146 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
weakness will hang about the horse for many days or weeks, and j 
inflammation will often ensue from the over-irritation of the intesti¬ 
nal canal. 
Long continued custom has made aloes the almost invariable pur¬ 
gative of the horse, and very properly so; for there is no other at 
once so sure and safe. The Barbadoes aloes, although sometimes 
very dear, should be alone used. The dose, with a horse properly pre¬ 
pared, will vary irom five to seven drachms. The preposterous 
doses of nine, ten, or even twelve drachms are, happily for the horse, 
generally abandoned. Custom has assigned the form of a ball to 
physic, but good sense will, in due time, introduce the solution of 
aloes, as acting more speedily, effectually and safely. 
The only other purgative on which dependence can be placed is 
the croton. The farina or meal of the nut is used ; but from its acri¬ 
mony it should be given in the form of ball with linseed meal. The 
dose varies from a scruple to half a drachm. It acts more speedily 
than the aloes, without the nausea, which they produce; but it 
causes more watery stools, and consequently more debility. 
Linseed oil is an uncertain but safe purgative, in doses from a 
pound to a pound and a half. Olive oil is more uncertain but safe ; 
aud castor oil, that mild aperient in the human being, is both uncer¬ 
tain and unsafe. Epsom salts are inefficacious, except in immense 
doses of a pound and a half, and then not always safe. 
RAISING DUCKS AND TURKEYS. 
In the Agriculturist of last year appeared two articles, one on the 
best mode of raising ducks, and the other on turkeys, Two sea¬ 
sons have since passed away, and the writer of this has been enabled 
to test the efficacy of those directions ; and in every instance that 
has come under his knowledge, they have been attended with per¬ 
fect success. The direction for raising ducks, were to feed them 
on animal food and keep them dry. Individuals who have adopted 
this plan, have sent to our markets from 500 to 700 ducks of the 
finest kinds, and they have had no diseases among them, and found 
no difficulty in raising them. 
Two or three individuals who tried the experiment of driving 
their turkeys when young, to a distance from the house, where the 
greatest number of insects were to be found, and feeding and hous¬ 
ing them in the manner directed in the Agriculturist, have stated, 
that they have raised from 100 to 300 turkeys, and have pronounced 
it to be a method, which of all others, they believed to be best cal¬ 
culated to be attended with success.— Southern Agriculturist. 
THE MEASUREMENT OF IIAY IN THE STACK, 
For the purpose of ascertaining its weight, is made by multiply¬ 
ing the length, breadth and height into each other ; and if it has 
been allowed to settle in the stack during the winter, ten solid yards 
of meadow hay, in good condition, will generally weigh about one 
ton. The number of yards depending, however, partly upon the old 
or young state in which the grass was cut before it was made into 
hay, and partly upon the dry or moist condition in which it was 
stacked, as well as upon the length of time which it has lain—all 
these circumstances should be minutely examined; for if it is in a 
very large stack of more than a year old, nine, and in some cases 
eight yards will make a ton; clover, lying somewhat lighter in the 
stack, will generally take eleven or twelve yards to make a ton; 
and sometimes, when it has been staked very dry, thirteen may be 
required; but the average of the last year’s clover may be assumed 
at twelve yards.* 
* Bayldon on Rents and Tillages, 3d edit. p. 159. The mode of calculation 
is as follows :—Supposing the stack to be ten yards long at the bottom, and 
eleven at the eaves ; four and a half wide at the hottom, and five and a half at 
the eaves ; and presuming it to be four yards in height to the eaves ; and to rise 
three yard’s to the point of the roof; in order to find the contents, the dimen¬ 
sions are summed up thus— 
Medium length. yards 
Do. breadth .1*5 5 
521 
Do. height. X 5 including one-third of tho rise of 
- the roof. 
10) 262) = 26) tons, or 29 1-6 loads. 
If the stack swells out considerably towards the eaves, the height—if taken 
against the sides—will appear to be greater than it is in reality ; it should 
therefore be measured by a pole set up perpendicularly to the eaves. When it 
is required to measure nn irregularly formed stack, the contents may be found 
by giving and taking proportionate quantities of the separate parts, or by mea¬ 
suring or computing it in diflorcnt divisions. If round, a more complex calcu¬ 
lation is necessary, and can hardly bo ascertained with accuracy without hav- 
Yovmg- Men’s Department. 
Fairfield , Dec. 6th, 1824. 
Dear Sir —The following remarks are from the pen of a young 
lady of a superior education, and thinking perhaps they may be be¬ 
neficial to the laboring community, I with much reluctance obtain¬ 
ed permission to forward them to you. If you think them worth 
publishing, you can insert them in your truly useful Cultivator.. 
L. 
THE MIND MAKES THE MAN. 
Power cannot arrest the mind, or agricultural pursuits fetter the 
understanding; and in youth these faculties are to be exerted; the 
talent given us, however trifling, is to be cultivated; and the princi¬ 
ples which we carry with us through life are to be established. It 
is ere the shade of manhood flits across our brow, that we are fitted 
for the sphere which we are destined to occupy through life, and when 
the foundation of our future happiness is based. 
An idea is prevalent, that those who move in the middle and low¬ 
er walks of life, should not search deep into the hidden stores of li¬ 
terature ; and this has (considering it to be a fatal error on which 
thousands have wrecked their frail barks,) elicited the following re¬ 
marks. The impression to which so many adhere, that learning to¬ 
tally disqualifies the laboring part of community for their various 
avocations in life, has too long wound its serpentine coil around 
them, and been an almost insurmountable barrier to improvements in 
the agricultural and mechanical departments. And from the lack of 
knowledge, these branches of science have suffered, and doubtless 
will continue to suffer severely ; and if this death like legarthy which 
broods over our land cannot be removed, our country will be an irre¬ 
parable loser. 
In vain do our boasted patriots and philanthropists write, in blaz¬ 
ing characters, equality, while the majority of the minds of our citi¬ 
zens remain steeped in the corrupted waters of ignorance and vice ! 
True it is, that the greatest share of those who follow agricultural 
pursuits can read, write, and have a slight knowledge of geography, 
grammar and arithmetic; but a very limited number can be found 
who have proceeded far in the science of mathematics, or entered 
the rich and varied fields of natural philosophy ; who have scanned 
the deep and majestic wonders of chemistry; traversed the classic 
fields of Greece and Rome, and imbibed Ihe glowing sentiments, the 
golden and useful thoughts of ancient times. Yet upon these vari¬ 
ous sciences are based the mighty fabrics of mechanics and agricul¬ 
ture. Little do such imagine, that a building, however simple, is 
never erected without the rules of measuration, and if they under¬ 
stand not the art themselves, they are dependent upon the know¬ 
ledge of others. While these are facts, should not the laboring class 
improve each moment as it wings its rapid flight towards eternity in 
storing their minds with substantial knowledge, which not only ren¬ 
ders them respectable and valuable members of society, but will 
greatly contribute to their individual happiness through life. If all 
agriculturists were intimately acquainted with the study of che¬ 
mistry, we should perceive that branch of labor reduced to a sci¬ 
ence. But instead of this, not one in a hundred has ever opened a 
treatise upon the subject, and evencan not name any of the terms. 
Again : Natural philosophy is connected with both the mechanic 
and farming interests. By it, the mechanic is taught the use and 
form of the pulley, the inclined plane, the steelyards and their pow¬ 
er; the pump and other" hydraulics. If a person wishes to become 
perfect in his trade, let him first enter deeply into this science, and 
he soon will stand at the head of his profession. Long has public 
opinion held the mechanical and agricultural world in the chains of 
ignorance. Yet a few daring spirits have overstepped the narrow 
limits of prejudice, and perfected these sciences as they now ap¬ 
pear. 
It is required of a man who wishes to become an adept in the 
study of divinity, law or medicine, to pursue a course of study from 
seven to ten years. And shall those who are engaged in the most 
difficult of all professions, viz. that of mechanics and agriculture, 
scoff at the idea of book learning 1 
in" resource to geometry. Mr. Bayldon, however, mentions a simple method, 
which consists in measuring the circumference at the bottom, and at regular 
distances up to the eaves, which must be added together, and divided by their 
joint number for a mean circumference ; the sqaare of which must then be 
multiplied by the decimal .07958, and this product by the height up the eaves, 
and one-third of the rise of the roof, added together and this divided by 27 
(the calculation being made in leet) will give the product in decimal yards. 
