452 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 28, 1885. 
very young animals, and we may usefully quote a couple of 
paragraphs from an able article on scouring in calves by 
Professor James Law before leaving that part of our subject. 
“ When the young animal comes into the world it is called 
upon to exercise new functions of the most varied kind. Its 
lungs, hitherto unused, are inflated with air, and the red 
blood, drawn into a new channel, circulates in the almost 
endless membrane which lines their cells and cavities. The 
digestive organs, hitherto the torpid and inactive receptacle 
of the excretions from their own walls, from the liver and 
pancreas, must take in aliment, secrete the digestive fluids, 
absorb the elaborated products, and expel the effete matter 
in order to sustain their own integrity and that of the system 
at large. With the skin exposed to all the unwonted vicissi¬ 
tudes of cold and heat, and too often of dryness and wet, 
and the lungs compelled to breathe air at all degrees of tem¬ 
perature, tension, and aqueous saturation, and with all 
grades of impurity, it is not to be wondered at that the diges¬ 
tive process is sometimes retarded or rendered imperfect, and 
that the foundation of serious and fatal disorders is laid. 
“ Perhaps the most common cause of indigestion and 
scouring during the first week of life is the want of tone and 
activity in the bowels. These are clogged at birth with 
tough, yellowish-brown bilious products that have been accu¬ 
mulating for months, and that virtually glue the walls of the 
intestines together, and prevent their natural movements or 
the passage of anything through them. To remove this, 
Nature has provided a first milk—colostrum—rich in albu¬ 
men and salts, and actively laxative ; and if from any course 
this is withheld, danger can only he obviated by the substi¬ 
tution of some other purge, such as 2 ozs. of castor oil or 
magnesia. To make these more effectual and more like 
Nature’s laxative, they should be given in one-half these doses 
for several days in succession, until the natural activity of 
the bowels has been established.” 
What farmer has not witnessed the very common custom 
of “ drawing the milk ” by the cowman soon after the calv¬ 
ing ? and, we add, who, after thoroughly mastering the 
valuable teaching of our quotation, would again allow it to 
be done ? Stringent orders should be given to the cowman 
to assist a weak calf in its first attempts to suck, but never 
to take any of the first milk from it, and if all is well with 
cow and calf to leave them alone for a day or two, so far as 
concerns the milking. If any doubt exists about obedience 
there should be close personal supervision. More than once 
has the ready “ Yes, sir ! ” in response to our orders been 
followed by deliberate disobedience. 
Congestive fever often does serious harm to young highly 
fed beasts. The term of black-leg or quarter-evil that is 
usually applied to it is puzzling and, we fear, misleading. 
We have known men who were proficient in most branches 
of farming to be sorely puzzled by this fell disease—puzzled 
and disheartened too, for it invariably attacks their most 
cherished animals. A man may proudly point to his beasts 
so plump and forward in condition as giving promise of a 
speedy and profitable return upon capital expended upon 
them, and in twenty-four hours’ time many of them may be 
dead or dying. “ Struck ” is the popular but vague term 
applied to such attacks. Struck !—but by what ? The use 
of such a term shows that there is a sense of something un¬ 
real and mysterious about it. Yet the cause is patent enough. 
The animals have been forced by high feeding from the birth 
into a plethoric habit, and nothing is done to relieve them; 
they are kept on at high pressure till congestive fever attacks 
them, and then two or three or a dozen may speedily succumb 
to it, simply because the whole of them have been overfed, and 
not from infection. We have no special remedy to offer, but 
we certainly may prevent such attacks by a frequent change 
of diet, by the use of roots and green food, and by putting 
setons in the dewlap. It is important that the effect of a seton 
should he clearly understood. We have seen many a young 
animal with a piece of cord passed like a seton through the 
dewlap, and which had evidently been worn for a long time, 
but there was no sign of either inflammation or discharge. 
Now, the literal meaning of the word is an issue, and we 
apply the seton dressed with an irritant to induce local in¬ 
flammation and a discharge to relieve the entire system, 
which it does. We would always, however, lay most stress 
upon a careful dietary in our treatment of young animals 
than upon any specific, avoiding an excessive use of cake of 
any kind, taking especial care that the drinking water is 
sweet and pure, always keeping rock salt for them to lick, 
and including a fair proportion of green food with that which 
is more forcing. Warmth and cleanliness, with kindly gentle 
treatment, are also to be regarded as indispensable. Calves 
should always have shelter close at hand, and we repeat that 
a warm roomy lodge, with a small yard in front of it opening 
into a small grass paddock, is a most suitable home for them 
throughout the year. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
The value of early crops of green fodder was never better shown than 
at the present time, and much land may be turned to profitable account in 
the culture of them upon every farm, but upon those which are within a 
few miles of large towns many an acre may now be cleared and sown 
again at a certain profit. Purchasers of green fodder in towns are in¬ 
variably more numerous than sellers, and we would give a hint to every 
farmer whose land is so situated as to enable him to take advantage of it. 
Unfortunately, buttoo many farmers have not enough green food for home 
consumption just now, and so hay, corn, and roots are still in full use. We 
have some fields clear of Rye and Rye Grass, which will be broken up as 
speedily as possible for Turnips. Trifolium incarnatum is almost ready 
for use, and by the time that is over the winter Tares will be ready. More 
spring Tares have been sown, as we are a little overstocked with sheep, 
and a field or two of Tares cannot fail of being very useful later on. The 
Mangolds have come strong and thick in the drills, and a change to 
warmer weather will, we hope, bring them on so fast as to enable the 
thinning and hoeing to be done before haying, for if left till then the 
weeds are liable to become very troublesome. Carting of manure from 
the stock yards is now being done as frequently as horses can be spared for 
it, but the preparation for Swede sowing and the carting of Oak bark to 
the tannery has taken up much time. Another matter has been the cart¬ 
ing of some thousands of faggots off the park. Some two months ago the 
thinning of some extensive belts of ornamental trees was finished ; as the 
trees were cut they were thrown into the park, made into faggots, piled 
into heaps, and left there for sale. It consequently became our duty to 
interfere, and have the heaps removed at once off the grass which was 
being spoilt for the season. Apart from the injury done to the grass, this 
by far too common habit of leaving heaps of faggots, poles, fire wood, and 
logs of timber scattered over an estate is to be regarded as a sign of bad 
management, imparting a careless slovenly aspect to the place, and pre¬ 
venting anything like a check being kept upon the stock of wood. Cutting 
down timber with axes is another piece of obsolete practice which we have 
lately come upon to our great surprise. Three men, a rope, a cross-cut 
saw, an axe, and a large iron-tipped wedge are the tools for tree-felling. 
When grubbing outright is impracticable cut with a saw close to the 
surface; the tree is thrown quickly and profitably, but cutting solely with 
an axe is not only laborious but wasteful, 2 or 3 cubical feet of the best 
part of the trunk being chopped up into chips. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32'40" N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet 
HATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
Rain 
1885. 
May. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32« 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
I Direction 
l of Wind. 
1 
| Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 lfoot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday .... 
29.745 
51.2 
45.3 
W. 
5 .8 
57.6 
43.0 
103.3 
37.4 
0.163- 
Monday. 
. 18 
29.902 
47.8 
42.4 
W. 
50.2 
57.2 
391 
1046 
33.1 
— 
Tuesday. 
30.019 
51.8 
45.4 
S IV. 
49.8 
56.9 
39.6 
87.3 
33.5 
0.118 
Wednesday . 
. 20 
29.588 
48 8 
46.2 
S.E. 
496 
546 
45.1 
74.8 
41.4 
0.363 
Thursday ... 
. 21 
29.388 
46.1 
44.7 
S.E. 
48.7 
59 5 
41.0 
105.9 
35.3 
0.390 
Friday. 
29.161 
48.2 
47.6 
E. 
49.2 
553 
45.6 
87.1 
40.7 
0.109 
Saturday ... 
. 23 
29.656 
55.4 
48.8 
S.W. 
48.8 
59.7 
43.5 
112.3 
40.2 
0.225 
£9.637 
49.9 
49.8 
49.6 
57.2 
42.4 
96.5 
37.4 
1.36S 
REMARKS. 
17th— Showers“at intervals; thunder at 0.34 P.M., and occasionally until 3.18 P.M.; hail 
at 2 it p.M. 
18th.—Fine pleasant day, slight, shower in morning. 
19th.—Cloudy day, prismatic solar halo in P H.; rain at night. 
2uth.—Wet morning, showery afternoon, and night thunder. 
2lst.—Thunder about 9 a.m. ; bright for some hours about noon; showery at times; hail 
at 4 45 P.M. 
22nd.—Heavy rain early ; wet morning; showers in afternoon ; fine night. 
23rd.—Fine early ; showery morning; thunder and lightning at noon, followed byraitt 
and hail; fine night. 
Rather less cold than the previous week, but still much below the average; also 
very damp.—G. J. SIMONS. 
