344 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Ticks and Lice. Ticks and lice are a great nuisance, and not only cause a great deal 

 of suffering to the poor animals, but keep the sheep in thin flesh and 

 deteriorate the fleece. They will also sometimes cause sheep to pull their 

 wool. No flock infested with them will flourish either as mutton or wool 

 producers. Neglected sheep will be very apt to have these parasites, and 

 often those having the best of care; therefore it is well for the farmer to 

 guard against the evil, as they can be easily destroyed. 



After the sheep are sheared the ticks leave them and get in the longer 



StTFFT* TTPK A T^T) 



wool of the lambs, where they will feed on their more tender flesh. They 



Efl-fi- 



will usually have all left the sheep by the third week after shearing; the 

 lambs should then be dipped in a decoction of tobacco or other wash to exterminate these 

 pests. For this purpose a deep, narrow box or tank is the best construction for the wash. 

 The usual allowance of tobacco is six or seven pounds of plug tobacco for one hundred 

 sheep or lambs. It should be chopped into fine pieces and boiled until the strength is ex 

 tracted. If too strong it will have a tendency to sicken or kill the lambs. 



Another wash sometimes used for the eradication of these parasites is a solution of 

 arsenic and water, made by dissolving three pounds of white arsenic (powder) in boiling 

 water, and adding forty gallons of cold water. Great care must be used not to inhale the 

 vapor from the boiling water and arsenic, as it is a deadly poison, and the person who dips the 

 sheep must have his hands free from eruptions, bruises, or cuts, or he might be poisoned by 

 the process. After dipping the lambs, the wash must be put where no animal can have access 

 to it. 



In dipping, one man should hold the animal by the fore legs with one hand, and with 

 the other clasp the nose and mouth to prevent the liquid from entering; another man holds 

 it by the hind legs and they dip it in this position, after which the animal is placed in an empty 

 tub and the water squeezed from the wool, which can be saved as it accumulates, to add to 

 the wash. Care should also be used to prevent the wash getting into the animal s eyes. The 

 animal should not be allowed to remain long in the wash as injurious results would follow, 

 but simply immersed and taken out as soon as the wool is saturated, which will require but a 

 moment. Pregnant ewes should always be handled with care. 



Worms. There are many kinds of worms that sometimes affect sheep and lambs, 

 causing great suffering and even death. The intestines of a sheep are very long, being 

 twenty-eight times the length of its own body, while those of the human species is only 

 about the length of the body; this extraordinary length in the sheep allows room for a large 

 number of diseases, and when death is caused by worms, an examination of the stomach and 

 bowels will often reveal myriads of them. It is supposed that the germs of the worms are 

 admitted to the stomach with the food, the eggs being swallowed with the grass. The germ 

 of the tape-worm is thought to be voided by most animals, especially the dog. The 

 symptoms of the tape-worm are variable, sometimes that of a voracious appetite, and again 

 evincing a disinclination to touch food, loss of flesh, and an unnatural appetite for ashes, 

 mortar, sand, earth, etc. 



The evacuations lose their natural form and become soft, giving the sheep a filthy 

 appearance like diarrhea. An ounce of turpentine mixed with milk and given in the 

 morning before the animal has eaten anything, keeping food from it for an hour following, 

 to be repeated each alternate day for ten days, is often practiced with good effect, after which 

 a good dose of castor or linseed oil should be given to free the system. Good, nutritious 

 food should be given during the time of treatment. 



Other remedies recommended are as follows: two-thirds of an ounce of turpentine, with 

 two ounces of linseed oil, mixed in a strong decoction or tea made of worm seed, 

 ( Chenopodium anthelminticuni) commonly known as &quot;Jerusalem Oak,&quot; given twice a week for 



