104 



THE FARMERS CABINET. 



VOL. 1. 



The immense and profitable disproportion 

 between the labor of the ass and the mule, 

 and the expense of their food render their 

 health of great importance in those coun- 

 tries where wheel carriages cannot be em- 

 ployed to convey the products of the earth 

 to a public market. 



The GOAT by its contributions of the deli- 

 cate flesh of its young, and of its medicinal 

 milk to our use, is entitled to a share of med- 

 ical attention. 



The courage and fidelity of the dog in de- 

 fending our persons and property from the 

 midnitrht assassin and robber, and the useful- 

 ness of the CAT in destroying or chasing 

 from our houses the mischievous animals 

 that infest our cellars and closets, entitle 

 each of them to an inquiry into the causes 

 and cures of their diseases. 



It remains only to mention the claims of 

 POULTRY of all kinds, to a physician's care. 

 They adorn our yards and fruit trees with 

 their plumage. They inform us by their 

 crowing, and other noises of the approach of 

 day. A part of them furnish us with eggs 

 for aliment, with quills for writing, and with 

 feathers for our beds; and all of them, in a 

 greater or less number at a time, generally 

 constitute after death a portion of our ban- 

 quets, where a display is intended of hospi- 

 tality or elegance. 



In addition to what has been said in favor 

 of domestic animals in their individual ca- 

 pacities, I shall only remark that collective- 

 ly they lessen the solitude and silence of a 

 country life. They please us with their 

 gambols when young, and delight us by their 

 looks and gestures in mature life, every time 

 they receive food or shelter from our hands. 

 They furnish the means of encreasing and 

 perpetuating the fertility of our lands, and 

 finally they gratify us with a sense of our 

 sovereignty over their labor and their lives ; 

 and thus furnish us with a small portion of 

 that pleasure which the father of the human 

 race enjoyed, when he received from his 

 Creator the commission of his extensive do- 

 minion over all the creatures that live and 

 move upon our globe. 



Another reason why we arebound to sMidy 

 the causes and cureof the diseases of domes- 

 tic animals, is because nature is wholly/^a-s- 

 atreinsuch of them as are violent,or does harm 

 la her efforts to remove them. This is evident 

 in a more especial manner in the epidemics 

 which sometimes prevail among them. The 

 horses, cattle and sheep, of large neighbor- 

 hoods, and extensive districts are often swept 

 away by those general diseases where no 

 aid is afforded from medicine 



By studying the diseases of our do- 

 mestic animals wc may rescue them from 

 the hands of quacks, who add to the mis- 



chlevoua and unsuccessful efforts of nature, 

 the evils of absurd, painful, and destructive 

 remedies. 



THE DAIRir.-NO. ZV. 



The first and very important measure is to 

 provide a sufficiently large and convenient 

 dairy house, whether the object be butter or 

 cheese. It should be proportioned to the 

 number of cows, and be sufficient for per- 

 forming all the necessary operations without 

 embarrassment. — " Much attention must be 

 paid to cleanliness in every thincr that re- 

 lates to it, such as the shelves, floors, and 

 different implements which are made use of, 

 by daily scalding, scrubbing, rinsing, and 

 drying, in order to prevent any sort of acidity 

 taking place ; for without due regard in these 

 respects, it is impossible that the produce can 

 be of superior quality, or such as will keep 

 sweet and good for any length of time. 

 Cleanliness is the least indispensable part 

 of good management." " A Farmer may 

 have the most valuable breed of cows, and 

 they be fed on the richest pastures, but un- 

 less cleanliness prevail in the dairy, his but- 

 ter or cheese will never stand high in general 

 estimation. 



This building should be placed over a cool 

 spring, and trees planted round it for shade. 

 Where there are no springs, the house should 

 be built near the dwelling house, and an ice 

 house close to it. All the utensils connected 

 with the dairy, must be kept perfectly clean. 

 The milk pans may be of any convenient 

 width, but not to exceed four inches in 

 depth, 



" The milk should be strained inioihepans 

 as soon as possible after it is taken from the 

 cow, and with as little agitation as possible, 

 and where the dairy is large, a pail full, as 

 soon as milked, should be strained into the 

 pans. Great loss is sustained by agitation 

 and cooling ; and this mode more particularly 

 enables the owner of the dairy to separate 

 the good milk from the bad. Without such 

 attention the whole of his dairy products 

 may be greatly depreciated by the milk of 

 one bad cow." The quantity of butter must 

 depend on the quality of the milk, as well 

 as the management of it ; it is therefore im- 

 portant to separate the inferior quality of the 

 milk in the first instance, as it secures the 

 best quality of butter: and the inferior may 

 be converted into the use that is found most 

 profitable. There is not only a difference of 

 milk in different cows, but a difference in the 

 same cow. 



The following is the opinion of Dr. An- 

 derson, a contributor to the Bath Papers on 

 aTriculture. " The writer is satisfied from 

 experience and attentive observation, that if 



