1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



525 



It is true, every kind of fruit is affected, more 

 or less by insects and diseases, and none flourish 

 without care and culture ; in fact, everything 

 that is necessary for our existence we must pay a 

 price for. Our trees suffer occasionally from the 

 bark louse on the branches, and from woolly and 

 green lice on the top, which check the growth. 

 Caterpillars and blight, the borer and canker 

 %vorm, are ail to be contended against. But the 

 cultivator himself is often much more destructive 

 than any of these insects, by allowing his cattle 

 to brouse the leaves from young trees, or trim- 

 ming them himself at the season of growth, and 

 also by cutting off the branches after they become 

 large, and by cutting off the roots with the plow. 



Rexhnry, N. H., Aug. 5, 1858. G. w. N. 



I^<ir the New England Fanner. 

 LITTLE THING-S ; 



Or, a Walk ix My Garden....No. 17. 



While gathering a plum tree a few days ago, 

 my mind run on a subject somewhat foreign, to 

 gardening, but as the subject is one of impor- 

 tance, I have jotted down my thoughts on 



POPULAR ERRORS IN MEDICINE. 



There are some prevalent ideas among even 

 intelligent people in regard to the medical and 

 domestic treatment necessarj- in sickness. One 

 of them Ls in the treatment of measles. If the 

 patient does not break out well, or even if he 

 does, recourse is usually had to hot stimulating 

 teas for the purpose of driving them out. Now 

 in this disease there is a strong tendency to con- 

 gestion of the lungs, thereby bringing on a cough. 

 Irreparable injury may thus be done to the lungs 

 by such treatment. Far better to make use of 

 milder teas, nearly lukewarm. 



In cases of typhoid fever many persons are 

 afraid of the patient's catching cold. Hence every 

 avenue to pure air is closed, and the disease ag- 

 • gravated. Watch the time when the patient is 

 hot and drj^ to ventilate the room, not when in a 

 Gtate of perspiration. 



Popular opinion has long favored the idea that 

 there is a specific remedy for every disease, but 

 medical knowledge has as yet advanced but a lit- 

 tle way in this direction. I hardly know of more 

 than one complete specific, and that is sulphur. 

 It will positively kill a troublesome little insect 

 that burrows in the skin, thereby producing a 

 troublesome disease. 



The anxiety of friends for fear that a patient 

 will starve during a fever is all groundless. Many 

 a patient has been killed by giving food at such 

 times. 



Many persons suppose that new rum, balm of 

 Gilead buds steeped in rum, camphor, or some- 

 thing else, inserted into a fresh cut will promote 

 its healing. I once heard of a man who thrust 

 into a bad cut a quid of tobacco for the same pur- 

 pose. Nothing will heal a fresh cut more quick- 

 ly than bringing the parts together and not al- 

 lowing them to be disturbed. 



People often talk of cutting short a fever and 

 curing the erysipelas immediately by the applica- 

 tion of gome favorite article, but the truth is, the 

 latter disease will have its run for about seven 

 or eight days in spite of all applications. The 



most that can be done is to modify its rage, and 

 render the patient as comfortable as we can. 



Very many persons of a strongly marked bil- 

 ious temperament often complain of dizziness 

 and headache, not knowing that it is caused by 

 the use of strong coffee. This is especially true 

 of persons of sedentary habits. Hence they use 

 all sorts of bitters before breakfast and then coun- 

 teract them by a couple dishes of their favorite 

 beverage. I love coffee dearly, but do know that 

 it injures multitudes in this climate who are not 

 ignorant of the cause. 



Many people err in their judgment of what the 

 physician should do in a case of typhoid fever. 

 If the physician is not at work on his patient at 

 every visit, he is doing nothing. Never was a 

 greater mistake. The greatest care of the phy- 

 sician is to watch for symptoms, and when they 

 appear, to combat them the best he can. Man- 

 aging a fever is much like steering a ship. Rocks 

 must be avoided, sometimes by steering to the 

 right, sometimes to the left ; then again the pilot 

 has nothing to do for a time but to steer straight 

 ahead. Just so with a fever. It is usually the 

 case that during a fever there is a period when 

 no marked symptoms appear, and the physician 

 can let well enough alone, but it is unfortunate- 

 ly the case, that anxious friends are over anxious 

 to have something done, though they do not know 

 what. Let the fever sail on until there is a spe- 

 cial call for interference, and then the physician 

 can the better manage his patient to a favorable 

 termination of the disease. 



!Many people err in the notion that it is not 

 best to put on additional clothing as soon as the 

 weather becomes cooler in autumn, because, as 

 they reason, they will need it more in colder 

 weather. This is a great mistake. Put on cloth- 

 ing just as soon as you feel the want of it. You 

 may avoid a severe cold or a fever. 



Many people attribute three-quarters the com- 

 plaints of children to worms, but the truth is, it 

 is but seldom that children have worms ; at least, 

 so numerous as to be of any account. Extreme- 

 ly ignorant people and quacks always find in im- 

 agination an abundance of worms. 



But fearing lest I may not please the doctors, I 

 will stop. N. T. T. 



BetM, Me., Sept. 25, 1858. 



/*OUT-DOOR SAFETY. 



The fear of the weather has sent multitudes to 

 the grave, who otherwise might have lived in 

 health many years longer. The fierce north wind 

 and the furious snow-storm kill comparatively 

 few, while hot winter rooms and crisping summer 

 suns have countless hecatombs of human victims 

 to attest their power. Except the localities where 

 miasma prevails, and that only in warm weather, 

 out door life is the healthiest and happiest, from 

 the tropics to the poles. The general fact speaks 

 for itself, that persons who are out of doors most, 

 take cold least. In some parts of our country 

 nearly one-half of the adult deaths are from dis- 

 eases of the air passages, these affections arise 

 from taking cold in some way or another ; and 

 surely the reader will take some interest in an ail- 

 ment through which, by at least one chance out 

 of four, his own life may be lost. All colds arise 

 from one of two causes : 1st, by getting cool too 



