VOL XV. XO. 34. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



187 



DISEASES OP SHEEP. 



Disease of the Lungs. — -Slieei) are subject 

 to he fliseaserl in the Kings, whicli is easily per- 

 ceived hy tlieir hrcnthini,', or by tlieir coiigliing. 

 Nothing requires a more s[)cedy remedy ; for 

 they grow incurable, when it is neglected hut a 

 short time, and die, as men. in the consumption. 

 Change of tlieir pasture is essential to the cure — 

 without it no rcmtnly is effectual. It is owing to 

 cohl, and generally attacks sheep that have been 

 kept on low grounds in wet weather. 



When any of the flock exhibit symptoms of dis- 

 eased lungs, drive them into an enclosed pastm-e 

 where there is short grass and a gi-avelly soil : aud 

 where there is spring or other running water. — • 

 Bruise a basket fu f of the leaves of colt's foot, and 

 press out the juice. — Mix these, and bruise as 

 much garlic as will yield about a fourth part as 

 much juice as one of the others. Mix all togeth- 

 er, and add to them a pound of honey, an ounce 

 of aniseeds, and an ounce and a half of elecam- 

 pane. Give a quarter of a pint of this warm, to 

 every sheep that is affected, once a day, and it will 



bv degrees make a perfect cure. 



"" • * « » * 



Scab. — This is a disorder to which sheep are 

 very liable. When they are kept in dry whole- 

 some pastures they are but seldom afflicted with 

 the scab : but when they are on low wet grounds, 

 or get under the drippings of trees in bad seasons 

 they are freqsently affected by it, in the severest 

 manner. — The sym|)touis are scurfy ^kins, which 

 in a little time rise to scabs — the wool grows 

 loosrf and the sheej) pine and become lean. 



If they are attacked in a season when they can 

 be sheared, it sl:ould be immediately done, as 

 nothing is so sure to effect a cure. If the season 

 will not admit of shearing, they must be washed 

 with soap suds, made very strong, and used warm 

 with a piece of flannel or a brush. After this, 

 they must be turned loose into a clean pasture, 

 and driven up again as soon as well dried, and the 

 sore parts of the skin must be well wetted with 

 lime water. The scurfy part of the skin must be 

 ren-arded ; and the doing this three times, at two 

 days distance each, will generally effect a cure. 

 But if it fail, the parts that have been thus wash- 

 ed and cleaned, must be anointed with a mix- 

 ture of equal iiarts of tar and grease, and they 

 will soon be perfectly well. No inward medi- 

 cines are required, for the complaint is only of the 



skin. 



Foot Worm. — Sheepare liable to breed worms 

 Iwtween their feet; principally, however, when 

 they are kept in wet pastures. It is very painful 

 to them, and will make them pine away. It is 

 perceived by their frequently holding up one foot ; 

 and setting it tenderly down. 



Let the foot be washed clean, particularly be- 

 tween the toes, and there will be found a little 

 lum]) like a tuft of hair. This is the head of the 

 worm. It is to be taken out with care, for it is of 

 a tender substance, and if it be broke in the foot, 

 it will occasion inflammation. The best method 

 is to open the flesh on each side of it, and then, 

 by means of a pair of nippers, to take it out. 

 Dress the wound with tar and grease melted to- 

 gether in equal quantities, and turn the sheep 

 loose. It is better to put it into a fresh pasture ; 

 for if the same disorder returns, it is generally 

 worse. 



The Rot. — This is the most destructive dis- 

 ease to which sheep arc subject. Like the mur- 



rain it is contagious and generally spreads through 

 the whole flock, and often over the neighboring 

 country. Flocks that are fed upon open com- 

 mons are more subject to it than such as have 

 shelter, and are taken care of at night. It fre- 

 quently prevails in cold seasons and when drib- 

 bling raijis come on soon alter shearing. Want 

 of food will also occasion this disease ; as will 

 likewise the eating of such grass as is full of un- 

 wholesome plants. These are among the causes 

 of this fatal distemper; but the worst and most 

 common is infection. Keep sheep out of the way 

 ot these caiises of the rot, and the same care will 

 preserve them from most other disorders to whicli 

 they are liable, damp grounds are always danger- 

 ous, and especially in wet seasons. 



Wh(;n a sheep is infected with the rot, the white 

 of the eyes look dull, and they have a faint as- 

 pect, the animal is feeble, an<l his skin is foul — 

 the wool comes off in handfulls with the least 

 touch, and the gums look pale and the teeth foul. 

 Me will also be dull and listless in motion, and 

 heavy,' as if his legs were not able to carry him. 

 .Many are generally infected at a time, and tlie first 

 care must be to remove them from the sound 

 ones, and put them in a close fold. They must 

 have but little water, and their food must be dry 

 hay and oats. Bleeding is destructive in the rot. 

 The fact that sheep fed in salt marshes, never 

 have the rot, suggested salt as a remedy. It is a 

 good preventative but no: an infallible cure. 'I'ho' 

 the farmer cannot rely upon it, yet among other 

 remedies, it is highly useful. 



The following I'eniedies and treatment have of- 

 ten effected cures. Bruise an ounce of the grains 

 of paradise, and four ounces of juniper berries 

 dried ; add to these, four pounds of bay salt, and 

 half a pound of loat sugar, grind them well to- 

 gether, and sprinkle some of tliis upon the hay 

 aud oats that are given to the sheep. Let this be 

 continued three days, and look from time to lime 

 to the eyes, and examine every other way, to see 

 whether they mend or grow worse. If there be 

 signs of ametidment, let the same course be con- 

 tinued ; if not, the following must be used. Steep 

 four pounds of antimony in two gallons of ale, for 



a week then give the sheep this every night 



and morning, a quarter of a pint at a time. Boil 

 a pound of the roots of avens, and two pounds of 

 the roots of master-wort, in two gallons of water, 

 till there is not more than six quarts remaining — 

 strain this ofi", and press it hard, then pour a pint 

 of it into a piiilful of water that is to be given to 

 the sheep for tlieir drink. 



By these means, carefully managed, and under 

 a good regulation in cleanness, dryness and warmth 

 the rot will often be cured. This is all that can 

 he promised — for there are times when the dis- 

 ease is so rooted, and when the temperature of the 

 air so favors it, that nothing will get the better of 

 it. If the sheep have a distaste to their food, be- 

 cause of the salt and other ingredients mixed with 

 it, they must be omitted for two or three feed- 

 ings, and then given in less quantity. — Silk Cul- 

 turist. 



Life Spar. — .A. nautical gentleman who wit- 

 nessed some experiments made with Mr Arm- 

 strong's Life Spar, has expressed tons his unqual- 

 ified approbation of its invaluable utility and im- 

 portance, as a means of preserving life in cases 

 of accident or danger on the sea, — JVew Bedford 

 Gazette. 



Rat Stopper. — A friend at our elbow wish- 

 es us to mention a method of stopping out rats 

 from cellars. The varmints dug down on the 

 outside and came in under the cellar wall. In 

 order to put a stop to this business of theirs he 

 carefully dug down and deposited a goodly lot of 

 blacksmith's cinders, in such a manner that their 

 ratshi|is would have to dig or gnaw through it ia 

 order to get in. 



They have since disappeared, probably giving 

 up the scratch as hardly worth the wear and tear 

 of teeth and toe nails. — Me. Far. 



Recipe. — When a horse has bots, it may often 

 be known by his biting his sides; when he has 

 many, they often throw him into great |)ain, and 

 he lays down, rolls, and if not cured soon, dies. 

 When it is believed that a horse has the bots, by 

 the above symptoms, give a [lint of sweetened 

 milk; which the bots are fond of, and they will 

 let go their hold on the horse, and feast on the 

 milk. Immediately give the horse a small quan- 

 tity of oats or other provender, in which put two 

 thirds of a common fig of tobacco pulverized. 

 If he refuses the |u-ovender thus mixed, steep the 

 same quantity of tobacco in a pint of boiling or 

 warm water, until the strength is out, as we say, 

 then put in enough cold water so that the whole 

 will fill a( ommon junk bottle, and turn it into the 

 horse. When it reaches the bots it kills them, as 

 all will believe, who have ever spit tobacco juice 

 on a worm or similar insect. The horse in less 

 than twenty hours will void all his hots ; there is 

 no mistake in this, though no patent has been ob- 

 tained. 



The writer would not have it tried on an old 

 poor horse in the fall or first of winter, for he 

 would certainly recover, to the damage of his 

 owner. 



If one worth curing is affected with bots, and 

 the sym|)toms are sevtre never stop for the milk, 

 but ill with the tobacco, — this is the kill all. — 

 Ibid. 



Poultry. — The celebrated agriculturalist, 

 Arthur Young, says, 'the poultry house should 

 contain an apartment for the general stock to 

 roost in, another for setting, a third for fattening, 

 and a fourth for food. If the scalu is larger, 

 there should be a fifth for plucking and keeping 

 feathers. If a woman is kept purposely to attend 

 them, she should have her cottage contiguous, 

 that the smoke of her chimney may play upon 

 the roosting and setting rooms ; poultry never 

 thriving so well as in warmth and smoke ; an 

 observation as old as Columella, and strongly 

 confirmed by the quantity bred in the smoky 

 cabins of Ireland." 



Experiments. — There is no way of making 

 improvements in farming, but by experiments. 

 If the farmer is informed of, or has conceived 

 a different and better method of culture, or man- 

 agement in any branch of his farniinK^, he is to 

 test the goodness of that method by experiments ; 

 and, if these prove successful, he may congratu- 

 late himself, on having performed an act which 

 is servieeable to his country and honorable to 

 himself. — Farmer's Assin. 



Mr Westbrook, of Muskingum Co. Ohio, has 

 found that the Chinese Mulberry grows with the 

 greatest luxuriance in that soil. 



