The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-05-09
NOTES OF DISCUSSION FROM
LETTERS, &C.

that were fed on corn until March 25 and
then turned into field of red clover.
CATER they had been on the field twelve
or fifteen days, on the evening previous to
their death they appeared to be unusually
full aud uneasy, and on the following
morning found them dead. Now wish
to know if clover will kill cattle ?" Mr..
Dodge said yes it generates gas in the
stomach, resulting in bloat or hoven. Mr..
Peters never had trouble when he turned
his cattle into fresh clover, provided they
were not turned iuto it until the dew was
off and had been previously fed salt aud
ashes mixed.
Mr.. Geddes said that the best way to
relieve an animal affected by hoven or
bloat is to puncture the animal with
drk-shaped knife (which every herdsman
should carry) ia the flank, on the teft,
about three inches below the spinal coll
umn and midway between the last rib and
the hip &; and as the knife is withdrawn in
sert goose quill or an elder, with the pitb
punched out, so as to allow the gas to es-
cape. When the quill or elder is with
drawn, close the wound, if large, with a
stitch or two. This is a perfectly safe
process, and we have saved the lives of
animals By it frequently.
EM1eRATINe WEsT.-An irate member
Of the Greeley Colony, Colorado, was
reused to write, by some letter be had
seen published from Western man, urg-
ing people in the East who knew how to
farm it to stay where they are. This
Greeleyite said (: "Just 80, some married
men are always prating to their wives Of
their mothers excellent cookery, when the
fact is, their mothers cooked with pot
hooks, over old-fashoned fire. places, and
never got up deceutly cooked meal in
their lives" And he classed such adj
visers with such men. One disrespectful
member expressed the belief that this
Greeleyite had never had mother. Pro-
fessor Squelch turned to his neigh Dor, and
said: 81 believe young men who cannot
stay at home-who have not elbow room
enough for development, whose parents
block their ambition at every step, will
profit by going West, if they go to soork-
to rough and tumble, take things as they
come, and make the best of them. But
let the same young man do the same thug
here, and he will do as well by his labor
alone; he may make more money by the
rise of land there"
TREES G1RDLED BY MICE H H. Hart,
Vischer's Ferry, N Y, quoted the state
ment of Major General Curtis. that it re-
quired great skill to save girdled apple
trees by connecting the bark with cions,
and said that in 1856 thirty of his trees
were girdled for space of from three to
twelve inches. He used cions inserted un-
der the bark, above and below, placing
them a half-inch apart all around the tree.
The wounds have disappeared the trees
are alive, healthy aud productive, and I'M
der like circumstances he would do it
again. Any one who can white eau per-
form the operation successfully, General
Curtis to the contrary notwithstanding.
BoNE-DUsT FERTILIZERS. Charles FL.
Wells, Penobscot, Me-, when visiting the
Farmers Club in February, 1870, got
package of Lister Bros ground bone and
applied it to some melons The result
was astonishing. The products were
shown at the fairs, and great demand for
seeds resulted, people supposing that it
was the variety and not the fertilizer used
which produced such results. But he
knew it was the bone-dust, and had sent
for ton of it, and now wanted to know
beforehand whether the club thought it
would do for other crops as it had for
melons. Long John Lyman said it would
depend upon the kind of dust used The
finest ground (such as Mr.. Wells had used)
acted quickly when applied to any crop.
But if coarser ground its effects would be
less perceptible at once, but more lasting.
He used five tons last year. Applied to
potatoes he realized little benefit its effect
upon corn was more perceptible, and on
grass still more. For cucumbers, melons,
tomatoes, etc., it is excellent, acting quick
ly. But its action, If foreground, ceases
after two or three months.
How TO Buy STocK.-I.. Converse,
Bucyrus, o., advises buyers of blooded
stock to pay for no stock of any breeder
until it reaches him. "Be careful who
you buy of, and never pay for any until
you see it," Prof. Squelch said, "Sound r
CROOKED FENCES were condemned by
Charles r. Smith, Hanshil, N f., who
asserts that New York losses 800, 900 acres
of her best land by crooked fences. EYES,"
said Prof. Squelch, "and full as many more
acres by unnecessary fences, whether
crooked or straight"
PRoMIssoRY NOTES TO ITINERANT Pa
TENT, SEED, AND OTHER PEDLERs "A COR
respondent of the Rural Neav Yorker in
Central Ohio, asks if certain parties, whom
he names, are reliable men, stating that
they offer to sell machinery and take pro-
mise to pay from the farmer, giving a
guarantee. We do not know anything
about the parties named but we do know
that it is of no advantage to the farmer to
buy what he knows nothing about, pay
with note aud receive warranty from a
man of whom he knows nothing. More
farmers are swindled by this species of
transactions than in any other way. The
man who receives his note payable,
discounts it Casually before he
leaves the neighborhood, aud when
1t becomes due the farmer finds his
neighbor holds it and he must pay it, no
matter whether what he buys fills the
guarantee or not; if not, be must collect
damages of the man who sold the imple-
ment or article, and who generally takes
good care to be beyond reach. and is, in
nine cases out Of ten, utterly Irresponsible