1879.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



23 



aro rolled along on the railroads in cattlo pens 

 to the large eities of our country, ortn Kurope, 

 where they are slaughtered aiid served up to 

 the beef-eaters among the huuiau family, and 

 are completely amiihilated. — Bos, Manhcim, 

 February, 1S70. 



POLLED CATTLE. 



Agondwonl must be put in for the '-Muley,' 



TIUM 



;ii;recable 

 uld easily 



(1 



to have alHiut the barnyard ; t 

 be kept side by side with colts. 

 without injury. IIow often do vicious horned 

 cattle disembowel horses in the barnyard, in 

 tlie roadside, or in the field ? How ofltn have 

 liorned cattle, especially those of the male 

 gender, killed men in the upni liel.ls with (heir 

 horns V And how often have lliosi- of the 

 female gender attacked women and (■hildren, 

 especially when the cows have calves only a 

 day or two old ? At that particular period a 

 cow, especially if a stranger, is apt to attack 

 anything that comes near her offspring, 

 whether a dog or a human being. There were 

 formerly objections made to the mule}', when 

 cattle were at liberty to brows along the road- 

 sides and woods. They would reach in be- 

 tween the fence rails to help themselves to as 

 much of the inside crop as leaned toward the 

 fence or came within their reach. Since cattle 

 are running very little at large in the Eastern 

 and Middle States that objection is almost re- 

 moved. The muley oxen are easy to handle, 

 and could even be kept loose in a stalile ; 

 would make more and better manure by 

 tramping down the straw closely together ail 

 over the stable, which would then ferment 

 much sooner than otherwise. The cows would 

 be very docile and agreeable to milk ; and 

 they are just as good milkers as any other 

 kind of cows. They could be very much im- 

 proved by crossing them with the short-horned 

 Durham stock. The normal tendencies of the 

 short-horns might undoubtedly be turned 

 towards polled, at least to shorter horns. 

 Polled cattle perhaps will never become a 

 specialty among cattle breeders in this conn- 

 tr3'. I have known but one farmer — and that 

 yearsago, in AVestEarl township,this county— 

 who had an entire herd of polled cattle ; a 

 very Hue herd it was too. The cows were well 

 built— unlike the large Durhams— good milk- 

 ers ; and the steers weighed -very heavy. I 

 will not undertake to give a full history of 

 the polled cattle, any more than what an able 

 writer has given years ago. He says: "In 

 Great Britain there are now three breeds of 

 polled cattle, which were no doubt derived 

 from the wild cattle, of which only one herd 

 remained pure. These were iu Yorkshire, 

 fifty years ago, although in the last century 

 several parks in England were stocked with 

 them. Both in the north of England and in 

 the south of Scotland improved polled cattle 

 were a common or frequent occurrence. 



The Galway cattle, from the southwest of 

 Scotland, ranked first for smallness of bone 

 and good feeders. They were bred of differ- 

 ent colors, from red to black. Next to these 

 came the Angusshires, from the northeast of 

 Scotland, which were similar to the (Jalways, 

 but were of a heavier build and were brought 

 to the highest state of perfection. They were 

 specially raised for the London market, and 

 the red cattle always commanded the highest 

 prices from the butchers in the market, on ac- 

 count of not having been gored by liorned 

 oxen. For dairy cows the English had a 

 variety called the '■Buns." They originated 

 from one of the Scotch breeds crossing them 

 with their own breeds, which were "Roans." 

 They made them heavier than the original 

 stock, and they became excellent dairy cows, 

 but all ultimately became roans. By care and 

 proi)er selection they had three colors— dun, 

 roan and black. The wild cattle-from which 

 these tliree varieties of cattle sprung arc 

 white, with black ears and muzzle. I have 

 penned these lines thinking some of the readers 

 of The Faumer might still have some inter- 

 est in the "gentle muley" of their boyhood. — 

 E. L. S., Warwick, February, 1879. 



For TllK Lastaster 1'aumer. 

 BITTER-SWEET. 

 {Thr Sotaiiitm Ituleamava. Ij.) 



We have here a species that belongs to a 

 genus of plants remarkable for the great 

 variety and almost opposite character which 

 takes place among the species. Some are 

 coarse weeds ; others ornamental green-house 

 plants ; some, again, are nutritious, like the 

 potato ; others poisonous, like the henbane. 



Names are usually significant. Dr. Gray 

 Kays the derivation of this is uncertain. I 

 find that one author says the Latin meaning 

 was "Night Shade," which is a family name 

 of this genus ; another that it comes from the 

 word "Solor," which means "to comfort," 

 referring to some of the narcotic power — like 

 tliat of an opiate, perhaps— but the Irish 

 liotato, so-called, is a comfort to a starving 

 foniily. Be this as it may, the specific name 

 "Dulcamara," signifies sweet and bitter, or 

 "Bitter-Swcet." This name is derived from 

 the fact that in chewing the I'oot, the taste is 

 first bitter, then a sweetness follows. It is 

 believed to have been introduced from Europe 

 many years ago. It is found to thrive best in 

 moist, shady places and around houses. Wc 

 often meet with it in country gardens, the 



leaves and tlexible twigs forming a climbing 

 shrub about six feet high, is pietty ; the pur- 

 plish, small (lowers and yellow anthers neat, 

 but not showy, while the ovoid, crimson red 

 berries arc quite ornamental. I may, by way 

 of caution, say here, that there is another 

 plant called "climbing bitter-sweet," quite a 

 diftereut genus — the Ci hislrvx isranikns—io\\m\ 

 along streams and thickets ; these have golden 

 yellov»r pods, which split open and reveal a 

 crimson red seed. The genus Solanum has 

 numerous hardy, shrubby and herbaceous 

 species, many green-house and stove ever- 

 greens, over seventy kinds are described. 



This plant has at one time had a great repu- 

 tation among medical men of high standing. 

 Dr. Bigelow, in his American Botany, devotes 

 seven full pages to the properties of this plant, 

 quoting his authorities, such as Doctors Wil- 

 lau, Bateman and Crichtou ; this latter physi- 

 cian to Westminster hospital, says that out of 

 twenty-three cases of Lepora Grcecorum, (this 

 is the leprosy of scripture, a constitutional 

 affection, also known as Elejihantiaiiiii tjrm-o- 

 rwn, supposed incurable,) he declares that 

 only two resisted the remedy, which consisted 

 in boiling an ounce of the fiexible, fresh twigs 

 (others used the leaves also,) in a pint and a 

 half of water down to a pint, giving the 

 patient of this decoction two ounces to begin 



with morning, noon and night, and also used 

 as an external lotion. Others think the dose 

 too large, and say it is better to bc^in with an 

 ounce and increase. To sii\ the hast, it docs 

 form a most excellent lotion tor v;i I ions I liseases 

 ofthcskin tomyper.sonal kuowledur, although 

 fallen into m-leet. riofrvso,- Mmriy speaks 

 in stroll'..; terms as a Mieees>liil a|Hiliealion in 

 cutaneous diseases ol an iii\i-lerate character. 

 Dr. Gritmii, in liis M,.li.;d liuUiay, says 

 (page 481): " The properties of Bitter-Sweet 

 are those of a narcotic, diuretic ami diaphe- 

 retic, but its powers are not very great, though 

 in large doses it certainly will induce the 

 effects of the acro-narcotics ; cases of poison- 

 ing have been recorded from the berrie.s, as 

 well as from the decoction of the twigs. The 

 decoction has attained some note as a remedy 

 in chronic rheuniatisiu, asthma, chronic 

 catarrhs, and in tho.se morbid conditions of 

 the system in which sarsa]iarilla lias been 

 found ueneficial. Its mani nimlai ion, bow- 

 ever, has arisen from the liemiii obtained 

 fromit in skin diseases of an ol>,-tinati' charac- 

 ter, as lepra and pityriasis ; ill tliese there is 

 strong evidence that it has pioxeil eminently 

 successful, both adiiiiiiistered internally and 

 used as a wash to the alTected parts." 1 quote 

 the foregoing from the edition of 1817. It is 

 well not simply to know a plant as a botanist, 

 but its uses and reputation as well. Farmers 

 may find occasion to desire a remedy lor a 

 scabby animal, and seeing this plant on or 

 about their premises, may test its properties 

 and benefit themselves and the suffering ani- 

 mal. It does not follow that (hey turn quack 

 and join the ranks of that class, and yet do- 

 mestic remedies at hand are often available to 

 those that have a knowledge of the subject ; 

 so that it is not intended for medical men, 

 who have the books and are supposed to know 

 all aliout it, but for the fann<-r, horticulturist 

 and general reader, wlio has not the books to 

 refer to ; it is "y/io im,,,, imiillr,,.'' I write not 

 to show how easy it is to eopy and give the 

 experience of other people as your fuiid of in- 

 formation. That is simple vanity and build- 

 ing upon a small capital, but my i)ursuit as a 

 druggist for twenty-five years, and a botanist 

 for nearly litty, .and a medical student for .six 

 years prior toentering the drug business, will 

 exonerate me of vain pretensions. I hoiie in 

 furnistiing these articles, for the benefit of 

 those interested, illustrated by wood cuts, 

 made by myself when in the drug business, 

 with a view of publishing a work on the sub- 

 ject, I never did, except in such fragmentary 

 productions. I should not have referred to 

 myself, only some certain medical aspirant 

 sneered at what he deemed a silly display of 

 medical knowledge on my part— this will 

 suffice.—/. Staiiffcr. 



THE BALANCE OF TRADE. 



To the Editor of ilie Lancaster Fanner: I 

 was highly interested in reading the a<ldress 

 of P. "S. "Reist, before the Agricultural and 

 Horticultural Society, in the January number 

 of The Faumek, and especially your note 

 appended to it, in which you intimate a doubt 

 whether the so-called " Balance of Trade" in 

 favor of this country is anything but a sceminti 

 .advantage, and whether, except "on paper," 

 it is an evidence or sign of prosperity. 



I incline to think that a fuller examination 

 of the subject will convince you that your 

 doubts are" not without good grounds, and 

 that neither cxperieiue nor sound reasoning 

 lends any support t<i the popular opinion that 

 whenever the exports of a country exceed its 

 imports, this is an evidence of its prosperity. 

 On the eoutrarv. not only our experience for 

 several years past, but the statistics of the 

 last half century or longer, I believe will show 

 unmistakably that the reverse is the fact, and 

 in years, or terms of years, of acknowledged 

 prosperity, our imports have uniformly ex- 

 ceeded our exports iu value, while in ye.ars or 

 terms of ruinous depression in business like 

 those we have just been passing through, the 

 exports are mostly greater than the imports. 

 And this rule holds true not only of our own 

 country but of Great Britain, and doubtless 



