NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PubliiheJ by Jou.n B. Russell at No. ij'i North Market Street, (opposite Fdiiucil Jlall). — TiiostAS <i. Fi:sSRNni-;N, Editor. 



OL. V. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1827. 



INo. :30. 



R i li 1 ^XL PAP E R S . 



FOOT ROT IN SHEEP. 

 Fi;ssE.M>EN — The following remarks on a 

 le which has lately appeared nmoug tlie 

 of this country, are tran^l-ited from ft letter 

 ivo : this inorninj from an iuteUigenl corres- 

 ^nt at Leip;.i!j. I think they may be of ser- 

 o many of our wool growers, and therefore 

 lo time in offering them for a place in your 

 ble journal. 



Respectfully, yeur obed'l serv't, 

 n, ft6. r, 1827. ' THO'S SEARLE. 



m 



he foot rot is a complaint which has ceased 



elite tlie least uneasiness in this country, 



tless because means have been discovered to 



it readily and without expense. 



t is true that when neglected and allowed to 



id itself, the cure may become difficult, and 



slieep from loss of appetite occasioned by its 



continuance may not recover. I feel ceitain, 



ver, that not a single sheep is lost in all Sax- 



from this cause, as we have learnt to remove 



oniplaiut immediately, as soon as it shows it- 



n a flock. In order to become fully acquaint- 



ot only with the symptoms of this disorder, 



Iso with the means of cure, I some time since 



ated a small flock, suffering it to spread itself 



; or le5s in difi^erent sheep, when it appeared 



the longer the complaint had been in fixing 



f in tht- system the more difficult it was to 



: for while the least infected were thorough- 



•stored in a fortnight, I found thrit from jxc lo 



t weeks' were required to cure the cases of 



est stondiu J. The most effectual method of 



I is the tbllowing : Cut away with a sh:;rp siir 



n's knife, not only the sup-Mfli-ous hoof, but 



all the diseased flesli under it. This may be 



n»^uished from the healthy flesh by its greyish 



ur. Being well satisfied that nothing unsound 



airs in the foot, I then apply with a brush to 



fresh wound some caustic liquor and immedi- 



y place the patient in a separate clean stable 



It is surprising to see animals thus treated who 



re yesterday hobbling about on their knees, 



ing up to- day and run about with the flock. 



It is necessary, however, to examine the con- 



escent daily, and repeat the liquid application 



I if any excessive heat is discovered in a foot 



roves that the first operation has not succeed. 



and a second cutting must take place without 



ay. 



'The caustic remedies which I have found most 

 ectual,are diluted oil of vitriol and aqua ccerulea. 

 :e latter in the state in which it is found at the 

 othfcaries without any addition. The oil of vit- 

 1 I mix with three times its quantity of water or 

 • cases of not long standing with sometliin 

 re. 



'I have been the more particular in detailing 

 is mode of cure because it seems probi'l'' you 

 y do a serviro tn the owners of sheep by com 

 jni'-atinf^ it to them. There are .several pamph 

 ts to be had here descrihinf the symptoms and 

 re of this complaint wiiicli I will purchase and 

 rv/ard yon by the earliest opportunity. They 

 intHin however many things which va of little 

 le to the practical man. 



• The foot rot, at its first appearance in (Jerma- sion. In conformity, ho'.vo 



ny, occasioned great uneasi-iess and alarm, and 

 will doubtless have had the same effect in your 

 country. I am however fully convinced that after 

 a few years, and when your farmers have disciive- 

 red that this scare-crow is harmless, notwithstand- 

 ng its frightful appearance, they will treat it with 

 tlie same indifl'erence as ours do now." 



ADDRESS, 

 Inlrntlucton/to the exercUes of the dai/, delivered be- 

 fiirt the. Hills nrnugh .ris;riculluril Society, at 

 their Cattle Show and Fair, H'tlton, Sept. 2ist, 

 182ii. Hy Duniel Jldrims, President of the So- 

 ciety. Communirrttcd for ptillicatloji ill the j\'ew 

 England Farmer. 



The Society, on whose occasion we are assem- 

 Med, will accept my congratulation on the return 

 of another of those anniversaries, which have 

 been emphatically styled the Farmer's Holiday. — 

 Although the grasshopper may ha\'e been a bur- 

 den ; although the heavens over our heads, some 

 part of the season, may have been as brass, and 

 the ground under our feet as powder and dust; 

 still, He who giveth to the lily its array, and who 

 hearetli the ravens when they cry, has not left us 

 this day, without evidence, that his tender mercies 

 are over all his works. Our pens are filled to 

 overflowing, our hall is garnished with numerous 

 and some very splendid domestic manufactures, 

 wrought by the fair hands of our wives and of our 

 daughters. Our former harvest is gathered in, 

 and our latter, in golden ears, is novv nodding to 

 the sickle. The promise that seed time and har- 

 vest shall not fail, gives to the husbandman a con- 

 fidence in the success of his labours, which men 

 in other occupations can never possess. 



By the 8th Article of our Bye-Laws, provision is 

 made for convening the members of the Society 

 for special purposes. Believing that meetings for 

 the discussion of plain, practical subjects, relative 

 to our occupation aa farmers, might be both inter- 

 esting and useful, I have, the last year, proposed 

 several inquiries, which were forwarded to sub- 

 committees, with instructions to call such meet- 

 ings. These meetings were called but in few in- 

 stances to my knowledge. I notice iiiis not by the 

 way of fault finding. The first specimen of any- 

 thing like a cattle slrow and fair, in this country, 

 consisted of two fine woolled sheep, exhibited un- 

 der the external shade of a venerable efm, on the 

 common in Pit'sfield. A beginning was all that! 

 anticipated. This has been made, and the high 

 degree of satisfaction or evident utility in which 

 these meetinirs resulted, where attended, lead me, 

 at this time, to press the subject most strenuously 

 on the attention of the Society. Should the same 

 measure be proposed the ensuing year, I cannot 

 but hope sub-committees will be attentive to the 

 call, and members general in their attendance. A 

 few well selected books, or perhaps a copy of the 

 Nkw England Parmer, the expense of which 

 V onld be but a few cents to each member, would 

 lender these meetings still more interesting and 

 useful. 



Having so lately as last year addressed you oi? 



ubiects of practical husbandry, I have thongl.t 



proper to decline that service on the present occa 



ver. to usage in other 

 places, and as introJuctory to the exorcisos before 

 us, with your indulgence, I will siihjoin a (bw ob- 

 servations. 



It is now seven years since lliis Snoicly com- 

 nirnccd its operations. At first acknowledged and 

 cherished by our legislature, it was afterwards 

 cast ofTaild abandoned like a foundling child. Nor 

 has it ever received the general patronage and 

 support from the agricultural interest which was 

 justly anticipated. These circumstances lead me 

 to believe that there is yot much misapprehension, 

 io many minds, in relation lo our object, and the 

 plan of our operations. By remarks frequently 

 heard abroad, and even on the floor of our Legis- 

 lature, it appears, there are some wiio suppose our 

 object to be no other than that of getting money ; 

 consequently, that the only motive a man can have 

 in uniting himself with us, is that of obtaining pre- 

 miums, and if he fail in this, that he is a lo,=!er by 

 the connexion. 



Nothing can be doing greater injustice to this 

 institution than such a supposition, and nothing 

 can be a more false representation of the motives 

 of its most zealous patrons. No, my friends, this 

 and similar institutions, are parts in that grand 

 system of movetnents, which, of late years, has 

 been put into operation, for the amelioration of our 

 race, and whether in the form of peace societies, 

 missionary societies, bible societies, agricultural 

 societies, they all possess much of the spirit which 

 breathes peace and good will to men. They all 

 co-operG.te in hastening on that happy era, so long 

 ,=ince predicted, when our spears shall be beaten 

 into pruning hooks, and our swords into plough- 

 shares. And wlio is there so disposed, whose feel- 

 ngs are so contracted within the narrow circle of 

 self, as that he would have no part or lot in this 

 mutter? Who would enter this world, pass through 

 its busy scenes, make his exit, and have it said, 

 the world was none the better or happier for his 

 having lived in it. 



There is not a man of us, my friends, so well in- 

 formed, even in matter pertaining to his daily oc- 

 cupation, but that he is ignorant of many things of 

 whii-h others have a knowledge. There is not a 

 aian of us so improved in agricultural operations, 

 !.nt that there is u bttler way of doi7ig many things, 

 than he has ever yot discovered. It was a sense of 

 these discoveries, both in lhc:nselves and others, 

 which led the founders of this Society to embark 

 in the undertaking. To do good and to communi- 

 cate, was emphatically their purpose. 



Great and importint improvements, of late years 

 have been made, and ai-e conLiuually making in ag- 

 riculture. These ijiprovements are inrortaut, not 

 only to the practical fji-mer, but to the whole com- 

 munity. There is not the son or daughter of 

 Adam, who has not .1. in^orestin the advinceinent 

 of the art, which is the foendation of all other arts 

 md the basis of all civilization. To e^itend a 

 knowledge of these iniprovemetits and the beu'-fits 

 resulting from, uniformly and exieusively thrcngh 

 ihc country, was and still continues tn be an ohject 

 '^•ith this association. I'le spemlylion and mere 

 theory, unsupported by fa',, come not within our 

 desirrn. A humbler, and, as ,ve conceive, i: moro 

 useful intention with us is, to collect and bring for 



