NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Published every Saturday, by THOMAS W. SHEl'ARD, Rogers' Building, Congress Street, Boston ; at S':,50 |ier unu. in advance, or J;i,00 at the close of IJic year- 



Vol. I. 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 182:5. 



No. 27. 



DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



SELECTED AND COMPILED FROJI THE BEST AUTHOBS, 

 BT THE EDITOR. 



Diarrhoea, Looseness, Slimy Flux, or Scouring Rot. 



This dioriler consists in a frequent discharge 

 of dung, of an uuusual color, thin and slinij'. — 

 The animal gradually looses flesh, but continues 

 for some time to feed well and rimiinate. At 

 length the excrements become of a darker col- 

 or, and frothy, and in the latter stages have the 

 appearance of half-chewed food, the digestive 

 power being entirely lost. It is said that when 

 animals have been long aflccted with this dis- 

 ease, they feel a great degree of pain and dis- 

 tress when grasped on each side the backbone, 

 iust below the shoulders ; and this is sometimes 

 considered, by dealers in cattle, as a mark of a 

 beast's being tainted with the scouring rot. 



The fatal symptoms are the dew-lap hanging 

 down and having a flabby appearance ; the dung 

 running off, with a putrid and offensive smell, 

 and as it falls to the ground, rising up in bub- 

 bles ; the hair all over the body appearing pin- 

 feathered, or erect, as if the animal was endur- 

 ing a severe cold. 



The causes of this complaint are exposure to 

 cold and rain, particularly when the animal has 

 been over-driven or heated by working imme- 

 diately before such exposure. Drinking plen- 

 tifully of water, under similar circumstances, 

 will also produce this disease. Want of nour- 

 ishment, particularly in cows that are constantly 

 milked, often causes this disease. Perspiration 

 suppressed by any cause ; putrescency of (he 

 aliments may also bring on this complaint. H 

 often attacks cattle which have been kept short 

 during the winter, and when they are put to 

 grass in the spring, they are seized with a di- 

 arrhoea, particularly if the weather is wet or 

 cold, and grass plentiful. 



Mr. Lawrence saj's, " If, on the first appear- 

 ance of the scouring, cattle are taken in, and 

 kept on dry food, it will generally supersede 

 the use of medicine." " This," says Mr. White, 

 " is certainly necessary ; but is not, I believe, 

 sufficient to eradicate the disease ; and though 

 it may suppress it for a time, yet the scouring 

 generally returns, when the animal is again 

 sent into the pasture. The immediate cause of 

 the disorder appears most frequently to be an 

 unhealthy action of the liver, which seems to 

 form bile of an acrid or hurtful quality, by which 

 the bowels are constantly irritated. I would 

 advise, therefore, in the early stages of the 

 complaint, to give the foUovving drink for three 

 successive mornings, which will rather increase 

 the scouring at first ; and, when the effect of 

 the medicine has ceased, let the astringent drink 

 be given every morning and evening," 



First drini; for scouring. 

 Epsora salts 1 lb. 



Nitre 2 oz. 



Camphor i oz. 



Coriander seed 2 oz. 



Mix for one dose. 

 This dose should be repeated for three morn- 

 ings following, unless it cause sickness or grip- 



4 oz. 



dr. 

 dr. 

 oz. 



ing, or increase the scouring in a considerable 

 degree. On the fourth morning, begin with 

 the astringent drink, or earlier, should the aliove 

 medicine produce its elTect before the three 

 doses have been taken. During the time the 

 cow is taking the former medicine, she should 

 be supplied with warm fluids, of which thin 

 gruel is the best, and must not be exposed to a 

 cold air. 



Astringent Drink. 

 Take of starch 



Mix in the usual way, that is, as 

 it is employed for stiiTening 

 clothes, with three pints or 

 two quarts of water, so as to 

 make a thick mucilaginous 

 fluid ; to this add. 

 Tincture of opium 

 Ginger 



Catechu, or terra japonica 

 Mix. 

 Or the tirst drink for scouring may be : 

 Common salt 8 oz. 



Flour of mustard 2 oz. 



Water 1^ pt. 



Oil, or melted lard ^ lb. 



This will increase the discharge for a short 

 time ; afterwards, the dung will gradually be- 

 come of a more natural consistence. But should 

 the scouring continue, give the astringent drink 

 already prescribed, or the following : 



Powdered catechu 6 dr. 



Tincture of opium i oz. 



Powdered ginger 2 or 3 dr. 



WLarm ale, beer or water Ih pt. 



Mix. 



The powder or tincture of galls, would also 



be found a powerful astringent. 



With respect to the scouring, or diarrhfea in 

 calves, which is not an unfrequent complaint, a 

 difierent treatment is to be pursued. They may 

 generally be cured by the following drink, given 

 morning and evening : 



Take of the above starch mixture 

 Powdered chalk, or what is call- 

 ed prepared chalk 

 Powdered ginger 

 Tincture of opium 



Mix. 

 Lambs are subject to a 

 may be cured by the same mean: 

 ing the dose. 



In the diarrhoea, which arises from exhaust- 

 ing a cow by constant milking, when she is not 

 sufficiently fed, or is supplied with food of a 

 bad quality, the remedy is sufficiently obvious. 

 But, in this case, it too often happens, that the 

 constitution is worn out, before it is thought 

 necessary to alter the poor aniraal's condition. 

 Whenever this change is made it must not be 

 done too hastily, as other diseases might there- 

 by be produced. 



When the scouring has ceased, the cow should 

 be brought back to her usual state gradually. 

 At tirsl she should be turned out for a few hours 

 in some dry pasture, when the weather is fa- 

 vorable i aud her drink should be given less 



warm. This precaution is highly necessary, as 

 the affected parts do not immediately rccovei 

 their strength after the scouring has ceased. 



The Complete Grazier directs that the beast 

 taken with this disease should be immediately 

 hou:?ed and put to dry food, which treatment, iii 

 the earlier stages of the disorder, will, gener 

 ally, effect a cure. Should this, however^fail. 

 it is advised, in that work, to boil a pound ol 

 mutton suet in three quarts of milk, till the for- 

 mer is dissolved, and give it to the beast in a 

 luke warm state ; or, in obstinate cases, to boil 

 half a pound of powdered chalk in two quarts 

 of water, till it is reduced to three pints; add 

 four ounces of hartshorn shavings and one of 

 cassia, and stir the whole together. When cold 

 add a pint of lime water and two drachms oi 

 the tincture of opium ; keep the whole in a 

 corked bottle, and, after shaking it before using, 

 give one or two hornsful, two or three times a 

 day, as the nature of the case may re'quire. 



Ipt. 



tir. 

 dr. 

 dr. 



similar disease, and 

 only lesscn- 



Red Water, or Bloody Urine. 

 In this disorder the urine appears as if it 

 were mixed with blood. As the disease advan- 

 ces, the urine becomes of a darker color, and 

 at length resembles foul coffee ; the animal 

 looses strength rapidly, and sinks under the dis- 

 order, Cattle attacked by this disease seldom 

 live beyond the tenth or twelfth day, unless it 

 is put a stop to by proper remedies. It is gen- 

 erally attended with costiveness; and if this is 

 not the case at first, it almost always happens 

 in the course of the disonler, unless prevented 

 by laxative medicine. It is caused by weak re- 

 laxed ve«s=els ; thin blood ; cold ; change from 

 a poor to a rich past«fre ; scarcity of water in a 

 long and dry summer ; blows across the loins ; 

 some animals appear to have the disease he- 

 reditary. 



Dr. White recommends, in the first place, 

 the following mild laxative : 



Epsom salt, [sulphate of mag- 

 nesia] or common salt l to 6 oz. 

 Nitre 1 oz. 

 Whey, or thin gruel 1 qt. 

 Oil, or melted lard (but castor 



oil is preferable) 6 to 8 oz. 



Mix. 

 After the laxative, should the disease conti- 

 nue, the following drink may be given : 



Alum 1 oz. 



Dissolve it in a pint of hot water, 



and add — Oil of turpentine 2 oz. 



Powdered catechu, or terra japo- 

 nica 1 oz. 

 Mix. 

 When red or bloody water is caused by strains 

 or a bruise in the loins, it is distinguishable by 

 the tenderness of the part, the animal giving 

 way when it is pressed upon, and by stiffness in 

 the motion of the hind part.'. In this case, also, 

 a laxative may be given ; and, if the injury is 

 considerable, the loins should be fomented with 

 hot vinegar, and afterwards covered with a 

 fresh sheep's skin. 



Whenever the animal is observed to be fre- 

 quently endeavoring to stale, voiding only a 



