198 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



liberal allowance for one hog ; and from these as- 

 sumed facts, I make one more calculation, as fol- 

 lows, viz. : 



Dr. 



To 3 shoats, weighing 100 lbs. each, SCO lbs., at 6c S4f ,00 



To 2320 cans skim-milk, at 8c 233,60 



To IS quarts meal per day, 182A bushels, at $1 182,50 



To cartiug loam, muck, &c 10,00 



$474,10 



Cr. 



By 3200 pouTi(39 pork, at 8 centis $256,00 



liy SO loads manure, at $1 80,00 



$336,00 



Balance atrainst hogs $138,10 



To which add balance against butter as above $35,04 



Making tlie whole balance against bulter-making $173,14 



From this I conclude that hogs will not pay 8 

 cents per can for skim-milk, and that however 

 unprofitable milk-selling may be, butter-making 

 must be more so. If any of your correspondents 

 can show facts, or figures, to carry the balance to 

 the othor side ot the account, no one will be more 

 pleased to see them than a Milk-Raiseu. 



Concord, Mass., Feb. Wth, 1860. 



FATAIi DISEASE AMONG CATTLE. 



The farmers of our Commonwealth, and, in- 

 deed, of New England, will*learn with regret that 

 a disease which threatens to prove as extensive 

 and fatal as the cattle murrain of Europe, if, in- 

 deed, it be not the same malady, has made its ap- 

 pearance among the stock in North Brookfield 

 and vicinity. The Journal gives the following 

 account of its origin and spread, which is corrob- 

 orated from other sources : 



The disease was introduced last summer by a 

 calf of foreign breed, In'ought from the town of 

 Belmont. It fixes itself upon the lungs, and pro- 

 duces a violent cough, and the lungs are finally 

 destroyed. Some of the cattle attacked with it 

 linger along for weeks ; others die in a few days 

 after the attack. None have recovered. 



Letters from farmers in North Brookfield say 

 that the disease is a])parently making a clean 

 sweep through the herds in that section, M'here it 

 has got a foothold. One man has lost ten head of 

 cattle, and has as many more sick. Another man 

 has lost seven, and the best of his herd are sick. 

 In North Brookfield and New Braintree, the dis- 

 ease is in five or six lierds. 



One gentleman in North Brookfield writes to a 

 member of the Legislature that the disease is of 

 the most alarming ciiaracter. The calf from Bel- 

 mont was carried to Leonard Stoddard. His cat- 

 tle began to be taken sick, and one after another 

 died. He sold an animal to Mr. Olmstead, and 

 the stock of the latter are all dying. Mr. Stod- 

 dard also sold a cow to Mr. Huntington, v.'ho has 

 since lost seven cows, and has ten more sick ; so 

 of another herd in Ncm' Braintree, where some of 

 Mr. Stoddard's stock were sent. If allowed to 

 spread, continues the writer, the disease will cause 

 general destruction. It is a foreign disease, and 

 the same tliat prevails in Holland at this time. It 

 seems ahnost certainly fatal. 



Something effective should be done, otherwise 

 it will spread all over the State. Oxen infected 

 with it are now worked in the streets. This should 

 be stopped. The selectmen ought to be author- 

 ized to forbid any person who has any imported 

 stock from taking it out of his own premises, and 

 to cause the immediate destruction of all sickly 

 animals. A petition to the Legislature is now in 

 circulation among the farmers in the western part 

 of the State, or about to be put in circulation, to 

 effect the purpose above expressed. 



We learn that the disease has entered the herd 

 of the gentleman in Belmont who sold the calf to 

 Mr. Stoddard, and that his cattle are nearly all 

 exterminated. 



Persons whose cattle are infected are making 

 anxious inquiries of the Secretary of the Board of 

 Agriculture and others, with a view of ascertain- 

 ing some remedy for a disease Avhich threatens to 

 depopulate the farm-yards of the Commonwealth. 



It is a matter of the utmost importance that 

 some preventive should be adopted, and seasona- 

 bly. Notwithstanding veterinary authorities pre- 

 scribe remedies — among which are the separation 

 of the diseased animals from their companions, 

 light and nutritious diet, relief of urgent symp- 

 toms, &c. — we hold that the only sure and effectu- 

 al safeguard is the immediate slaughter of every 

 animal which is infected. This coiu-se will entail 

 considerable loss upon farmers, but we should ad- 

 vocate it, even if the State were to be called on to 

 make good the loss ; for a comparatively small ex- 

 penditure, now, may not only prevent the spread of 

 a loathsome and fatal disease, but also protect peo- 

 ple from the ])ossible evils of purchasing the car- 

 cases of the affected animals for food. 



The contagious or infectious character of the 

 disease would seem to be sufficiently established. 

 Morton's Cijclopcedia of Agriculture, an English 

 work, states that 



The terra (pleuro-pneumonia) denotes inflam- 

 mation not only of the substance of the lungs 

 but also of the membrane which covers them, as 

 well as that Avhich lines the cavity of the chest. 

 Post mortem examinations lead to the conclusion 

 that the disease is of an inflammatory character. 

 With regard to its infectious character a doubt 

 can scarcely be entertained. It would seem to be 

 evident that the disease is produced by an animal 

 poison floating in the atmosphere, and in most 

 cases proceeding from the respiratory surfaces of 

 diseased animals. 



This jnithority, under the head of "Treatment," 

 suggests that in case a herd is large, and only 

 one or two animals appear to be affected, it would 

 be most prudent to slaughter them all at once and 

 sell the beef of the healthy ones. We understand 

 that a bill to this effect has been presented to the 

 Legislature. If not, we hope that no time will 

 be lost in passing a bill that shall embrace the 

 above provision, and also forbid the driving of 

 cattle from the infected region to market, until 

 (he disease ^liall have completely disappeared. 



