418 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



system would be gently cleansed. ThirJ, for the encourage- 

 ment of the production of pui-e and healthy blood, some 

 kind of stimulant might be used, as sulphate of ii'on, or the 

 oil of turpentine. Fourth, feed the animals generously. 

 The early adoption of these means would often rid a herd of 

 the disease. To sum up, the disease is contagious ; it is an 

 epidemic,'or epizootic ; it is never cured ; it,had many second- 

 ary causes. Amongst these he would mention the travelling 

 of animals. Irish beasts were often driven from fair to fair, 

 and were most likely to catch it in one place or another. 

 He would recommend when fresh beasts were brought, that 

 they should be kept entirely away from other stock for three 

 weeks, by which time the disease would manifest itself. If 

 it broke out, let it be remembered that it was & fatal disease. 

 Passing to the second subject of the evening, the prevalent 

 disease in lambs, it was clearly caused by parasites, and was 

 by no means new : it was as old as the hills, and no part of 

 England has been esem^Jt from it. Many circumstances 

 connected with it were new to us, but only because we looked 

 deeper now than formerly. Not only lambs, but all young 

 animals were subject to the attacks of parasites. They were 

 all subject to worms in the ^vindpipes, colts, calves, lambs, 

 pigs, and even uudomesticated animals. All young animals 

 were most subject to the attacks of parasites. It was now 

 known that no organ of animals was entu-ely free from the 

 attacks of these creatures. Every organ had its own pecu- 

 liar species. The intestines, however, were more subject to 

 their attacks — a strong presumption that they entered the 

 animals from without. As to those in the bronchial tubes, 

 it was asked, were they inhaled ? This was a difficult ques- 

 tion to answer. With the natural history of many species 

 they were still unacquainted, and until this was understood 

 it was difficult to answer such questions. Lambs aflfected 



witli worms in the bronchial tubes naturally coughed much, 

 from the irritation produced by the presence of the worms : 

 by coughing, it was probable that the ova might be evacuated , 

 and lie on pastures, &c., for a great length of time uninjured, 

 until they again found their way into the animal's system. 

 This hypothesis was strengthened by the fact that a very hot 

 and dry summer was always most prolific of these creatures. 

 The variety in the formation of these creatures was very 

 wonderful ; in some the two sexes were distinct, in some 

 they were blended in the same individual ; some brought 

 forth their young like large animals, some deposited ova. 

 The ova of some underwent many changes before becoming 

 like the parents. He mentioned the case of the flukes 

 causing rot in sheep (which, by-tlie-bye, was, unhappily, 

 likely to be prevalent tliis autumn and spring, owing to the 

 excessive wet), and entered into an interesting account of 

 the various gradations they underwent, from egg to perfect 

 development. Again, what was called " dunt " in sheep was 

 caused by the existence within the brain of an hydatid, look- 

 iag like a small bladder of water : these were tape worms in 

 another form, It was a remarkable fact that a tape worm, 

 such as was found in dogs, would, if swallowed by a sheep, 

 change its form, and cause " dunt," and vice versa. From 

 tliis we might gather that it was not wise for a shepherd to 

 have a lot of dogs following at his heels. Professor Simonds 

 gave a further lengthened and most interesting descriptiou 

 of the natural history of the insect causing " scale," and of 

 several other varieties of animal parasites. 



A vote of thanks was passed both to Mr. Shorten and 

 to Professor Simonds, and the members of the club sepa- 

 rated, feeling that the kindness of Mr. Piansome had fur- 

 nished them with a treat such as is but rarely enjoyed by 

 the members of a provincial club. 



THE MECHANICAL CONDITION OF THE SOIL FAVOURABLE 

 FOR THE GROWTH OF SEED. 



BY PROFESSOR TANNER. 



[Prize Essay.J 

 (Concluded from page 294. J 



Oats. — ^This grain is usually sown either after 

 roots or else upon a fresh-broken turf of grass or 

 clover ley. The natural energy of the root of the 

 oat is much greater than that of barley, so that this 

 plant rather resembles wheat in its powers of pene- 

 tration. This circumstance has a great influence 

 upon the preparation which is desirable: when 

 oats are to be sown after roots, the ground is 

 usually ploughed once, and time given to the sur- 

 face to become mellow under the action of frost, 

 before sowing. There is scarcely any difference 

 between preparing grass or ley for oats, the chief 

 modification being earlier ploughing, in proportion 

 to the toughness of the turf. An old turf, which 

 must necessarily have got very tough, should be 



broken up not later than December j whilst a two 

 or three-year-old clover ley would not require to be 

 ploughed so early. It must be admitted that early 

 ploughing of the turf is in no way objectionable, 

 and in many respects advantageous, as the vege- 

 table matter becomes rotted by the action of the 

 weather. 



In ploughing turf up for oats, the skim coulter 

 should be used, so as to favour the entire covering 

 of the grass ; and it is often found that the land- 

 presser is also of service for the more complete 

 laying of the turf, so that the furrow may have a 

 solid bearing, with no hollow spaces beneath it. 

 After the turf has been turned over and fairly 

 estabhshed, either with or without the aid of the 



