230 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Ma^ 



fore efficient action was taken to crush the dis- 

 ease. He said that the Avorst features were now 

 exhibiting themselves, and that since the disease 

 had first broken out here, he had given much time 

 to its study, and from correspondence abroad and 

 personal examination here, it was positively the 

 pleuro-pneumonia of Europe, and there was no 

 cure for it. The recent cases here show that al- 

 though an animal may appear to be recovering, 

 and in some cases appear to be well, it still pos- 

 sesses the elements of the disease, which is liable 

 to cause its death at any time. 



The bill proposed in the Legislature had a pro- 

 vision in relation to quarantining animals that 

 were supposed to have been exposed to infection, 

 but, the speaker asked, who would drink the milk, 

 or eat the butter or cheese, or even the beef of 

 any cattle even supposed to have been exposed ? 

 It was folly to suppose that a cow would be good 

 for anything among those who entertained the 

 slightest suspicion that she had been exposed. 

 There had only been two cases in which the dis- 

 ease had been brought to this country, — the case 

 of Mr. Chenery, and a large cattle breeder in 

 New Jersey, who when he found the disease to 

 exist among his herd, sacrificed from $8,000 

 to $10,000, by killing off those affected, and 

 thus stopped it at once. This, said Mr. Flint, is 

 not a matter that solely concerns the farmer, as 

 all are anxious for the speedy extermination of 

 the plague, and prompt action on the part of the 

 Legislature was demanded for the protection of 

 the consumer as well as of that of the producer. 



A farmer from Andover said that he had come 

 to the city, to ascertain what action the Legisla- 

 ture were going to take, and expressed his sur- 

 prise that none had yet been taken to stay the dis»- 

 ease. He spoke of the dread his neighbors had 

 of the disease coming there, and said that even 

 now the value of stock was depreciating from the 

 dread of the disease spreading. 



Mr. Howard, of Boston stated that although 

 this disease had been prevalent on the European 

 continent for a century, it only first showed itself 

 in the British Isles in 1841, and then in Ireland, 

 but at that time there was no country in the 

 world so well provided with a force to resist the 

 disease, as there were graduates from the London 

 and Edinburgh Veterinary Colleges all over the 

 country, who had given the subject special atten- 

 tion, and so the disease had never spread there as 

 elsewhere. Mr. Howard closed his remarks by 

 alluding to the case of the calf mentioned by Mr. 

 Walker, saying that if such an occurrence had 

 rcallv taken place, the disease becoines doubly 

 alarming, and it was necessary that the case 

 should be inquired into by veterinarians, so as to 

 see whether the disease was constitutionally he- 

 reditary ill cattle. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 LAWTON BLACKBEBKY, ONCE MORE. 



Mr. Editor : — I supposed I had done writing 

 upon the Lawton blackberry, but will say a few 

 words more, as I think by so doing light may be 

 so shadowed forth as to show that you and your 

 contributors, although seeming to disagree in 

 several particulars, are severally in the right. I 

 will quote a few lines from the Country Gentleman. 

 "The New Rochclle (Lawton) blackberry is vari- 

 able in the llaTor of its fruit ; sometimes sweet, 

 and at others quite acid. We have not yet det'jr- 

 mined what influence generally produces this dif- 

 ference." So you see mine may be sweet and 

 your's sour, and still both Lawton. 



Mr. Bassett has come to a correct conclusion. 

 My axes are all ground ; but if they|were not, and 

 I wished to "set them on edge," I would try and 

 get some of his sour fruit. I would say to him 

 that I am well acquainted with wild varieties, as 

 they grow both in Vermont and Massachusetts. I 

 know many of them to be very fine indeed, but 

 have seen none that would not suffer in compari- 

 son witli what I have raised as the Lawton. I raise 

 only a very few — not having room — but should 

 they prove as good the coming season, as they 

 were the last two, I shall be most happy to give all 

 incredulous persons "a taste," if not too numer- 

 ous. G. W. H. 



New Bedford, 2nd mo. 18, 1860. 



Remarks. — Thank you, sir. Hope we shall 

 taste them. 



For tlie New E7igland Farmer. 

 LEAD PIPE FOR CONDUCTINQ WATER. 



Mr. Editor : — Your correspondent of Billerica, 

 in the Farmer of Jan. 28, asks for information iu 

 relation to the best kind of pipe to convey water 

 through, and says, if the water was soft, he should 

 use lead. 



Now as I happen to know something by rather 

 dear experience in relation to lead pipe for con- 

 veying water for culinary purposes, I have thought 

 it my duty to give the little knowledge I have ob- 

 tained in that direction, for the benefit of him, 

 and others who wish to convey water to their 

 dwellings. Some 17 years ago I conceived the 

 plan of bringing water into my sink by pipe and 

 pump, from a spring some 200 feet distant ; ac- 

 cordingly I made inquiry for the cheapest and best 

 kinds, and was informed that lead was the best, 

 for several reasons, but having previously learned 

 that lead was poisonous, I hesitated ; but those 

 best informed, whom I consulted, said that tlie 

 raanufaturers had improved it, and made it sai 

 by coating the inside Avith tin. My fears bein., 

 silenced, I sent to Boston, procured the pipe, lai;l 

 down and have used it until recently. The water 

 is pure and of the softest kind, and yet I have lost 

 my health and nearly lost my speech, and the 

 most scientific and experienced physicians, that I 

 have consulted, attribute the cause of my disease 

 to the use of that water, and say that soft water 

 will act on lead much more than hard water, and 

 though it bo tinned, there is liable to lie places that 

 are not covered, and that it is not safe in any wa- 

 ter, and that it acts differently on different indi- 

 viduals, but that on some persons it has no bad 



