494 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



Have you not known men's entire herds of 

 hogs to die with the cholera, not for one year 

 only, but for two or three in succession ? Men 

 and brethren ! if you have not seen all these 

 things take place, I have, in the sixteen years 

 I have sojourned in this glorious prairie State. 



In conclusion, dear friends, allow me to 

 hope that you will gird on the armor anew, 

 stiffen up the upper lip, pull off the coat and 

 roll up the sleeves, feed well, breed well, take 

 good care of your sheep, so that next year — if 

 our tariff holds its anchor — we all may find 

 ourselves Western Argonauts, safe in the port 

 of Colchis and taking off the golden fleece ! 

 Wool Grower 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



WORMS IN HORSES. 



Can any of the readers of the Farmer inform 

 me of an effectual method of desti-oying worms in 

 horses ? Some recommend arsenic, but is this not 

 too deadly for any living creature to swallow ? 



West Matisjleld, Mass., 1867. A Reader. 



Remarks. — This trouble, to which horses are 

 quite often subjected, is frequently a serious one, 

 and spoils the usefulness of the animal. It also 

 causes him great annoyance, makes him weak, 

 and gives him a shabby and discreditable appear- 

 ance. In a majority of cases these troubles are 

 occasioned by the parsimony, or at least by the 

 injudicious treatment of the owner. 



In the first place, the animal probably begins life 

 with a hereditary taint, and this is aggravated by 

 neglect, abuse, overworking, and a scanty supply 

 of miserable fodder. 



When the worms are of the taenia, or tape-worm 

 kind, competent veterinary skill should at once be 

 called in, and active measures pursued, until the 

 terrible plague is destroyed. It will be only addi- 

 tional suffering to the poor animal for inexperi- 

 enced persons to practice upon it. 



When the worms are the small, white, tapering 

 kind, which are often voided with the excrements, 

 and are called ascarides, they may be dealt with 

 by most persons owning horses, and usually with 

 success, by the employment of remedies that are 

 simple and always at hand. The first of these 

 should I)e moderate labor and generous feeding, 

 and, instead of dry hay all the time, feed that is 

 cut and moistened, or a mash of bran, ground oats, 

 barley, or corn meal, with cut hay. 



The presence of these little tormentors may be 

 known by the appearance and actions of the ani- 

 mal : the breath is sometimes feted ; the liair be- 

 comes dull and frowzy ; the animal sometimes 

 rubs its nose against any object near it, or strains 

 it upwards, and the eyes are unnaturally bright. 

 The appetite, too, instead of failing, becomes more 

 than good. 



On examination of the parts around the anus, 

 little white strips of tenacious mucus may be seen, 

 which arc occasioned by the worm, when voided, 

 not fill ling directly to the ground with the excre- 



ment, but adhering to the skin and sliding along 

 down, and leaving this whitish track where it 

 passed. 



When these evidences are apparent, a gill of 

 sifted wood-ashes, mixed with the cut feed, and 

 administered every other day for a week, will usu- 

 ally effect a cure. If it fails, give two drachms of 

 tartarized antimony, in a mash, every morning, 

 until the worms are expelled. 



But it should always be remembered that the 

 health and efficiency of the horse depends upon 

 his being moderately worked and generously and 

 regularly fed. 



ox KILLED BY EATING WILTED CHERRY LEAVES. 



I would like to know through the Farmer, if 

 any one can tell, M'hat was the matter with an ox 

 which one of my neighbors lost last week. The 

 symptoms of illness were first noticed in his eyes, 

 which discharged a watery substance, as they do 

 when they have been hurt. The next day they 

 turned a bluish white, and the ox was entirely 

 blind, and appeared to be in great pain, and did 

 not eat. His mouth began to swell and corrupt, 

 with an offensive smell. He grew worse for seven 

 days, and then died. He was a nice, seven j'cars ' 

 old, fat ox, and had never worked hard. His jaws 

 were set the third day after he was taken. The 

 day before he was taken he ate some black cherry 

 sprouts that had Ijeen mowed for hay. Some peo- 

 ple think that the cause of his sickness and death. 



Gilsum, N. H.y Aug. 19, 1867. n. o. n. 



Remarks. — In the Monthly Farmer for Octo- 

 ber, 1852, M'c published the statement of a farmer 

 in Plymouth County, Mass., that he had known 

 three cows killed in one day by eating the wilted 

 leaves of a wild cherry tree that had been blown 

 down in the pasture ; also an account of the inju- 

 rious effect on the milk of cows from browsing the 

 green leaves of the cherry, which overhung the 

 wall of the pasture. 



In the August number, 1855, there is a statement 

 of the death of a fine calf in Bolton, Mass., that 

 was tethered under a cherry tree, and remained 

 healthy and thrifty until, in picking the fruit, 

 some of the twigs were broken off and fell to the 

 ground. After which the calf sickened, became 

 blind, and died, although two doses of lamp oil 

 and several injections were administered. 



In a late number of the Boston Weekly Adver- 

 tiser, Mr. H. C. Merriam gave the particidars of 

 the poisoning of a premium steer by eating a few 

 wilted leaves attached to cheiTy trees or logs 

 l)rought into his yard for firewood, and said he 

 had known of several deaths from the same cause. 

 He thought cherry trees on the farm should be as 

 careful 13^ watched and cautiously managed as arse- 

 nic in the house. Cattle eat them very greedily if 

 they can get at them. 



Cold water administered externally, or in the 

 form of a bath, is recommended as a cure for prus- 

 sic acid, which poison the cherry leaves arc sup- 

 posed to contain. When an animal has been poi- 

 soned in this way, cold water should be dashed 

 over its body by bucketfuls, from the pump or 

 well. 



