PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 229 



staggers. As tliere are no practical shepherds in attendance to-day, we 

 shall leave Mr. Anderson to the care of outside members, in the meantime 

 recommending him to purchase Randall's "Practical Shepherd." 



Another Disease of Sheep. 



Mr. D. N. 11. Howard, Winawig, Fulton Co., Ohio, writes as follows about 

 a disease among his sheep : 



" I wish to learn, through the American Institute Farmers' Club, what is 

 known of a disease in sheep, commencing in brown canker sores on the edges 

 of the lips, and extending inside of the mouth. I never heard of the disease 

 until it was brought here this fall by sheep from the East. The disease is 

 contagious, as a number of my sheep have it by being exposed to a diseased 

 flock, over night, in a barn, separated only by an open board partition. Is 

 the disease a fatal one ? and what are the remedies ? As yet none have 

 died." 



Stamps for Marking Sheep. 



Mr. A. Todd, jr., Ontario, Wayne Co., N. Y., sends us a set of cast-iron 

 figures and letters for marking sheep. They are about two inches long, 

 made with a convenient wooden handle, to be used as types to print-letters 

 or numbers upon the sides of sheep after being sheared, the mark being 

 retained until next shearing-time. In this way a complete register can be 

 kept of the whole flock. 



Millet for Sheep. 



Mr. L. Marston, Vermillion Co , 111., asks the following question : " Is 

 millet a good feed for sheep? It is admitted on all hands to be good for 

 wethers and lambs; but is it good for ewes, especially for those with lamb? 

 It is raised by many farmers instead of Hungarian grass, but encounters 

 the same prejudices or objections as food for horses, and is rejected by some 

 as unfit for ewes. What sa^'s the Club; or if no one has tried it, wiM some 

 outside member answer?" 



Solon Robinson replies that as Hungarian grass is millet, whatever is 

 true of one probably is of the other. I believe the only objection to the use 

 of millet is the diuretic effect produced by the seeds. When cut before the 

 seed is ripe, any of the varieties of millet make good hay. 



Poison Ivy Cure. 



Mv. John F. Coburn, Spencerville, De Kalb Co., Ind., says that a satu- 

 rated solution of blue vitriol or common salt will cure the poison of ivy, if 

 the part is washed repeatedly when the poison first makes its appearance. 



Trenching for Grape Vines. 



Mr. H. Schroeder, Bloomington, 111., a successful grape-grower of that 

 State, thinks that it is full time that the teaching that the ground must be 

 trenched two or three feet deep has been a great drawback to grape cul- 

 ture, and as labor is scarce we must adopt other methods. If we had to 

 trench all our vineyards in the old way, no part of the great West conld 

 ever become a grape country. 



"The land for a new vineyard should, when possible, be plowed in the 



