1864.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
239 
course, the power acts at a mechanical advan¬ 
tage, quickly drawing it back into line again. 
Origin of the Chester County Whites. 
There has been an interesting mystery con¬ 
cerning the origin of this, fast becoming famous, 
breed of swine. It has been attributed to the 
crossing of a “Bedfordshire” boar upon the 
common sows of Chester Co., Pa., a judicious 
selection of the progeny and careful breeding 
ever since. There being, however, no distiuct 
breed of swine in Bedfordshire, Eng., which has 
a reputation on that side of the Atlantic or any 
record so far as we know, it is still a matter 
of doubt what kind of a hog it was that made so 
strong a mark. The late Duke of Bedford was 
a man of liberal sentiments and a distinguished 
patron of agriculture. The hogs on liis estate 
at WobUrn, were remarkably fine, especially his 
Berkshires, which were improved by an admix¬ 
ture of Chinese blood. This family never rose 
to the dignity of a distinct breed, but was dis¬ 
tinguished for large size and rapid fattening 
properties, and is now extinct so far as we are 
informed. The Duke sent a pair of his swine 
as a present to Gen’l Washington, but they nev¬ 
er reached him, for the man having them in 
charge sold them. The hogs made their mark 
in Maryland and Southeastern Pennsylvania, 
and wherever they found their way; other like 
importations were made, with good results upon 
our common stock of pigs. The Woburn breed 
is described as very large, spotted, maturing 
early, and fattening readily. 
The origin of the Chester Comity hogs is 
stated by Solon Robinson in his book, noticed 
in our last number, to be from an importation 
of two Bedford swine by James Jeffries, a sea- 
captain, who sent them to his farm on the 
Brandywine, whence the breed has been dissem¬ 
inated. This was about 1820. Another state¬ 
ment is that a pair of hogs taken on board a 
ship from England for food, and not used, were 
bought and sent for stock pigs into Chester Co., 
and from these sprung the breed. Adding to 
these another statement recently received, in a 
letter from Israel Lamborne of Chester Co., Pa., 
we furnish our readers all the facts in our 
possession that bear upon this subject. Mr. L. 
writes. “ Now as to the origin of the Chester 
Whites they originated under the care of Thos. 
Lamb-wne, Esq., 45 years ago, from a pig import¬ 
ed from Bedfordshire, England, by Joseph Ker¬ 
sey, son of Jesse Kersey. The hog measured 
22 inches across the shoulders and his live 
weight was 800 lbs. He was kept for the 
improvement of stock until he died.” 
These accounts all agree in tracing the im¬ 
provement to imported English swine, and all 
but one, which is very indefinite, attribute it to 
the “Bedfordshire breed.” This may all come 
from a strong prejudice in favor of these hogs, 
which may have naturally arisen after the prog¬ 
eny of those sent as a present to Gen’l Wash¬ 
ington became famous, leading farmers to call 
their excellent hogs “ Bedfordshires.” After all, 
tnough it is interesting to know their origin, 
vet the value of the breed is the chief thing. 
This is becoming very generally recognized. 
Since publishing the account of the great hog 
called “Benham’s challenge,” the stuffed skin 
of which is at the door of the Agriculturist office, 
we have heard of some remarkable cases of 
large Chester White hogs, one of these of the 
pure breed weighed last October, after being 
hauled 30 miles, 1,360 lbs., and we learn has 
been in good health and increasing in weight 
ever since. The readers Of the American Agri¬ 
culturist will be furnished with particulars about 
him before long. At present his owner is pat¬ 
riotically serving with the Ohio 100-days men. 
We again caution our readers against decep¬ 
tion, and having impure blood palmed off upon 
them. Not a black spot or hair is allowable, 
though such are sent out sometimes even from 
Chester County. We know of pigs which de¬ 
veloped into regular “ land pikes ” coming 
from the same source—6ent out by a good breed¬ 
er too, who could not suppty all his orders from 
his own stock, and so bought a few pigs of his 
neighbors to meet the increasing demand. 
Sheep—Grub in the Head. 
The attacks of the sheep gad-fly, (Estrus ovis , 
at this season are often very annoying to the 
flock, and if not actually productive of disease 
and death, wear the sheep put, almost, by fright 
and anxiety. A flock of sheep where flies are 
plenty, exhibits a nervous excitement, painful 
indeed to witness. The eggs of the fly are laid 
in the nostrils of the sheep; the worms when 
they hatch, as they do very soon, pass up into 
the upper part of the nasal cavity, where they 
remain until the next spring; when having at¬ 
tained their maturity, they come out and go into 
the ground. Tar smeared upon the sheep’s noses, 
while it remains fresh, will successfully repel 
this fly. Should many of the grubs gain a 
lodgement in the head, it annoys the animal very 
much. Mr. I. W. Sanborn, a Vermont breeder 
of distinction, makes the following statement 
in the Boston Cultivator, in regard to his own 
practice. “ Restlessness and a peculiar motion 
of the head indicate that all is not right, and 
from such symptoms the disease is known. As 
soon as the first signs appear, catch the sheep, 
elevate its nose, and pour into both nostrils 
about a tablespoonful of spirits of Turpentine. 
Free the sheep and notice the results. The vio¬ 
lent sneezing which follows, brings the worms 
from the head—usually several of them—and in 
60 minutes, and often less, the sheep is eating 
and apparently well. It has been the experi¬ 
ence of sheep raisers in this vicinity where 
sheep thus attacked are let alone, they are al¬ 
most sure to die.” Mr. S. admits the severity 
of the remedy, but insists on its desirableness. 
It is probably a prejudice of shepherds and 
farmers, but the belief is general that the life 
of the sheep is often a sacrifice to “ grub in the 
head.” That it occasions intolerable annoyance 
to the animals is true, and that this is associated 
with other diseases is also more than probable. 
If the turpentine will thoroughly remove all 
the grubs, it may be well sometimes to subject 
the sheep to the application. This gad-fly is of 
the same genus as the parent fly of the bott 
which infests the stomachs of horses. 
Pulmonary Murrain among Cattle.— 
Warning! 
The rapid and certain spread of this terrible 
disorder in this State, and no doubt also else¬ 
where, make it incumbent on us again to sound 
a note of warning to all who buy cattle for 
stocking their farms or for feeding. In the 
neighborhood of this city, deaths are constantly 
occurring; the disease is perfectly well recog¬ 
nized and known by the milkmen, and by the 
authorities, for if an animal dies by disease or 
accident, the owner is obliged under heavy pen¬ 
alties to notify the sanitary police, and have it 
taken away; he may not remove it himself! 
Thus it happens that these cases are well 
known. The cows die in the swill milk stables, 
in private stables, and even on the commons, or 
unoccupied grazing grounds in the immediate 
suburbs of this city, and of its suburbs—Brook¬ 
lyn, Williamsburgh and Jersey City. There is 
very great danger that cattle bought in this 
market and taken into the country to feed, will 
carry the seeds of disaster which can hardly be 
estimated. Almost every “cow leech” is sure he 
can cure this disease, and farmers who trust 
them may do so to their cost. It has baffled the 
wisest veterinarians of Europe, and there, any 
herd known to have, or to have had in it a case 
of pleuro-pneumonia, is at once cut off from 
all communication with other herds. The ani¬ 
mals receive treatment which alleviates the dis¬ 
order, and when those that survive recover, 
they are suffered in some cases to be fattened 
and killed. The losses to farmers of this State 
may soon be estimated by millions annually, if, 
as now seems inevitable, the disease continues 
to spread, for no efforts are made to stay its pro¬ 
gress, to impart information concerning it, to 
investigate it in any way, by the public author¬ 
ities or by agricultural associations. The facts 
we state, are facts. The warning should be 
heeded, or great loss will come upon the entire 
community, for every body is affected directly by 
whatever will effect the price of beef, milk, etc. 
The Onion Maggot. 
All facts concerning this pest are of interest 
to those whose crops have been swept off year 
after year by the onion fly. “ A Canadian,” 
writes as follows to the Genesee Farmer:—“ On 
sandy land in Canada it was for some years im 
possible to raise a crop of onions from seed, and 
the consequence was that we were driven to 
import our supplies, and trust to the potato and 
top varieties. A lady who had a green-house 
and raised a large amount of early salad, had 
at one time a quantity of onion seed sown in 
the green-house early in the winter. After se¬ 
lecting such as were wanted for the house dur¬ 
ing the cold season, there was still left in the 
spring a large bed containing some thousands 
of plants. These were transplanted into the 
garden, and produced an abundant crop of fine 
bulbs, far better than any which had been previ¬ 
ously raised from seed in the same place. They 
were also entirely free from the maggot, al¬ 
though beds of onions raised from seed adjoiu- 
ing the transplanted ones were completely 
swept off by the pest. The fact was taken ad¬ 
vantage of in subsequent years, and an abund¬ 
ant supply of the finest onions was the result. 
It -would appear from this that the maggot 
produced by the fly can not exist on or injure 
the plant when it has attained a certain stage of 
maturity. Subsequent experiments confirmed 
this view of the case. Every one whose land is 
subject to the onion maggot, and who may try 
this plan, should raise the onion plants from 
seed sown under glass very early. The soil in 
which the seed is sown should be coarse sand, 
with a portion of well-rotted manure mixed 
through it. The young plants may then be re¬ 
moved without injuring the roots. In trans¬ 
planting take care not to set too deep, and also 
take care that the roots go straight down into 
the earth, as they naturally would if sown 
where they are intended to stand.” 
It is not the place which makes the person 
honorable, but the nerson makes the nlace so. 
