222 



XEAV ENGLAND FARMER. 



JrLT 



be pursued, a model faxm, with all the necessary 

 fanning implements, cattle, iScc, should surround 

 every school-house. Here would be work for 

 somebody ! And the work would be much more 

 difficult than otherwise, from the fact that verj- 

 many of our school-houses are situated upon the 

 most barren and dreary spots in the district. Not 

 a tree, shrub, or flower is ever planted around its 

 fo'jr brick or wooden walls ; and indeed common 

 sense is often shown in not planting them, for they 

 would not grow in the barren soil. To create a 

 model farm out of the materials which we so fre- 

 quently find around our school-houses, would re- 

 quire a master hand ; and in witnessing the pro- 

 cess, the scholars might learn many a usefxil and 

 important lesson. Those young persons who 

 would become acquainted with the fanner's art, 

 should study to acquire it both in doors and out — 

 at school, if found to be practicable and profita- 

 ble — but certainly on the farm, and under the in- 

 stmctions of a skilful farmer. It might be learned 

 at school if we had suitable teachers, model farms, 

 and above all, if the people at large felt sufficient 

 interest in the project to commence and carry it 

 on. But these obstacles, I fear, will not be over- 

 come during the present generation. 



li we had every facility for the study of agri- 

 culture in our district schools, I would not advise 

 any scholar to neglect spelling, reading, writing, 

 arithmetic, geography, or grammar ; but after he : 

 has acquired, or while he is acquiring a knowledge 

 of these elementary studies, if he should desire to ! 

 take up an elective or extra study, and has a de- 

 cided taste for agriculture, let him pn" into its 

 mysteries, and store his mind with knowledge , 

 which will be useful to him in after life. 



Smth Groton, 1863. S. L. White. | 



P/r the y^ic En^ila-ii'l Farmer. 



THE vebmo:nt dog law. 



Mr. Editor: — On page 71 of volume \o of the 

 N. E. Forraer, MontlJy, I find the following : — 

 '■Daniel Xeedham, Esq., of Hartford, Secretary of: 

 the Vermont Agricultural Society, read his annual | 

 report, in which is the following : 1. The passage : 

 of a dog law must be regarded as a substantial 

 advance in the legislation of our State. 2. The 

 great damage to our sheep by the canine race can , 

 hardly be estimated. 3. Few sheep-raisers but 

 that have sufiered some, and many have suffered 

 a good deal. 4. There is reason to believe that 

 the dog law came as the legitimate result of our . 

 action at the Wool Growers' Convention. 5. That . 

 the number of dogs will be greatly lessened by 

 the tax imposed by the new law, there can be no I 

 doubt." _ i 



Will Mr. Xeedham answer me the following ; 

 questions, through the columns of the Monthly 

 Fai-ififrf 1. What advantage will it be to the' 

 State ? 2. Is the dog the oidy animal that in- j 

 jures sheep ? What does the bear do, only kill | 

 sheep, that he must be hunted ? .3. It seems that j 

 the Wool Grower's dislike dogs, and want them ' 

 killed, or their owners to pay them for their sheep, | 

 that the bears and other wild animals kill — is this j 

 what they want ? The owner of the dog must . 

 pay a tax on his dog, or it must be killed ; if the ^ 

 owner pays his tax and the dog has on a collar, ; 

 then no one can hurt him if he kills sheep, any 

 mere than they could his master's ox or horse, if j 

 off the owner's land : and if the dogs are all I 



killed, then the sheep-owners can turn their sheep 

 ofi' in the spring, and they will not be hurt by 

 dogs. But they must remember that the moun- 

 tains in this State are the home of the bear and 

 other wild animals that like to eat sheep and 

 lambs. The dog is set in the list at SIOO j wiU 

 the listers take the dogs at that ? If they will not, 

 I ask, is the new law constitutional ? 



A Monthly Reabek. 

 WaUingford, Ti., 1S63 



OBSCUEE SOUECES OF DISEASE. 



BY JAXES B. SICEOLS, B03I0X. 



There are many instances of disease brought to 

 the notice of physicians which are exceedingly per- 

 plexing in their character, and the sources of which 

 are very imperfectly understood. They belong to 

 a class outside of, and distinct from, the usual 

 forms of disease resulting from constitutional idi- 

 osyncrasies, or accidental causes, within the knowl- 

 edge of the patient or medical attendant. The 

 obscurity of their origin and persistency under 

 treatment, render them peculiarly trying to the pa- 

 tient and the skill of those who have them in 

 charge, and after the trial of the usual remedies 

 without effect, the patients are sent into the coun- 

 try or to the sea-shore, as the case may be, with the 

 expectation that a change of air or residence may 

 prove beneficial. 



We cannot, in a majority of cases, regard these 

 affections as altogetber imaginary, or as resulting' 

 from some casual derangement of the nervous sys- 

 tem ; they are instances of true disease, and should 

 be studied with the view of bringing to light the 

 hidden source fi'om whence they originate. I am 

 led to believe that a considerable number arise 

 from some disturbance in the sanitarj- conditions 

 of dwelling or their surroundings, and that how- 

 ever improbable this may seem from a superficial 

 or even careful examination of suspected premis- 

 es, a stiU more thorough and extended search will 

 often result in the discover}- of some agent or 

 agents capable of producing disease. 



The chemical and physical condition of water 

 used for culinarj- purposes has much to do with 

 health, and is, perhaps, the oftenest overlooked 

 by the physician in searching for the cause of sick- 

 ness. We must not suppose that water is only 

 hurtful when impregnated with the salts of lead 

 or other metals ; there are different sources of con- 

 tamination, which produce the most serious dis- 

 turbance upon the system. Some of these are 

 verj' obscure and difficult of detection. The sen- 

 ses of taste and smell are not to be relied upon in 

 examinations, as it often happens that water en- 

 tirely unfit for use is devoid of all physical appear- 

 ances calculated to awaken suspicion. It is clear, 

 inodorous, palatable, and there is no apparent 

 source from whence impurity may arise. 



A ievi instances which have come under my ob- 

 servation may serve to illustrate the view present- 

 ed, and as suggestions to those who are in doubt 

 as regards the cases of patients upon their hands. 



During the past summer, the writer was con- 

 sulted by a gentleman residing in Roxbur}-, re- 

 specting the water used in his family. It was 

 taken into the dwelling through tin pipe from a 

 well in the immediate vicinity, and appeared to be 

 perfectly pure and healthful. Analysis disclosed 

 no salts of lead or copper, as indeed none could 

 be expected from the unusual precautions taken to 



