1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



335 



are nerveless — have scarcely slept all night — feel 

 more wearied than they did when they lay down 

 — and, on the whole, think the farmer lives a 

 dog's life. So he does, so far as he sinks to mere 

 animalism — living to eat — taxing his digestive 

 apparatus at the expense of health, life, and life's 

 enjoyments. So on from day to day, till nature 

 makes a desperate effort to rid the body of the 

 superfluous food introduced into it. burning it up 

 by fever, or expelling it by some different reme- 

 dial effort. 



Farmers, being so much in the open ? ir, with 

 abundant exercise, should be the healthiest peo- 

 ple ; but, like others who are cursed with "abun- 

 dance of bread," they are rheumatic, bilious, dy- 

 speptic. This is a shame and a sin. Farmers ! 

 it is sin. Your liver complaints, chill fevers, etc., 

 are as unnecessary as is the plague. Health and 

 sweet sleep will come to you when you need, unless 

 by bad habits you drive them away. "Go, and 

 sin no more." — Life Illustrated. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CATTLE DISEASE. 



Mr. Editor : — Can you or some of your cor- 

 respondents give us information about a disease 

 among our young cattle ? About the first of Sep- 

 tember last, a party walking over a pasture be- 

 longing to one of my neighbors found a fine calf 

 dead, which had probably been so three or four 

 days. It may be well to state here that the pas- 

 ture is on a high hill, one of the best in the vi- 

 cinity, and has been used as a pasture for thirty 

 years. Some days after another calf was found 

 dead, and a few days after two more died. The 

 owners then removed those remaining from the 

 pasture and bled them in the neck. Was this a 

 judicious course ? 



The next day another died and the day after 

 another. These last had probably contracted 

 the disease before their removal from the pasture. 

 I saw the last one while sick (for it was well at 

 night and died before noon the next day.) It 

 staggered about, lying down and rising often. 

 Its eyes rolled around. The body was swelled 

 slightly and a white froth came from its mouth. 

 I should think its head and stomach was the seat 

 of the disease. A week after, a yearling was 

 found dead in the same pasture. The remaining 

 cattle, consisting of yearlings and two years old, 

 were driven from the pasture and bled, (with the 

 exception of some half-dozen owned by a man 

 living at a distance,) in the same manner as the 

 calves, viz., in the neck. The amount of blood 

 taken varied from one to two quarts. The num- 

 ber bled was eighteen. Those remaining lived 

 and were in good condition when taken from the 

 pasture. It was supposed that it would be safe 

 to turn cattle of the same age into the pasture 

 this spring, but it proved otherwise for about a 

 week after the owner had turned his cattle to 

 pasture a fine yearling, one of the calves which 

 had escaped last year, died. In a pasture on the 

 same hill, a short distance from the one noticed 

 above, a calf died last year. It was skinned by 

 he owner and buried. I ought to have said be- 

 fore, that in the first named pasture the cattle 

 •which died were neither opened nor buried, 

 though the two calves which died near the house 



were buried. This spring, a few days after the 

 young cattle were turned into the last named pas- 

 ture, a yearling died. Being much interested, 

 three of us examined this animal. It could not 

 have been dead more than fifteen or twenty hours. 

 It lay in a clump of spruce bushes, where it had 

 apparently laid down a short distance from the 

 others, and after a short struggle died. Its body- 

 was swelled, but the neck was very much swelled. 

 Upon opening the skin the neck was very black, 

 the neck veins much swelled. The body looked as 

 natural as common. The peck or second stom- 

 ach was swelled very hard, and the inside skin as 

 rotton as wet brown paper, and of a chocolate 

 color. The rest of the body was a natural color. 

 The head, neck and stomach appear to be the 

 seat of the disease. Would poison produce the 

 above result? They die so suddenly there seems 

 to be no chance for the application of remedies. 

 Would it be best to remove cattle of that age 

 from the pasture ? Since writing the above, 

 another yearling died, the appearances indicating 

 the same disease. Will Dr. Dadd or some other 

 veterinary physician give his opinion ? B. 



Campion, 1858. 



Remarks. — We can throw no light on this un- 

 fortunate visitation of disease. Dr. Dadd will 

 impart any information he may possess, but would 

 undoubtedly prefer to do it through his own ex- 

 cellent Journal. We shall be glad to have him 

 reply through our columns, but will copy with 

 pleasure from his own. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 THE HOKSE POWER MOWEB. 



I want to hear the click of this implement. 

 The abundant grass waving over the plains in- 

 vites its use. Imperfect as have been most of 

 those that have been brought forward, either 

 through defect of principle or material used in 

 their constructions, still they are a decided im- 

 provement on the ordinary scythe operation. I 

 know a single machine, of Manny's pattern, with 

 which more than three hundred acres of grass 

 have been cut within the last three years, aver- 

 aging, at least, one and a half tons to the acre, 

 on time not exceeding fifty minutes to the acre. 

 I have good reason to believe that Allen's pattern 

 has been used to better advantage than this. 

 Either of them will be a saving of one-half the 

 expense of cutting by the scythe. Will farmers 

 neglect such a boon, when they can grasp it at 

 their pleasure ? Ess£X. 



June 10, 1858. 



To Tell the Number of Days in the 

 Month by Counting the Knuckles. — By 

 counting the knuckles on the hand, with the 

 spaces between them, all the months with thirty- 

 one days will fall on the knuckles ; and those 

 with thirty days, or less will come on the spaces. 

 January, first knuckle ; February, first space ; 

 March, second knuckle ; April, second space ; 

 May, third knuckle ; June, third space ; July, 

 fourth knuckle ; August, first knuckle ; Septem- 

 ber, first space ; October, second knuckle ; No- 

 vember, second space; December, third knuckle. 



