54 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



employees who are not found in any other 

 country. They are educated younjj men be- 

 longing to families in a good position, often 

 just leaving an agrieultural college, who re- 

 main for a certain time on some large estate 

 to initiate themselves in the practical direction 

 of one of their own. This novitiate is an an- 

 cient custom still preserved in many trades. 

 Thus, frequently, the son of a rich hotel-keeper 

 will not hi'sitate to enter another hotel as but- 

 ler or waiter (Kellner) to be initiated into all 

 the details of the service over which he will 

 one day have to preside. When any one vis-' 

 its the farms (Rittergutter) he is astonished 

 to see as superintendent the son of a banker, 

 a baron, or a rich land-owner. These young 

 people drive a cart or guide the plow. At 

 noon they return, groom their horses, and 

 then go and dress themselves and dine at the 

 owner's table, to whom they are not inferior, 

 either in in.struction, birth or manners. After 

 the meal, they resume their working-dress 

 and retui-n, without any false shame, to their 

 rustic occupation. Thus we find in feudal 

 Prussia a trait of manners suited to the demo- 

 cratic society of the United States, and which 

 hereafter will b^icome general. In France, 

 in England especially, a young man of the 

 upper class would believe his dignity compro- 

 mised in performing the work of a farm- 

 laborer. — Far-is Correspondent of Land and 

 Water. 



EXTRACTS AND KEPLIES. 



CUKE FOR SCRATCHES. 



Can you or any of your correspondents toll me 

 wliiit will cure scniiclies on a colt ? Is there any- 

 thing in the .slLipc of medicine that will do it ? By 

 givinu me anv ideas on the subject you will oblige 



Sortcay, Me., Nov. 22, 1867. A Slbsckiber. 



Rr.MARKS.— As this troublesome and offensive 

 disease was pretty fully discussed in our columns 

 during tlie past year, wc submitted your inquiry 

 to Dr. Trask of Reading, Mass., who has been a 

 cattle doctor for sonic twenty years. He replies 

 by remarking that most diseases of our stock arc 

 brought on by the neglect or violation of the laws 

 of nature 



In the case of the horse afflicted with the 

 scratches, he says, the bowels must be kept loose 

 while fed on dry food, and the body warm and 

 rkan. In grooming his limbs, they should always 

 be rubbed down and not up ; and he recommends 

 that they sliould be sliglitly greased witli ncatsfoot 

 or skunk's oil, or that obtained from tlic neck or 

 legs of dead horses. In cleaning olf the vile mat- 

 ter from the fetlock, he finds a corn-cob the best 

 thing he ever used. lie then applies, while warm, 

 a wa-h made by bfiiling one hour, wormwood and 

 the bark of whistlcwood in urine. After which 

 the foot and leg should be greased, and the animal 

 kept on a spare diet. 



As large additions have been made to the readers 

 of the Faiimf.u within a year, and as the papers of 

 others may be lost which contained our own sug- 



gestions and those of our correspondents, we will 

 give the substance of what was published upon 

 this sulycct about a year ago : — 



If the disease is in its first stages — that is, has 

 not ulcerated — wash the parts affected perfectly 

 clean with castile soap and warm water; rul) dry 

 with the hand or warm flannel. Then, with a soft 

 sponge, bathe freely with brine from tlie beef or 

 pork barrel, three or four times in twenty-four 

 hours. Exercise the animal, by walking him 

 about, two or three times in the course of the day. 

 Give but little grain, and that in the form of a 

 mash ; but green food when it can be had, such as 

 grass, or roots, and especially caiTots. 



If the disease has assumed the tdcerated form, 

 the hair must be cut off, and the parts cleansed as 

 stated above. It is doubtful whether the brine 

 would be efficacious in this case, — but it would be 

 well to try it. If not, prepare a lotion as follows, 

 and wash three times each day with it, viz : — 



Chloride of zinc, one ounce. 



Creosote, four ounces. 



Strong solutii>n of white oak bark, four quarts. 



There is a tendency to this disease in some 

 horses, so that on the slightest appearance of it, 

 measures should be taken to prevent its progress. 

 The hair about the ankles should remain there, 

 certainly through the winter. "Cutting it away, 

 and thereby exposing the heels to the operation of 

 cold and of wet is no unfrcquent cause of grease. 

 In winter, when the legs most require warmth and 

 protection, the heels are deprived of the cover 

 which nature intended should protect them ; and 

 parts where the blood flows most tardily are laid 

 bare to the effects of evaporation and frost." 



Mr. Hiram French, of Eaton, C. E., recommends 

 a decoction of tamarack bark, made l)y boiling a 

 bushel if the bark in a kettle of water thoroughly 

 — strain off the liquid — add more water — boil again 

 —then strain as before — remove the bark, and boil 

 the whole down to one pailful. Give the horse 

 one pint of this twice a day by soaking his oats in 

 it This purities the blood and creates an appetite. 

 After thoroughly washing with strong soap suds, 

 and rubbing dry, apply, night and morning, an 

 ointment composed of half a pint of linseed oil, 

 two table spoonfuls of fine salt, same of sulphur, 

 same of saltpetre, and one ounce of turpentine, 

 well mixed. 



"\V. H. J.," of Winchester, N. H., suggests, as 

 the disease is caused by Impurity of blood, 

 that, in addition to good feed and careful usage, a 

 spoonful of sulphur should be administered once 

 a week, and then if, on trial, our remedy does not 

 cure, apply every morning, after washing clean, an 

 ointment composed of a tea-cupful of lard, with as 

 much camphor gum as can be dissolved therein, 

 simmered together with a little rosin. 



"J. C. M," of Lancaster, N. H., has cured by 

 giving sulphur, cleaning the issues on the legs, and 

 roweling in a bit of onion. 



"B. F. B." of Fletcher, Vt., washes perfectly 



