70 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 21, 1881. 
urethra. In fact, we could come to no other conclusion when we 
found that the ewe lambs never suffered from this cause, conse¬ 
quent no doubt upon the wider urinal passage in their formation. 
Our fatting lambs have suffered most extensively from this cause, 
and the fattest animals are always most liable to be attacked. 
Unfortunately, too, we have never found any remedy, nor is the 
flesh of the animals any use to the butcher, as the meat is found 
in a diseased and offensive state. Very fat wether sheep also 
suffer from the same cause, but not the ewes, therefore the only 
preventive is not feeding with Mangolds after the animals are 
about half fat. 
Diseases arising from blood-poisoning may be now referred to, 
and we cannot do better than quote from a lecture lately delivered 
at the Kingscote Agricultural Association in Gloucestershire by 
Professor McBride of the Royal Agricultural College on “The 
Prevention of Diseases in Cattle and Sheep.” He says, in speak¬ 
ing of splenic apoplexy, “This is a true form of anthrax fever, 
which is due to the presence of an organism in the blood which 
is particulate and definite in its structure. Splenic apoplexy may 
be prevented in the same way that quarter evil may—by the use 
of sulphur fumigations, and by the use of salicylic acid. Salicylic 
acid is, in fact, a wonderful preventive in all blood diseases ; take 
for instance splenic apoplexy, black quarter, pleuro-pneumonia, 
foot-and-mouth disease, small pox in sheep—in fact, all our con¬ 
tagious and infectious diseases. If you will use sulphur fumi¬ 
gations and salicylic acid I will stake my reputation that you will 
prevent them.” We must accept this statement as of the highest 
importance, and will therefore give Dr. McBride’s statement of 
how to use the said remedies. He says, “In sheep practice, how¬ 
ever, in which drenching is a serious matter, sulphur fumigation 
is extremely useful. Place some live coals in the house, sprinkle 
sulphur over them, and let the sheep inhale the gas given off. 
If you ask me what strength should be the fumigation, I would 
say the better plan is to let the man stay in the house with the 
sheep, and if the fumes are too strong for the man they are pro¬ 
bably too strong for the animals.” 
This plan of fumigation is very well as a theory, and may be 
done by a veterinary, but in some blood diseases the sheep are 
only attacked a few at a time, and practically in a large flock it 
is quite beyond our everyday practice to carry it out. It must 
be considered that when the flock is attacked with pleuro-pneu¬ 
monia, foot-and-mouth disease, small pox, sheep scab, or, in fact, 
by any contagious disease, if it is general and applies to a majority 
of the animals, the treatment as here recommended may be resorted 
to for the whole flock under veterinary instructions and careful 
treatment by the home farmer. If, however, only a small num¬ 
ber should be suffering salicylic acid alone will probably be suffi¬ 
cient, not only to cure, but to prevent the extension of disease if 
given internally and applied externally. Fumigation must not be 
carried on to excess by continuing it, especially for pregnant ewes, 
as they may break out with a serious scour, or they may com¬ 
mence lambing prematurely and bring dead lambs. These obser¬ 
vations lead us to a point when we must anticipate the lambing 
time, and be prepared for every emergency and all the accidents 
attendant upon parturition, such as inflammation of the udder, 
injuries to the womb, and internal fever. Now we have the sali¬ 
cylic remedy the home farmer may (if he has kept his ewes gene¬ 
rously and also judiciously during the period of gestation) look 
forward to the time of lambing and all the attendant results with¬ 
out fear of serious losses, which many farmers have suffered in times 
past. We have in bygone days suffered loss from serious attacks of 
inflammation in the udder of our ewes ; we treated them by freely 
bleeding from the neck vein, and used the sugar of lead ointment, 
except when mortification threatened, we then applied verdigris 
ointment most successfully. Now with a salicylic drink inter¬ 
nally, and a lotion of the same applied to the parts affected, we 
may by timely attention avoid the necessity of bleeding. This 
must be considered an improved practice, because the animal 
would not be reduced in condition, but the fever and inflammation 
would be speedily reduced, and most probably without diminish¬ 
ing the supply of milk, except for a short time. Formerly in all 
the most serious cases we never expected the animal to give milk 
again, and we were glad to save its life as the result of our 
remedies. 
Our further remarks will refer chiefly to the lambs from birth 
until they are about a month or six weeks old. The two most 
formidable complaints to which they are subject is the “ white 
scour” and swollen joints, called rheumatism or joint fellon. 
Our new remedy will again serve us in good stead in both these 
cases if ordinary good management is adopted by the home 
farmer and his shepherd. The white scour is generally caused by 
the ewe’s milk beiDg in an unhealthy state, arising from either 
internal fever or blood-poisoning, both of which will be neutralised 
by the drink of salicylic mixture. The careful management to 
which we have alluded consists in one respect of noticing daily if 
the ewes have too much or too little milk for the lamb in its 
infancy, and this cannot be properly attended to but by the 
actual cooping of the animals, and examination of the udder of 
any ewes the lambs of which may be doing badly or suffering under 
the scour. The best treatment for the lamb in its infancy would 
be a few drops of laudanum, called tincture of opium, in a little 
warm water ; we have usually found this to be effectual if the 
dose is repeated every four hours until the disorder ceases. But 
we make no doubt that scour in lambs, at any period after they 
are a month old, may be treated as successfully with the salicylic 
remedy as sheep of any other age. Scour or diarrhoea affecting 
them arises from internal derangement, of which feverish symp¬ 
toms are the basis. With regard to the rheumatic or swollen 
joints from which the lambs suffer, that also arises from either too 
much milk or too little ; for if the milk is allowed to accumulate 
in the ewe’s udder it becomes distasteful, and the lamb refuses it 
altogether, and is then subject to taking cold in the joints through 
partial starvation, just in the same way as when the ewe has an 
insufficiency of milk to sustain the lamb in health and condition. 
We have on certain occasions attempted to save lambs thus 
affected, but they do not pay for saving, and we have therefore 
preferred to destroy them ; still we believe that the salicylic drink 
may be given both to ewe and lamb at the early stage with advan¬ 
tage, and we advise the trial of it. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—In the late districts some horses will still be en¬ 
gaged in drawing the mowing machine and in carting the hay to 
stack. Some Turnips after green crops will have to be sown, also 
after Rye, winter Barley, or early Peas ; for after the crop is cut it 
may be set up on one-third or fourth of the land, and the intervals 
sown with Turnips and manure drilled with the seed whilst the land 
is moist, soft, and workable. If left only for a day or two the soil 
soon becomes hard and dry at this time of year, the crop being lost 
not only for want of moisture but because it cannot be worked fine— 
so essential to the successful growth of root crops. We note on all 
the light soils that the Poppy makes a great show in the corn, and on 
light land it is about the most difficult weed we have to contend with. 
At the time when Charlock and such weeds can be pulled with the 
weeding machine the Poppies are small and cannot be touched in 
using the machine, nor can they be kept.down, except in the corn 
crops, without the corn is drilled at 10 or 12 inches and the land 
horse or hand-hoed, or both. The injury and damage done by the 
Poppies is that they compete with the corn, and if left to seed require 
nitrogen for perfecting their seed heads like corn. In carting much 
of the late pasture hay to stack it should be remembered that in case 
it is gathered dry and well made there is but little nutriment in it. 
Although the Sweet-scented Vernal Grass gives it a pleasant aroma, it 
will pay for spicing at the time of stacking better than by using the 
spice at the time of feeding the animals. It may then be used as 
long hay if spiced in the rick, but otherwise it is used in admixture 
with chaff, and consequently with more waste. 
Hand Labour .—Hoeing the root crops will now form the chief 
labour both for men and women, and the earlier this is done the 
better—as soon as the plants are strong enough for the horse-hoe to 
pass between the lines without burying them. With regard to the 
second hoeing, the sooner it follows the first the better, because the 
weeds are so much more easily destroyed whilst young. It often 
happens that in delaying the second hoeing the harvest is ready 
before the hoeing is quite completed. It should therefore be foreseen 
as much as possible, so as to finish the hoeing of root crops before the 
harvest begins, as it always costs more to hoe the root crops during 
harvest, besides which it is often difficult to get hoers at any price. 
This is now the time of year when the mode of cropping and the 
rotation adopted is seen to the best advantage ; and as we have from 
time to time stated the rotation we recommended for different soils 
we will now state the rotation of crops grown on a farm we had in 
hand some years ago, the soil being a sandy loam, the subsoil varying 
in strength from rather strong clay to a mild brick earth. The farm 
consisted of 100 acres of arable and 25 acres of pasture land. We 
grew 40 acres of Wheat, 26 acres of Oats, 15 acres of Potatoes, 8 acres 
of Mangold, 2 acres of Carrots, 2 acres of Cabbage, and 7 acres of 
Clover. Our root crops were added to largely by sowing Turnips 
after the White Canadian Oats, this crop being always fit to reap 
before the Wheat; and in an early district we were enabled to sow a 
long lain of Turnips, drilling them daily as fast as the crops were 
cut, and completed before the corn was carried to the stack. It will 
be observed that the 100 acres of land, cultivated according to the 
before-named rotation of crops, whilst it affords 81 acres of saleable 
produce it gives a considerable acreage of root-produce of more or 
less value for the feeding of stock during the year, our object being 
to grow the greatest amount of saleable produce, and to maintain the 
largest number of valuable stock during the winter months. The 
men should be employed in all sorts of work which will anticipate 
the requirements of harvest, in order that comparatively unimportant 
work may not interfere with the busy harvest period. 
