1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Now, it is to this, to me, inexplicable fact, that I 
desire to call your attention. Why was it that on the 
same soil, under precisely similar circumstances, that 
the northern was so much affected, while the native 
was entirely free from this disease. My reading has 
hitherto led me to suppose the rust to be some contin- 
gency of the season. Am I to believe so still, or shall 
I attribute it to the seed sown, and brought with it 
from its northern home ? If the latter, may I not ex¬ 
pect the disease to be generated at each successive 
sowing. 
Permit me to invite your notice to another matter 
incidentally brought out here. From the foregoing 
dates given, a difference of six days in the ripening of 
the two kinds is perceived. May I expect the White- 
flint^as it acclimates, to become earlier, like most of 
the northern fruits introduced into the south, or will 
the native retain its superiority on this point ? Your 
views are solicited. Will. H. Wills. Brinkleyville, 
N. C., Sept. 5, 1848. 
Draining. 
As the subject of underdraining, and the manner of 
constructing drains is justly engaging the attention of 
many, I wish to state a plan which I think in the ab¬ 
sence of better materials, answers a very good pur¬ 
pose. Every farmer who has loose stones on his farm, 
has the materials at hand; while at the same time he 
may be ridding his land of a great detriment to its 
proper cultivation. Dig a ditch from two to two and 
a half feet deep, sixteen inches wide at the bottom; lay 
stones six inches in diameter on each side, which leaves 
a water course of four inches in the centre. Take 
stones of larger dimensions and cover over. By draw¬ 
ing a quantity of stones along the line of the ditch, a 
selection can be made, and after placing some on each 
side of the top-stones, should they not fill out to the 
sides of the ditch, the remainder can be thrown in at 
random, on which can be strewed some shavings or 
straw, and then covered. A team and plow will great¬ 
ly facilitate the covering operation. Flat stones would 
be preferable for covering could they be obtained, 
which would also prevent the necessity of digging so 
deep. W. Ansley. Rushville, N. Y., August, 1848. 
Sawdust Charring and Clay Burning. 
Having been repeatedly applied to for instructions 
for charring sawdust, and also for burning clay sub¬ 
soils, containing little or no organic matter to act as 
fuel, I take the occasion of Mr. Whitmore’s paper at 
the Royal Agricultural Society, as lately reported by 
you, to bring the two questions together, and let them 
answer each other. Charred sawdust is a form of 
charcoal particularly adapted for manure, but the diffi¬ 
culty is to keep so light and loose a substance from 
falling into the fire and burning away, if put on sparing¬ 
ly, or if heaped up, to prevent this from filling and 
choking the air-way, and thus extinguishing the fire. 
The clay subsoil of stiff soils, turned up and burnt, not 
only manures by yielding its alkaline and other fertili¬ 
sing ingredients, but at the same time both deepens and 
loosens the soil; three benefits of great importance. 
But such subsoils, rising in heavy clods, as contain very 
little combustible matter, require fuel to keep them 
burning; which is not always at hand, nor to be had 
cheap. When sawdust is within reach it is just the 
thing; the clay will supply the knobs to' build up with, 
and support the sawdust with air way between; the 
skill of the burner being exercised in so proportioning 
and arranging them, that the sawdust shall fall in fast 
enough to keep up the fire, and moderate the air way 
to the charring point, without filling in so as to extin¬ 
guish it. And this may be done by varying the ar¬ 
rangement according to the proportions. Where clay 
321 
be assas 
burning is the object, one ton of sawdust would proba¬ 
bly suffice for 100 tons of clay; and where the object is 
to char the sawdust, I think with skilful management, 
two tons of clay would do for one ton of sawdust, con¬ 
sidering that the clay does not consume and will shrink 
but little, whilst much sawdust falls in through the hol¬ 
lows, as it becomes charred; where clay is not at hand 
sods of peat may be used instead. Both are improved 
by the charcoal being disseminated through the sub¬ 
stance of the clay, which may be easily done with the 
shovel before burning and while the clay is soft, but 
this may hardly pay for the labor unless in garden 
culture. There is yet another method of charring saw¬ 
dust for manure, on a different principle; that is, by 
the heat produced in slaking lime. If wet sawdust be 
heaped up with fresh burnt lime, the wet will be drawn 
out by the lime for slaking, and the heat produced may 
fire the heap, and burn the sawdust to ashes; but if the 
proportion of sawdust to lime is very great, keeping 
the stones of lime far apart, the heat of slaking will be 
too much weakened by dispersion to produce fire. By 
keeping a medium, then, and covering well in from the 
air, we may attain a point at which fire will be pro¬ 
duced in the heart of the heap, but prevented from 
breaking out to destroy the charcoal. The medium 
must depend more or less on the quality and dampness 
of the sawdust; but for that of fir, in its ordinary damp 
state in the saw-pit, by the changes of weather, we 
might try 20 bushels to one of lime, laying one fourth 
as a bed, mixing one-fourth of the wettest with the 
lime, and covering in with the remaining half. If the 
fire break through, more sawdust might be heaped on, 
and so much more charred; or if no more, the holes 
may be stopped with earth in the usual manner.— Ag, 
Gazette. 
S>isea§es of Animals. 
Red Water in Cows. 
In perusing your journal of the present month, (Au¬ 
gust,) I learn that there has been a great mortality 
among cattle, resulting from a disease called red 
water. This name is given to it from the red color of 
the urine, being only a symptom of functional derange¬ 
ment. The ounce of nitre /'recommended in the arti¬ 
cle alluded to, would act as a diuretic, and make the 
powerful animal weak; it might also change the cha¬ 
racter of the urine; at best it would only be treating 
symptoms, and could not possibly contribute anything 
towards the cure. I allude to the chronic form of this 
disease. The skillful surgeon will immediately recog¬ 
nize a derangement of all the functions, a vitiation of 
every secretion, and a loss of vital power. Hence we 
lay it down as a fundamental principle, that those who 
treat symptoms alone, never cure disease, and the ani¬ 
mal often dies, a victim to the treatment , instead of 
the malady. This form of disease is considered to be 
epidemic, yet all animals are not likely to be attacked, 
although exposed to the same atmospheric influence; 
for, if there is a perfect physiological equilibrium be¬ 
tween the solids and fluids, the nervous energy, and 
circulating system, then the animal is safe. The pro¬ 
per treatment of the disease is, to excite the liver and 
intestines to action, which are in a torpid state j next, 
to change morbid action; and lastly, to tone up and in¬ 
vigorate the whole system. 
I was tempted to make these few remarks, from the 
consciousness that this malady will yield just as readily 
as any other to the proper remedial agents. You quote 
from Cole’s Veterinarian, that red water is most com¬ 
mon in cows of weak constitution; a general relaxa¬ 
tion; poor blood, &c.; that the urine is brown and 
tinged with yellow. This shows that morbific matter 
