496 HANDY-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY, 



" recovers more rapidly. The remedies and treatment, as you 

 *' will see, are perfectly simple, and easily tried by any flock 

 " owner. The great secret of success with it, as with a large 

 " majority of diseases, I believe, is good nursing. * * * Since 

 " my flock have received a small quantity of grain, say half a pint 

 *' per head daily, before lambing, they have been quite free from 

 *' any signs of that trouble. As an illustration that a small quan- 

 " tity of feed is a preventive, a flock belonging to one of my friends 

 *' was divided, upon going into winter-quarters, into two lots, — 

 " one of sixty old ewes, the other of thirty two-year old ewes. 

 '' The former received a very small quantity of corn daily — the 

 " latter only hay. His loss from the former lot was two — from 

 " the latter, fourteen head ; though the younger ones generally 

 *' escaped. * * * 



" Yours faithfully, Sam'l Thorne." 



The following statement concerning swine, by Dr. Finlay 

 Dun, of the Edinburgh Veterinary College, to the 'Journal of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society of England^^ advances an idea that is not 

 in accordance with the views of most American farmers. He 

 says : — 



'' Pigs, when carefully managed, are hardy and little liable to 

 " disease. Wild breeds in both the Old and New Worlds are 

 " remarkably healthy ; but it must be recollected that they con- 

 "stantly breathe pure fresh air, have regular exercise, feed mod- 

 '' erately on roots and fruits, and carefully avoid all kinds of filth ; 

 '' for they are naturally a very cleanly race, and indulge in wal- 

 *' lowing in the mire, not from any love of filth, as is generally 

 " supposed, but, like the elephant, rhinoceros, and other pachy- 

 '' dermata, for the purpose of protecting their skins from the attacks 

 " of insects. In a state of domestication, however, their condition 

 '' is usually very different. They are cooped up in narrow, damp, 

 '' and dirty sties, and constrained to inhale all kinds of noxious va- 



* Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Volume XVI., page 37. 



