382 transactions of the american institute. 



Great Mortality Among Lambs. 



Mr. William W. Dean, Parma, Mich., wants information how to cure a 

 fatal epidemic that prevails among young lambs. Out of twenty dropped 

 this year, seventeen died immediately. "Last year," he says, "I raised 

 thirty-five out of about one hundred. Others have lost as many as one hun- 

 dred ill a season, not raising a single one. The disease is indicated by 

 lumps in the throat. It is not confined to any one farm or vicinity, nor to 

 any particular breed of slieep, neither is it to the lambs alone; I have seen 

 old sheep with lurrips in their throats as lai-ge as a goose egg on each side. 

 Can anj^ member of your Club give a cause or cure ?" 



No one present had had any experience in this disease. 



Ventilators for Barns. 



Mr, Henry P. Peters, Southboro', Mass., in writing to the Country Gentle' 

 man upon the subject of ventilators for barns, says: " As soon as they were 

 put up the improvement in the air of tlie barn was immediately noticeable; 

 the rafter and roof boards that were ordinarily damp and sometimes wet 

 from the condensed vapor, were at once dried, and the hay has since been 

 sweeter and moi-e free from must. The expense of these fcmr ventilators, 

 fitted and placed, including the cost of material, was $30; they are much 

 more efficient in tlieir operation than a cupola, as they take the air from 

 four different parts of the barn, while a cupola operates only thoroughly 

 near the center. I am just completing a large barn, on which have been 

 placed three ventilattjrs of this description, each measuring two feet square 

 in the clear; they are made of the best of lumber, and cost, on the barn 

 complete, at this time of high prices, $12 each. In locating them on the 

 building, I placed one on the center of the roof, the otlier two one-fifth of 

 the length of the barn from either end; this equalizes the ventilation 

 throughout the building. 



"I have a barn ninety feet in length, on each side of which cows are 

 tied. I used to be painfully impressed with tiie unhealthfulness of the at- 

 mosphere for man or beast, on going into the barn on a cold winter morn- 

 ing, when-all had been tightly closed through the night. Hoping to make 

 an improvement, I caused lour boxes, twelve by twenty-four inches, to be 

 carried up on each side of the barn, back of the cattle, against the outside 

 walls. These opened in the floor over the lean-to, and also on the outside 

 of the building, just under the eaves; slides, fitted to the lower opening, 

 regulate the draft. The plan has operated to my entire satisfaction, and 

 with the ventilation in the roof, serves to keep the air always pure, which 

 is no easy matter in a modern barn, containing sixty head of cattle. 



" One suggestion more and I have done. Much complaint is made by 

 those having close-sided or clapboarded barns, that the hay lying near the 

 outer walls becomes damp and moldy. I think this may be avoided by nail- 

 ing strips of board on the studs a few inches apart, which will prevent the 

 hay touching the outside. In my own case, I have, in addition to the strips, 

 an opening in the outer wall, near the sill in each section, six inches square; 

 this creates ventilation and keeps all dry and sweet." 



We earnestly commend the above remarks to the attention of every one 

 who owns a barn. 



