132 BOARD OF xVGRlCULTURE. 



the foUowinf^ spring. To prevent the attacks of this miscliievous 

 insect, a thorough application of tar should be made to the 

 noses of the sheep, at the beginning of July, and again at the 

 first of August. As before mentioned, it may be done by 

 smearing the troughs where salt is fed. Although neither Dr. 

 Blacklock, Youatt, nor Spooner considers these as at all dan- 

 gerous to sheep, remaining as they do in tlie nasal passage and 

 frontal sinus, not in contact with the brain ; yet as they cause 

 considerable irritation to the animal, they should be removed. 

 Tobacco smoke is an effectual remedy, and easily applied by 

 taking a common pipe half filled with tobacco lighted, passing 

 the stem well into the nostril, then folding a rag over the bowl 

 to protect the lips, blow vigorously through it. Another rem- 

 edy, pronounced thorough by an experienced flockmaster, is a 

 strong decoction of tobacco injected up the nostril — this will 

 destroy the grub, and cause the sheep to blow it out. 



Poison. Sheep are often killed by eating the leaves of the 

 low laurel, (^Kalmia angustifolia,} sometimes called " lamb- 

 kill ;" perhaps it is not as generally known that the leaves of 

 the mountain laurel, or "spoon-wood," {Kalmia latifolia,') are 

 equally fatal. A farmer in Franklin County lost sixty from a 

 flock of two hundred, this fall, which strayed from a good feed 

 of after-math grass, into an adjoining pasture, to eat laurel and 

 die. This plant, like other vegetable poisons of the same 

 nature, probably produces a fermentation in the stomach of the 

 sheep, which attempts to throw off" the poison by vomiting. 

 The animal becomes dull and stupid, swells a little, and is con- 

 stantly gulping up a greenish fluid which it again swallows. In 

 the early stages, if this greenish fluid be suffered to escape, the 

 animal generally recovers. To effect this, gag the sheep by 

 taking a stick six inches long and two inches thick, secure it in 

 the animal's mouth by a string from each end tied over the 

 head ; the fluid will then as it comes from the stomach escape ; 

 a drench of milk and castor oil is also recommended. Lard 

 made into pellets, and put down the throat, is said to be 

 effective. 



The Scab, a troublesome and nasty disease, is common to 



■ sheep all over the world ; it is decidedly contagious, and is also 



induced or developed by filth, bad keeping, and by exposure to 



wet and cold weather. It is found to be caused by the acorns, 



