1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



259 



For the New England Farmer. 



WORMS m PIGS. 



Mr. Editor : — The economy of nature in fur- 

 nishing a dwelling-place for all living things, is 

 most singularly developed in the parasites which in- 

 habit the intestines of other animals. Nature has 

 furnished means unknown to us for their apparent- 

 ly spontaneous generation, and when they have ob- 

 tained a lodging place, for excessive multiplication. 

 A rare specimen of this kind has lately revealed 

 some of the habits of a kind of worm, (the Jlscari- 

 des lumbricaides,) which "is found without any re- 

 markable difference in man, the ox, the hog, and all 

 the varieties of the horse family." 



In the present case it was a pig, remarkable for 

 Its fattening propensities without any growth. The 

 pig was five months old when slaughtered, and had 

 the bony structure of a pig six or eight weeks old ; 

 it was with great difficulty he could walk, yet no 

 apparent disease was manifest. He appeared to be 

 fat, and nothing but fat. His intestines contained 

 an immense number of worms, which had entirely 

 obstructed the passage, so that death would soon 

 have been the result. Two worms were found in the 

 stomach, and the rest in the small intestines. The 

 worms were from six to eleven inches -n length, 

 and were about the size of a pipe stem in the mid- 

 dle. They tapered gradually each way, but the an- 

 terior extremity much the least, and were of a dus- 

 ky white color and semi-transparent. I saw through 

 the skin some apparent thread-like substance, and 

 on making an incision, a new order of things pre- 

 sented itself. An abundance of thread-like sub- 

 stances of pure white appeared to fill the internal 

 cavity, around a straight and milky white intestine; 

 these, I suppose; were the embryo young, and were 

 almost innumerable ; their length it was difficult to 

 measure, on account of their curled and knotted ap- 

 pearance, but they were probably two or three inch- 

 es long. On the body of the worms there was a 

 narrow bright red stripe on each side, about one- 

 third the length from the posterior extremity. Now 

 the mystery remains to be explained. How can a 

 pig take on fat and support such an army of worms ? 

 He took but a small quantity of food, and exercised 

 but little, breathed hard and was very quiet. 



Now the question is, how did the worms get 

 there ? Cuvier, in speaking of the class Entorosa 

 Rays : "The difficulty of conceiving how they could 

 get into places so obscure, and apparently so well 

 protected, and the fact of their never having been 

 found alive except in the interior of living animals, 

 caused it for a long time to be believed that they 

 were products of spontaneous generation. It has 

 been found, however, by actual observation, that 

 most of them produce ova or living young ones, and 

 that many of them have the sexes in different indi- 

 viduals. Though some of them obtain a very large 

 size, we must suppose the organs are exceedingly 

 minute, and capable of being transmitted through 

 capillary vessels and apertures too small for being 

 discerned with the naked eye ; and from the early 

 age at which they are found in some animals, there 

 is reason to conclude that the germs have been in 

 these anterior to their birth, though how transmit- 

 ted through the placental decidua is, and probably 

 must remain, an unexplained and unexplainable 

 mystery." D. BucKLAND. 



Brandon, Ft, March, 24, 1857. 



For tha New EngJand Farmer. 



WOOD AND STEEL FOR PLOWS. 



In the account of the Legislative discussion of 

 the modern improvements, in the structure and use 

 of farm implements it appears that some gentle- 

 men advocated the use of wood, arguing that a sled 

 shod with wood would operate with less friction 

 than steel in the same position. Such arguments 

 seem strange, to say the least, coming from those 

 in such elevated positions. It was argued that 

 there had been no essential improvement in the 

 structure of the plow since the short, cast-iron plow 

 introduced by Mr. Wood, of western New York ; 

 but the same person admitted that he had never 

 known his land to be left in so good condition, as 

 after the use of the Michigan double plow. There 

 seemed to be a universal assent to the superiority 

 of this plow, where it can be used ; and where the 

 stones are so plenty as to forbid its use, the reme- 

 dy is very easy, — clear away the stones. 



The conclusion of the whole matter was, that 

 while all other implements have been improved — 

 none more so than the plow — that polished steel is 

 the best of material to be used in its structure. 



March 14, 1857. *. 



EXTRACTS KEH REPLIES. 



CRANBERRY CULTURE. 



Mr. Editor : — For the benefit of one of your 

 readers, will you insert the following communica- 

 tion, and inform me of the best way of cultivating 

 cranberries. I know of a few acres of low land 

 that can be bought at a low price. There is a 

 small bed of cranberries on it ; there is a good 

 chance to ditch it or fiow it in the spring ; there is 

 water plenty, and with a small expense I can make 

 a good outlet. I have known the owner to pick 

 some ten bushels a year on the same. Also, I would 

 like to know the best way to kill the grass out and 

 get the cranberry vines in. South Berwick. 



April 4, 1857. 



Remarks. — See Transactions of Massachusetts 

 Board of Agriculture for 1855, for detailed ac- 

 counts of the culture of the cranberrj-. 



DAMPNESS IN BRICK HOUSES. 



We shall be exceedingly obliged, if through your 

 valuable paper you can communicate to us, as 

 speedily as may be, some method by which brick 

 houses can be preserved from imbibing so much 

 moisture from the earth, as to cause them to be 

 exceedingly damp, musty and unwholesome ; I 

 mean those that are built without a stone founda- 

 tion, as they used formerly to build out in this 

 Western country ; and where the atmospere is so 

 very humid as it is here, it is exceedingly annoying 

 and unprofitable to live in such a house. 



We thought that through your numerous cor- 

 respondents you might ascertain what would be a 

 good cement, for instance, to put around upon the 

 outside of the building, say up about two feet from 

 the ground, that would be impervious to water and 

 prevent so much absorption. Or, if you could make 

 any suggestions that would be available in such 

 cases, they would be very thankfully received. 

 Joseph H. Welles. 



Columhxis, Ohio, April, 1857. 



