THE CULTIVATOR 
make five or six gallons of vinegar, nine-tenths of the 
root being liquid constituent, each bushel containing 
about six gallons in measure besides the interstices. 
Doubtless the same process might be adopted for the 
root of the pie-plant, although it is too valuable at 
the east for destruction in this way. 
Importation of Cattle for Livingston County. 
The Evening Journal of this city, states that Messrs. 
Brooks & Duller, agents for a company of farmers 
in Livingston county, have purchased in England a ve¬ 
ry fine lot of Short Horn cattle, and shipped them from 
Liverpool in the ship Sultan early in April. The 
cattle are from the very finest herds in England, and 
will do credit to the gentlemen who have selected them, 
and prove of great value to the enterprising farmers of 
Livingston. Among them is a fine young bull and eight 
heifers from the herd of Mr. J. S. Tanqueray of Hen¬ 
don, Middlesex. The former is a son of the celebrated 
bull “ Balco,” bred by Mr. Bates, and now owned by 
Messrs. Becar & Morris of New York. The heifers 
are choice specimens from Mr. Tanqueray’s herd, 
and some of them are in calf to the “ Duke of Glouces¬ 
ter,” whose portrait and pedigree were published in 
the Country Gentleman of April 27. In addition to 
the above were seven cows and heifers from the herd ot 
Mr. Barnett, Stratton Park, Berks, several of them 
by “ Horatio,” now owned by Mr. Townley of Town- 
ley Park, and a brother of the far-famed cow “ Butter¬ 
fly ;” also one bull and three heifers from Mr. Ladd’s 
and herd at Ellington, Hunts; and one bull and heifer 
from the stock of Mr. Cartwright ol Aynhoe. 
Poisoned Animals. 
Messrs. Editors-t— Will you please inform me what 
to give sheep that have been poisoned by eating some¬ 
thing. A Subscriber. 
Dr. Dadd gives the following remedy for diseases of 
the stomach from eatiug poisonous plants :— 
Take the animal from pasture, put it on a boiled di¬ 
et of shorts, meal, linseed, and carrots. The following 
alterative may be mixed in the food : 
Powdered marsh mallows,.1 ounce, 
Sassafras bark,.2 do., 
Charcoal,.2 do., 
Liquorice, .2 do., 
giving a table-spoonful every night. 
Scabs on the Eyes of Cattle. 
Messrs. Editors —In answer to an inquiry of 
James Stevenson, Esq., of St, Davids, N. B., I would 
say that four years ago I bought a steer from a drove, 
that had a spot near his eye, precisely like that Mr. 
Stevenson describes. I put him in the yard with my 
oxen and steers. In a short time the whole herd were 
attacked with the disease—also some calves that were 
kept in a yard adjoining that of the oxen and steers. 
In regard to the cure, I think the simplest remedy 
is the best, if it answers the purpose. I took soft salt 
grease, and rubbed each animal with it a few times. 
The scurf peeled off in a short time, and the skin be¬ 
came smooth—the hair soon came out, and left no mark 
of the disease upon them. W. D. S. Chatham 4 
Corners , Col. co., JV. Y. 
Cheap Drains. 
Messrs. Editors —In reading your paper and other 
works on agriculture, I often find articles on blind 
draining. My brother and I having made an experi¬ 
ment on our farm in the town of Wales, Erie Co., N. Y., 
I am willing to give your readers a description of our 
drain, and the result after a lapse of more than twelve 
years test, it being laid down in the years of 1839 and 
1840. 
Our land was a retentive subsoil, and on such soil 
only would I recommend this kind of drain. We dug 
our ditch of sufficient width at the bottom, to admit a 
common round shovel, and from 20 to 30 inches deep, 
with moderately sloping sides. Then commencing at 
the upper end, we. laid a common hemlock, basswood 
or other slab, from 10 to 20 inches in width, with the 
sawed side downward, and the upper edge reclining 
against the side of the ditch so as to form a triangular 
throat between the slab and the side and bottom of the 
drain. We covered the irregular portions of the slabs 
with other pieces and chinked with turf. We placed 
the slabs end to end, the same as tile are laid, and were 
careful to keep the throat clear as we advanced. We 
formed openings from the surface wherever desirable, 
with open drains or dead-furrows leading to them, all 
of which continued to work well at the time I visited 
the farm in 1852. 
In addition I would say that we constructed a pent- 
stock at the barn-yard, taking the water a short dis¬ 
tance in pipes from one of the drains. We made a 
sink at the lower end of the drain, and sunk it about 
two feet below the bottom of the drain, to hold the loose 
dirt that might wash through. This was cleared when¬ 
ever necessary, that it might not choke the pipe. This 
too has more than answered our expectations, and sup¬ 
plied the stock with water except in very dry seasons. 
I think this is the cheapest mode of draining that I 
have seen, and that it will be as lasting as any other 
blind drain. In sections of country where lumber and 
slabs are plenty, farmers would do well to under-drain 
every wet portion of their plow-land, as the expense of 
slabs could not exceed five cents per rod, and the first 
crop would nearly or quite pay the whole expense. 
J. Wilbur. Bemis Heights, N. Y. 
Butter Dairy—Information Wanted. 
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Messrs. Editors — I intend next season to commence 
a Butter Dairy of about fifty cows, but previously I shall 
be obliged to erect stables, spring and ice houses. Will 
you, or some of your subscribers, oblige me by inform¬ 
ing me as to the best plan to build a stable, how large 
stalls; and, the barn being in a bank, if it would be bet¬ 
ter to make a manure cellar under the whole of it, with 
a drain in each stall. How a root cellar had best be 
made and how large. How a spring house should be 
constructed, having a good spring, and which is the best 
form of an ice house. 
I think of coming up to your State to procure my 
stock of cows. In which one of the southeast Coun¬ 
ties would I be likely to procure the best, and at what 
prices, and at what season. I have fed fifty-nine head 
of steers this winter, so presume that I could keep fifty 
cows. 
By answering the above questions (through the Cul¬ 
tivator,) as to how such buildings could be the cheap¬ 
est and best built, and at what cost, you would much 
oblige. Chester Co. Pa. 
Information is much needed on all the points named 
above, and we shall be greatly obliged to any of our 
friends who will furnish answers to any of our corres¬ 
pondent’s inquiries. 
