»o. 7. 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



103 



h\e, together with the best and most effectual 

 remedies to be applied. Knowledfre and in- 

 struction, both scientifically and practically, 

 is greatly needed — a commendable spirit, (a 

 thirst after information on subjects of utility) 

 is now abroad among our farmers. In this 1 

 ■rejoice, and hope that this spirit may be cul- 

 tivated, confident that it will produce an 

 abundant harvest, richly rewarding all who 

 give to it proper attention. I send you a 

 few extracts from a lecture, delivered some 

 time since by that great and good man, the 

 late Dr. Rush, of your city, on the duty and 

 advantages of studying the diseases of do- 

 mestic animals and ttie remedies that are 

 proper to remove ihem. He lays it down as 

 a rule that the physician is bound to embrace 

 in his studies and labors, the means of less- 

 ening the miseries of that part of the brute 

 •creation over which man iias retained his do- 

 niinion since his banishment from paradise. 

 He says, "we are bound to study the dis- 

 «ases of domestic animals, and the remedies 

 that are proper to cure them, by a principle 

 of gratitude. They live only for our benefit. 

 They cost us nothing in wages or clothing. 

 They require in exchange for their labor, and 

 all the other advanta<res we derive from 

 them, nothing from us but food and shelter, 

 and these of the cheapest and coarsest kind, 

 so that there is constantly due to them, an 

 immense balance of debt from us. This mo- 

 tive to take care of their health afld lives 

 will appear more striking when we consider 

 the specific benefits we receive from each of 

 them. The Horse is not only an important 

 appendage, but a necessary part of the ce- 

 ment of civilized society. He ploughs our 

 fields, — he drags home our havests and fruits 

 to our barns and cellars. He conveys tliem 

 from distant countries, over rough and diffi- 

 cult roads, to our market towns and sea 

 ports. He receives in exchange for them, 

 the products of foreign nations, and conveys 

 them to the interior and remote parts of our 

 country. He keeps up the inland connec- 

 tion between different states by moans of 

 stages and posts, and thus favors the quick 

 communication of intelligence, and the in- 

 crease of national intercourse, commerce and 

 happiness. He administers to our health 

 and to our pleasures under the saddle, and 

 in harness. He keeps up society and friend- 

 ship in neighborhoods too scattered in its 

 population to admit of visits upon foot, Jn 

 vain would country churches and courts be 

 opened, without the strength of this noble 

 animal ; nor could the great system of repre- 

 sentative government be supported in an agri- 

 cultural country unless he conveyed the elec- 

 tor to the place of suffrage. Jn maintaining 

 the freedom and independence of nations, 

 the horse bears a distinguished part. When 



caparisoned with the furniture of war, he 

 feels with his rider, the courage and the 

 pride of arms. i\or let us forget his saga- 

 citv in discovering roads, and choosing tho 

 safest parts of them, when inattention or 

 darkness has rendered his rider, or driver 

 unable to discover them. 



To th(^ iroRNKD CATTLE wc are indebted for 

 many of the blessings and comforts of life. 

 The strength and patience of the ox in the 

 plough and the team, have added to the 

 wealth of the farmer in every age and coun- 

 try. The cow has still greater demands 

 upon our gratitude. Her milk, in its sim- 

 ple state, furnishes subsistence to a great 

 part of mankind. Its products in cream, 

 butter and cheese, form the most agreeable 

 parts of the aliment, and even of the luxu- 

 ries of our tables. A pustule upon her udder 

 supplies a matter which, when introduced 

 into the body, defends it for ever from the 

 small-pox, and without substituting in its 

 room, a painful or loathsome vicarious dis- 

 ease. Millions in every part of the globe 

 unite with us in expressions of gratitude to 

 heaven for this important contribution to the 

 happiness of the human race. Eut our ob- 

 lifjations to this benefactor of mankind, and 

 to her whole species, do not cease with their 

 lives. Their flesh affords us the most agree- 

 able alitnent after death. Their tallow and 

 the oil which is interposed between their 

 joints, supply the absence of the sum in can- 

 dles and lamps, whereby labor and study are 

 profitably extended during a part of the night. 

 Their hair affords a necessary ingredient in 

 the plaster of our houses. Their skins pro- 

 tect our feet and legs in the form of shoea 

 and boots from the injuries of the weather. 

 They furnish likewise coverings foro-irbooks 

 and pleasure carriages, and saddles for our 

 horses. Their horns supply us with combs, 

 and even their bones are converted when 

 fresh into aliment, and when dry, into a salt 

 of extensive use in medicine and in a variety 

 of the arts. 



Sheep occupy the next rank in the list of 

 domestic animals in their claims upon our 

 science. They afford us by their wool a 

 covering from the inclemency of winter du- 

 ring every year of their lives, and by their 

 deaths they supply us with a delicious ali- 

 ment in the forms of lamb, and mutton. 



The HOG is said like the miser to do good 

 only when he dies. But this is so far from 

 being true that he is dishonored by the com- 

 parison. He fattens npoii the ofl'ala of our 

 kitchens, and performs the office of a scav- 

 enger in cleaning the streets of our cities 

 from putrefying masses of animal and vege- 

 table matters. At his death he bequeaths us 

 his flosh for food, his hair for brushes, an(\ 

 his fat for medical and culinary purposes. 



