198 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



April 



task of keeping up with your pens. As the even- 

 ings iirc shortened, and as spi'ing's work comes on, 

 we shall gain on you. Large as is the pile of de- 

 ferred letters now, we shall wish it was larger by 

 harvest time. None of your favors will be over- 

 looked or forifotten. 



THE FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE. 



When the Commissioners on Conta^'ious Dis- 

 eases among Cattle for Massachusetts first issued 

 their order to prevent driving cattle from the mar- 

 kets into the country, there was much discussion 

 among milrket men and farmers in relation to the 

 subject, — many of the dealers, especially, regard- 

 ing the inhibition as arbitrary and unnecessary. 

 The reports in relation to the extreme contagious- 

 ness of the disease were discredited by many. We 

 chanced to be present when a company of some 

 twenty butchers and drovers were conversing on 

 the subject. A person present stated some facts 

 which tended to show that the disease might be 

 communicated to his own herd by a person who 

 should visit diseased animals in the stable of a 

 neighbor, by the virus which might adhere to his 

 boots or other parts of his dress or person, and 

 thus be conveyed to his own stock. The probability 

 of the truth of this statement was promptly ques- 

 tioned bj^ several, and the individual who made it 

 was told that he had better spin his yarns among 

 those who knew less about cattle and their diseases 

 than men who had handled stock all their lives. 

 "If that is the case," said one, "none of us should 

 be allowed to walk the streets, and the commis- 

 sioners ought to arrest and shut up eveiy one of us." 

 "Or," replied another, "it might be better to arrest 

 him who goes about making such absurd state- 

 ments." 



The subsequent experience of stock o^^^lers in 

 Massachusetts has at least demonstrated the fact 

 that the disease is very contagious, and we think 

 our readers will be interested by an article in an- 

 other column on this subject, wi-itten by Dr. Nichols. 



half gallon measure. The lungs were collapsed 

 and a little blotched with dark bloody spots, but 

 nothing more than we often see in dressing a beef 

 creature, onl.ythe spots were darker colored. Now, 

 Mr. President, what killed the steer ? t. b. 



Addison County, Vt., Feb. 18, 1871. 



Remaeks. — It is our opinion that the steer in 

 question died from the mechanical effect of the 

 tumor, or gelatinous mass, which sui-rounded the 

 esophagus or "swallow pipe." We think a tumor 

 could not grow to the size of the one described, 

 and in that situation, without pressing the trachea 

 or "wind pipe" to such an extent as to prevent the 

 fi'ce passage of oxygen to the lungs, and of carbonic 

 acid from the lungs. Consequently, the function 

 of respiration was imperfectly performed — so im-" 

 perfectly, indeed, at the last, that the carbonic 

 acid, thus accumulated m the system, produced its 

 legitimate effect; that is, it poisoned the animal. 

 Carbonic acid is a nai'cotic poison ; and, when it 

 exists in the living animal or person, in any con- 

 siderable quantity, whether generated within the 

 body or introduced from without the body, it is 

 sure to kill. The bloat, or accumulation of the 

 gas within the abdomen, was, doubtless, produced 

 by the same cause. 



Now, if we could know what caused the tumor, 

 we should be in possession of the entire chain of 

 morbid causes connected with the case. But the 

 primary or exciting causes of that abnormal action 

 which results in the growth of a tumor, are not 

 well understood. Blows and other mechanical 

 injuries are oftentimes the cause; but tumors of 

 various kinds make then* appearance in beasts and 

 in men, which can be traced to no cause of which 

 we have knowledge. We know them to be the 

 product of the abnormal development of ceUs, 

 having a peculiar form, but concerning the cause 

 or causes of such a development, we are very much 

 in the dark. j. h. s. 



EXTBACTS AND KEPLIES. 



TUMOR IN A STEEll'S CHEST. 



Can you or some member of our worthy Club 

 tell what was the matter of my neighbor's steer, 

 which was first discovered to he unwell in the 

 moi-ning, by his being somewhat bloated and ap- 

 pearing to have a ciiill,— (the weather was mild.) 

 By stirring him around the yard, he ceased to 

 shake, but continued to bloat until his skin was as 

 tight as a drumhead. He dunged quite natural, but 

 seemed in great distress, and died in the afternoon. 

 My neighlwr gave the common dose, soap and 

 molasses, &c., and bled him in the lail, which did 

 not relieve him. 



On a post mortem the only thing we could dis- 

 cover which would cause death, aside from the 

 bloat, was in the neck, a little above the brisket, 

 surrounding the swalloio pipe and al)ove the wind- 

 pijic. Then there was a gelatinous mass filling a 

 cellular tissue for about eight inches; said mass 

 being of yellowish, translucent appearance and 

 formmg a tumor or swcllmg as large round as a 



Ct'LTIVATION OF MfSTARD. 



Will you or some of your readers give us some 

 information on the cultivation of the mustard seed ; 

 stating where it is chiefly raised, the soil best 

 adapted to its cultivation, the quantity of seed re- 

 quired per acre, manner of cultivnting and harvest- 

 ing, and the yield that may be reasonably ex- 

 pected per acre. Some of us here think we must 

 raise something for our Eastern markets, which, 

 like gold, will represent great value in a small 

 bulk. D. S. Chase. 



Fremont, Nebraska, 1871. 



Remarks. — Possibly some of the readers of the 

 Farmer can answer your questions. We can do 

 but little towards it. We believe mustard was raised 

 over thirty years ago on the rich soil of the Mus- 

 kingum River in Ohio, and in' other parts of the 

 West. It was sown in rows two feet apart, and 

 the plants one foot apart m the rows, and tended 

 in garden style. The seed on the lower branches 

 ripen first, and hence it is necessaiy to cut them off 

 at different times, because if all is harvested to- 

 gether the seed in the upper branches is immature, 

 shrinks, moulds and injures that well ripened. The 

 yield is from ten to fifteen bushels per acre, though 



