vol.. XI ». NO. 5i. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



413 



■ed of labor. Tliey wore not too proud to be seen half a gill of tar, and a email portion of spirits tur- 

 «attng coarse but substantial food, and they were pentine, or in these proportions, warmed to a liquid 

 rewarded with liealth and strength accordingly — and applied by means of a swab, about the mutila- 

 Maine Fanner. i tions. This not only possesses healing virtues, but 



j keeps at a distance the [nairgot fly. The great 



From the All.any Cultivaior. I n,,,j„rity of farmers use none, and the loss in consc- 



SALMAGUNDI, OR ODDS AND ENDS— No I. ni'ence is always more or less, yearly, by neglect 



., „ I. ■ ■ . .• . . of it. Year before last, by using this oinlinent, 1 



Messrs Kditors — It is my intenticm to present ,• , , , , ' ■' , . , ■ , 



, c .■ , . . Old not lose a lamb. Last vear 1 docked and cas- 



to your readers from tune to time, as convenience . , ,.,„ ,, ; ,,,.,., 



.. . ,• J 1 1- . 1 trated 540, and but two or three died ot this large 



permits, my viewg on divers and sundry subjects I i ., , , 



■^ ' , ■.. c ■ ■ / . number. Alter the who 



connected with my protession, in a irngmentary 



way, under the above caption. The adoption of 

 this plan «ill enable me to condense, with due re- 

 gard to fullness, however, when required, and 

 thereby often avoid the prolLxity of formal essays. 

 It will, for the most part, be merely a discharge of 

 small arms, but if a bomb-shell shoi.ld now and 

 then burst and break some shins, why — let them 

 be mended again as soon as possible, together with 

 the ways of those to whom the aforesaid shins be- 

 long. Peradventiire the war should not come up 

 to this brief manifesto, it will not, most certainly, 

 be the first time in the history of nations or of in- 

 dividuals. 



The first thing which will claim my attention, is 

 to sup|)ly some deficiencies which were, not inad- 

 vertently, but for want of space, omitted in my last 

 chapter, and somewhat connected by common usage, 

 with shearing of sheep. And first. 



Castration of Lambs, 

 Inasmuch as tins is usually attended to at shear- 

 ing time, it would be wholly unnecessary to ad 

 vert to it, were it uniformly performed, as it should 

 be, with reference to humanity and individual inte- 

 rest. The time I have chosen, as well as method, 

 have been sanctioned and approved by some years 

 of personal experience, and therefore I hope will 

 be acceptable, as well as f>llo«'ed. The ewes of 

 my flock, by the 20th of May, are through folding ; 

 anil soon after, provided the weather is suitably 

 ■w.'irm, they are washed ; and some cool day be- 

 tween this and shearing, the flocks are got uj), and 

 the lambs dockiid and castrated. Provided this is 

 not done when the weather is cool, it should be at- 

 tended to early in the morning, for the reason that 

 when the temperature is low, there is less flow of 

 blood, and consequently less exhaustion : a contra- 

 ry course will endanger the lives of many lanibs, 

 especially if the breed be of the finer grade of 

 Saxony. The modus operandi is thus : —one strides 

 a scantling or narrow plank, which is placi'd in an 

 inclined position, and on this the himbsare rested ; 

 this is a good way, bejauso they can be more firmly 

 held. Another, with a sharp knife, cuts about two 

 thirds of the testicle bag off: if left too long it will 

 bother the tagger and shearer: if cut too short, it 

 will prolong the process of healing, and often jeop- 

 ardizes life, especially if no use is made of an 

 ointment similar to the one which I shall prescribe 

 and recommend. The testicles are then drawn 

 out sufficiently far to reach the connecting cords, 

 and instead of then giving a violent jerk, as is usu- 

 al, the cords are divided by friction of the thumb 

 nail. This is certainly more gentle and humane, 

 because, apparently, attended with less suffering, of tobacco water, namely, curing irritation or irrup 



process is tl'.roiigh with, 

 which with the skilful is momentary, they are |)lac- 

 ed in a separate pound, for the sake of quietness, 

 and there remain until the blood ceases to flow, to 

 prevent the wool of the ewes from being stained. 

 Allied to this subject, is the 



Destruction of Ticks, 



a most disgusting kind of vermin, which impover- 

 ish and injure materially the health of sheep, as 

 well as the appearance of the wool. A mode was 

 recommended by one of you, Messrs Editors, in a 

 late number of your paper, which was stated to be 

 the result of actual experiment, and proved an ef- 

 fectual remedy. As near as my memory serves — 

 and if I am wrong you can correct me — the pro- 

 cess was performed at washing time, and the mate- 

 rial was a liberal use of soft soap, which was rub- 

 bed upon the fleece before the sheep was immersed 

 in water ; and after a few were washed, being in a 

 vat, the soap would so combine with the water as 

 to produce strong suds ; and the lambs wore served 

 in a similar way. This mode is not uncommon in 

 England and Scotland, and the philosophy of it is 

 very obvious ; for, independent of the deadly ingre- 

 dients of the soap, it produces thorough cleanliness, 

 this being the greatest of all foes to the genera- 

 tion of vermin of similar description. The method 

 is feasible — :;nd I have no doubt eflicieiit — where 

 soft water abounds ; but the stream which runs 

 through my farm is strongly impregnated with 

 lime; consequently the water is hard ; otherwise I 

 would be disposed to adopt it, for, aside from ac- 

 complishing so desirable an object, it must make 

 the wool beautifully white and clean, a sight al- 

 ways good for sore eyes. Please remember this 

 prescription, my liroth.'r wool-growers, when you 

 are troubled in this way, it being more efficacious 

 far than half the nostrums invented ; and moreover 

 will "put more money in thy pockets," when the 

 wool is thrtiwn into market. In common with 

 many others, i have used most successfully lor the 

 destructiim of ticks, a decoction of tobacco water, 

 and the process is as follows: buy at the stores, 

 say for 100 lambs, four pounds of poor plug tobac- 

 co, or of stems ten pounds, and boil the same 

 about two hours in order to extract fully ttio 

 strength ; and then pour th^ liquid into a half bar- 

 rel or washing tub. In about a week after shear- 

 ing', all the ticks will have left the ewes and fas- 

 tened upon the lambs ; then immerse them in this 

 decoction up to the ears, care being taken not to 

 remove them from over the vessel until the liquor 

 has been rubbed or sipieezed from the vkooI. There 

 are other obji'cls attained besides this in the use 



IJumanily to Brutes. 

 There is yet another small matter which ^ould 

 have been noticed in my last chapter, and which I 

 deem of sufficient importance to mention here, viz: 

 the practice of kicking and cuffing sheep, with a 

 view to make them lay still when shearing them. 

 Nothing of this kind is allowed in rny shearing 

 house, and on a repetition of the offence with my 

 shearer, he receives due notice to quit, accompani- 

 ed with an Uncle Toby's blessing. What! mal- 

 treat an animal when it is yielding its harvest 

 which the God of nature has provided for our use 

 and benefit I Let man keep in view that wise and 

 humane proverb, "a merciful man is merciful to his 

 beast," for its observance will confer a two-fold 

 benefit — to the mind pleasure, the invariable con- 

 comitant of ilie discharge of duty, and to the pock- 

 ets an increased reward. L. A. MORRELL. 



After this the tail is docked, and if yo i wish to 

 save yourselves the trouble of tagging often du- 

 ring the year, let it be cut as short as pos.sible ; 



tions caused by jihnswort: and if a little tar is 

 dissolved in the water, it will serve as a guard for 

 a while at least, against the attacks of flics, for we 



besides, what looks more ungenteel, and absolute- are all well aware how abhorrent the cfliiivia ot 

 ly vulfrar, than a sheep with a long dock, or indeed , t" 's '" '"sects of all kinds. If this plan is ad.ipt- 

 without any dock at all. 'ihe omtment above al- ed, every wonl-grower may rest assured that in 

 Iudedto,i3 composed of, say one pound of lard, two years scarcely a tick will be f.und in his flock. 



" Skunkiana." — Dr. Holmes, of the Maine Far- 

 mer, (who, en passant, appears to be a true philoso- 

 pher of the Uncle Toby stamp,) replies to our re- 

 marks upon his proposed titles for the skunk, after 

 this wise : 



" Marry I Mr N. E. F. Pr. D. Esq., thou art a 

 facetious imp. Not only "a wit yourself, but the 

 cause of wit in others" — and very classical withal. 

 You shall be knighted, and have a skunli fragranl 

 on the field of your coat of arms, and '^ utilis el fra- 

 grans el amr.us skunkoium," the motto. — Ed. Me. 

 Far." 



We are witty, that's a fact! and it affords us no 

 little gratification to be told so ! ! especially by one 

 who combines in so eminent a degree a.s docs Dr. 

 Holmes, the rare attainments wiiich make the Jin- 

 ished geiitleman and the accomplished scholar. (You 

 perceive, Doctor, that your " puff " is met in that 

 spirit of reciprocity peculiar to gnat minds ) 



The honor of knighthood with which you would 

 invest us, we must decline: It is a round in ambi- 

 tion's ladder to which we do not aspire. The age 

 of chivalry. Doctor, is past: and the hazard of life 

 and limb to win a " ladye love" in the desperate 

 encounters of the tourney, is now regarded as a bar- 

 baris!!). If the honor you propose could be made 

 an available means in winning us the affections of 

 one of the gentler sex — then we would be proud to 

 don the knightly ariimr and " break a lunce" with 

 any he who might be disposed to enter the lists as 

 our rival. But tournaments are no more; — and 

 the fair must now be won, if won at all, through 

 the bloodless encounter between bright eyes and 

 congenial hearts. [Dr., what should you prescribe 

 for a patient who was afflicted with a plethora of 

 " ihe tender passion" 9 Advice, to us, "gratis," 

 we suppose.] 



While we decline the honor you would confer, 

 we appreciate the generous motive which prompted 

 it, and would gently hint that if you re.tlly think us 

 entitled to some distinction in consideration of our 

 services in that cause which few exhibited the 

 " moral courage" to advocate, you may just give us 

 to understand, in as plain a way as posssible, that 

 in your opinion we are something of a gi.mus and a 

 considerably good sort of a fellow — a promising 

 yountr man, and one who would doubtless make a 

 frst rale husband. There, Doctor, say only so 

 much, and believe us, our best feelings will be 

 most delightfully tickled I nor could ail the " star- 

 and-"-art<:r" distinctions in Christendom increase 

 oure^cstacy !!-N. E. F.'s " P. D." 



