mountains, as well as 
those of North Carolina and Georgia, are well calcula¬ 
ted for the summer pasturage of sheep, and as such, are 
well worthy the attention of wool growers. On the ele¬ 
vated table lands of the mountains of these States, sheep 
would have a healthy range, abounding in pasture, and 
never failing springs of pure water. They could be win¬ 
tered in the low country near the mountains, at compa¬ 
ratively little expense owing to the mildness of the cli¬ 
mate, and be summered on the mountains at a cost not 
much exceeding the wages paid a shepherd, since the 
price of mountain land is trifling, and it can often be had 
for the mere expense of surveying. There the pure 
mountain air and water, and change of scene, would cause 
the animals to be strong and healthy. Sheep delight in 
hilly and mounfainous districts, where they are not op¬ 
pressed by the scorching rays which the sun pours upon 
the plains. If we look at the history of sheep we will 
find that they have always flourished best in hilly and 
mountainous districts; therefore it is not probable that 
the wool growing business will be profitable on the wes¬ 
tern prairies, because there is too much sameness in the 
scenery, and often the want of pure water and air, besides 
during the summer season, the prairies are often parched 
by drouth, when the grass becomes dry, affording little 
nutriment, and then it stands ready to be, and is some¬ 
times consumed by fire. At such seasons, every one 
knows that sheep would not have a sufficiency of shade, 
food and water. I allude more particularly to the middle 
and southern portions of Illinois, and I speak from im¬ 
pressions made in a tour through that region in the dry 
summer of 1838. I cannot help thinking that the middle 
and eastern portion of Tennessee, the western part of 
North Carolina, and northern part of Georgia, has great¬ 
er natural advantages for the raising of sheep than any 
other portion of the United States. I spent the summei 
season exploring the mountains of those States, and may 
give you some further account of them in future letters. 
Yours truly, S. B. Bucklev. 
West Dresden, Yates coN. F., March 22, 1845 
SCOURS IN SHEEP. 
This malady is one of the worst complaints that attack 
the flock; as soon as discovered, the diseased animals 
should be removed from the flock and kept fasting at 
least twenty-four hours without any food. Then com¬ 
mence by feeding them in small quantities, ripe hay; 
coarse timothy is as good as any; keep them up on ripe 
hay until you are satisfied the disease has abated. This 
is the most simple and surest method I ever tried. 
Fresh feed, grass or hay, may cause this complaint, and 
when thoroughly commenced among the flock, it may 
spread by contagion; therefore a shift of place and feed 
is obviously necessary. 
If the hay be brined once or twice each week through 
the foddering season, say, dissolve one pint of salt in 
three gallons of water, for a flock of fifty, it will prevent 
the scours, and is one of the best methods of winter ma¬ 
nagement, if fed in mild weather, that can be recommen¬ 
ded for sheep. S. W. Jewett. 
Weybridge, Vt., 1845. 
