340 
SORREL AND SOUR SOILS.—DOGS AND CATS.—DUTCH AND YANKEE TEAMS. 
and the blood of which has been impeached, 
should, in justice to themselves, substantiate their 
pedigrees by unimpeachable evidence. In pursu¬ 
ing this course, imposition may be avoided, and 
the public confidence restored in such individuals 
as now stand by public accusation in the unenvi¬ 
able position of selling spurious animals under 
false names ; and as both myself and many of my 
friends require thoroughbred Spanish rams for the 
restoration of our flocks, it is not to be doubted 
that such animals, if existing in the United States, 
will meet with ready encouragement from system¬ 
atic wool-growers. 
As to the Rambouillet sheep of Mr. Collins, I 
have seen only one or two specimens of his flock. 
The staple of their wool is remarkably nice, and 
shows all the fine, silky, softness and length of 
the most approved Merino of “ the olden time.” 
Yet as these are so few in number, I understand 
that no more of his sheep are for sale at present; 
my own and the applications of others being re¬ 
fused at any price, they do not appear likely to sup¬ 
ply the public demand, at all events, for some time 
to come. L. F. Allen. 
Black Rock , October , 1844. 
SORREL AND SOUR SOILS. 
1 am obliged to Acetocella for his criticism on 
my article relative to sorrel, as it is probable I may 
be in error according to modern chemical records. 
When taking lectures some forty years ago, I was 
engaged for nearly two years in a laboratory ma¬ 
king experiments, and among the articles tested 
was the juice of sorrel, in which we detected 
lime, and as we had to supply potash to make the 
binoxalate, I marked the juice in my notes as an 
oxalate of lime. I can not now remember whether 
the sorrel we used was the acetosa, or the aceto¬ 
cella. 
Granting the juice of sorrel to be a binoxalate 
of potash, the adding lime to prevent its growth 
would be just as absurd as if it were oxalate of 
lime; inasmuch as lime can not displace potash 
from any of its acid combinations, having a much 
weaker affinity for acids than potash. The most 
probable remedy would be sulphate of lime ; or if 
this did not answer, a very weak solution of sul¬ 
phuric acid, this acid having a much stronger 
affinity for potash than the oxalic. 
Wm. Partridge. 
DOGS AND CATS. 
I suffer great loss in two kinds of stock here, 
which, if not of as great value as Durham cattle, 
are yet even more indispensably useful—I mean in 
dogs and cats ! During the two years and a half 
that I have resided here, we have not been able 
to keep a single cat; they have all died in convul¬ 
sions, and all in the same singular manner. They 
are attacked with violent shivering, seem in great 
agony, mewing and struggling, each fit becoming 
more and more violent, until they die. Can you 
or any of your correspondents give us the cause 
and remedy, (a) I have been told that bleeding , 
by cutting off a piece of the tail each time they 
have a fit, will ultimately cure them. I am now 
trying it, economizing the tail as much as possible, 
that it may get a fair trial. So far the kittens 
have recovered, when thus treated. Some other 
cure would be preferable, as a bobtailed cat is 
rather an unsightly object. Still, better even a 
bobtailed one than none. 
I have also lost several valuable dogs within 
the past year, in somewhat the same way. Two 
of those I lost were very valuable terriers. They 
begin by going about as if in pain, and evidently 
not thriving. In a few days they commence with 
a sharp, keen, constantly reiterated bark, which 
they keep up, day and night, concealing them¬ 
selves in some dark corner for a week or so, when 
they die. Others have dropped down, when ap- 
rently in good health, in a violent convulsive fit, 
having one fit after another, in rapid succession, 
until they die. I meet with no loss, of this kind, 
that grieves and annoys me so much as that of a 
favorite dog, and would be glad to hear of some 
cure or preventive. 
I would say to your correspondent, S. S., that 
we have had our trees and shrubs almost ruined 
this year by myriads of a dark brown aphis, yet 
we have no signs of the yellows. 
Thomas Affleck. 
Washington , Miss., Oct., 1844. 
(a) We can not tell the cause of this disease, 
unless it be an overeating of rats or animal food, 
but the remedy we have generally found success¬ 
ful, was, to administer pretty strong doses of warm 
catmint tea. As a preventive, we supply our cats 
with all the milk they will drink and what vege¬ 
table food they will eat, such as bread, potatoes, 
&c. We also occasionally give them a dish of 
fresh fish, well cooked, of which they are ex¬ 
tremely fond. All animals should have a variety 
of food when possible to obtain it. 
DUTCH AND YANKEE TEAMS. 
All can not live on canals and railroads. What 
then.is to be done? I spent the last summer and 
autumn at Venice, in Ohio. The wheat was 
brought from 40 to 140 miles, in wagons drawn 
by four, and sometimes six horses. Sixty bush¬ 
els was not an uncommon load, and a caravan of 
some ten or twenty wagons were often seen 
coming in together. The first thing to be attended 
to on their arrival at the mill was to take the 
horses from the wagon, unship the feeding trough, 
bolt it upon the tongue of the wagon, give a few 
pounds of hay to the horses, which would soon be 
devoured, then give them water, after which as 
much chopped feed with cut straw as would sat¬ 
isfy their appetite. Now a fire would be made in 
the open air, water boiled, coffee made, bread and 
a cold boiled ham be taken from the wagon, and 
a frugal but comfortable meal follow. No trouble 
in procuring either milk or sugar for the coffee. 
A tea-kettle, coffee-pot, and tin cup, together with 
a common shoe-knife to slice the bread and ham, 
constituted all the cooking utensils necessary for 
the journey. After this was accomplished, they 
soon turned in under the cover of the wagon, 
where upon the bags of wheat for a bed, or straw 
