892 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No 7 



several hares and rabbits, and, with very few ex- 

 ceptions, I found each to contain a perfect tape- 

 worm, from three to lour feet in length. I then 

 caused two ol'the dogs, whose cases appeared the 

 worst, to be separated from the others, feeding 

 them on potatoes, &c. ; and in eigiit or ten days, 

 after voiding several feet of the worm, they were 

 perfectly restored to their Ibrmer strength and ap- 

 pearance. The vermicular disease, hitherto so 

 formidable to the spaniel and pointer, may there- 

 fore in a great measure to be liiirly attributed to 

 tlie custom of giving them the intestines of their 

 game, under the technical appfKUiiion of "the 

 paunch." The fiicts above stated, in ex|)laining 

 the cause of the disease, at the same time suggests 

 tlie remedy. 



From ihn Fiirnicr's Magazine. 

 THE FEUUKT. 



This animal, which is a sort of domestic in 

 Europe, was said to be originally brought from 

 Africa into Spain, which being a country abound- 

 ing in rabbits, required an animal of this kind more 

 than any other; however this be, it is not to be 

 found, except in a domestic state, and it is chiefly 

 kept tame for the purposes of the warren. 



The ferret is about one foot long, being four 

 inches longer than the weasel. It resembles that 

 animal in the slenderness of its body, and the 

 shortness of its legs ; but its nose is sharper, and 

 its body more slender in proportion to its length. 

 The ferret is commonly of a cream color, but 

 there are others of a dark chocolate, which ignorant 

 people assert are the offspring of the polecat and 

 the ferret. 



As this animal is a native of the torrid zone, so 

 it cannot bear the rigors of our climate without 

 care and shelter, and it generally repays the 

 trouble of its keeping by its great utility in the 

 warren. It is naturally such an enemy of the 

 rabbit kind, that if a dead rabbit be presented to a 

 young ferret, although it has never seen one be- 

 fore, it instantly attacks and bites it with an ap- 

 pearance of rapacity. If the rabbit be living, the 

 ferret is still more eager, seizes it by the neck, 

 winds itself round it, and continues to suck its 

 blood till it be satiated. 



The female of the species is usually less than 

 the male, whom she seeks with great ardor. 

 They are usually kept in boxes or pens, and 

 plentifully supplied with straw or other materials 

 of which to make themselves a warm bed, which 

 serves to defend them from the rigor of the climate. 

 They sleep almost continually, and the instant 

 they are awake they seem eager for lood. They 

 are usually fed with bread and milk. They breed 

 twice a year, and some of them devour their young 

 as soon as brought forth. Their number is usually 

 from five to six in a litter. 



Upon the whole, this is an useful, but a dis- 

 agreeable and ofTensive animal ; its scent is fetid, 

 its nature voracious ; it is tame, without any at- 

 tachment, and such is its appetite for blood that it 

 has been known to attack and kill children in the 

 cradle. It is easily irritated, and although at all 

 times its smell is very offensive, it then is much 

 more so, and its bite is very difficult of cure. 



The ferret is principally bred by warreners and 

 rat catchers, and in the pursuit of rats and rabbits 

 it will encounter any difficulty or danger when 



once put upon the scent. It has a natural and 

 instinctive propensity for burrowing, and vvhere- 

 ever the head can enter the body wdl follow. 

 Whenever the ftjrrit has secured the prey he is in 

 pursuit o\] he extracts the blood with uncommon 

 eagerness b}' suction, but seems indifl'erent to the 

 flesh. When used in warrens, their mouths are 

 sewed up, that they may alarm the rabbits, and 

 drive them from the burrows to the nets, without 

 being able to seize them ; ap, if they were enatiled 

 to seize ihem under ground, they would with diffi- 

 culty be got fioin the burrows. When they 

 are used lor the purpose of" rat catching, they are 

 put into the holes, and if there are any rats in the 

 neighborhood, I hey will soon be seen scampering 

 away from their most dreaded enemy. Terriers 

 are stationed at the mouth oi" the holes to receive 

 the rats, and the latter will sooner encounter every 

 danger, and face dogs or men, or both, than wait 

 lor the ferret. If the ftjrret happens to seize one 

 in the hole, it immediately sucks the blood, goes 

 to sleep, and the owner will have many hours to 

 wait before he is able again to obtain his ferret. 



Experienced warreners, however, seldom make 

 use of a ferret, but prefer taking the rabbits with 

 hay nets; as where the ferret is used, it gives the 

 rabbits a dislike to the burrows, for a long lime 

 afterwards. 



VALUE OF THE WILLOW. 



The importance of the willow to man has been 

 recognized from the earliest ages ; and ropes and 

 baskets made from willow twigs were probably 

 among the very first of human manufactures, in 

 countries where these trees abound. The Romans 

 used their twigs for binding their vines and tying 

 their reeds in bundles, and made all sorts of 

 baskets of them. A crop of willows was con- 

 sidered so valuable in the time of Cato, that he 

 ranks the salictum, or willow field, next in value 

 to the vineyard and the garden. In France, the 

 leaves, whether in a green or dried state, are con- 

 sidered the very best food for cows and goats ; 

 and horses, in some places, are fed entirely on 

 them, fi-om the end of August till November. 

 Horses so fed, it is stated, will travel 20 leagues a 

 day without being fatigued. In the north of 

 Sweden, and Norway, and in Lapland, the inner 

 bark is kiln-dried and ground, for the purpose of 

 mixing with oatmeal in years of scarcity. The 

 bark of the willow, and also the leaves, are astrin- 

 gent ; and the bark of most sorts may be employ- 

 ed in tanning. — Jlrhoretum Britannicum. 



ON THE NATURAL SUCCESSION OF FOREST 

 TREES IN NORTH AMERICA. 



By J. M.f Philadelphia. 

 In Vol. III. p. 351, an extract is given from 

 Evelyn's letter to Sir John Aubrey, stating that 

 beech trees grew in place of oaks which had been 

 cut down by his grandliither, and that birch suc- 

 ceeded beech which his brother had extirpated. 

 In the United States, the spontaneous succession 

 of timber, of a different kind from that cut down, is 

 well known. In the Memoirs nf the Philadelphia 

 Society for promoting j-Jgriculture, Vol. I., there 

 are several papers on this subject, by the president, 

 the late Richard Peters; by Dr. Meas'^. ; by Mr. 

 John Adlum, who had long been a surveyor in 

 the new settlements in Pennsylvania; by Dr. 



