1875.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



185 



thRilities, while from the bottom land adjacent 

 lilonty lit' hay may he cut for tlie use of the 

 liorscs t-niploycd in lidding. He cuts no hay 

 for his caUU'. Tluy live the entire year on 

 tlie rich nativi^ ^'ra.ss on his ran^e, and with 

 tlu'('.\cc)ilion of ascvero winter now and then, 

 tlic iK'rccntagc of loss is not very -ircat. Mr. 

 Hill is a thorough cattle man, and from his 

 long I'xpericnce has a iierfict khowl< dge of 

 the liusiness. lie has bought and now owns 

 some twenty thousand acres of his present 

 range, and will inuloubledly ]iurchase more 

 land as soon as it conies into mark<-t. lie 

 now owns •J(i,(MI() ln'ad of cattle, and will have 

 this iiuuilicr after his sales for the present year 

 arecom|ileled. Tin- numlier of calves branded 

 this year on his ranche will be from 4. .")((() to 

 r),(«Ki head, and his sales of three and four- 

 year-old steers and fat cows the ])reseid fall 

 will probably amount to about the same num- 

 ber, lie said he expected to realize the sum 

 of ■$:i'A per head on his sales this year. At 

 this rate 4,.")(ili head would bring him the snug 

 little sum of !jl4S..")llO. To lake care of this 

 innuense herd he employs from twelve to 

 thirtv-live men— very few usually in the win- 

 ter and the largest nuudier during the "round 

 ups" in the sjiring. At the present time, he 

 has twenty-four men emiiloyed, and he is cut- 

 ting out of his herd the four-year-old steers 

 and fat cows which he inliMids to ship. While 

 engaged at this work the same men are gather- 

 ing the cows with uidManded calves, which 

 they put put into corrals near by, and after 

 the calves are branded they are turned loose 

 with the herd again. His herd is rapidly be- 

 ing graded up liy the introduction of thorough- 

 bred' Short-horn bulls. In addition to the 

 cattle rai.sed on his ranche, he deals largely in 

 Texas and Indian cattle, and has now adver- 

 tised for -iU.tiOO head of Texas cattle to be de- 

 livered at his ranche in .July of next year. Mr. 

 lliff estimates the increase of cattle from his 

 home here— out.side of purchases and sales— to 

 be about 70 per cent, per year, and about 

 equally divided as to gender. His shipping 

 points are at Pine lUuft's and .Tule.sburg on the 

 I'uion Pacitic, and at Deer's Trail on the 

 Kans;us Paciiic. 



iMr. llitl's policy is to keep his expenses as 

 low as ixxs-sible. having the keepingand safety of 

 hiscattleconstantly in view. Iviisl year the ex- 

 pense of herding, etc., amouuted to less than 

 $15,000, and will amounttoa still less sum this 

 year. But the lo.sses fidm theft and death .some 

 year.s are frightful. The winter of lS71-'2 was 

 very severe. There were deep snows over his 

 range that remained on the ground a long 

 time, and the storms were incessant. In the 

 mid.st of these .storms Mr. Iliff visited his 

 ranche and found his cattle liti'rally ilying liy 

 thou.sands. On the islands in the South Platte 

 river he found and drove off into the sand hills 

 on the south side, after great exertion, some 

 2,7lMJ head, and of this luunber less than half 

 have since been recovered. ThOir bleaching 

 bones now whiten the jilains in the vicinity, 

 wliere they were frozen and starved to deatli, 

 and tho.se that were recovered were found in 

 two different St;iles and four different territo- 

 ries in the Union. More than .'g-J4,00() were 

 expended in trying to lind them. >i'or was 

 this all. It was impossible to tell fm- a num- 

 ber of years how nuich the loss had been. His 

 books showed nearly live thousand head tuiac- 

 connted for. Jso trace of them beyond .skele- 

 tons could be found, and at last tliis niunher 

 was charged to [irolit and loss account, and 

 the books balanced for a newstart. This large 

 number woidd [irobably have averaged at least 

 $20 per head could they have heeti sold tlie fall 

 previoiLS, and at this rate they would have 

 amounted to ."rlOO,000. His capital invested 

 in the cattle business is estimated at $500,000, 

 and yet from its very nature he is liable to lose 

 half of it during the coming sea.son. Like 

 other business venture.s, if a man goes into it, 

 of couree he takes the chances. 



An Arizona girl shot her lover, and then 

 nursed him tenderly tillhedied. Ilislast words 

 were, "1 forgive yoti Mai'j-; you did it witli an 

 ivory-handled pistol." 



THE SNOWS OF LAST YEAR. 



The following tables of the snows which 

 fell last winter wi^l he interesting as a matter 

 of record, and for comparison with the snow 

 fall of the present winti-r. The liist record was 

 ki-pt by a citizen of New Ox lord, .Vdams coun- 

 ty, in "this State, where thirty-two snows fell 

 iluring the winter, as follows : 



No. 



1. 



2^ 

 X 

 4. 



S. 

 «. 

 T. 



s. 



!). 

 10. 

 11. 

 l-i. 

 13. 

 1-1. 

 15. 

 10. 



Date. Dt>i>th. 



Nov. 20 1 lucb. 



•• 'Jl Bqxuill. 



Dec. 1.. 



" 8.. 



" 10.. 



" 20.. 



" 22.. 

 Juu. 2.. 



la. 



18. 



24. 

 27. 

 2». 



;ii. 



. . Vi inch. 



..M " 



.•?i " 



..» " 



■•« " 



■ ■H " 



■ ■X " 

 ..1 " 

 ..1 " 

 ..2 " 



..1 " 



..0 " 



No, 

 li. 

 18. 

 10. 

 20. 

 21. 

 22. 

 2.t. 

 24. 

 25. 

 28. 

 27. 

 28. 

 29. 

 SO. 



:n. 



32. 



Date. Deptb. 



Feb. 7 l^lncUes. 



" 11 6 " 



" 12 1 " 



•' 14 « " 



" 19 l}i " 



" 20 8 " 



** 27 Bqniill. 



Mur. 1 G inubuH. 



3 2 



" B 1 " 



10.. 

 17., 

 18. 

 !1. 

 24. 



8quiill. 

 iucli. 



AggroK.ite depth, 57>j' iueneH. 



Th(> following record, showing the snow-fall 

 at Paiadisc, in this county, was kept by Milton 

 15. Kshlcman. It will be seen while the num- 

 ber of snows registered is i:onsiderably less, 

 the amount exceeds in deiith that which fell 

 at New O.xford by 2i inches : 



Ni). Date. Depth. 



1. Nov. 29, '74... sqilull. 



2. Dec. 1 " 



3. " 8 " 



4. " 11 l^iiucheB. 



5. " 20 5 " 



C. Jan. 1, '75... 1 " 



7 " 12 1 " 



8. " IS 2 " 



9. " '24 1 •' 



10. '• 28 2 " 



11. " 29 2 " 



12. " 31 4 



No. Date. Depth. 



13. Feb. 11 6 iuches. 



14. " 19 2 •' 



IB. " 20 4 " 



10. " 27 >^ " 



17. Mar. 1 ,1 •' 



18. " S hail all liny. 



19. ** 5 3 llU'heB. 



20. " 7 10 " 



21. " 24 4 



22. Apr. 13 3 •■ 



23. " 18 1 " 



24. '■ 20 2 " 



ApRre^iite depth, 00 inches. 



The amount of snow which fell in Ea.stem 

 Pennsylvania seems to have (littered greatly. 

 One account we saw gave the aggregate! at 70 

 inches, while another record, kept at Carlisle, 

 Pa., foots up 118 inches. 



HOG CHOLERA— COAL FOR HOGS. 



The losses from hog cholera seems to be 

 appalling in many parts of the AVestern coun- 

 try, and may well ex(.'ite serious apprehensions 

 in distrii:ts not yet alVected. Indeed, I know 

 of no other subject which addresses itself so 

 directly and so immediately to those who feel 

 an interest in the welfare of those engaged in 

 agriculture as this. I am not advised that its 

 cause has been clearly ascertained, or 'a suc- 

 cessful remedy prescribed. Is it contagious or 

 epidemic V are questions, I believe, still open 

 to controversy. Surely it is not beyond hunuui 

 investigation, and what more important task 

 can the State Agricultural Society, the State 

 (Jrauge, orother a.ssticiationsof those who may 

 be interested in the subject, take upon itself, 

 than the employment ofthoroughly coiupetenl 

 )iersons to investigate the subject to its very 

 iiottoni and see if there be no way of ])revent- 

 ing its aiiproacli anil no remedy for it when it 

 has come. No doubt many intelligent fainiers 

 who have stock sulVering from this disease are 

 trying remedies, some of which, at least, we 

 hope may jirove successful. If they will favor 

 you with an account of their efforts and their 

 "results, especially when successful, they will 

 render an important service to the balance of 

 your readers. 



The hog seems to crave carbon in a concen- 

 trated form, and hence we may concludi' it is 

 necessary to his well-being. He will cat char- 

 coal freely, which is tasteless, and is not nu 

 tritious. From the .same natural pronqiting 

 A\e see them eat wood when so decayed that 

 they can do so. 



« For myself I have for many years been in 

 the habit of feeding my hogs with an aliuudance 

 of our conuiioii bituuiinoiiscoal, prefeniuglhe 

 poorest, or that which contains a lar^e amount 

 of sulphur and iron, and 1 think with the hap- 

 piest results. Let a farmer wlio has never 

 tried it, throw in a lump of coal as large as his 

 list, iind he will be surprised to see the hog 

 leave the corn and crunch the coal, as if it was 

 the most luscious morsel. Sulphur has long 

 been known as a valuable remedial agent for 

 hogs, and iron is a well known tonic, acting 



specifically upon the blood, thickening and 

 .strengthening it. Here, then the hog, by eat- 

 ing the coal, gets other important elements 

 besides the carbon. 



I have never known a hog well supi)lied with 

 this coal, to be sick or off Ins feed a for single 

 day, and although 1 cannot give figures showing 

 actual results of careful ex|ieriments to prove 

 it, I believe hogs thus supplied will eat more 

 .■^nd assimilate their food belter, will make 

 a|)precial)ly more pork, with a given amount 

 of corn, than those which are wllhout it. At 

 lea.st, I am well satii-lied with Uw way in 

 which my hogs thrive- grow and fatten — un- 

 der this treatment. Coal is chea|i, and others 

 if they have not may try it at little expense. — 

 Judge Colon, in Prairie Farmer. 



THE MAD ITCH— A NEW CATTLE 

 DISEASE. 



The Grand Rapids (Michigan) Daitocrut, of 

 a recent date, says great excitement jirevails 

 among the farmers in the vicinity of Law- 

 rence, Van Ihireii county, r)ver a lerrilile dis- 

 ease that has broken oiil among the horned 

 cattle, and threattns deslruction to numbers. 

 They seem to be in the utniosl pain, are con- 

 tinually raking their heads against all shaqj 

 objects near them, and will search and tear till 

 the skin ami th'sh is literally torn olT, leaving 

 the bone exposed. They keeii this up until 

 death ensues. It has taken the fanners wholly 

 by surprise, as no disea.se has ever U'cn known 

 among the cattle in this vicinity before. It 

 comes so suddenly and kills tlie animals so 

 quickly that time is hardly given to treat the 

 jioor brutes. Animals appari'iilly in jK-rfect 

 iiealth will all at once commeuci' this scratch- 

 ing and throwing upwards of their heads, as 

 if catching their breath, and will die within 

 10 hours. Farmers are using the utmost cau- 

 tion to keep it from spreading, as they fear it 

 is a contagions disease, by burning tar in 

 yards and .stables, and also daubing ii <m their 

 noses. In a single day one farmer living in 

 Lawrence lost two splendid cows, valued at 

 seventy dollar^ each. .Should the disease 

 s)iread, it will cause a general depression 

 among the farmers and grazei-s. as there are a 

 great many who devote considerable time to 

 the raising of cattle and dairying in this sec- 

 tion of Van Hunn county, and al.somaiiy poor 

 men who depend almo.st wholly on their cows 

 for support during the winter. Some pretend 

 to know the disea.seaiid call it the "mad itch," 

 and declare that in other localities (out of 

 Michigan) it has carried otf numbers of cattle, 

 all remedies tailing to eounleract it. 



The following from the (Jreencastle (Pa.) 

 &//0, indicates that this same disease is at- 

 tacking cattle simultaneously in widely-sepa- 

 rated districts, and it will be well for oiu" far- 

 mers to take measures to guard against its 

 sjiread: "A valuable cow belonging to Mr. 

 David I.,. Martin, of .Middlebiirg. was t.aken 

 sick and acted in such a curious manner as to 

 attract the attention of himself and neighbors. 

 On examination, it was discovered that the 

 one side of her lower Jaw w.isbared of liairfor 

 about two inches, caused by the raiud friction 

 from rubbing on the fence, and that her neck 

 was very niiich swollen. The cow acted as if 

 crazy, and continued rubbing her jaw on the 

 fence for several hours, when she suddenly 

 died. Mr. Martin at once proceeded to haul 

 her carciiss to the woods, and was followed by 

 his watch dog, who frequeiilly smelled of the 

 dead lH>dy, ami shortly alter i-etnrning homo 

 the dog was take n with the disea.se, acted in 

 the same manner as the cow, and died in a few 

 hours. Mr. Martin became alarmed and called 

 in a veterinary surgeon to examine the dead 

 bodies, who ]iroiiounced the disea.sc "mad 

 itch." which is fatal to all animals that con- 

 j tract it. It is very rare in tlii! United States, 

 and these are the first ca.ses that have ever oc- 

 cuiTed in this part of the country." 



"Heavexs! wliatacow!" wiustheapproving 

 remark of a teetotal judge of Vermont, after 

 swallowing a ])otent ]iunch which had been 

 offered him as a glass of milk. 



