60 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
the air. The remedy employed duiinga general prevalence of this dis¬ 
temper in Europe, both for its prevention and cure, consisted in a mixture 
of equal parts of gunpowder, salt, soot, and brimstone; one spoonful of this 
composition was given for a dose, and washed down with warm water.. 
The most effectual preventive of this destructive contagion is, to keep the 
cattle cool during the summer, and to allow them a sufficiency of water. 
AM carrion should be speedily buried; and as the feeding of those useful 
animals in wet places, or on rotten grass or hay, frequently causes this 
malady, their food ought to consist of dry and sweet fodder.—f Willich.\ 
A correspondent in the Farmers’ Cabinet says, “ there are two processes 
recommended for the cure of the murrain in cattle; one of them is to give 
the animal one pint of spirits of turpentine, and in twenty four hours af¬ 
terwards a pint of olive oil or hog’s lard; in forty-eight hours afterwards 
half a pint of spirits of turpentine, and in twenty-four hours after this, hall 
a pint of olive oil or hog’s lard. The other is to give a pint of flax seed 
oil, and in two hours afterwards two pounds of glauber salts, followed im¬ 
mediately by repeated doses of warm water, for ten or twelve hours.” 
ADVANTAGES OF SOILING CATTLE. 
Von Thaer highly commends soiling over depasturing, and lays down 
the following facts as incontrovertible: 
“ 1 . A spot of ground which, when pastured upon, will yield sufficient 
food for only one head, will abundantly maintain four head of cattle in the 
stable, if the vegetables be mowed in proper time, and given to the.cattle 
in a proper order. 
“2. The stall-feeding yields, at least, double the quantity of manure 
from the same number of cattle; for the best and most efficacious summer 
manure is produced in the stable, and carried to the fields at the most pro¬ 
per period of its fermentation; whereas, when spread upon the meadows, 
and exhausted by the air and sun, its power is entirely wasted. 
“ 3. The cattle used to stall-feeding will yield a much greater quantity 
of milk, and increase faster in weight, when fattening, than when they go 
to the field. 
“ 4. They are less subject to accidents, do not suffer by the heat, by 
flies and insects; are not affected by the baneful fogs that are frequent in 
Germany, and bring on inflammations; on the contrary, if every thing be 
properly managed, they remain in a state of constant health and vigor.”— 
Com. to the Board of Agriculture, vol. 1 , p. 376. 
Our habits of farming take much from the force of Von Thaer’s facts— 
for w e neither regard land nor manure of any thing the value they do in 
Prussia; though if we should tun over less of the former, and better hus¬ 
band and apply the latter, we should undoubtedly be the gainers. Our farm¬ 
ers are apt to boast of the acies the} cultivate—of the bushels they sow; 
but it is very seldom you can come at their nett profits, or the products of 
an acre. 
BREEDING. 
Cooper gives us two excellent rules: 
“ 1. Choose those animals or vegetables to propagate from, that possess 
the qualities you wish to propagate, in the greatest perfection. Volumes 
may be written to illustrate and confirm this advice, he adds, but nothing 
can be added to it substantially. 
“ 2. Never quit one good breed, till you can pick out from a better. 
By following this plain method for a few generations, always seeking for 
those parents who have the points you want, in the greatest perfection, 
you will certainly improve your stock, whether of racers, cart horses, cows, 
corn or strawberries.” 
THE VALLEY OF THE MOHAWK, 
Is one of the most interesting districts that a stranger can vi it, who 
has a taste for the useful and picturesque of nature The flats are broad 
and of great natural fertility. The slopes from the intervale exhibit a 
diversified scenery, and afford beautiful sites for farm buildings, orchards 
and rural embellishments. The fertilizing Mohawk worms its way through 
the alluvial plain, while the canal on its southern, and the rai -road on ils 
northern I.order, thronged with boats and cars, and enlivened by the bus¬ 
tle of commerce and travel, afford to the traveller scenes of high and va¬ 
ried interest. The agriculture of the valle) has begun to improve. Some 
attention has been paid to draining—the ploughs i.ave been somewhat 
improved, and there is evidence, though slight, that ihe value of manures 
begins to be appreciated. The crops look better than we ever >aw them 
there. The great hindrance to good husbandry seems to be an excess of 
water, which may generally be got rid of by efficient draining; The existing 
drains are too shallow', and we saw no evidence of under-draining, for 
which the materials are abundant, and of the great utility of which we 
entertain not a doubt. The ploughing appeared to be every where superfi¬ 
cial, while the quality ofthe soil seemed to demand that it should be deep— 
six to nine inches. Upon the lower levels ridging w'ould prove efficacious in 
throwing oft the surplus water—for small grains and grass, these might 
be ten to twenty leet, with deep clean middle furrows—for corn, two 
bout ridges, equal to three feet, would be advantageous in a season like 
the present. The whole valley might be made a garden, by draining, 
manuring and deep ploughing. 
THE POST OFFICE. 
The frequent failures in the receipt of monies, transmitted to us by 
mail, are matters of sore grievance, and will compel us, if the evil does 
not abate, to require, that remittances be made no longer at our risk.— 
The following letters, mailed as indicated, have been stolen from the 
mail, or lost, in the last four months: 
Feb. 21, mailed by J. Hoy, Pittsfield, Mich.... !$1 
23, do M. Rainsville, Lexington, N.C...‘......... 5 
23-27, do W. B. Platt, Rhinebeck,.. 10 
March 1, do A. V. Wood, Woodville, Jeff.... 5 
15, do J. Donaldson, Nelson, Mad............... 10 
April 1, do Sol. Henkle. New-Market, Va............ 10 
1, do J. Stevens, Warsaw, Va................. 5 
ANTI-CATTLE CHOKER. 
John Canant, of Brandon, Vt. adopts the following mode of removing 
obstructions in the throat of his cattle, which he affirms is an infallible 
remedy. 
“ I take gunpowder,” says he in his letter to us, “ put up in the ferm 
of a common sized cartridge, say three inches in length, introduce it with 
the hand into the fhroat ofthe animal, holding up the head for a moment 
to prevent its being spit out, and the creature will immediately eject what¬ 
ever is in the throat without injury. All farmers know how to reach the 
throat with the hand by holding out the tongue.” 
Qrj- We are aware, as intimated by our New-York correspondent, that 
the Press Harrow is modelled after the “ Spiked Roller;” yet we think 
the first an improvemeni on the letter; and whether Mr. Conklin borrow¬ 
ed somewhat from an European model or not, he is eqally entitled to the 
merit of introducing to our agriculture a highly useful implement. Our 
correspondent’s suggestion in regard to hedges has been in part anticipat¬ 
ed in our preceding volumes, yet we will comply with his wish. The 
great desideratum is to obtain an efficient plant that will resist the cold, 
the drought, and the moles, or ground mice. The English hawthorn 
suffers fiom the two first, and the honey locust from the last. Experience 
must yet decide, whether our native species of thorn, the apple, buck¬ 
thorn, beach, &c. will answer best the desired putposes. No material, 
we are afraid, will be likely lo succeed, without more care, and perseve¬ 
rance than we are accustomed to bestow on this branch of improvement. 
STUMP EXTRACTOR. 
We have had inquiries from J. M. Garnet, Esq. of Virginia, and from 
others, 
1 . W r hat is the price of the machine called a stump extractor? 
2. How many oxen are required to work it? 
3. How many men are required to manage it? 
4. What will it perform? And, 
5. What is its promised durability? 
We have sought for information that might enable us to answer these 
questions satisfactorily, but with little success; and we now invite some 
gentleman to communicate the desired information. We are advised of a 
machine that is in operation in the valley of the Susqnehannah, near the 
Pennsylvania and New-York line, which, with a pair of oxen and a com¬ 
pliment of men, will extract 200 medium sized pine stumps in a day._ 
and that the price of the machine is $300. 
To cure, dogs of a sheep-killing propensity, & correspondent at Oxford, 
successfully adopted the following expedient, which we give in his own 
words:—“ I had a dog which I had raised, and he got into the habit of 
running after sheep, for which he was frequently and severely whipped, 
with no other effect than to make him cautious about be ! ng seen at his 
mischief of worrying and killing sheep. Finding it necessary to kill or 
cure the dog, I called about sixty sheep into a yard containing about one- 
fourth of an acre, (the yard should be so large that the sheep may exer¬ 
cise the dog from side to side, without being too much crowded.) I thqn 
selected one of the strongest wethers, without horns, because horns 
w add be like to get entangled in the rope, and retard the sheep—(a buck 
would probably do better.) I then tied one end of a flexible rope loosely 
round the sheep’s neck, and the other round the dog’s neck carefully, so 
as not to choke him, nor admit his head to draw out. The length of the 
rope should be such, that when it is tied on, the dog’s head will be about 
three feet behind the sheep’s hind feet, when the sheep is running.— 
Thus harnessed, the strangely mated, pair was let off, and then the sport 
commenced, and continued, to the gratification of all who attended, about 
one hour ; the wether having the full command, ran, pulling the dog ra¬ 
pidly, who, in his severe struggling to get away, went where he did not 
want to go, heels over head, among the sheep The first fright of the 
sheep, (not of the dog,) being soon over, they stood still; and then by 
means of salt and calling, I kept them as quiet as I could, till the dog was 
sufficiently cowed. The wether then turned upon him, and played the 
battering-ram (butting,) with such effect that he made the dog cry for 
help, and would undoubtedly have killed him: but when I thought he had 
enough, I untied them. The dog, ever after this sporting match, showed 
