26 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Why is it not then equally grateful and beneficial, if administered 
daily to our cattle 1 If at all times accessible they will never take 
it to excess ; at least 1 have never known them to do so in twelve 
years experience : for during this period I have had troughs with 
salt in them constantly under my sheds, to which the stock have had 
daily access;—and no disease, not even the black tongue, has shown 
itself among them. Gen. Barnum, of Vergennes, I think has stated, 
that salt, with an occasional admixture of salt petre, is not only a 
preventive of the latter disease, but a cure where it has commenced 
its attack. 
To divest milk and butler of the taste of turnips, cabbage, t fc. upon 
which cows have fed, put into each pail of milk, when fresh drawn 
from the cows, one pint of boiling water. The heat of the water 
dispels the odor of the turnip, which becomes volatile as the tempe¬ 
rature of the milk is increased. This has been practised and proved 
to be effectual, by the writer, in cases where cows have been fed 
two or three months in the year upon Swedish turnips. Marshall 
states that hot water is equally effectual, when thus applied, in re¬ 
moving the taste of wild onions and leeks. 
Mildew. —When wheat becomes badly mildewed, the grain ceases 
to derive further nourishment from the root—the ascent of the sap 
to the head is wholly obstructed; and the sooner it is cut the bet¬ 
ter. Although the grain will be more or less shrivelled, it will ne¬ 
vertheless retain a good colour. 
The Hoven in Cattle, is caused by their eating too abundantly of 
green succulent food, as clover, turnips, &c. and under bad manage¬ 
ment, often proves fatal. A pint of weak ley has been found to give 
relief. The Norfolk practice, according to Marshall, is to give a 
beast salt and water; and if this fails, a horn of salt and grease, 
warm. The Annals of Agriculture directs, as a specific cure, even 
in the most desperate cases, the following dose : three-quarters of a 
pint of olive oil, and one pint of melted butter or hogs lard, to be 
administered by means of a horn or bottle. As a preventive, cattle 
should not be turned into rank clover while the dew is upon it, nor 
suffered to continue more than an hour or two in it at a time, when 
uncropped. __ 
Economy of Manure. —Cattle fattened upon turnips and straw, or 
hay, are estimated in England to produce eleven and three-fourth 
tons manure each. See Bordley. If every horse and bullock upon 
our farms produced a like quantity, and the whole was judiciously ap¬ 
plied, dur crops would be increased at least ten per cent. Manures 
are the means of substantial wealth to the farmer ; but to be pro¬ 
ductive, they must be regularly deposited in the soil. 
Manure. —Arthur Young took five equal portions of a field, one 
portion of which he manured with dry cut straw; a second with 
straw soaked five hours in fresh urine ; a third with straw soaked 
in like manner fifteen hours : a fourth with straw soaked three days ; 
and to the fifth portion he applied nothing. The whole was tilled 
alike, and sown with grain. The product, in grain, of the first was 
thirty-nine, of the second fifty, of the third sixty-three, of the fourth 
one hundred and twenty-six, and of the undunged portion nine. In 
weight of grain and straw, the product of the several portions, in the 
order above named, were found to be, 100, 120, 130 300, and 48. 
This experiment affords a pretty conclusive demonstration of the 
value of vegetable matter as food for plants, and particularly of the 
fertility imparted by the urine of animals, which latter, to us, is ge¬ 
nerally lost to all useful purposes. It indicates the propriety of so 
constructing our cattle yards and stable floorings as to concentrate 
this liquid ; and, where there is no cistern to retain it, of applying 
straw and other litter to absorb it ere it is wasted. Another fact is 
worth noting: the rotting process took place wholly in the soil;— 
the fertility was induced by long manure, and the liquids which it 
held,—and not by muck. 
Gypsum. —An interesting series of experiments made with gyp¬ 
sum, by one of the most intelligent and observing farmers of our 
country, will be found under our miscellaneous head. This mineral 
effects wonders upon certain soils and upon some crops, while upon 
other soils and crops it seems wholly inoperative. It is only by a 
course of careful experiments, like that which we copy, that we can 
learn to apply it with judgment and economy. 
G. W. in the American Farmer, vol. iii, p. 413, states, that he 
doubles his corn crop, by putting into each hill, after the seed is 
dropped, a clam shell full of two parts of leached ashes, and one of 
plaster. Although this sounds much like the poetry or fiction of 
agriculture, it will cost but little to try it; and if the benefit is a tenth 
part of what is stated, the cost of the experiment will be amply re¬ 
munerated. 
Alternate husbandry, has been a principal means of converting one 
of the poorest counties of England, the county of Norfolk, into one 
of the most productive and wealthy. Most of this county possesses 
a sandy soil. Sixty years ago summer fallows, according to Young, 
were common there, and fields were left in grass three years. At 
the close of the last century, according to the same writer, no such 
things as summer fallows were known, and grass was left but two 
years. The number of horses were lessened, ploughings were not 
so frequent, often but one for barley; and some trusted to mere 
scarifying, and succeeded well. This change of system had the ef¬ 
fect to increase the product one-quarter and one-third. The same 
system is coming into operation upon our sandy soils, and with equal 
if not greater advantage. 
AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL. ~ 
The joint committee of the Senate and Assembly have reported a hill for esta¬ 
blishing an Agricultural School. As this bill may be discussed, the follow¬ 
ing account of a visit to an agricultural school in Switzerland, the first w© 
believe ever established, cannot be considered devoid of interest. We copy 
it from the October number of the Penny Magazine. 
In the month of August, 1832,1 travelled into Switzerland for the 
purpose of making myself acquainted with the schools and institu¬ 
tions at Hofwyl. Situated about three leagues from the picturesque 
capital of Bern, amidst a beautiful scenery, composed of a cultivat¬ 
ed vale, the Jura ridge of mountains, a pine forest, a small lake, and 
the glaciers of the Bernese Alps, stand the extensive buildings of 
the establishment, surrounded by about two hundred and fifty acres 
of farm land. Upon my first arrival, before I could obtain an oppor¬ 
tunity of presenting my letters to the benevolent founder, I wander¬ 
ed about in various directions,—all was business and activity. Here 
was a troop of lads cutting the ripened corn, while another troop 
was engaged in conducting it to the barns. Here was the forge in 
activity, and there some little gardeners performing various opera¬ 
tions in small plots of ground that were portioned out; here were a 
group of little girls gleaning, there others carrying water, most of 
them singing while thus employed. But my atttention was peculiar¬ 
ly arrested by about one hundred men, who in a large open build¬ 
ing, erected in a recess of the garden, appeared to be engaged like 
boys in a school-room ; over the entrance was inscribed this motto, 
“ The Hope of their Country.” 
I was at last fortunate enough to be admitted into the study of M. 
de Fellenberg,—a man somewhat advanced in years, with a coun¬ 
tenance beaming with intelligence and kindness. De Fellenberg 
was, by birth, one of the ancient aristocracy of the country, and in 
possession of the hereditary property of his family. Lie determined 
upon devoting his fortune and the labor of a life, in the endeavor to 
effect the regeneration of his native land, by the means of educa¬ 
tion. “ I will infuse good habits and principles into the children,” 
said he, “ for in twenty short years these children wil be the men, 
giving the tone and the manners to the nation.” For thirty-two 
years has he pursued his steady course, increasing in influence, and 
extending his establishment as his scheme grew upon him, until it 
has become what he described to me. “ This,” said he, pointing to 
a large building, “ is the institute for the boys of the higher classes. 
Here are their dining-rooms;—arranged on each side of yonder gal¬ 
leries are their dormitories. Here you see their gardens, their mu¬ 
seum, their work-shops, their school-rooms : here their gymnasium, 
where they exercise themselves in wet weather; here their stream 
of running water where they bathe every day : study is their em¬ 
ployment, bodily labor their recreation,—but bodily exertion I insist 
upon. There is no health, no vigor of mind, no virtue without it. 
Those persons grown to manhood, who are mixing with the boys, 
are placed by me to observe every action, and catch every expres¬ 
sion. My grand object is to comprehend thoroughly the character 
of my pupils, in order that I may work more efficaciously upon them. 
These persons are by no means considered as spies by the boys ; 
they are their companions. At Hofwyl all that is not in itself wrong 
is permitted. I never like to forbid a thing when I am unable to as¬ 
sign a reason for doing so: it creates a confusion in young minds 
with regard to principle, a thing most dangerous to their future hap- 
