22 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



cept through negligence in feeding. Firstly, the 

 advantages of meadow hay are experienced in sea- 

 sons of drought and scarcity of better fodder. 

 Secondly, in requiring no labor to cultivate the 

 crop. Thirdly, no expense for seed to perpetuate 

 the crop. Fourthly, and no draught upon the com- 

 post heap to enrich the soil. Meadow-hay will 

 preserve the lives of cattle through cold and dreary 

 winters, as many of our experienced farmers can 

 testify , but he that feeds his cows with it for main 

 support must be contented with blue milk and a 

 scanty supply at that. 



The price averages here from 5 to 7 or 8 dollars 

 a ton, or about the price of rye straw. 



Wilmington, Dec. 1, f851. s. b. 



HYDROPHOBIA. 



A case of death from the bite of a mad dog at 

 Banbridge, in Ireland, an account of which appears 

 in a Dublin journal, induces us to publish the fol- 

 lowing from the last New York Sun. Of course 

 we cannot tell whether the proposed cure would be 

 efficacious or not, but the possibility of its being so, 

 in such a dreadful emergency, is a sufficient reason 

 for making it known. 



Cure for Hydrophobia. — Mr. James A. Hub- 

 bard, of Boone county, Illinois, in a letter to the 

 St. Louis Republican, says : 



"Eighteen years ago, my brother and myself 

 were bitten by a mad dog. A sheep was also bit- 

 ten at the same time. Among the many cures of- 

 fered for the little boys, (we were then ten or 

 twelve years old,) a friend suggested the follow- 

 ing, which he said would cure the bite of a rattle- 

 snake : 



"Take the root of common upland ash, common- 

 ly called black ash ; peal off the baik, and boil it to 

 a strong decoction, of this drink freely. Whilst 

 my father was preparing the above, the sheep 

 spoken of began to be afflicted with hydrophobia. 

 When it had become so fatigued from its distracted 

 state as to be no longer able to stand, my father 

 drenched it with a pint of the ash root ooze, hoping 

 to ascertain whether he could depend upon it as a 

 cure for his sons. Four hours after the drench had 

 been given, to the astonishment of all, the animal 

 got up and went quietly with the flock to graze. 

 My brother and myself continued to take the medi- 

 cine for eight or ten days — one gill three times a 

 day. No effects of the dreadful poison were ever 

 discovered on either of us. It has been used very 

 successfully in snake bites to my knowledge." 



TO PROMOTE THE HEALTH OF CAT- 

 TLE. 



Mix, occasionally, one part of salt with four, five 

 or six parts of wood ashes, and give the mixture to 

 different kinds of stock, summer and winter. It 

 promotes their appetites, and tends to keep them in 

 a healthy condition. It is said to be good against 

 bots in horses, murrain in cattle, and rot in sheep. 



Horse-radish root is valuable for cattle. It cre- 

 ates an appetite, and is good for various diseases. 

 Some give it to any animal that is unwell. It is good 

 for oxen troubled with the heat. If animals will 

 not eat it voluntarily, cut it up fine and mix it with 

 potatoes or meal. 



Feed all animals regularly. They not only 

 look for their food at the usual time, but the 



stomach indicates the want at the stated period. 

 Therefore feed morning, noon, and evening, as 

 near the same time as possible. 



Guard against the wide and injurious extremes 

 of satiating with excess and starving with want. 

 Food should be of a suitable quality, and propor- 

 tioned to the growth and fattening of animals to 

 their production in young and milk, and to their 

 labor or exercise. Animals that labor need far 

 more food, and that which is far more nutritious, 

 than those that are idle. 



Guard all descriptions of stock against cold and 

 exposure, especially against cold storms of rain, 

 sleet, and damp snow, and against lying out on the 

 cold ground in cold nights, in the spring and fall. 



In dry time, see that animals have a good sup- 

 ply of pure water. When the fountains are low, 

 they drink the drainings of fountains, streams, and 

 passages of water, which are unwholesome. 



If barns and stables are very tight and warm, 

 ventilate in mild weather, even in winter. 



In feeding animals on apples or roots, begin 

 with a small quantity and gradually increase it. It 

 would be better to have all changes made gradu- 

 ally. — American Vet. 



PICKLING MEAT. 



Prof. Refinsque denounces the use of saltpetre 

 in brine intended for the preservation of flesh to be 

 kept for food. That part of the saltpetre which is 

 absorbed by the meat, he says, is nitric acid or 

 aquafortis, a deadly poison. Animal flesh, previ- 

 ous to the addition of pickle, consists of gelatinous 

 and fibrous substances, the former only possessing 

 a nutritious virtue ; the gelatine is destroyed by the 

 chemical action of saltpetre, and, as the professor 

 remarks, the meat becomes as different a substance 

 from what it should be, as leather is fiom the raw 

 hide before it is subjected to the process of tanning. 



He ascribes to the pernicious effects of the chem- 

 ical change all the diseases which are common to 

 mariners and others who subsist principally upon 

 salted meat — such as scurvy, sore gums, decayed 

 teeth, ulcers, &c. — and advises a total abandon- 

 ment of the use of saltpetre in the making of pickle 

 for beef, pork, &c, the best substitute for which 

 is, he says, sugar, a small quantity rendering the 

 meat sweeter, more wholesome, and equally as du- 

 rable. 



Remarks. — We fully agree with Prof. R. in de- 

 nouncing the use of saltpetre in preserving our 

 meats. Such poisons, and especially when they 

 so nearly resemble common salt, or Glauber's salts, 

 should never be brought into the midst of the fam- 

 ily. The most fatal consequences have often re- 

 sulted from it. Beside, the use of it does no good, 

 and may do a great deal of harm. 



Some persons have a practice of administering 

 saltpetre to their cows once or twice a week, in 

 order to keep off disease, or in their language to 

 keep them healthy. This should be strongly rep- 

 rehended. It is soon enough to dose either ani- 

 mals or humans when there are symptoms of sick- 

 ness. The practice is undoubtedly a fruitful source 

 of disease, as each dose of saltpetre contains nitric 

 acid or aquafortis, which is a deadly poison. 



