200 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
In cases of choaking several remedies have been prescribed, but they 
are mostly difficult to be put in practice by the inexperienced, and doubt¬ 
ful at least in their effects. Those I have witnessed, for want of skill, and 
frequently by too much violence, have hastened death, rather than saved 
life. And in my own case, when about to kill the ox, that w*as consider¬ 
ed as lost, to end his suffering, a neighbor said that adrovier, (whose name 
is not recollected,) had stated that a bottle 9 f soft soap turned into the 
beast’s throat, would occasion the obstiuction to be removed, either by 
disgorging or pressing it downward. 
It was in winter, and the soap would not run from a bottle freely with¬ 
out dilution. Hence a large junk bottle was obtained, and as much soap as 
it would hold, including warm water enough, after having been blended 
by a thorough shaking, to have it run freely while warm. The ox was 
next securely fastened in a shed. A strong halter put in his mouth, and 
his head drawn up by a rope passing over a beam. A man of strong hands 
then drew out his tongue as far as he could hold it fast, while another 
thrust the nose, of the bottle deeply in his throat, till it was emptied of its 
contents. The ox’s head was then let down, and in a great effort by him 
made, either to avoid strangulation or the offence of warm soap, the po¬ 
tato was thrown out. And thereafter, within an hour, the ox ate freely, 
and subsequently fattened well. 
In 1836,1 bought a pair of working oxen. One of them on two occa¬ 
sions, by eating, after considerable fasting, voraciously, became bloated or 
hoven, and upon information of the ailment, the soap was put down him 
as before mentioned, and the ox at each time was presently relieved. 
The same ox afterwards fed safely during eight months, preformed well, 
and though the pair were but of middling size, were sold at the end of 
the above time, in perfect health, for $130. . 
I am your friend, NICHOLAS RUSSELL. 
PERIODICALS OFTEN EFFECT THOSE WHO DO NOT READ 
THEM. 
J Buel,— Sir,—I am disposed to mention one fact, which may en¬ 
courage you in your arduous labors, and which may also show the impor¬ 
tant and responsible situation of editors and conductors of public journals. 
In the course of the last summer a neighbor of mine invited me into his 
orchard to witness the effects of an experiment he had made, at the sug¬ 
gestion of another. Last winter one of his apple trees of considerable 
size was peeled around near the bottom by mice. He took four or five 
cions from the top of the same tree in the spring, and inserted them in the 
bark, one end below and the other above the naked trunk, in the manner 
of side grafting. When I saw the tree (perhaps in August) it was grow¬ 
ing very vigorously, the sap having passed through the inserted cions. On 
seeing this, I was determined to send you an account of it, that it might 
be spread out before the public in the Cultivator. Not long after this occur¬ 
rence, I was reading one of the first volumes of this excellent work, which 
I had recently received, and found a description of a similar process there. 
I know not through how many hands this information had passed before it 
reached my neighbor, but it is certain he himself had not read it in the 
Cultivator. I mention this to show, that however extensively a useful 
publication may be circulated, its salutary influence may extend to hun¬ 
dreds, and thousands, who may never see it. On the other hand, let a 
publication be circulated containing articles which may be hurtful to the 
best interests of man, and its deleterious effects may be felt by thousands 
and millions, long after the publisher may have gone to give up his last 
account before his final Judge. O, how unspeakably important that eve¬ 
ry editor, and every one who presents any thing before the public eye, 
should never publish any thing but that may be useful to some one, either 
for time or eternity. L. H. 
ON GYPSUM AS A MANURE FOR MEADOWS. 
Mr. Editor,— Having, for the last few years, paid a good deal of at¬ 
tention to the subject of reclaiming and improving old meadows, permit 
me to give you the result of my experience for the benefit of the readers 
of the Cultivator. 
I purchased four years ago about one hundred acres of land, that had 
been laid down to meadow many years previous. Part of it w r as alluvial, 
the paunch. At the place designated, it is said the paunch adheres to the side." 
There is no danger in the operation, though it be stabbing, no apparent pain 
is occasioned, nor visible injury follows. Through the aperture the rarified 
air escapes with a violence proportioned to the degree of hoven or bloat. This 
operation from its simplicity, the necessary instrument may always be found 
near at hand; and the ability of any one, with but a small share of firmness, 
without the aid of others to afford relief in every case where the ailment is ho¬ 
ven, simply. A more particular description of hoven in cattle, its cause, and 
the cure in the note described, may be seen in the second Volume of the Plough 
Boy, of March 25th, 1820, at page 339, in the communication of Marlin E. 
Winchell. 
* The trocar, a small surgical instrument, is preferable to the knife, for this 
operation. The danger in this operation arises from the fact, that as the foul 
air and matter escapes, the paunch contracts, and the foul matter, instead of 
passing out through the tube inserted for its passage, finds a lodgment between 
the skin and stomach, where it putrifies, and destroys life.— ConcL 
the rest upland adjoining. It yielded grass very unequally. In many 
places the lowland was light, and so of the upland, but in no part was it 
heavy grass, or upon the whole a profitable meadow. For the purpose of 
improving it, I drained such parts as required it, ploughed up portions, 
manured and again seeded; and other portions I manured with dung 
spread upon the surface, after having first scarified it with a loaded har¬ 
row. In places, however, w'here the surface was uneven, I previously 
applied the roller. My labors all tended to improve the subsequent crops, 
as each succeeding year the meadow gave additional yields, but still as a 
whole I was disappointed, for it did not fully meet my expectations. The 
manure was of some service, but not as much as I anticipated, and as all 
the product of the meadow, and likewise of the farm adjoining, was fed 
out upon it, the quantity made was large; it was, therefore, freely used, 
but not with proportionate beneficial results. The spring before the last, 
I was induced to apply gypsum to some of the poorer parts. The effect 
was decidedly beneficial, more apparent than what had followed from the 
application of dung, and so much so that I was induced by it to spread 
over almost the whole surface of the meadow the last spring; the growth 
of grass last year was very uniform and heavy; portions of the field that 
had hitherto given but an indifferent yield, now gave a heavy swath. The 
quantity received from it was about one-third more than it was two years 
previous, and of a fine quality of grass. The gypsum has the peculiar 
property of bringing in clover where it was never seen before, and ifs 
growth in such places as had been plaistcred in the present instance was 
so striking, that a superficial observer would have thought the seed had 
been freely applied. 
Farmers I think are not much in the habit of sowing plaister on their 
meadows. The crop they expect from them they leave solely to the 
bounty of Providence, without any aid or effort from them to increase it; 
but if my observation or experience can be of any use, I trust such as see 
this article, will at least be induced to try a sprinkling of plaister upon 
them; and I have the confidence to believe they will be amply remune¬ 
rated, not only for their trouble, but a hundred fold for the expense. 
__. A. 
TO PRESERVE FENCE POSTS. 
Mr. J. Buel, —Dear Sir,—If you think the following is worth a notice 
in your valuable paper, you will be at liberty to publish it. The subscriber 
believes it may be useful to many of your readers. 
In the spring of 18221 set some sawed hemlock fence posts, one-half of 
them I salted, boring a hole with an auger, commencing a little above the 
surface the of ground, boring downward and nearly through the post, then 
nearly filled the hole with salt, and plugged the hole to exclude the air 
and water. In the spring of 1830, the posts not salted, were all rotted off; 
on removing them there was not found a particle of sound wood below the 
surface of the ground. The salted posts are all now standing, and to ap¬ 
pearance, may stand years longer. ABEL STILLMAN. 
Poland, Herkimer co. JY. Y. January 10 th, 1838. 
To cure scratches in horses, I have been very successful with an oint¬ 
ment of, say one ounce of corrosive sublimate of mercury in one pint of 
butter or lard, stirred while cooling. Apply moderately once in twenty- 
four hours to clean shanks. V. DOTY. 
Carthage, Illi. December 6th, 1837. 
_ EXTRACTS. __ 
MIJYTS TO STJITESJtKEiW, 
Oil promoting the Collection and Diffusion of useful Knowledge. 
It is a saying sanctioned by the authority of Bacon, that “ knowledge is 
power.” Of all the various sorts of power, enumerated by that great phi¬ 
losopher, this seems by far the most important. What gives one man any 
real superiority over another, but the knowledge he possesses? What en¬ 
ables some individuals, to produce abundant harvests,—to carry on a pros¬ 
perous commerce,—to establish successful manufactures,—to excel in 
mechanism, or any other useful art, but the acquisition, and judicious ap¬ 
plication of that knowledge, in which others are deficient? 
That the power and prosperity of a country, depend on the diffusion of 
useful knowledge, can hardly be questioned; and there is probably no 
art, in which a variety of knowledge, is of more essential importance, than 
in that of agriculture. The extent of information necessary to bring it to 
any thing like perfection, is far greater than is generally supposed. To 
preserve the fertility of the soil;—to free it from superfluous moisture;— 
to cultivate it t the greatest advantage;—to raise its productions at the 
least expense;—to procure the best instruments of husbandry;—to select 
the stock likely to be the mo3t profitable;—to feed them in the most judi¬ 
cious manner, and to bring them to the most advantageous markets;—to 
secure the harvest, even in the most unpropitious seasons;—to separate 
the grain from the straw with economy and success;—and to perform all 
the other operations of agriculture in the most judicious modes, require a 
greater extent, and variety of knowledge, than might, at first view, be 
judged requisite. 
