YOI- X"i. >o. It. 



A N D H R T I C U L T U R A L R K G I S T E R 



85 



Dck ol" cuttle, it appearing to lio tlio most fatal 

 soaso I Imvo over kno*n. 



\VM. J. wKicirr. 



.N'uiwmund, t'a., July, 1811. 



Rkmarks. The above are well cliaracteri/.cil 



1808 I'l bloody imirraiii, a disease which, as it np- 

 lars 111 this country, would sccin tu bo unknown 

 Euri>i>c, judging from the best works on cuttlo 



iblixbcd there, such as Lawrence's Grazier's 

 uide, and YouaU on Cattle. The cause of the 

 jeast divs not appear to be well understood, but 

 rapidity wjth which it reaches a fatal terniina- 

 rondcrs it one of the most formidable diseases 

 cattle breeder can encounti-r. As is usual in 

 case of such diseases there are a variety of 

 res, and as some oflliem may be useful, we give 

 lliat havo been communicated to us, adding 

 r opinion that none of them can be relied on as 

 pecilic, but that the safe course will be found 

 prevention rather than in cure. 

 A correspondent of the Genesee Farmer, vol. 

 p. >i|, sBVs that a decoction of the green leaves 

 miillen may be considered a certain cure. He 

 k a quantity of the leaves of the nuillen, steep- 

 thc.ii in new milk, and gave three quarts of the 

 to an ox dangerously sick, which produced an 

 nediate cure ; and a cow attacked by murrain 

 B ntlerwards cured in the same way. 

 Tlie lion. Dan Bradly communicated the follow. 

 , as a remedy practiced with great success in 

 stern Pennsylvania: " Mix together half a pint 

 pirits of turpentine with a pint of sweet milk; 

 this compound into a bottle, and after shaking 

 liolilo pour it moderately down the iliroat of 

 animal. Soon after tliis is done, give physic." 

 ts would doubtless answer as physic, and some 

 rction might be advisable in apportioning the 

 e to the size or age of the animal. 

 »Ir Priestman recommends a half a pound of 

 e root washed clean, cut fine, and boiled in two 

 rts of water until it is reduced one half, then 

 1 it down while warm. The dose to be repeat- 

 once a day till the cure is complete. 

 »Ir Sheldon, of Michigan, cured an ox violently 

 ':ked, by mixing half an ounce of copperas and 

 'an ounce of alum, dissolving them in hot wa- 

 and while warm turned it down the animal. 

 welve hours he was better, and a repetition of 

 dose cured him, though for a time weak from 

 great discharge of blood. 

 I is stated in the Franklin Farmer, that several 

 s yielded to two doses of sugar of one pound 

 I, mixed with water. Some animals in the 

 stages have been cured by this simple remedy. 

 IS we remarked before, however, we have more 

 fidcnce in preventives than in cures. It is the 

 lion of many of the most intelligent men in dis- 

 [s where the disease is common, that it arises 

 1 blood-suckers imbibed with stagnant waters, 

 lese animals are most frequently found on dia- 

 ion ; but whether the opinion be correct or not, 

 e can be no doubt the use of stagnant water 

 t be injurious to the healtli of any animal and 

 ispose it to disease. A farmer in Madison 

 s« ity, Ohio, after suffering many losses from mur- 

 , became convinced the cause was in the water 

 M' ■ drank, (bloodsuckers being abundant in it 

 found in cattle after death,) provided his stock 

 1 a supply of pure water and in five years not a 

 le animal had been attacked, 

 lext to pure water, a regular and constant sup- 

 of salt may be considered the best preventive 



ofdisenae in cattle, Miui if a quantity of ashes or 

 lime is mixed with the salt, the effect will bo still 

 more boncficinl. For proof of thin wo refer to the 

 Cultivator, vol. vi. fagos 120 and H!>. In the first 

 case, Mr Warner found that wood ashes given in 

 e(inal quantities with salt, at the usual times of 

 salting his stock, had for 'JO years operated as an 

 ciTectual preventive ; and in the latter instance, 

 .Mr Sackell, of Michigan, had for eight years se- 

 cured his immcrous stock of cattle by keeping in 

 their troughs, so that they always had access to it, 

 a mi.vture of equal portions of slaked lime and salt. 

 Tlie lime was kept in a barrel in a dry place, air- 

 slaked and always fit for use. Previous to adopt- 

 ing tins course, ho lost many annually by iiiurfiiin 

 — afterwards none. To concluilo: pure wator 

 and plenty of salt mixed with some alkali, ashes or 

 lime, wo consider the best remedies or rather pre- 

 ventives of the murrain. — Eds. Cult. 



FECUNDITY OF RATS. 



The principle of increase is much more powerful, 

 active and efl'ectivu in the common grey rat, (mus 

 decumnnus, L.) than in any other animal of equal 

 size. 



This destructive quadruped is continually under 

 the furor of animal love. The female carries her 

 young for one month only ; and sheseldom or nev- 

 er produces a less number than Iwtlve, but some- 

 times as many as eighteen at a litter: the medium 

 number may be taken for an average ; and the pe- 

 riod of gestation, though of so short continuance, 

 is confined to no particular season of the year. 

 The embraces of the male are admitted immediate- 

 ly after the birth of the vindictive progeny ; and it 

 is a fact which I have ascertained beyond any 

 doubt, that the female suckles her young ones al- 

 most to the very moment when another litter is 

 dropping into the world as their successors. 



A celebrated Yorkshire rat-catcher, whom I 

 have occasionally employed, one day detected and 

 killed a large female rat that was in the act of 

 suckling twelve young ones, which had attained a 

 very considerable growth ; nevertheless, upon open- 

 iniT her swollen body he found (/iiWctK quick young, 

 that were within a few days of their birth! Sup- 

 posing, therefore, that the rat produces ten litters 

 in the course of a year, and that no check on their 

 increase should operate destructively for the space 

 or four years, a number not far short of Uiree mil- 

 lions might be produced from a single pair in that 

 time ! 



Now, the consequence of such an active and 

 productive principle of increase, if sufiered contin- 

 ually to operate without check, would soon be fa- 

 tally obvious. But the same Almighty Being who 

 perceived a necessity for their existence, has also 

 restricted their numbers within proper bounds, by 

 creating to them many powerful enemies ; and 

 still more effectually by establishing a propensity 

 in themselves, the gratification of which has con- 

 tinually the effect of lessening their numbers, even 

 more than any of their foreign enemies. The 

 male rat has an insatiable thirst for the blood of 

 his own offspring. The female, being aware of 

 this passion, hides her young in such secret places 

 as she supposes likely to escape notice or discove- 

 ry, till her progeny are old enough to venture forth 

 and stand upon their own energies ; but, notwith- 

 standing this precaution, the male rat frequently 

 discovers them, and destroys as many as he can ; 

 nor 



protection, •inco aho lier»elf aomotiinei falls a vic- 

 tim to her temerity and her matornal IcndcrnesB. 



UcsidoH this propensity to the destruction of 

 their own offspring, whei other food fails them, 

 rats hunt down and prey upon each other, with the 

 most ferocious ami desperate avidity ; insomuch, 

 that it not unfrequently happens, in a colony of 

 these destructive animals, that a hiiigle male, of 

 more than ordinary powers, after having overcome 

 and devoured all competitors, with the exception 

 of a few females, reigns the solo, bloody, and much 

 dreaded tyrant over a considerable territory, dwell- 

 ing by himself in some solitary hole, and never ap- 

 pearing abroad without spreading terror and dis- 

 may even amongst the females whose embraces ho 

 seeks. 



In this relentless and bloody character may be 

 found one of the most powerful iind positive checks 

 which operate to the depression of this species 

 within proper bounds,-^a character wliich attaches, 

 in greater or less degree, to the whole mvs genus, 

 and in which we may readily perceive the cause 

 of the extirpation of the old black rats of England, 

 (mus rattus, L.) for the large grey rats having su- 

 perior bodily powers, united to the same carnivo- 

 rous propensities, would easily conquer and destroy 

 their black opponents wherever ihey could be 

 found, and wherever they met to dispute the title 

 of possession or sovereignty. — FotlurgilCs Philos. 

 of J^'at. History. 



Compost Dressing for Mowing Ground. The 

 editor of the Monthly Visitor says — "In low lands 

 wh^'her with or without rocks, with or without 

 hard pan, as well upon flat elevations and side hills, 

 as in drained swamps, the crop of hay may be in- 

 creased to almost any extent by a process infinite- 

 ly more simple, and less expensive, and much quick- 

 er, than by plowing and hand labor. The meth- 

 od of making compost manure is the most simple 

 that, can be imagined ; it is done with facility on 

 the sides of roads, and in the cow and hog-pens, 

 with the refuse of chip yards, leaves from the 

 woods, peat and mud taken from the ditches, ashes, 

 sand, earth taken from the back yards and sinks, 

 scrapings from streets, mixtures from almost every 

 article that can be enumerated or imagined — all 

 will serve as manure for mowing lands, producing 

 the most valuable and lasting effects as used for 

 top-dressing only. These compost heaps should 

 he well turned and intimately mixed before they 

 are applied, when the spring or autumn season will 

 be equally suitable for their operation, taking oc- 

 casion to sprinkle over it a small quantity of herds 

 grass seed." 



.Iphorisms. — The stronger the opposition, the 

 more noble the combat — where there is no combat 

 there is no victory. 



As ravenous birds are the quickest sighted, 80 

 the worst men are the greatest fault-finders. 



Jealousy is like a polished glass, held to the 

 lips when life is in doubt ; if there is the least 

 breath, it will catch the damp and show it. 



Take care you never dispute to show your wit 

 at the expense of your judgment. 



Lamps fed with lard instead of oil, have been 

 introduced into Rochester. The papers of that 

 city say they "take the shine off" any thing in the 

 market They give a clear light and are entirely 



UVCIO LUUllI, UUU UtaUlWJiJ "O »"!*••/ »*« .»- ^»>< ) I '»• JO I'll »L "1 



ia the defence of the mother any very effectual | free from smoke. It is a third cheaper than oil. 



