1863. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



ty-two bushels of oats — allowing one bushel per 

 week from the 16th of May to the 16th of October 

 — ^may be estimated as the produce of half an 

 acre of land, and half a ton of hay that of anoth- 

 er half acre, although a ton and a half per acre 

 is not more than an average crop. It requires at 

 least an acre of grass land to support a horse dur- 

 ing the period above named. Cecil. 



-«•► 



Foot-Rot in Sheep. 



Major H. T. Brooks testifies, through the Rural 

 New Yorker, of his knowledge and belief concem- 

 foot-rot in sheep : 



Having been recently called a cosniderable dis- 

 tance to testify in a court of justice, so called, as 

 to the nature of the foot-rot, and the possibility of 

 a remedy, and finding that very crude ideas exist 

 on the subject, in spite of the intelligence of the 

 age and the general progress of knowledge, I will 

 give my ideas briefly, for the general good. 



1. Foot-rot can be cured. Whoever doubts it is 

 grossly ignorant, and if his doubts are of long 

 standing, probably hopelessly so. 



2. The cure does not depend so much upon the 

 efficacy of some particular medicine, as upon the 

 general management. 



3. The first thing to do is to yard the flock, and 

 select all that appear unaffected and put them bv 

 themselves. With a swab wash their feet between 

 the hoofs with a strong solution of blue vitrol, or 

 diluted nitric acid, or corrosive sublimate dissolv- 

 ed in alcohol, or something that will destroy any 

 infection that may attach to tho foot. Put "them 

 in a pasture where no diseased sheep have been, 

 and carefully watch the "first appearance of evil." 

 If a sheep appears at all lame, remove it at once, 

 and it may be best to re-examine and swab them 

 all after about a fortnight. Watch them close for 

 a few weeks, and don't let any sheep stay in the 

 flock after it shows any signs of being affected. 



4. Carefully examine all the lame sheep; re- 

 move with a sharp knife the diseased flesh and 

 loosened horn or hoof, carefully avoiding to cut 

 the live flesh, and then apply blue vitrolj or some 

 other approved remedy, and put the sheep into a 

 dry, clean place. Repeat that process once a week 

 till they are cured — and cure them you can. 



Failures occur because people fancy there is 

 some omnipotence in the medicine — whereas much 

 depends upon judicious surgery, and more upon 

 unremitting attention until the cure is complete. 

 Cures will never be effected by semi-annual doc- 

 toring. The first application will cure the major- 

 ity of cases ; but if you wait till they are re-in- 

 fected before you look at them again, you are back 

 to the starting place ; and if you persevere till all 

 are cured but one or two, and leave them to spread 

 the infection, as is very often done, then you will 

 never be rid of the disease. But if you follow it 

 up skilfully, without omission once every week, 

 you will surely have them sound in from four to 

 six weeks — unless, very rarely the disease may be 

 dormant for that time in cold weather, and in that 

 case be ready for it when it comes out. 



No farmer should tolerate the foot-rot in his 

 flock — it is a crime and a disgrace to suffer it to 

 continue year after year. I hav« knowingly 

 bought it a great many times, but I have waged 

 war upon it unremittingly and successfully. 



Ten Bules for Making Butter. 



In making good butter, there are several nice 

 operations to be gone through with which require 

 an eye to cleanliness, forethought, and some little 

 experience. 



1. On milking clean, fast, yet gently, regularly 

 twice a day, depends the success of the dairyman. 

 Bad milkers should not be tolerated in a herd, bet- 

 ter pay double price fDr good ones. ^ 



2. Straining is quite simple, but it should be 

 borne in mind that two pans, about half full each, 

 will produce a greater amount of cream than the 

 same milk in but one pan ; the reason of this is 

 the greater surface. 



8. Scalding is quite an important feature in the 

 way of making butter in cool weather ; the cream 

 rises much quicker, the milk keeps much longer, 

 the butter is of a better color, and churns in one 

 half the time. 



4. Skimming should always be done before the 

 milk becomes loppered ; otherwise much of the 

 cream turns into whey and is lost. 



5. Churning whether by hand or otherwise, 

 should occupy forty or fifty minutes. 



6. Washing in cold soft water is one of its pre- 

 serving qualities, and should be continued until it 

 shows no celor of the milk by the use of the ladle. 

 Very hard water is highly charged with lime, and 

 must in a measure impart to it alkaline properties. 



1. Salting is necessarily done with the best 

 kind of ground salt ; the quantity varies according 

 to the state it is taken from the chum — if soft, 

 more ; if hard, less ; always taking the taste for 

 the surest guide. 



8. First working, after about twenty-four hours, 

 is for the purpose of giving it greater compact- 

 ness. 



9. Second working takes place at time of pack- 

 ing, and when the butter has dissolved the salt, 

 that the brine may be worked out. 



10. Packing is done with the hands or with a 

 butter mall ; and when butter is put into wooden 

 vessels, they should be soaked two or three days 

 in strong brine before using. After each packing 

 cover the butter with a wet cloth, and put a layer 

 of salt upon it ; in this way the salt can easily be 

 removed at any time by simply taking hold of the 

 edges of the cloth. 



Butter made in his way will keep any lemgth of 

 time required. 



The Skunk. 



The skunk will now and then eat a chicken — 

 but very rarely. What does it live on then ? 

 Beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, mice, etc. Re- 

 cently much has been said about this animal ; and 

 we are glad to see mostly in its favor. The skunk 

 is a benefit to the farmer ; and not a single 

 one should be killed, unless it gets to chicken 

 thieving, which, of course, is not very pleasant. 

 And then the chickens should be taken care of 

 rather than the skunk. If you do not hurt it, it 

 wiU not hurt you ; and it will weed your ground 

 of insects, and charge you nothing for it. One of 

 our exchanges calls it the "farmers' friend." 



