Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1884-12-31
Bill Apps Letter.

Especial Correspondence Home and Farm.1
Jenkins is a good citizen and useful man
in the community. Jenkins is kird OF
stock surgeon, and the Majors send for him
to stitch up wound on horse or cow and
to do various things in stock surgerS thai
have to be done on farm. But jenkins
takes no paper and reads HS books. and so
he is away behind nd >piods along in the
old ruts. JenkiEsssSs Still cuts the hooks out
OF horses eyss and doctors them for the
bolts. He told me the other day that bolts
was the Hardest thing to cure in the world,
snooaldere was nothing that would kill 'em
except strychnine, and that would kill the
horse, too, nine times out of ten.
"Jenkins, said ], ''don't you know that
bolts are in all horses, and that nature put
them there for purpose? Don't you know
that the surgeons in the army during the
war cut open hundreds of horses that were
killed by shot and shell, and found bolts in
every one of them?"
But you can't shake Jenkins faith any
more than DR.. Hardin could shake old Nc
Combs, the Scotchman McCombs Away 5
got mad when the Doctor asserted that bolts
never killed horses, and never cut their way
out the stomach until the horse was dead
and had ceased to breathe, and the bolts had
to get out to get some fresh air. McCombs
had good horse, and he loved him like he
loved his wife. One day while he and tie
docter were playing checkers on the piazza,
and some of the town folks S75re looking on,
thunder storm came up and the Lightning
played around and the thunder rolled heavi-
ly, when suddenly there came flash and
q thun6erbolt all together, and they all
jumped up alarmed, for they thought the
house was struck. Old McCombs run to
the back door, and, looking towards the
stable and the lot, saw the big old chestnut
was torn into fragments aud Selim, his no.
BILE horse, was laying dead right by it. He
was wicked man-McCombs was-and he
began to curse the thunder and the lightning
as he hurried to the lot. The crowd fol
lowed, and it was awful to hear the old man
swear, and it was sad to witness his grief as
he sat down by Selim's head and cried. In
the course of half an hour he'had subsidized
and become somewhat calm, and the Doctor
said, 'sNow, Mack, if you have got no OBJ
jections, will cut into his NAV and see if
the bolts are not there" Mack said all
right, he dident care what they did to him
now; and SO the Doctor pitched in, and in a
New minutes exhibited about twenty big fat
follows at work cutting holes in Selim's
STOMACH and working away for dear life to
get out. With an air of triumphant salts
faction the Doctor looked up at MeGazahs
who, with his hands locked behind his back
was earnestly watching the operation, and
said, "Now, Mack, what do you say; don't
you see them?'' 81 do,'' said Mack. 81
see 'em Doc-the internal varmints-and
thank God for striking my poor horse dead
with lightning and saving him power Of
misery. AS sure as you are born, Dc, i
the lightnin' hadent struck bin, them botis
would have killed him in fifteen minutoc--
1t was an inierposition of Providence, sir
VI SouASC. &AHu JuC Oiu ltldu HdiKSO SaQly
to bis house and sat down
l saw nabor the other day moving
down the weeds that had grown up after he
cut his wheat and oats off, and l inquired
what he was doing it for? "Why, SIR"
said he, ''this land can't stand two crops
year, and Pm going to stop these we DIS |
from sapping all the strength of the soil. T"
Well, you can't convince that man that
nature sent up the weeds to shade the land |
and shield it from the August sun. The
weeds feed upon the air and their shade
produces ammonia, which is the best food
of plants. A briar-patch or cane brake
enriches land, and so do weeds, and they
are natures remedies. Moses was good
farmer and a philosopher, for he said that
the land must have rest and go fallow ev-
Dry seventh year. The rest was to give time
'or the grass and weeds and vines to grow,
Sad make shade and produce ammonia /,
Nature is her own restorer and makes no
mistakes But there are some crops that =,
will exhaust land quickly-crops that man
and not nature puts there. I was telling
Tom Howard the other day about my sorg-
lum, and he said: "Don't plant it, sir;