1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



91 



stomach. In addition to this, give roasted onions 

 and sweetened milk freely. 



In a communication in our columns some three 

 years ago, Mr. A. W. Valentine, of Bethel, Me., 

 said : — 



Last spring we had ten or twelve sheep poisoned 

 at one time, and succeeded in curing all of them 

 by making use of the following remedy ; bruise 

 well the green twigs of white a.-h ; boil them one 

 hour in water enough to cover them when pressed 

 down. Two tnblespoonfuls wnll generally cure, if 

 given within twenty-four hours of the poisoning. 

 The sheep like it, and after the above trial I used 

 often to give it to thcni. A neighbor has always 

 succeed by giving a gill of lai'd or fresh butter in 

 a pint of new milk. 



A correspondent of the Rural New Yorker says 

 he once had five valuable bheep poisoned with lau- 

 rel. He gave them melted lard and milk, without 

 any apparent effect. Two of them died. He then 

 applied crushed onions under the fore legs of the 

 others, where they join the body. Two which ap- 

 peared to be in the worst condition recovered. 

 The other, which lost off the onion, died. 



Two or three doses of Thompsonian Composition 

 Powders, and the seeds of the common Plantain 

 mixed with a tablespoonful of molasses, have also \ 

 been administered with apparent benefit. 



■WAKTS ON CATTLE. 



In your issue of the 14th inst., you say, "We 

 think we have never seen so many warts on cattle 

 as this year. Whether the unusual amount of 

 rain which has fallen the past season in New Eng- 

 land has any connection with their i)roduction we 

 cannot say." In the West, we have had a drought 

 the past summer, as you arc aware. Still a very 

 common question here, is. What is the cause of so 

 many warts on cattle this fall ? and how can we 

 get rid of them ? Yesterday I saw a herd of thor- 

 oughbred and grade Jersey cows, on every one of 

 which were more or less warts. In this section 

 they appear to fasten on a herd and reproduce 

 themselves on each of the animals. What can be 

 the cause of these warts ? Clearly it is not, in this 

 section, on account of much rain. 



W. P. Anderson. 



Cincimiati, Ohio, Dec. 16, 1867. 



Remarks. — These are certainly interesting in- 

 quiries, and we invite communications from stock 

 raisers and farriers. 



A correspondent, "Yeoman," of Norfolk county, 

 Mass., writes us that he has frequently had cattle 

 troubled by warts, and has always cured them by 

 applying a few times, with a swab, a wash made 

 by boiling the branches of the Fever Bush, (^Ben- 

 zoin odoriferum.) The same wash is also, he says, 

 a sure cure for the Mad Itch. 



INFORMATION WANTED. 



In your paper of the 14th inst., we have some 

 excellent remarks intended for the benefit of a 

 person you call "dear young farmer — Y. F." 



Some of the dirty work he refers to, I suppose, 

 may be the making of manure, by keeping cattle 

 or by composting. It is in this part of farming 

 that we find our dirty work, to lessen which some 

 hope to find away by the aid of agricultural chem- 

 istry. "Y. F." seems to think agricultural col- 

 leges will help those who can go there, to learn 



how to avoid the dirty, drudging, hard work of a 

 farmer's life. Well, one of the principal things we 

 want is knowledge of a way to make manure, and 

 if our friend "Y. F." could content himself with 

 so understanding agricultural chemistry, as to be 

 able to find manure "everywhere plenty and ade- 

 quate to the demand, so that by expending $1.50 

 he can always produce an extra ton of hay, and 

 can keep mowing and pasture land in a fertile 

 state without recourse to animal manures, and 

 even bring back old pastures to their original fer- 

 tility, he need not goto any agricultural college to 

 do this. Now, if he wishes to understand chemis- 

 try so as to grow apples, peaches, pears and plums, 

 without the use of spade or plough, and make the 

 trees as healthy and the fruit as perfect as when 

 the country was new," he need not go to college, as 

 it is proposed to teach all this, and also how to pre- 

 vent potato rot, in a school to be instructed by a 

 professor of agricultural chemistry, — charge for 

 tuition !^'3. The school is in Sherborn, Massachu- 

 setts 



I headed this "Information wanted." The in- 

 formation we need is this : — Can any person in- 

 form the many subscribers to the New England 

 Farmer, how far the scholars of Professor Dodge 

 Hay v/ard have succeeded by the aid of his instruc- 

 tion in agricultural chemistry in producing hay 

 and grass, fruit and potatoes, as I have promised 

 above, in the professor's words, though not by his 

 request. My use of the article in the New Eng- 

 land Farmer of the 14th inst. I hope I will be 

 excused by the editors and by "Y. F." 



ISherborti, Mass., Dec. 20, 1867. J. F. 



THE STOCK IN WINTER. 



While cattle require especial care and daily at- 

 tention during the winter season, the cold weather 

 is apt to induce carelessness and neglect on our 

 part. Animals should be well watered, equally 

 foddered, and systematicallj' carded or cleaned. 

 Salt should be kept before horses, cattle and 

 sheep. They should have a daily airing of two or 

 three hours. Young cattle and sheep may have 

 much more liberty. No class of stock should be 

 allowed to run down in flesh, as it is hard work to 

 bring them up again. Keep the young stock grow- 

 ing. However abundant fodder may be, its waste 

 is criminal. Those who throw out hay, straw or 

 stalks to be trampled upon and trod into the 

 ground by cattle and sheep do a very foolish thing, 

 for if properly used as bedding, even, it would be 

 worth a good deal for manure. Racks ought to 

 be provided for the yards and sheds as well as for 

 stalls. o. T. 



Lakeville, Mass., 1867. 



CURE FOR SCRATCHES ON HORSES. 



Take Balm of Gilead buds, say enough to fill a 

 quart bottle, then cover the buds with alcohol and 

 in a few days it will be fit for use. Add an equal 

 amount of chamber-lye to the liquid and wash the 

 parts aflfected twice a day. This will take the sore- 

 ness out, and soon effect a cure, if the case is not a 

 severe one. The horse can be kept in use by mak- 

 ing the application upon putting him up, as it will 

 prevent him from taking cold. 



Every m#n that has a horse should secure a 

 quantity of the buds in the spring of the year when 

 they are large and full, as the wash is excellent for 

 galls, wounds and bruises. M. M. Tallant. 



East Concord, N. H., Dec. 26, 1867. 



HOW TO GET RID OF RATS. 



Last spring rats were so plenty about my build- 

 ings that I often counted a dozen in a drove. I 

 tried many ways to get rid of them without effect, 

 until at last I caught one alive in a steel trap. I 



