AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
347 
PUERPERAL, OR MILK EEYER IN COWS. 
BY W. PIERCE, RAVENA, PORTAGE COUNTY, OHIO. 
This disease appears to increase both in 
prevalence and fatality. A few years ago 
its occurrence was so rare, that it was not 
investigated, neither was it then so fatal. It 
is now so common on the Western Reserve, 
or Northern Ohio, that the dairy men begin 
to fear sad havoc amongst their cows. I will 
give my opinion of it: 
It is evident that all who keep cows have 
been striving for the best milkers, and im¬ 
proving for that purpose, and have so im¬ 
proved in quantity that it is now a common 
yield to get from twenty to thirty-five quarts 
a day. This enormous flow of milk over¬ 
taxes the system at a time when the animal 
is under the influence of reproductive ex¬ 
citement. And another reason is, it is of 
common occurrence to have a cow go from 
one to twenty days over the usual time. 
This is indicative of a high and plethoric con¬ 
dition of the system, which retards the ma¬ 
turing of the foetus, and keeps back the de¬ 
velopment or flow of the milk which is ne¬ 
cessary to the natural and easy parturition. 
Another reason is, it has become a general 
practice to stable cows up to the time of 
calving, and when turned out they are more 
liable to take cold by laying on the ground, 
and the hot sun also affects them, and thus 
they are liable to fevers and inflammation, 
and the cows that are good milkers and give 
a great quantity, are more liable to a reab¬ 
sorption of the milk. A flush of feed after 
parturition is apt to produce reabsorption of 
milk ; much excitement and worrying about 
the calf is also apt to create fever. 
The first symptom of puerperal fever is, 
the animal does not yield her milk readily; 
it will come slow, and the quantity is small. 
The nose or muzzle is dry; the eyes are 
dim ; the ears droop ; she hangs her head; 
moves with difficulty; moans, and lays down, 
to rise no more. The first symptom gener¬ 
ally noticed is the difficulty with which she 
rises, or inability to get up. The fever soon 
becomes general, or sympathetic. The sud¬ 
den transfer of accumulated action, at or 
near the time of parturition, must cause a 
great constitutional liability to local inflam¬ 
mation. If an abcess form in the udder [it 
should be speedily punctured, and this may 
occur before or after parturition; if before, 
the womb will not be likely to be the seat of 
inflammation, but the udder; or, a general 
fever will set in which will hasten labor 
pains. The great difficulty exists in its not 
being detected in due time. A cow frequent¬ 
ly is ailing, not ruminating as usual; the 
milk not given freely, and she scarcely able 
to stand long enough to have it drawn. But 
in the hurry and bustle of milking she is 
turned out unnoticed and unattended, when 
she should be milked from three to five times 
a day during her illness. A cow that comes 
to her milk before calving should be milked 
regularly, and thus fever may be prevented. 
Dairymen should be careful and watch 
their cows for one week before and af¬ 
ter calving, and attend to the above direc¬ 
tions, then there will be no danger of so 
sudden a death as frequently occurs. 
I attribute the frequency of milk sickness 
to the plethoric state of the animal before 
calving, which is always attended with more 
or less febrile symptoms. The disease oc¬ 
curs more frequently in fat and well kept 
cows; their systems being more disposed to 
the ready yielding to the influence that gen¬ 
erates the milk. I have always found those 
patients to have large and well filled udders 
before parturition. I have never known a 
poor milker, or one that gave poor milk, die 
of milk fever. I have never known but two 
recover after they were unable to rise with¬ 
out help. At this stage of the disease the 
system becomes so inactive and dormant 
that medicine fails to produce a change of 
symptoms, and the febrile symptoms increase 
until convulsions supervene, which soon ter¬ 
minate in death. 
I will not attempt to prescribe at this time, 
but only insist on a close attention to 
the symptoms which undoubtedly ex¬ 
ist two or three days; as simple fever, 
for example, which is easily treated 
by giving cathartics and febrifuges, drawing 
the milk every three or four hours. Under 
this plan of treatment, the animal will, in a 
few days, recover. A cow that does recov¬ 
er from a reabsorption of milk is seldom 
worth keeping, as she would be liable to 
have it again the next year. All such cows 
should be fattened immediately, and disposed 
of, and thus avoid the risk next year.—Dr. 
Dadds, Amer. Vet. Journal. 
POTATOES, THE BLACK MERCER, OR E0X1TE 
KIDNEY VARIETY, 
We have before us a basket of the above 
named potatoes which have been grown 
chiefly in Mercer County, N J., for a few 
years past. This sample was furnished by 
Mr. Stephen Conover, produce dealer, 197 
West Washington market. They were 
raised by Mr. George II. Sickle, of Middle- 
town, Monmouth County, N. J., upon a 
sandy loam. Half of the field was planted 
with the common Mercer at the same time, 
and the yield was very small, while these 
produced twenty-seven barrels from two-thirds 
of a barrel of seed. Mr. Whitlock, of Rari¬ 
tan, gathered 96 barrels from an acre this 
year ; and last year, in a better season, he 
gathered 127 barrels from an acre. We 
have other accounts all showing this variety 
to be very productive. 
This potato has a purplish or blue-black 
skin, but is white within. We have 
cooked them a few times as a trial. They 
are quite good, though we think there are 
several better table potatoes. They cook 
mealy and we have found no appearance of 
“ pith” in the center which is a recommen¬ 
dation. The taste is a little strong, though 
not unpleasant. 
We do not know that any one has a mo¬ 
nopoly of the seed, and therefore take pleas¬ 
ure in speaking of their apparently superior 
quality, especially as a producer. The fol¬ 
lowing is an extract from a letter we re¬ 
ceived in the early part of last year : 
To the Editor of American Agriculturist. 
Thy letter of the 17th inst was received, 
and in answer would state that we are hap¬ 
py to do any thing that would benefit our 
brother farmers, and we think that in re 
commending the black Mercer potatoes to 
their notice through thee, we may benefit all 
those who are led to give them a fair trial. 
We have raised them for the last three or 
four years, and the last two years almost ex¬ 
clusively, never failing to produce double of 
the Hack that we can of the white Mercer; 
and one year (1853) more than three times 
as many. Last year we had the poorest 
success we ever had, owing to the excessive 
drouth, and we planted too early, so that 
this crop amounted to almost a [failure, not 
producing over fifty bushels per acre; while, 
before, we have ranged from 125 to 270 per 
acre. 
We think them fully as good as the other 
varieties, but many are prejudiced against 
them. We use them altogether, and are not 
ashamed to ask our friends to partake with 
us of as ivhite'and mealy potatoes as any can 
show. They (the women) say they take 
rather more cooking than the white Mercers 
They always grow till frost, yet our experi 
ence is, that it will not do to plant before the 
10th or 12th of May. We have had them 
weigh 38 oz., and could pick out forty that 
would make a bushel But our last year’s 
crop was small, and the potatoes quite infe¬ 
rior to what they have been heretofore. 
They generally bring us Irom four to five 
cents less per bushel, than the white ones 
are selling tor here hey do not appear to 
be affected with the ,ot like the white ones. 
Owing to their growing till frost, and con¬ 
tinually setting, we think the small ones do 
not sufficiently mature with any degree of 
certainty. We do not. know of any other 
information thee would desire, but should be 
happy to answer any inquiries. 
Thine. J. N. & E. R. 
Montrose Farm, N. .1. 
Blood as a Manure. —There is a manufac¬ 
tory in London where animal blood is made 
into fertilizing mixtures. Bone dust and 
crushed fossil manures are placed in a long 
tub, along the central axis of which is the 
shaft of a revolving agitator—so many casks 
full of blood are poured in over the bones, 
and well mixed by the arms upon the work¬ 
ing shaft. Sulphuric acid is added to the 
mixture, which boils and effervesces under 
the action of the vitriol on the bones and 
blood, and after thorough commixture for 
about ten minutes, the liquid mass is allowed 
to escape through the opened end of the 
vessel, and it runs in a heap upon an earthen 
floor, where, as it cools, ithardens and dries. 
In a day or two this is turned over with the 
spade and broken small, and is found already 
dry enough for drilling. This is what is 
used as turnip manure. Some sixteen or 
eighteen large vessels full of this manure are 
poured out in the course of a day, forming a 
mass of forty or fifty tons of manure. 
For wheat manure the same materials are 
used in different proportions, and a larger 
quantity of blood being used, artificial heat 
is needed to dry the resulting compound. 
The turnip manure contains about two or 
three per cent, of nitrogen along with sixteen 
per cent of soluble phosphate of lime. The 
wheat manure contains about seven percent 
of nitrogen, and the phosphate is reduced to 
ten per cent. 
