W^'. 



■w'^>^-r<^>*n«)*|^R|)|qppp«pi|ppgp^ 



186S. 



THE ILLmOIS FAEMEE 



105 



Justice to the Press. . 



I have just been invited to notice an article 

 headed " Good on Newspaper Scribblers." pub- 

 lished in the Illinois Farheb for March, acd 

 credited to the Waukegan Gazette. 



This article mentions a sitting of the Execu- 

 tive Committee of the State Agricultural Fociety, 

 when it was pr'iposed to pubUsh a monthly Journal 

 to be called The Journal of the Illinois State Ag- 

 ricultural Society. 



The announcement wag followed by this re- 

 mark : " Capt. Wait, the venerable and excel- 

 lent mpmber from Egypt, spoke warmly in its 

 favor, urging that the society ought to adopt 

 some measure by which it could be ^'■independent 

 of the newspaper scriblers all over the country." 



The " Capt. Wait" alluded to is probably my- 

 self, although I can boast of no such title, and 

 in reply, I beg to say, that I am a friend to the 

 institution of such a Journal, but not for the 

 reason assigoed, to render the society indepen- 

 dent of the newspaper scriblers." I do not recol- 

 lect of making any such remark ; if I did. it was 

 a mere lapsus linguae, made without refl. ction, 

 and without the assent of my heart or my sober 

 judgment, and I take the earliest occasion to ex- 

 press my sincere regret for an offense that was 

 wholly unintentionall, and to ask pardon of the 

 whole editorial fraternity for its gross imperti- 

 nence. 



To ehow that my whole heart is in this apol- 

 ogy, I need only advert to the fact that my hon- 

 ored father established the first newspaper press 

 in Maine, before I was born, and was a " news- 

 paper scribler." Although destitute of the merit 

 of editor! il responsibility, I have been a news- 

 paper scri ler myself for more than half a cen- 

 tury, and even at this late day, I have not en- 

 tirely outlived the propensity. 



It is from no unseemning partiality, but the 

 result of my bfst judgment and reflection, and 

 n numerous instances with the aid of intimate 

 knowledge, that 1 consder the editorial fraternity 

 of the nation, as possessing a general character 

 for intelligence, liberality of sentiment, disin- 

 terestedness and patriotism that is unsurpassed, 

 if equalled, by any other profession, whatever 

 and that without the aid of the newspaper pr sp, 

 and ''newspaper Bcn'iJZer«," free institutions could 

 never have been established, and were they now 

 suppressed, free institutions could no longer be 

 sustained. 



WiniAM S. Wait. 

 Greenville, Bond Co. III., March 19, 1862. 



— The article alluded to was first publi-hed in 

 the Chicago Eevening Journal, and was from a 

 correspondent attending the meeting of the Ex- 

 ecutive Committee. Coming under the notice of 

 the editor of the Gazette, who has served several 

 years in the editorial chair in Egypt, he felt dis- 

 posed to vindicate the scriblers, 



In justice to our much esteemed and honorable 

 friend W. S. Wait, we cheerfully give place to 

 his disclaimer, and exonerate him so far as we 

 are concerned, from any disposition to detract 

 from the value of "newspaper scriblers." We 

 think it highly probable that the correspondent 

 of the Journal might have misunderstood the re- 

 marks of Mr, Wait, and from our personal ac- 

 quaintance with him, believe that he will at once 

 set the motive right. E». 



Vermin on Cattle. 



Oxen and cows, and especially young cattle, 

 are very liable to be attacked by vermin, and un- 

 less care is taken to present their depredations, 

 they will seriously impair the growth and pro- 

 ductiveness of the stock. In the spring these 

 exotics usually show themselves the most num- 

 erously, and for this reason we call especial at 

 tention to the raa.ter now. Applications are an- 

 nually made to us for some remedy to destroy 

 these pests, and among those suggested are — 



Any clean oil, applied to the skin and thor- 

 oughly rubbed over all the upper portions of the 

 animal, and particularly along the line of the 

 backbone, between the horns and ears, and on 

 the shoulders and neck. The reason for cover- 

 ing such large portions of the creature is, that 

 lice do not breathe through the mouth, but through 

 breathing holes or pores in the body, and when 

 they come in contact with oily substances, these 

 pores are stopped, and they die. 



Fine sand, or dry loam carefully sifted over 

 the animal, and frequently repeated, will greatly 

 annoy vermin, and perhaps drive them from their 

 places. It is probable that cattle paw the fresh 

 earth and throw it upon themselves, for the same 

 reason that fowls burrow in the ruts or the dry 

 garden soil. 



Ashes— Some persons apply wood ashes, and 

 it is good, but requires to be used with much 

 care. If it is applied plentifully, and the animal 

 is exposed to rain soon after, the ashes are leached, 

 trickles down in lye, and takes ofiF the hair as it 

 passes. 



Tobacco water is also employed by many, and 

 is frequently effectual. This may be purchased 

 in a highly concentrated convenient form. 



Kerosene his been latterly used, and with suc- 

 cess. If applied too freely, it seems to set the 

 hair and partially tan the skin. When it has 

 been applied profusely, we have seen the old coat 

 of hair remain on nearly through the summer, 

 while the skin under it was hard and dry, aod 

 appeared to be inactive. 



Yellow snuff is often successfury applied. 



