188 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Aug. 



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people, for there is hanlly a home in Lomlon, (unless 

 in the lowest sinks, whose occupant never saw a 

 green tree,) but has its little collection of window 

 or parlor plants ; thousands are sold daily, and I am 

 quite surprised to see men and women, apparently 

 very, very poor, buy half a dozen pot plants and carry 

 them otfto their humble homes. One would suppose 

 that food and clothing would be more necessary.*' 



A great want of the poor here, is cheap ne\vspa])ers; 

 and this want is attended with the most demoralizing 

 consequences. Working people must get the news of 

 the day, but they cannot aflord to pay 10 or 12 cts. for 

 a newspaper. The city, however, like all other cities, 

 everywhere abounds with taverns and dram shops ; 

 these take the papers and invite the working people 

 in to read. On all sides you can see a label on the 

 window, " A coffee and smoking room, and the pa- 

 pers taken." This is a tempting notice, and in goes 

 the work-people to drink the " pot of beer," smoke a 

 pipe, and read the paper. This is followed up until 

 home and family are forgotten, and the man is con- 

 verted into the toper. It is so with tens of thousands, 

 and if the British government would only make a 

 move towards providing every poor man with a daily 

 penny paper, it would revolutionize the social habits 

 of the London poor and respectable working classes. 



This reminds me of Mr. Mayhew and his "Lon- 

 don labor and London poor." The ''Coster Mongers," 

 or street dealers, of whom he gave such a dismal 

 description, appear to have a sprinkling of self-respect, 

 for they have held an indignation meeting lately, 

 and denounced his statements as slanderous and false. 



The London markets are objects of great intejrest 

 to strangers, but I must speak of them at another 

 time, as they and other matters connected with them 

 will be enough for a long letter. I have met more 

 Americans in the markets of an early morning than 

 in any other place, and all are much interested in 

 examining the quality of the articles and the mode 

 of doing business. 



I leave town to-morrow, for the Continent. The 

 rose season is now in perfection in France, and will 

 not open here yet for another week or ten days. I 

 yesterday, for the first time, met my young friend 

 Mr. PoMERoy Brewster ; he had just returned from 

 a ten days' ramble on the Rhine. Mr. and Mrs. 

 Bateham, of Ohio, and B. P. Joh.nso:*, Esq., of Al- 

 bany, are the only other acquaintances I have seen. 

 ___^_^ _^ P. B. 



PEACH LEAVES vs. SHEEP. 



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It may not be generally known, that peaca leaves 

 are poisonous and often prove fatal when eaten by 

 animals. A few days since, in Western xVew York, 

 I witnessed the death of two siieep, ca sed by eating 

 too freely of peach leaves. The pe- ch is a native 

 of Sicily, (I believe,) and was ori,;inally poisonou-!, 

 but by cultivation has become onf of the most deli- 

 cious of fruits. The leaves how-ver are said to con- 

 tain pruB.->ic acid. Sheep shoti d never be allowed to 

 run in ix-cn orchards. Sev ral cases have occureJ, 

 in whicu cattle and sheen nave been poisoned, by 

 eating the leaves of the wild cherry. The tame 

 cherry is equally poiso'ous. It has "been said that 

 cherry leaves are free .rom poison until the leaves 

 have wilted ; but of -es have been known in which 

 the green leaves h>^ve proved poisonous and fatal to 

 animals. In the cases I witnessed, the sheep exhi- 

 bited vertigo aoo trembling, and frothed at the mouth, 



and evidently endured much pain. After several 

 hours had elapsed, a noble lamb belonging to one of 

 the poisoned sheep, came up and called out urgently 

 for his supper. The sick and dying mother raised 

 her head, and turned and looked piteously at her off- 

 spring, crying with hunger. Nerved with a spirit 

 of maternal affection, she struggled and gained an up- 

 right position, and with much difficulty maintained it 

 and gave nurse to the lamb. This done, she lay 

 down and died instantly, and I presume in peace. 

 Various remedies have been suggested. A writer 

 in the Mass. Ploughman recommends a pint of New 

 England rum, mixed with a pint of molasses, and 

 given to each grown sheep. One-third of this quantity 

 to a sheep. Salt would doubtless be beneficial, as it is 

 useful in cases of 'poison from the bites of snakes, 

 stings of bees, &.c. A g-ill of sweet oil, or castor oil, 

 or lard, or fresh butter given in a pint of new milk, it 

 is said, will sometimes effect a cure. Most vegeta- 

 ble poisons however are acids, and require alkalies to 

 neutralize them. Ammonia, lye of wood-ashes, and 

 pot and pearl-ashes, are used for this purpc^e. 



One word in reference to the management of stock 

 bucks. It has within a few years been materially 

 changed. Formerly the buck was turned in with a 

 a flock of ewes, and ran with the flock through the 

 tuping season. The objections to this course are, 

 that it proves injurious to the buck, and renders the 

 lambs small and feeble. Experience has shown that 

 when the buck it kept up and tended, the above ob- 

 jections are obv ted. It has been said that one ser- 

 vice is preferab e ; but the best flock-masters in this 

 section, now agree that a single service is not in all 

 cases sure, and that the buck should be allowed to 

 serve each ewe at least twice during the few weeks 

 of tuping season. When all have been thus served, 

 let the bucks and ewes together for a few days, 

 which will generally render the thing sure, and give 

 as many lambs as there are ewes in the flock. S. 

 B. Rockwell. — Cornwall, Vt., July, 185L 



A CHAPTER ON WOOL GROWING-. 



Messrs. Editors : — In growing wool, we certainly 

 want a flock that will give the most valuable fleece 

 for the same keep ; and for our Northern States, I 

 have found none equal to the Merino, as they are a 

 very hardy animal. They will do the best on sci-nty 

 feed of any kind of sheep that I have ever been ac- 

 quainted with ; and their wool being very thiclt, md 

 filled with oil, they can endure the storm ; and t.^eir 

 lambs are the strongest and most easily reared of any 

 kind that I have proved — and I have tried about 

 every kind that has ever been cultivated in the United 

 States. The reason why so many think them a 

 tender animal, is, they are not acquainted with the 

 full-blood.s, as very many of them which are called 

 pure bred Merino, are not only tinctured with native, 

 but with Saxony blood, and our country is filling up 

 with mongrel sheep that are called full blood Merino. 

 The State of Vermont has learnt that many in this 

 State are very anxious to obtain the pure bred Meri- 

 no, and they are bringing them to us by droves ; but 

 the most of them are grade sheep, and are bought in 

 Vermont from one to two dollars per head, and sold 

 here from five to twenty-five dollars per head. If 

 those who buy of such peddlers would require cer- 

 tificates, stating that they were pure bred Merinos, 

 and the particular flocks that they obtained them from, 

 they would act wi-sely ; and certainly if they are full 



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