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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



as the latter may be. It is, however, when both considera- 

 tions are taken into account, that the real merits of this 

 system are appreciatetl. 



In examining Mr. Fowler's system from this commercial 

 point of view, it must be specially observed that it com- 

 prises both ploughing and scarifying. It is, therefore, a 

 more comprehensive system than Smith's by at least the 

 onehalf ; so that the comparisons so frequently made, that 

 the latter is tlie cheapest system, is highly inconclusive 

 and objectionable. In commei'ce, it very frequently occurs 

 that the low-priced article is not the cheapest; and this 

 rule is just as true in steam cnU'U'e as iu any other bi'anch 

 of industrv. 



Again, the commercial value of each of the systems now 

 iu the field will very much depend upou the amount and 

 quality of work it performs, the number of hands required 

 to work it, the daily tear-aud-wear upon it, its liability to 

 accident, and its general durability. 



To this cursory review of steam-culture much might be 

 added in this place, under each head, did our limits per- 

 mit. Although steam is fast superseding horses in the 

 cultivation of land, the conclusion is manifest, that the 

 pioneers of progress are not receiving that encouragement 

 from agricultural societies that they and the cause they 

 have so warmly espoused merit. 



Practice with Science. 



THE ROT IN SHEEP. 



The malady at present so prevalent amongst sheep in 

 some districts arises chiefly from a diseased state of the 

 liver owing to the presence of the flulce-worm, with, of 

 course, the cause and the consequences attendant upon 

 such a pathological condition of the system. Many 

 butchers we have met with appear taken by surprise when 

 told that the livers hanging in their shops are full of fluke, 

 and that the mutton of sheep, comparatively healthy in 

 appearance, is unfit for human food. In some cases that 

 have come under our notice their incredulity on being ac- 

 cused of selling diseased meat was only equalled by their 

 surprise on cutting up a liver, when flukes made their ap- 

 pearance, sometimes in large numbers. On the other 

 hand, some butchers who only kill second-rate quality of 

 meat look upon the affair with indift'erence, as something 

 common and unavoidable. 



The liver-fluke (Distoma hepaticum) is one of the most 

 common varieties of worms with which our domesticated 

 animals are infested. It is found in the liver of the horse, 

 the ass, the ox, sheep, goat, deer, hog, Sea. But amongst 

 sheep it perhaps plays greater havoc than in any of .the 

 other examples. Man is also subject to it. The treatment 

 is like that required for other worms ; but the expulsion 

 of the fluke is more ditlicult, owing to its situation. 



In the management of live stock the prevention of 

 disease is the grand maxim of veterinary science. First 

 to allow animals to become diseased through improper 

 food and treatment, and then to waste them with drugs, is 

 pleading guilty to a two-fold example of mismanagement, 

 both of which ought to be avoided, for if proper food 

 will prevent fluke and other entozoa, drugs will not be re- 

 quired. When improper food is given, it is always accom- 

 panied with an improvident waste of the elements or raw 

 materials of which it is composed ; and when drugs, such 

 as turpentine, &c., are administered, the animal system 

 experiences a similar waste. On the contraij, when pro- 

 per food is given, the greatest economy of the raw materials 

 is effected, while the difterent functi<ms receive each its 

 natural stimulus, and consequently the animal enjoys the 

 gi-eatest degi-ee of health. A given quantity of food thus 

 goes farther length, producing more live weight of a supe- 

 rior quality for the market ; while the expenses for medi- 

 cine, &c., ifcc, are saved. 



It is a well known fiict in natural history, that the 

 sheep is an animal which requires in its food a large 

 amount of those aromatic bitter properties whose action, 

 when exhibited alone in any quantity, is anthelmintic, 

 such astansy, agrimony, tormentil, artimisia, &c. Such 



being the natural food of this quadruped, the Inference 

 appears reasonable that food deficient of such properties 

 would have a tendency to produce a debilitated state of 

 the system, with worms. Like all other vermin, worms 

 require a cei'tain unhealthy state of the system before 

 their appearance takes place ; and whenever those parts 

 of the body which they infect take on this unhealthy state, 

 they (wonns) seldom fail to make their appearance, while 

 their pi-escnce preying upon the aliment that should sup- 

 port the system — or upou the vital fliiid (blood), if not 

 upon the living organism itself — as seldom fails to increase 

 the pi-imary malady, eventually breaking-up the constitu- 

 tion. 



Such is just what many now see exemplified in their 

 flocks. At first the debility or indisposition may be so 

 slight as to be imperceptible to the shepherd. When in a 

 state of health Nature struggles hard in the outset to 

 throw-off any slight aftection of this kind with which she 

 may be seized, so that the difterence between the building- 

 up, and puUing-down, or the general loss of health, may 

 be very little ; nevertheless, like the thin edge of the 

 wedge, when once bugun the debility daily increases, until 

 the result is attained — " a rotten sheep." 



i\Iany of our old vernacular expi-essions are very signifi- 

 cant, and that of " a i-otten sheep " is by no means wanting 

 in this respect. A certain degi-ee of rottenness is an es- 

 sential concomitant to the presence of worms. If the 

 alimentary canal is in a healthy active state worms could 

 not remain in it, wei'e it possible for them to be generated 

 therein ; but when the absorbent and excretory organs lose 

 their tone, and slimy matter accumulates, worms are 

 formed, and prosper amazingly at the expense of the sani- 

 tary wellbeing of tlie animal, that condition of the system 

 which is health to the former being disease to the latter. 

 What is true of the alimentary canal is also true of the 

 hepatic organ. 



Opposed to this rottenness in sheep, we have the anti- 

 septic properties of the remedy applied to effect the expul- 

 sion of worms, or what is better, to prevent the formation 

 and development of worms in the liver and other parts of 

 the body. When the food contains a sufficiency of those 

 stimulating aromatic and bitter tonic properties, the ali- 

 mentary canal is not only kept in a healthy state, and free 

 from slimy semi-putrid matter conducive to the formation 

 and development of worms; but from these properties 

 being taken up into the system by the absorbents, the 

 hepatic organ and other organs are also kept in a healthy 

 condition, the whole absorbent — secretory and excretoi-j" — 



