74 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



tlie road side. This ])iobably was kept till this 

 EPiison, and then either incorporiUed with other 

 manures for a compost, or carried on to the grass 

 land. 



Wliat I wish to accomplish by this sliort sketch, 

 is to tiini the attention of New Hampshire far- 

 mers to the increa.se of their manures by saviiiij; 

 leaves. After harvesting, the boys about the farm 

 might gather leaves in great abundance, which 

 would not only greatly enrich their lands, but al- 

 so make their cattle much more comfortable. Let 

 them make up a dry bed of leaves for their cat- 

 tle and horses every night, and they will be re- 

 paid four-fold for their labor. 



Farmers in the hack towns complain that they 

 have no facilities for increasing their manure 

 heaps above what are furnished them in the con- 

 sumption of their hay and grain. But let them 

 gather up leaves, and give their hogs sods enough 

 to kee[i them out of idleness, and they will drop 

 this complaint. Will not our farmers try the ex- 

 periment recommended next fall .' 



J. W. P. 



Hampton Falls, May 10, 1841. 

 Remarks. 



We are gla«I that the attention of our corres- 

 pondent has been turned to the subject of leaf 

 manure. The reader will observe the iriethod of 

 making compost recommended in oiu- extract 

 from Cobbetl in the present nujnber of the Visi- 

 tor. Cobbett was one of the best practical far- 

 mers in this country twenty years ago : he then 

 resided on Long Island, and did njucli by his wri- 

 tings and his example for the cause of Agricul- 

 ture. He probably understood the philosophy of 

 Agriculture better than almost any other man. 

 We know that simi)le rye straw, in which intrin- 

 sically there is little virtue, conlrilmles lo increase 

 the (|ii!Uitity of manure in a ratio much beyond 

 its weight, when thrown into the barn yard or 

 used for litter under cattle and horses : so with 

 corn bill's, j>otatoe vines, and many other vegeta- 

 ble articles which cattle will not eat. The Sha- 

 kers make use of simple saw dust to lay in their 

 cattle stables and Increase the volimie of their 

 manure in the yard. In the wise economy of 

 jVovidence, it is our belief that the production 

 and fertility of the soil are sustained simply by 

 the vegetable matter that is grown upon it, 

 not from the .stamina of the vegetable itself, but 

 from the effect it has in biinging into action la- 

 tent qualities in soil considered sterile. Thus 

 Cfibbett mentions the mixing of weeds with the 

 simple upper soil and turfs from the road side 

 fermenting and consuming under cover, turned 

 over several times and ineorjiorated with the soil, 

 making a compost of equal value with so many 

 loads of the best manure. 



From the success of converting leaves into 

 manure which has attended those wlio have made 

 it a business, we do not doubt they are more val- 

 uoble according to their 'vcight and volume, than 

 almost every other vegetable species in adding 

 to the fertility of the soil. It is the decayed leaves 

 of the forest that make poor land fertile when the 

 Ibrest is first cut down ; and the fallen leaves of the 

 trees undoubtedly contribute much to their spee- 

 dy growth. 



It is not in the fall of the year alone that leaves 

 may be extensively gathered. In various places 

 under the lee of walls and other fences and in 

 hollows of the earth leaves arc gathered in mas- 

 ses by the witid. Going to our pasture near a 

 wood the other day. we perceived that loads of 

 leaves deposited almost to the height of the fen- 

 ces luight be now gathered ; and we then re- 

 membered the recommendation which a distin- 

 guished agricultural experimentalist at Ports- 

 mouth gave us of their value in a recent conver- 

 sation. Labor may be jnofitably ajiiiiied in 

 gathering them. Spread over the groimd and 

 ploughed under, they arc a surprising stimidant 

 to the soil ; bnl their greatest value is probably 

 realized by being Ufsd a.s litter and nii.xed with the 

 manure of the yard or as a fermenter in making 

 heaps of compost. — Editor Visitor. 



From the Pbilndr;!pl;ia Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Rot in Sheep. 

 fda. Editor : — The attention of agriculturists 

 ha\iuc been drawn, liy many well-written articles 

 in the Cabinet, to the coiifideration of sheep- 

 hushandry on a larger scale than hns hitherto 

 been practised— hy which it appears that tlie taste 

 fin- mutton has risen in the market — I am induced 



to address a few lines in the way of urging upon 

 those who contemplate raising and feeding sheep- 

 stock as a system, to be quite prepared, before 

 they commence operations. And to this end their 

 fences should be particularly attended to, and 

 crops prepared for winter food, with a good en- 

 closure and a suitable shed to serve as a place of 

 shelter and perfect security during the feeding at 

 that season of the year. All these things premi- 

 sed, however, I do not know of a more conveni- 

 ent or profitable stock than a flock of well-bred 

 sheep, sufficiently numerous to call for and re- 

 nuinerate the services of an individual well ac- 

 quainted with the habits of those animals, and 

 competent to take the charge of them at all times 

 and under all circumstances — a real, thorough- 

 bred shepherd. Few persons are aware of the 

 great difference which exists between a good 

 breed of sheep and a bad one ; " a sheep is a 

 shee])," to be sure, but, as has been said of the 

 different breeds of cattle for the dairy, there is 

 more than 100 percent, difference between a good 

 animal and a bad one, the one giving a profit, the 

 other a loss. Now compare the difference in 

 value between many of those long-backed, her- 

 ring-bellied creatines which are so of\en brought 

 to the cities for slaughter, and for which $1 50 is 

 a high price, with those lately fed by Major Ray- 

 bold, of Delaware, a part of one of which was 

 exhibited at a late meeting of the Philadelphia 

 .Agricultural Society, measuring 4i inches clear 

 fat at the end of the ribs — a wether, only two 

 years old, one of a lot of thorough-bred Leices- 

 ter or Bakewells, which had been drawn from 

 the flock for feeding, some of which weighed 

 more than 40 pounds jier (luarter, and brought 

 .530 a heati from the butcher ! Can there well be 

 a greater difference iji qvantily and qiudity ? And 

 at this present lime lamb is selling in the Phila- 

 delphia market at SI 50 per quarter, where it 

 might have been a month ago. Now, here are 

 five dollars for the lamb and the ewe to fatten du- 

 ring the summer, her fleece paying for her keep 

 — need there be a more jirofitable crop, consid- 

 ering, too, that it jirepares itself lor market with- 

 out ploughing, sowing, reaping, or mowing.' and 

 leaving behind it a far more profitable return in 

 manure than its whole cost of keep in the ordi- 

 nary way. 



There is one consideration, however, which de- 

 mands the most careful and vigilant attention ; in 

 all probability much of the land that might be 

 devoted to sheep-husbandry may be unsound, 

 from its want of drainage and proper cidtivation, 

 and thus become the means of rotting the whole 

 flock in a veiy short space of time, even, as has 

 often been declared, in a few hours' feeding upon 

 it: this must be particularly guarded again.st, and 

 the flock must be prevented from steppinga hoof 

 upon a soil suspected of unsoundness, which soil, 

 although it might be fed with impunity by horses 

 or cattle, would he destructive to the flock. These 

 situations are easily and quickly discovered by 

 the rank and wash) species of grass and plants 

 which inft'St them, and are easily cured by drain- 

 ing and moderate liming. Salt also, is a most 

 effectual preservation against this cruel disorder ; 

 but this should be always kept before the flock in 

 troughs protected from the weather by a slight 

 roof; dry food always accompanying it while the 

 flock is feeding on suspected ground. 



Many theories have been entertained respect 

 ing the cause of this destructive malady — the Rot 

 in Sheep — some persons supposing that the eg 

 of the flukes, which are always found in great 

 abundance in th;; livers and gall-bladder of sheep 

 dying in this disease, have been taken into the 

 stomach with the grass upon which the sheep 

 have been feeding — while others consider that 

 these anitnalculae are only the cffut of disc 

 engendered by the putrid "contents of the stom- 

 ach, occasioned by the cold and watery and acid 

 property of the food tak<n by the sheep while 

 feeding on aquatic plants, indigenous to low or 

 moist pastures. Amongst these who entertain 

 this latter opinion, is Mr. William Hogg, who, for 

 more than half a century, was engaged in the oc- 

 cupation of n shepherd, and whose testimony is 

 deserving the mo.«:t serious regard. 



He says, — " For more than half a century I 

 have been engaged in the management of sheep, 

 and during that period I have not been inatten- 

 tive to the misfortunes, tlie evils, and the ailments 

 to which they are liable; and amongst the rest, 

 the ROT has not a little occupied my attention ; 



and with the greater assurance I can point out its 

 symptoms, its progress, and termiuation, for I re- 

 sided a long time on a farm where it was the pre- 

 'ling disease, and from which, all who were 

 connected with the concern dreaded the greatest 

 annual loss. Disease in sheep is often caused or 

 strengthened by improper management, and none 



more easily engendered by harsh treatment 

 than the rot: from this cause it is often difficult 

 to determine whether it proceed from the mor- 

 bid qualities of the soil, or from some adventi- 

 tious event in the animal's life.* But, after all, I 

 lay it down as a position that need not be contro- 

 verted, that the original or pre-disposing cause of 

 the rot exists in the qualities of the pasture ; it is 

 this which marks the peculiarities of the consti- 

 tution, and gives that flow of spirits which actu- 

 ates the animal and adjusts every movement in 

 the system. Pastures which abound with soft, 

 flashy nourishment dispose to this disorder ; 

 grasses of this description spring early, are rank 

 and juicy, and are eaten eagerly at that season 

 when other green herbage is absent; the scarcity 

 of verdure, and its own succulence, induce the 

 sheep to eat it very close to the surfiice ; the soil, 

 vigorous and strong, pushes constantly forward 

 more of the delicious and deleterious sward, yet 

 not until late in the season does it attain luxuri- 

 ance, as the stock constantly keep it bare. Other 

 grasses, more firm and consistent in the blade, at 

 last arise, but they are coarser, and in proportion 

 as they are so, are rejected, and the soft, talhy ver- 

 dure still constitutes the principal portion of their 

 food ; the animal's taste by degrees is perverted 

 — it can then relish no other food than this washy 

 sustenance, which imparts no consistence or vi- 

 gour to the muscular and more essential parts of 

 (lie body, and all its influence is directed to the 

 increase of the viscera, and every inability arising 

 from constant repletion : the stomach and bowels 

 increasing to an extraordinary bulk, become an 

 niimanageable weight, too heavy for the constitu- 

 ent parts to carry about with that facility neces- 

 sary to its thriving, and by degrees the animal ac- 

 iiuiies a had shape ; the belly and hind-quarters 

 become heavy and lumpish, the fore-quarters 

 low, narrow, and contracted ; the lungs are ob- 

 structed in their full play, and often one of the 

 lobes adheres to the ribs, and this farther im- 

 pedes their motion ; at every respiration the cells 

 of that master organ are neither sufficiently _/jWerf 

 or emptied, and lor want of this vital air the blood 

 is tainted ; e\«ry extraneous humour increases, a 

 general debility prevails, and symptoms of a con • 

 firmed rot appear. And the feeding on this raw, 

 immature sustenance to such excess, as sheep 

 once habituated to it ordinarily do, opens another 

 way for the introduction of this disease ; the fluid 

 contained in the unripe food engenders a great 

 dsol of seruin in the abdomen, which is diffused 

 through many parts of the body, and this not be- 

 ing a natural fluid, ftirther debilitates the con.sti- 

 tution ; the animal lounges about on the soft, 

 tathy spots, when the general waste of body falls 

 into a morbid tumour under the chin, called the 

 poke; a violent diarrhoea then appears, and the- 

 poor creature dies miserably. And feeding on 

 such unwholesome grass, to the exclusion of ev- 

 ery other kind of food, confines the animal on 

 such low, damp spots as produce it; here, at ev- 

 ery inspiration, plenty of rank miasma is drawn 

 in, which settles in the lungs, and loads their cells 

 with a phlegmy, viscid matter which with diffi- 

 culty is coughed up, especially when the animal 

 is excited to iiiotioii — a consumption is then com- 

 pletely formed, for which there may be saiil to be 

 no cure. 



" The symptoms of the rot are these. About 

 the latter end of February or beginning of March, 

 the wool loses its healthy colour, becomes bleach- 

 ed and dead like; then follows considerable pros- 

 tration of strength ; laje in leavina; the tathy spots 

 of pasture, and early on the next morning, and 

 probably would not leave at all, if not urgeel away 

 by the siiepherd ; falls back i" the ranks when 

 the sheplierd moves them forward ; a sullen, lus- 

 treless eye, looking steadfastly at the shejiherd, 

 with an Vdematoiis swelling under the chin. 

 When dissected offer death, the internal -lymp^ 

 toms are, lungs entirely wasted, oiten hanging 

 like empty bags; liver, in every case that I have 

 ever seen, increased to an extraordinary weight 



as the 6cab, cleave to the flock for many months after a 

 se^.voyage, and from which many never recover ! 



