1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



119 



nolds, a butcher, under the direction of Dr. Bar- 

 rett, cut down upon the turnip, and slipped it out, 

 and the doctor sewed up the gullet and then the 

 skin over it. The wound has healed kindly, and 

 now, December 23, is apparently well. The cow 

 eats and drinks as well as the others in the herd, 

 and is giving about the same quantity of milk as 

 before the accident. She was kept for a time 

 upon hay tea and bran. 



The operation is very simple and easily done by 

 any man with a steady hand. The wound in the 

 gullet should be carefully sewed up, to prevent 

 the discharge of any food that may be passing it, 

 as this niiglu give rise to ulceration or an abscess. 



I heard of another case in which the same opera- 

 tion was followed by a troublesome abscess, I pre- 

 sume from not properly closing the wound in the 

 gullet, and perhaps from feeding too soon with 

 hay or grass. J. Reynolds. 



Concord, Mass., Dec. 23, 1869. 



gives them time for a good start. The result was 

 that I had 157 bushels of very good Orono pota- 

 toes. I change seed every year. Now, Mr. Edi- 

 tor, the great essentials in raising potatoes are 

 summed up in a few words, viz. ; plough well, 

 and harrow well, and plant well, and hoe well 

 twice in a season and when the ground is in order. 

 Those farmers who advocate hoeing only once 

 cannot beat me,' but I can beat them every time. 

 One great trouble with some farmers is that they 

 had rather be in the store, or in the mill, smoking 

 or telling stories, than to be hoeing their potatoes 

 the second time. O- F. Cain. 



mil Village, Goshen, N. H., Jan. 3, 1870. 



A MOUTH AND THKOAT DISEASE. 



Mr. George A. Carpenter, of Cheshire, Mass., 

 has two cows that were taken with swelling of 

 the tongue, throat and neck. The mouth is red 

 and the tongue so badly swollen that the jaws 

 cannot be closed within two inches. Nothing can 

 be got down the throat, and they drool constantly. 

 Some cows affected in the same way have died in 

 this town. Many think the cows have been poi- 

 soned by something like poke root in their fodder. 

 Your opinion of the disease, and suggestions for 

 treatment, are desired. k. s. 



Cheshire, Mass., Dec. 20, 1869. 



Remarks. — We are not quite sure that the cows 

 referred to by friend Smith have been poisoned. 

 Malignant diseases involving the mouth, tongue 

 and throat, sometimes occur from causes which 

 are not well understood. This is true of man and 

 beast. A very fatal disease known as the foot and 

 mouth disease is exciting a good deal of alarm in 

 England, France, and other countries on the con- 

 tinent of Europe, at the present time. Sheep and 

 pigs and even poultry are attacked as well as cat- 

 tle. Yet, in the present instance the disease may 

 be due to poison ; but be this as it may, the treat- 

 ment should consist in washing the tongue, and 

 swabbing the mouth and throat, with a saturated 

 solution oi chlorate of potash. This is prepared by 

 putting into hot water as much of the chlorate as 

 the water will dissolve. The remedy should be 

 applied at intervals of two, three or four hours ; 

 and if the animal can be made to swallow half a 

 gill or a gill of the same medicine several times a 

 day, all the better. 



If the above fails to effect a cure, try a solution 

 oi carbolic acid in the manner described for the 

 application of the chlorate. Procure Nichols' or 

 Squibb's saturated solution of carbolic acid, and 

 dilute from one-half to one-third with pure soft 

 ■water. Both remedies may be warm, cool or cold 

 •when used, as may seem best to suit the case. 



RAISING POTATOES. 



I broke up one-third of an acre of land the 22d 

 of last May, gave it a good harrowing and applied 

 half a shovelful of manure in a hill; hills two 

 feet and rows three feet apart. I put two small 

 potatoes in a hill, six inches apart, and hoed as 

 soon as up, and again in eight or ten days. That 



A CITT-BRED FARMER. — MILLET AND CORN STALKS. 



Ten years ago next spring I left the shop for the 

 farm. It was new business to me, as I was city- 

 bred. Now if these ten years have not brought 

 me riches, they have brought me much practical 

 knowledge and experience, which I could not 

 have gained in any other business. There is noth- 

 ing that will bring out a man's wits like trying to 

 bring up one of the old worn out farms with which 

 New England abounds, without plenty of capital. 

 Still I am not discouraged, and shall not return to 

 the city this year. But what we new beginners 

 have to contend with is such statements as Dr. 

 Loring made at Pittsfield and at the milk producers' 

 meeting at Nashua, in regard to millet, and similar 

 statements, not based on experience, made by oth- 

 ers, which induce experiments that use up the money 

 that we need for books and papers and for other 

 purposes. Last spring I tried millet, but it was a 

 failure. My experience with corn fodder agrees 

 with the ideas advanced by "L. S." in his commu- 

 nication in the Farmer, of Dec. 25. I hope that 

 others who do their own feeding, or at least super- 

 intend it, will give us their experience, and thus 

 oblige one reader of the Farmer who never before 

 had a word of his own printed, and probably 

 many others. G. R. M. 



Wilton, N. H., Jan. 3, 1870. 



VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERT. — NO. IT. 



In a preceding article, I have urged the impor- 

 tance of establishing, at convenient points, well 

 conducted veterinary colleges and hospitals; — in- 

 stitutions in which shall be taught every branch 

 of science that is deemed essential to a thorough 

 medical education. 



The question may now be asked, Are such in- 

 stitutions an absolute necessity ? Cannot a per- 

 son become competent to treat the diseases and 

 injuries to which our domestic animals are subject, 

 by using diligently such means as are more readily 

 at his command ? Important as I hold such 

 schools and hospitals to be, they may, doubt- 

 less, be dispensed with, provided a thorough medi- 

 cal education be obtained in some other way,— by 

 pursuing a course of study under the instruction 

 of a competent physician and surgeon, for exam- 

 ple ; by repeated dissection of the horse, cow, 

 sheep, &c., at the same time; and by care- 

 fully studying and comparing the writings of the 

 best veterinary surgeons of this country and of 

 Europe. In this way any young man of respecta- 

 ble talents and education may qualify himself for 

 the practice of this useful and honorable profes- 

 sion. 



Young men, will not some of you enter this in- 

 viting field of labor ? Will not some who have, 

 until now, directed their thoughts and aspirations 

 towards other channels of labor and emolument, 

 turn their attention in the direction of this almost 

 uncultivated field— this much neglected occupa- 

 tion ? Why crowd your way into professions and 

 avocations which are already tilled to repletion, 



