86 
THE CULTIVATOR 
Qlnstosrs to Inquiries, 
DYNAMOMETER. 
“Editors of the Cultivator —I would be much 
obliged to you if you would furnish in an early number 
of your paper a description of the dynamometer, together 
with the cost of it, and where it can be obtained. The 
planters of this part of the country usually have their 
plows made on the plantation, and it would be very use¬ 
ful to us to ascertain the draft or power which is requir¬ 
ed in using such plows as we have, or in making altera¬ 
tions and improvements in them. H. O. F. 
Montgomery Co., Ala., 1842.” 
We have some cuts of the dynamometer in the hands 
of the engraver, but are unable to answer the inquiries 
of our correspondent as to prices, and place of procuring 
them. Perhaps some of our makers of plows, or others, 
could give the information asked. If so, they would 
confer a favor by forwarding it to us. 
INSECT IN WHEAT. 
Editors of the Cultivator —As late as November 
25th, I sowed two acres with four bushels of red bald 
Canada wheat, and before it came up we had several 
hard frosts. On the west end of the lot an insect has at¬ 
tacked it, which has caused the leaves to have yellow 
and red spots. The easterly end is entirely free. The 
fly is a small black fly . What is singular is, that a neigh¬ 
bor’s wheat has been attacked in the same way; the east¬ 
ern part is not touched. Is this the ichneumon fly? 
Oatland cottage, South Hempstead. John Harold. 
We are inclined to think the fly will prove to be the 
Hessian fly, but it may not. We shall look with great 
anxiety for Dr. DeKay’s Entomological Report, in which 
we trust the depredating insects will be fully described. 
At present, there is too much conjecture, and too little 
certainty respecting most of them. 
CORN WORM. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —Can you, or any one 
of your correspondents give us Illinoisans any informa¬ 
tion respecting what may be called the corn worm. 
About the time our corn began to form on the cob, this 
worm, of a dark slate color, from one-fourth to seven- 
eighths of an inch in length made its appearance on the 
ear under the husk, having ground a hole in them to 
pass through, and continued to eat till the frost killed 
them. Sometimes six or eight were found in an ear. 
They were more injurious to late than early planted 
corn. Now whether this worm came out of the soil in 
its perfect state, or was deposited by a fly as soon as the 
corn began to ear, is a quere to me. Is there not some¬ 
thing to prevent their depredations? And if so, you 
would oblige many by making known a remedy. 
Brinkville, III., 1842. J. A. P. 
We have never noticed or heard of the worm of which 
J. A. P. complains in this part of the country; and its 
history isffo us entirely unknown. We had some com¬ 
plaints last year from the South and West respecting it, 
and if any of our correspondents can throw any light on 
this new depredator, we shall be happy to receive it. 
That it is the product of a moth, seems most likely; but 
of what kind, or what its parentage actually is, remains 
to be discovered. 
CULTURE OF HEMP. 
Our correspondent at De Kalb, Ill., will find his in¬ 
quiries as to hemp, the proper soil, culture, &c., fully 
answered in the present number. We agree with him 
that it may be profitably made to take the place of part 
of the corn crop of the West, and that the interests of 
the nation demand more attention to this culture. 
THE HORSE CHESTNUT. 
Our friend A. Eergen, of New-Utrecht, L. I., informs 
us that in 1839 he planted a small piece of ground, pre¬ 
viously plowed and mellow, with nuts from the black 
walnut and the horse chestnut in alternate rows. This 
was done in the fall; and in the spring they both came 
up finely, the chestnuts starting first. In the growth, 
the walnuts have far exceeded the chestnuts, although 
the latter have been manured; but it seems to little pur¬ 
pose, since while some of the walnuts are seven feet 
high, the chestnuts are not more than seven inches; and 
he requests us to account for this singular difference. 
We know not that we can do this satisfactorily, hav¬ 
ing- never attempted the cultivation of the horse chest¬ 
nut; but we do not hesitate to ascribe it to the proximity 
of the black walnuts, and their sinister influence. Every 
one is aware of the fatal effect which the common but¬ 
ternut, (Juglans cathartica,) has on all trees, so decisive 
indeed, that in our forests not a tree or shrub is ever 
found within the spread of its branches; and the black 
walnut, (Juglans nigra,) possesses many of the same 
qualities. The soil too in which the nursery of Mr. B. 
was planted may not have been without its influence. 
The horse chestnut is well adapted to light lands, and 
thrives well on such, though they may be rather sterile, 
while in heavy clays it is always stunted and unhealthy. 
The black walnut on the contrary grows best in a strong, 
stiff soil, and rather moist than dry. The horse chestnut 
has large leaves, and requires more than the usual space 
to receive the necessary supply of air and light. All 
these causes may have had more or less influence; but 
it is to the presence of the walnuts that we attribute the 
mischief. In a young nursery of thrifty locusts, in order 
to occupy the whole ground, we three years since trans¬ 
planted seedling butternuts between the locust rows. 
The result has been, that the butternuts have grown ra¬ 
pidly, while the locusts have scarcely the last year ad¬ 
vanced at all. This spring we have removed a large 
part of the butternuts, and presume the locusts will again 
go ahead. 
MANURE FROM AN ACRE. 
“ Messrs. Editors —In addition to the queries you 
were so kind as to answer in your last Cultivator, will 
you be so good as to inform us what quantity of manure 
one ton of hay will ordinarily make? J. A. 8. 
Reading, Vt., 1842.” 
We are unable to give a definite reply to the question 
of J. A. S.; but will furnish some data that may assist 
him in forming an opinion as to the quantity. In the 
General Agricultural Report of Scotland, volume 2d, Dr. 
Coventry has given an estimate of the manure an acre of 
land in good condition, or such as will yield 28 bushels of 
wheat, or 50 of oats, in the following crops, would give— 
“By clover, grass, or herbage, hay, &c., first year, 6 tons. 
By clover, if mowed, second year,.5| do. 
By white or corn crops, as wheat, barley, &c.. 4 do.” 
Mr. Youatt had a dragoon horse fed one week sepa¬ 
rately for the sake of experiment, exercising him one 
hour a day. The food converted into dung each day 
was as follows: 
Oats, each day, 10 pounds—one week, 70 pounds 
Hay, do. 12 do. do. 84 do. 
Straw, do. 8 do. do. 56 do. 
He drank within the week 27 gallons of water; and 
the loss of dung while on exercise was computed at 4 
pounds per day, or 28 for the week. The total forage 
consumed was. 210 pounds. 
Dung and litter produced,. 3271 do. 
yielding, if the lost dung be added, with the addition of 
the moisture imparted by the urine, an increase of two- 
thirds beyond the solid food. 
Arthur Young states that the winter stock on his farm, 
consisting of six horses, four cows, and nine store hogs, 
consumed 16 loads of hay, with 29 loads of straw for lit¬ 
ter, and the usual quantity of oats to the working horses, 
and produced 118 loads of 36 bushels each of manure. 
In another trial, 36 cows and four horses, when tied up, 
ate 50 tons of hay, and had twenty acres of straw for lit¬ 
ter, with which they made, 200 loads of dung in rot¬ 
ten order for the land. In this case, the weight of the 
straw and manure is unknown. 
INQUIRY—YIELD OF CORN. 
“Messrs. Editors —Farmers frequently disagree as 
to the best kind of corn to plant, the twelve or the eight 
rowed; and which will yield the most per bushel of 
ears. If you have the means of giving us a little infor¬ 
mation on this subject, you will confer a favor on more 
than one Corn Grower.” 
A few years since we made sevei'al experiments on 
the comparative product of several varieties of corn on 
the cob, from which we arrived at the conclusion, that 
there was very little difference if any in this respect; 
that varieties with large cobs or a greater number of 
rows, gave more shelled corn per ear than varieties with 
smaller cobs; but that the average of corn in both 
would be about the same. There is a decided advan¬ 
tage, however, in the small cob varieties over the large 
ones in ripening quicker and more completely; an ob¬ 
ject of great consequence in places where it is necessary 
to give corn every facility lor maturing. Mr. Colman 
has, in his 4th Report, recorded some experiments which 
in part at least confirm the opinions we have advanced. 
A condensed statement is all we can give of his remarks. 
Half a bushel of eight rowed corn in the ear, very sound 
and well cured, weighed,. 25 pounds. 
Haifa bushel of twelve rowed corn in the ear, 
not so well cured, weighed,. 24f do. 
Half a bushel of eight rowed, shelled and measured, 1 
peck, 3 quarts. 
Half a bushel of twelve rowed, shelled and measured, 1 
peck, 3 quarts and a fraction. 
Half a bushel of the cobs of the eight rowed weigh¬ 
ed, . 4^ pounds 
Half a bushel of the cobs of the twelve rowed 
weighed,. 4| do. 
Of two of the best ears of each sort carefully selected, 
the butts were shaved close to the kernel, and then the 
corn being shelled, both cob and grain were carefully 
weighed. 
Of the two ears of the eight rowed, the grain weighed 
8| ounces—the cob 1£ ounce. 
Of the two ears of the twelve rowed, the grain weigh¬ 
ed 13f ounces—the cob 2£ ounces. 
Thus in this case the proportional weight of the grain 
to the cob is the same; and this, we believe, with Mr. 
Colman, will be generally the fact. 
A peck of the corn experimented upon was shelled, 
well shaken and struck, and the kinds weighed as fol¬ 
lows: one peck eight rowed weighed 17 pounds, or 68 
pounds to the bushel; one peck twelve rowed weighed 
16 j pounds, or 65 pounds to the bushel. 
This difference Mr. C. attributes to the greater ripe¬ 
ness of the first variety. 
Answers to several other inquiries will be given 
in our next. 
tleUrmatri Department. 
DISEASES OF THE FEET IN ANIMALS. 
Messrs. Editors —With your leave I wish to present 
my views of a question of much interest to the farmer— 
the origin or cause of those diseases of cattle or sheep 
known by the name of hoof-ail, foot-rot, &c. 
The horse has on his leg what is called the scab, 
through which exudes a glairy matter, and this process 
seems necessary to his health. The hog has holes on 
the inside of his legs through which you know it is said 
the devil enters swine; but he will not be so confined, 
for we know, if the holes be stopped, the animal sickens 
and dies; at least, it is so with our poor stock here, the 
Landpikes and Alligators. May it not be he desires to 
leave them at pleasure to enter some of Mr. A. B. A.’s 
Aristocrats? Nor should we be much surprised if the 
aforesaid personage should enter some of his thin skin¬ 
ned poultry lately imported, through what the Tucka- 
hoes call the oil bottle. 
That long toes, or the friction of long or short grass 
between the toes of sheep should produce the foot-rot, 
or that this disease is at all contagious, I cannot deem 
founded in fact. Cattle have neither scab or oil bottle; 
but they have holes just below the false hoofs or hinder 
claws where they may be found; and they use their 
tongues to keep them open, when the muck or litter 
through which they go is not so offensive as to prevent 
them. It seems to me the stoppage of these might have 
produced the epidemic complained of near Troy, and the 
disease of Mr. Merrick’s calves. If so, to have washed 
their feet in clean water, and driven them todry, high 
and clean pastures, opening the holes of those complain¬ 
ing, and giving them a little spirits of turpentine, ob¬ 
serving to pour some in the cleansed orifices, might 
have been a good prescription. 
About the edge of the hair, and within the cleft of 
every sheep’s foot, a duct or hole of this kind may be 
found. Now if this hole gets stopped, it suppurates, and 
a diseased foot is the result. Unstop it, and move your 
sheep on to hard land—not leaving the well ones; for 
the cause that effected the one will the others, if not re¬ 
moved. If there is much disease among them, make a 
compound of equal parts of finely pulverized rosin, salt, 
and flour of sulphur. Give them a little of this frequent¬ 
ly, minding to keep the holes open, and I trust no one 
will find it necessary to cut away all the tough and hard¬ 
ened skin on which the animal needs to walk, and then 
trying to force these exudations from their natural chan¬ 
nels through the sores made by means of balsams and 
plasters. ' J. Lawrence. 
Jefferson Co., Tenn. 1842. 
Note .—We were not aware that cattle possessed the 
excretory ducts spoken of by our correspondent; nor in 
any work on cattle do we find any mention made of such 
an apparatus for forcing matters from them which if re¬ 
tained would be injurious to the system. In the other 
animals named, they are obvious enough, and their uses 
are too plain to be disputed. 
STAGGERS IN HORSES. 
“Messrs. Editors —Permit me to give you the re¬ 
sult of a remedy for the staggers in horses, used by Mr. 
Wesley Gray of this county. He makes a crucial inci¬ 
sion thus + from two to two and a half inches in the 
forehead of the horse down to the bone, dissects up the 
angles, and introduces a tea spoon full of pulverized 
cantharides; the skin is brought over and confined by 
stitches. In a few hours the flies begin to inflame the 
part, a copious flow of mucus from the nose ensues, and 
the symptoms of the disease abate. A deep sore is 
formed, the after treatment of which consists in occa¬ 
sional cleansing bj r warm soap suds. Mr. Gray has suc¬ 
ceeded in curing several horses by this method; and as 
the experiment is easily tried, and if opportunity offers, 
I trust some of your numerous readers will repeat it, 
and report the result in the Cultivator. 
Brandon, Miss., 1842. Yeoman of the South. 
The staggers is one of the most fatal diseases to which 
the horse is subject, and we thank our correspondent for 
a remedy which promises relief. Veterinarians divide 
staggers into two kinds; the stomach staggers, anil the 
mad staggers. The first arises from over feeding, eating 
too great a quantity of food, or food of an improper na¬ 
ture. In removing this disease, the stomach pump has 
been within a few years used with much success; clear¬ 
ing the stomach and affording speedy relief. Before the 
adoption of the pump, stomach staggers was rarely cured. 
Unless removed, the disease effects the brain, that organ 
becomes inflamed, and blind or mad staggers ensues. In 
either of these diseases, or any stage of them, bleeding 
rapidly and in large quantities, with the exhibition of 
physic, has formed the most probable means of cure. 
When inflammation of the brain has ensued, or as a 
preventive to such a result, the remedy used by Mr. 
Gray appears to us very proper. The exhibition of 
physic at the same time would doubtless add to its effi¬ 
cacy. 
CURE FOR THE BLACK TONGUE. 
Burn alum, powder it fine, and apply it to the tongue 
of the animal two or three times, and he is cured. 
Walnut Grove, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1842. D. Y. O. 
For remedy for Blackleg in Calves, see Letter 
from Scotland, p. 84. 
