THE CULTIVATOR. 
31 
DICTIONARY OF TERMS 
Used in Agriculture and its Kindred Sciences. 
FAT. The oils and the fat of animals differ only in 
fluidity. At common temperatures the last are concrete 
or solid, while the former are fluid. The principal va¬ 
rieties of animal fat, are spermaceti and whale oils, 
butter, tallow, lard, and suet. Whale or train oil, is 
extracted from the blubber of the whale, and is origi¬ 
nally solid fat. It is prepared by melting in large cop- 
per vessels. Spermaceti is the oily substance found in 
the head of a particular kind of whale, and is separated 
from the fibrous part by pressure. Whale oil is com¬ 
posed of carbon 68. oxygen 16. and hydrogen 15. Sper¬ 
maceti contains of carbon 78. oxygen 10. and hydrogen 
12. Butter is an animal oil or fat, and like the other 
oils is apt to become rancid by the absorption of oxygen. 
This is owing in a great measure to the fluids or butter¬ 
milk remaining in it; and the way to preserve it is to 
free it from buttermilk, exclude the air, and keep it at 
a low temperature. The name of tallow is usually 
given to the fat of cattle and sheep. That of pork, is 
called lard or suet. Strictly speaking, lard is the name 
of the fat of swine prepared by melting or trying ; and 
suet is the pure or leaf fat which does not require this 
process. With farmers, however, the whole of the fat 
taken from the animal is usually submitted to the try¬ 
ing process, and is all called lard or suet indiscriminate¬ 
ly. The animal oils are used for a variety of purposes, 
principally for burning, domestic cookery, and making 
soap. Animal fat is composed of two different substan¬ 
ces called stearine and elaine, the former of the greatest 
consistence, the latter more fluid, and on the relative 
proportions of these, is in a great degree depending the 
texture of the substance. Fat is accumulated on ani¬ 
mals by good feeding, rest, and quiet; and is of good 
quality only in those creatures that are in good health. 
The butter or the lard of a diseased animal, should al¬ 
ways be rejected as unfit for domestic uses, particularly 
cookery. 
FECUNDATION. This is that process of nature by 
which the germ of the animal or plant is vivified, or ex¬ 
cited from the dormant state in which it would remain, 
to a progressive development of its peculiar form and 
organs. The fecundation of the germ or ovum in the 
animal is involved in obscurity; we only know that it 
is accomplished by the application of a fluid called the 
seminal fluid. Generally the organs of fecundation are 
confined to different animals, but in some, as in the 
snail, the organs of reproduction usually given to sepa¬ 
rate individuals, are found in the same animal. In the 
Batrachian reptiles, (frogs, lizards, &c.,) the ova are 
impregnated after their expulsion from the body ; in all 
other cases, the fecundation is internal. All animals 
that produce their young from eggs, having a calcareous 
covering as birds, &c., are termed Oviparous. The eggs 
of the viper and salamander are never laid, but hatched 
ia the body ; such are termed Ovoviviparous. Animals 
which are not produced from an egg, properly so called, 
but which for a time remain attached to the interior 
of a cavity in the body of the parent, are termed Vivipa¬ 
rous. Animals of the class of the Opossum and Kan¬ 
garoo, are called Marsupiala as soon after fecundation, 
the young are received into a pouch, and nourished with 
milk by the parent. The fecundation of plants is ac¬ 
complished in very different modes in the several class¬ 
es. In one class, the Phanerogamous plants, the whole 
of the double apparatus required for reproduction is 
contained in the flower. The fecundating organs are 
the stamens, placed near and usually parallel to the pis¬ 
til or central column, which is terminated by a glandu¬ 
lar organ callel the anther. This organ furnishes a 
fine powder called the pollen , and this, received by the 
stigma, conveyed through the tube of the pistil, impreg¬ 
nates the seed by the fluid the powder contains. In 
some plants, as in Indian corn, the fecundating organs 
are on different parts of the same individual; and in a 
limited number of others, as the date, the reproductive 
organs, as in the higher classes of animals, are on se¬ 
parate individuals. 
FEEDING. The preparation of cattle for the butcher 
is usually called feeding ; while the same process with 
swine, is termed fattening. All animals delight in a 
change of food ; and nature has supplied this variety in 
abundance ; but in the domesticated state they are fre¬ 
quently confined to one kind of food ; and in feeding, or 
fattening, this is most generally the case. Many expe¬ 
riments have been made to test the value of numerous 
kinds of food employed in feeding animals, both by ana¬ 
lysis and by weighing, but the results have been very 
unsatisfactory, if not in some instances contradictory. 
This will be accounted for, when we remember that the 
quality of some species of food will often vary from 1 to 
20 per cent in the course of an experiment; that differ¬ 
ent breeds acquire various proportions of flesh from 
equal quantities of the same food consumed by them ; 
and that scarcely two individuals of the same breed can 
be found that will gain equal weights of flesh from equal 
quantities of the same kind of food. The value of any 
article for feeding, does not wholly depend on the quan¬ 
tity of nutriment it contains, but also on the nutriment 
being combined with some substance that shall pro¬ 
perly distend and excite the stomach ; and experience 
abundantly proves that the most nutritive foods are not 
the most healthy, or the best adapted to the animal sys¬ 
tem. In feeding animals it is necessary the supply of 
food should be abundant ; that it should be given regu¬ 
larly ; that there should be a sufficient variety to pro¬ 
mote health ; and that it should be so prepared as to 
lessen the labor of digestion as much as possible. The 
grinding or breaking of grain, the steaming of roots, 
and the cutting of straw, corn fodder, and even hay, has 
been proved useful on the above principle, and import¬ 
ant on the score of actual saving in the expense of feeding. 
FELDSPAR. With the exception perhaps of quartz, 
there is no mineral more widely diffused than feldspar. 
It is an essential ingredient in all the primitive rocks, 
is found in granite, gneiss, porphyries, greenstone, trap 
and other rocks, in lavas, and in most meteoric stones. 
The principal use to which feldspar has been convert¬ 
ed in the arts is in the manufacture of china ware, of 
which it constitutes the principal and most important 
part. In China, this decomposed feldspar is called Ka¬ 
olin. Beds of it are found in Saxony, in France, and 
in the United States. Unlike some of the other primi¬ 
tive rocks, the decomposition of feldspar aids in fertili¬ 
zing the soil, a fact explained by its composition, which 
is nearly that of some of the best earths, the vegetable 
mold alone being wanting. According to the analysis 
of Vauquelin, 100 parts of feldspar contain 64 of sili¬ 
ca, 20 of alumine, 14 of potash, and 2 of lime. There 
is reason to believe that were it necessary, the extrac¬ 
tion of potash from this rock might be profitably pursu¬ 
ed, and eventually we may derive this important salt 
from this source. 
FENCES. Next to a good soil, good fences may be 
considered one of the most indispensable conditions of 
good farming. Without them the crop is never safe ; 
cattle are sure to become unruly and troublesome ; and 
neighbors too become vexed, and at last quarrelsome. 
In some countries, as in France, there are few or no en¬ 
closures. The inhabitants principally live in villages, 
and the animals of all kinds, are kept under the charge 
of individuals who prevent their injuring the crops. In 
England, stone walls and hedges are used for forming 
enclosures ; and the last are so abundant, as to form 
one of the most prominent and beautiful features in the 
landscape. In the United States, rail fence of some 
kind is principally used ; the most common being the 
post and rail, or the Virginia worm fence. The hedge 
fence is as yet scarcely known among us, and the at¬ 
tempts that have been made to introduce them, either 
owing to unskilfulness, the selection of improper mate¬ 
rials, or the peculiar nature and dryness of our climate 
in the summer months, have not been very successful. 
It is probable, however, that these difficulties will even¬ 
tually be surmounted, and hedges become common. At 
present, where stone can be procured suitable for wall, 
fences partly or wholly of this material are the best that 
can be made. A stone wall of five feet, is a better se¬ 
curity against unruly animals than a rail fence of seven ; 
and though generally costing more at first, is not unfre- 
quently the cheapest in the end. Where stone for a 
whole wall cannot be had, a good fence is made by lay¬ 
ing a wall of three feet, placing a rail on the top of this, 
then staking it, finishing with another rail. 
FERMENTATION. The most active agent in the 
decomposition of vegetables and the production of mold, 
is fermentation. While life remains in the plant, the 
tendency to new combinations and chemical changes, is 
controlled ; but when the vital principle is extinct, it 
becomes subject to the unrestrained influences of chem¬ 
ical affinity. The result of this is fermentation, which 
has been divided into four kinds ;—the saccharine, the 
vinous, the acetic, and the putrefactive. The first pro¬ 
duces sugar ; the second, alcohol; the third vinegar ■ 
and the fourth, vegetable mold. It is with the last, 
therefore, that the farmer is principally interested ; as 
on this process depends the advantages he derives from 
manures, from green crops used as dressings, and from 
the preparation of composts. As active agents of fer¬ 
tilization in the shape of gaseous matters are given off 
by vegetables during their fermentation, it is clear that 
this process should always be conducted with reference 
to this fact ; and when it can be conducted beneath a 
covering of earth that will absorb the escaping gas, the 
earth becomes impregnated with these fertilizing agents, 
and is most valuable in increasing the crop to which it 
is applied. Fermentation goes on the most effectually 
between 70° and 100° ; when it exceeds the last, the 
fermenting vegetable matter is injured, and its power 
of aiding vegetation seriously impaired. Those farm¬ 
ers, therefore, who are in the habit of piling their barn 
yard manures, should protect them with a covering of 
earth, to absorb the escaping gas, and if the heat in the 
fermentation rises above 100°, the pile should be open¬ 
ed and the ingredients mixed to retard the process. 
FILTRATION. In agriculture, this term means the 
same as leaching, and is applied to that process by 
which the finest and most valuable parts of manures, 
sink below the reach of the roots of plants, and are thus 
partially lost to vegetation. It can only occur in very 
deep porous soils of sand or gravel, and from this pro¬ 
perty of thus swallowing up manures with little or no 
permanent benefit, such lands are in many parts of the 
country, known by the name of “ hungry.” This lia¬ 
bility to infiltration is only injurious when the mass of 
porous sand or gravel is of great depth, as every farm¬ 
er knows that a soil friable to the depth of some three 
feet, but based on a tenacious subsoil, constitutes one 
of the best soils in the world. But when the earth is 
porous to such a depth that every rain carries the solu¬ 
ble pai'ts of applied manures beyond the reach of the 
plants cultivated, it becomes one of the worst soils 
to cultivate. The fact of filtration is of some con¬ 
sequence in connection with manures. That the so¬ 
luble or most valuable parts of manures do descend 
to great depths, is proved beyond doubt by the analy¬ 
sis of earths taken from great depths ; and on soils 
liable to filtration, the method of preventing it becomes 
a question of the first importahce. The readiest, and 
perhaps the only way, is to combine with the porous 
earth, some other more dense and tenacious one, and 
which by having a greater affinity for water will pre¬ 
vent its descent with the manures it holds in solution 
beyond the reach of the plants. Clay here comes to 
the aid of the farmer ; and many instances are on re¬ 
cord where dressings of clay, or still better of clay marl, 
applied to sandy barren soils, have totally changed their 
character, given them the power of retaining moisture, 
and by imparting more firmness, prevented the sinking 
of manures. Soils so corrected, have proved capable 
of the highest state of cultivation, and in situations 
which will warrant the expense, prevention of filtration 
should receive the prompt attention of the husbandman. 
FIRING. Where an inflammation occurs on the limbs 
of a horse which threatens to be of long continuance, or 
by the deposition of bony matter, produces permanent 
lameness, recourse is sometimes had to blisters ; or 
where these are not easily applied, or are not efficacious, 
recourse is had to firing. The principle is the same as 
in blistering, namely, by creating an external inflamma¬ 
tion and discharge, to cure and remove the internal one. 
It is performed with an iron heated nearly or quite to 
redness, which is passed more or less rapidly over the 
skin (which is first divested of the hair by shaving) un¬ 
til it is of a light brown color. Great care must be ta¬ 
ken that the skin is not penetrated by the iron, which 
should be rounded and smooth. The horse, during the 
operation, must be fully secured by casting. It is re¬ 
commended that a little lard or oil be rubbed over the 
part the day after the operation, as having a tendency 
to soften the skin, and render it less liable to crack or 
ulcerate. In order to derive the full benefit of firing, 
the horse must be kept from service some three or four 
months. The process of firing is most advantageous 
when performed in parallel lines over the diseased part. 
FISTULA. This name is applied to certain sores on 
animals, most commonly on the horse, in which inflam¬ 
mation, resulting most usually from some injury, ends 
in suppuration and a deep seated ulcer, extremely diffi¬ 
cult to heal. 
Fistula of the eye is occasioned by the obstruction of 
the canal that conducts the water or tears used for 
cleaning the eye into the nose. This canal bursts, and 
the irritation of the tears produces a sore, which in 
man is only cured by the insertion and long wearing of 
a metal pin in the duct; and in the horse may be con¬ 
sidered nearly incurable. Fortunately, this fistula is 
uncommon. 
Fistula of the head or neck, called poll evil, is a seri¬ 
ous disease, occasioned by injury from a blow, rubbing 
the manger, or pulling the halter. It is best treated by 
introducing a seton at the orifice of swelling, and fol¬ 
lowing the canal or pipe to its source, bringing the se¬ 
ton out at the very lowest part, thus allowing the mat¬ 
ter to escape readily. As the natural opening is usual¬ 
ly at the upper part of the tumor, the matter is confined 
below, and corrodes the muscles, and finally causes ca¬ 
ries of the bone ; unless an opening is made for its es¬ 
cape from the lower part, in which case there is not 
commonly much difficulty in a cure. 
Fistula of the withers, is usually caused by an ill 
constructed harness or saddle pressing on and bruising 
the withers or top of the shoulder. If the inflammation 
and swelling cannot be quickly dispersed, the suppura¬ 
tion should be hastened by poultices and stimulating 
embrocations, as the quicker the matter is formed, the 
less extensive will be the injury to the surrounding 
parts. When matter can be detected, a seton should be 
introduced, and passed from the top to the bottom of 
the tumor, so that the matter already formed, or that 
forms after opening, maybe freely discharged. If neg¬ 
lected fistulous withers become the worst and most dis¬ 
gusting disease which afflicts the horse, and end by the 
bones becoming carious and the consequent death of the 
animal. 
FLAIL. An instrument used for thrashing grain, and 
composed of two parts, the one held in the hands, call¬ 
ed the staff, and the other used to give the blow, called 
the beater. The flail has been generally superseded by 
the thrashing machine ; and where large quantities of 
grain are used, some aid in thrashing was indispensable, 
hut we much question whether on small farms, and 
where labor is abundant, the flail may not still be used 
to advantage. Cattle are apt to fare better, where 
newly thrashed and sweet straw is daily flung out to 
them, and the yards and stalls littered with it, than 
when it is all thrashed at a time and stacked or piled in 
great masses to become weather beaten and rotten. 
We have made some calculations and experiments which 
show that so far as expense alone is concerned, an ac¬ 
tive man will thrash out four or five hundred bushels of 
the several kinds of grain, cheaper than it is usually 
done by machines. Where grain is to be sold, however, 
machines must be used, as wheat cannot be thrashed 
with the flail until cold weather, without much loss. 
FLY WHEEL,—in mechanics is a wheel usually a 
heavy one, attached to the machinery, in which the pow¬ 
er not wanted at one moment is accumulated to be used 
when required, and thus an even motion is secured. 1$ 
thrashing, the cylinder itself performs the part of the fly¬ 
wheel ; attached to a circular saw, the power which 
would be lost in the intervals of cutting the wood is accu¬ 
mulated to act with more fpyce,; and its effect is seen in th e 
straw cutters which turn with a crank or rotary move- 
ment, giving greater efficiency to the action of the' knives 
