242 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



For the New England Farmer. 

 "WATER POISONED BY LEAD. 



Editors of the Farmer: — Having noticed 

 an inquiry in the Farmer, as to the probability 

 of water becoming poisonous to stock by passing 

 through lead pipe, I beg leave to offer the follow- 

 ing remarks : — Lead, while it retains its metallic' 

 form, is not poisonous, but it maybe readily con- 

 verted into the various salts of lead, some of 

 •which are energetic poisons, especially the car- 

 bonate ; it does not affect all animals alike, nor 

 the same animal alike at all times, as in the case 

 of painters, who all inhale the vapors from white 

 lead, (carbonate ;) but it does not affect them 

 all alike, many of them no at all perceptibly, as 

 it depends on the diathesis, or habit ; and it is so 

 with all animals. 



Distilled water — air and carbonic acid being 

 excluded — does not act on metallic lead ; but ad- 

 mit them, and it readily corrodes the lead, and 

 the carbonate is the result. Rain water, or any 

 of the soft waters, are more apt to become poi- 

 sonous than well water, or the so termed li«.rd 

 water. The quality called hard in water is de- 

 rived from the presence of the earthy salts they 

 hold in solution, most frequently the sulphate of 

 lime, which impairs the formation of the carbon- 

 ate of lead, or if it is formed converts it into the 

 sulphate of lead, which is inert ; as in cases of 

 poisoning by lead, sulphuric acid is used as an 

 antidote, rendering the lead inactive by convert- 

 ing it into the sulphate. 



Mr. Braid states that the miners at the lead 

 hills, Lanarkshire, never have the lead colic un- 

 til they work in the smelting furnace, (the ore is 

 the sulphuret,) and Liebig says the lead colic is 

 unknown in the white lead manufactories in which 

 the workmen use sulphuric acid. 



Therefore it seems to depend on the character 

 of the water, whether it becomes poisonous by 

 passing through lead pipe. Lead may, and doubt- 

 less does, (by being introduced in small quanti- 

 ties, but constantly, for a long time,) become the 

 remote cause of serious and destructive diseases; 

 it impairs the function of digestion, lessens the 

 force of the circulation, constringes vessels as 

 absorbents, exhausts arteries, Src, lessening their 

 caliber, and finally deranges all the functions of 

 the body, and it becomes a system of rusty, im- 

 perfectly working machinery, producing morbid 

 .matter, instead of healthy blood, suitable to build 

 up and sustain the constantly wasting system on 

 the one hand, and in a measure ceasing to throw 

 off the effete matter on the other. By change of 

 diet, as being turned out to grass, a horse, for 

 instance, may gradually recover his normal con- 

 dition, or if gone too far, he is taken sick and 

 dies, perhaps of congestion of bowels, typhoid 

 fever, or something of that sort. These phe- 

 nomena have a cause. Some of the worst forms 

 of diseases we meet, we are told are caused by 

 a morbid habit of the body and this habit has a 

 cause. It may proceed from various causes, the 

 gradual introduction of lead into the system be- 

 ing one of them. 



In the case of your inquirer, in the absence of 

 other probable causes of the bad condition of his 

 stock, I should think his suspicions of the lead 

 were likely true, and I would advise him to make 

 the thing sure, to call a veterinary surgeon, take 



his advice, act upon it, pay him, improve his 

 stock, and my word for it, it will be a money- 

 making operation all round. 



Oren H. Flagg, Veterijiary Surgeon. 

 Boston, March 30, 1859. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE FARMER'S GIRL. 



The Farmer's girl leads a happy life 



As she trips o'er the grassy lawn ; 

 With an eye as oright and a step as light 



As that of the agile fawn. 



The farmer's girl is a merry maid, 



With cheeks of a rosy hue ; 

 She sits on the stile, a sweet sunny smile 



Darts out from her eye so blue. 



There's a magic in her winsome voice 



That "drives dull care away ;" 

 She can scrub and scour, or at evening hour, 



The sweet-toned harp can play." 



She would grace the halls of a mansion high, 



Or the porch of a lowly cot ; 

 She will make the home of her chosen one, 



A most delightful spot. 



Young men ! choose a wife 'mong the farmer's girls, 



If happy in life you would be ; 

 They are gentle and kind, just to your mind. 



Sing! A Farmer's Girl for me. Eats. 



Hill Side, April. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PIGS AND GIRLS. 



Mr. Editor : — In a recent Farmer, your cor- 

 respondent, "Rockingham," tells us of a fine pig 

 nine months old which weighed 320 lbs. when 

 dressed. A good pig that. But Old Cheshire 

 gets up bigger pigs than that. I suppose you 

 know that she is famous for her big oxen, good 

 hotels, handsome girls — and fat pigs. 



Mr. George Thacher, of this town, slaughtered 

 two pigs, the past winter, eight months old, which 

 weighed when dressed, one 377 lbs., the other 

 337 lbs. Mr. Thacher is a man who understands 

 what he is about, and what "pays ;" and knows 

 that other folks besides "millers" have a right to 

 fat hogs. I suspect that it is all owing to his 

 being a regular subscriber to the Farmer. 



Mr. Russell, another of my neighbors, slaugh- 

 tered a pig eight months and twenty days old, 

 that weighed when dressed 376 lbs. These were 

 fattened on corn meal, with a little rye at the last. 



Now, Mr. Rockingham, please just take that 

 feather out of your cap and pass it over to old 



Marlboro', N. E., March 28, 1859. 



The Wheat Crop. — The Detroit Advertiser, 

 after conversing with parties in different sections 

 of the State, comes to the conclusion that the 

 wheat crop never looked so promising at this sea 

 son, as it does now. The Rochester Union is in- 

 formed by old farmers of Western New York, 

 that the growing wheat is now forward, and is 

 looking remarkably well. It has suflered little 

 or none from the winter exposure. The Cincin- 

 nati Gazette says reports of the wheat crop con- 

 tinue favorable. 



