1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARjMER, 



277 



help him about tapping the trees, as the sap started 

 in a hurry. Father bored from two to three inches 

 deep ; the other man one and a half or two inches. 

 "When he came to fiuiher tlie sap he found that 

 there was considerable more sap from tlje trees 

 bored the deepest, but he could not tell the cause 

 of it. For the last twenty j-ears I have worked in 

 the sugar lot, and am satisfied that three or four 

 inches is better than one inch ; a lirgc amount of 

 sap is what we want; and my trees hea! upas 

 soon as th(;se of my neighbors who do not bore 

 more than half as deep as I do. Faiimer. 



Wailing ford, Vt., April, 1869. 



"WART.S. 



How shall I cure the warts on the teats of anice 

 heifer, expected to come in the first of June ? 

 Tuftonboro', Me., 1869. j. b. b. 



Remarks. — As nothing is made in vain, we pre- 

 sume warts have some "mission" in this world, and 

 when that mission is performed they disappear, 

 with or without doctoring. Hence perhaps the 

 popularity of many of our favorite wart prescrip- 

 tions, applied just as they were ready to de- 

 part. Many kinds of caustics, such as the various 

 forms of nitre, vitriol, &c., are used. Anointment 

 of equal parts of tar, sulphur and lard, melted and 

 stirred till cold, was recommended by a correspon- 

 dent of the Farmer, a few years since, for the re- 

 moval of warts and the cure of barn itch. Small 

 warts may be removed by working them loose from 

 the skin, with or without the use of caustics or a 

 little spirits of turpentine, find clipping them off, 

 or rather out by the roots, with a pair of scissors. 

 Larger ones are removed by tying a hard string 

 around them. One lady — there are no women, 

 now-a-days — who has milked cows for many years, 

 said she always cured the warts on her cows by 

 rubbing and working them with her finger wet 

 with spittle, but she told us not to print it, as folks 

 would laugh at us. The warts should be cleared 

 off in time to heal over before you want to milk 

 your heifer. 



THE ONION WORM. 



Not long since I roticed in the Farmer an in- 

 quiry as to how much air-slacked lime should be 

 applied to a common paper of oiiion seed to kill 

 the onion weevil or muggot. I can answer that no 

 oznount of lime will do it. The weevil is the off- 

 spring of a fly, about one-half inch long, liglu col- 

 ored, with transparent wings. It pei forms its 

 work mostly between sunset and sunrise. I have 

 seen a tew at woik very early in the morning and 

 occasionally one or two near the middle of the day. 

 Lime in suillci.nt quantity may be applied to pie- 

 vent the fly fiom Ueposuing its eggs, wliich it de- 

 posits in the earth, touching the bottom ofihe 

 onion. My way is when 1 weed my onions to cut 

 up the weeds Ijetween the rows and remove them 

 with all the earth I loosen ; then with my fingers 

 I remove ihe ear;h below to the bottom of the oiron, 

 but not disturbing ihe roots, and have never ijten 

 troubled with the maggot. For an experiment I 

 have fur several seasons left a lew on one end of 

 the bed without removing the earth. lhe?e have 

 always been elcsiroyed i)y ihe maggot, while thoae 

 properly cared for were not touched. 



East Monipalier, Vt., 18G9. An Old Man. 



Remarks.— We have delayed the publication of 

 the foregoing a few weeks for the purpose of bring- 



ing it before our readers more seasonably. "We 

 hope to hear again from our correspondent, and 

 will assure him that the suggestions of old men 

 are highly prized by the editors and readers of the 

 Farmer. 



rOOT EOT IN sheep. 



Mr. Editor:— As the season of the year is ap- 

 proaching that this difficulty commences anew to 

 trouble sheep, I beg leave to express a few thoughts 

 on "the subject. Though the disease may have 

 been prevalent the previous year, it does not much 

 affect a flock during coltl weather, otherwise than 

 to reduce to some extent the general cmdition of 

 the sheep that have the infection in their blood. 

 I take the ground that the disease is general, and 

 that it affects the condition of the blood and of the 

 whole system of the animal. As warm weather 

 approaches the latent disease manifests itself in 

 inflammation and suppuration of the feet. But as 

 the disease develops itself locally, its treatment is 

 necessarily local. It may still be a good idea to 

 doctor their blood with sulphur, &c. 



The disease should be attended to in season, 

 and as soon as any symptoms of lameness are ob- 

 served. Farmers arc too apt to delay their treat- 

 ment, and to entrust it to incompetent persons, — 

 hired men or boys who have neither knowledge nor 

 interest in the matter. The principal secret of 

 curing is the thorough use of a sharp knife, fol- 

 lowed by the application of some one of the 

 various preparations which have ofcen been re- 

 commended, and 'most of which are efficient if 

 properly administered. 



Ic is not pleasant to know that your sheep are 

 diseased and that the treatment is attended with 

 some little trouble and expense. But there is no 

 occasion lor the alarm and discouragement which 

 many have evinced in reference to it, and which 

 have led some farmers to say, '^ I can't keep sheep, 

 they all die loith foot rot," 



Many suppose the uisease is communicated by 

 the feet of ihe animal coming in contact with the 

 poisonous virus left on the ground by other in- 

 fected sheep. I doubt the correctness of this 

 opinion. From more than thirty years' observa- 

 tion, I am satisfied that the disease is communi 

 cateJ by exhalations from the body and lungs of 

 the sheep. But however contracted, I assert with 

 eontideace that the disease can be cured, and that 

 the process, as the jugglers say of their tricks, is 

 easy enough when you once know how. 



1 would earnestly advise my wool growing 

 brethren not to be discouraged by the appearance 

 of this disease among their flocks. With proper 

 care and treatmcnc it; may be cured, and from my 

 expeiience 1 should value an infected sheep or 

 rtack much hif;her than many farmers would, 

 sheep growing is an interest of too much impor- 

 tance to be atjandoned. Let us secure the haraiest 

 breeds, and leain the means of preserving their 

 heal h, and of curing their diseases. Fortune 

 favors the brave, and our turn for profit on our 

 flocks will come betore long. Cure up the sheep! 

 (Jure them early, and cure them otten, if they 

 need it ! t. s. i'. 



Ftlchdlle, Vt., April 10, 1869. 



Remarks.— Our correspondent differs from "the 

 books" in some of his views. A veterinary sur- 

 geon, a graduate of the Royal College at Berlin, 

 Prussia, and late Veterinary Surgeon-in-Chief of 

 the United States Army, and who declares that he 

 "is not only conversant with the home and foreign 

 literature on the subject, but has acquired an ex- 

 tensive experience by long continued, assiduous 



