1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
257 
is much danger from ice: the lower ends up 
stream, resting on the bottom of the trenches, 
and the upper ones coming out to the surface. 
They are confined in place by stakes, as shown 
in figure 4. These fascines will be found to 
Fig, 4 .—faggots confined bt stakes. 
have a very strong anchorage, and though their 
tops may be broken and twisted by the ice, they 
will hold well and prevent the washing of the 
bank. Two or three lines of these fascines set 
4 to 8 feet apart, may sometimes be necessary. 
The stakes used may be of willow, which will 
take root, and bear rough handling by the ice. 
When thus protected and guarded, willow cut¬ 
tings, the larger the better, maybe set upon the 
slope. These should be of the White, or Pow- 
Fig. 5.— MANNER OF PLANTING WILLOWS. 
der Willow, and they ought to be set with the 
tops pointing obliquely down stream—as indi¬ 
cated in the engraving, figure 5. 
Grub-in-the-Head in Sheep. 
Whoever observes the motions of a flock of 
sheep in the heat of summer, while at pasture, 
will see them huddled in groups or feeding in 
phalanxes with their noses upon the ground, 
and thus held in an obviously constrained posi¬ 
tion. They do this to be in a measure secure 
from the attacks of that pestering Gad-fly which 
is the cause of Grub-in-the-Head. It is called 
Oestrus ovis , and is closely related to the Bot-fly 
described on page 177 
(May). Figures 1 and 2 
represent the female, 
which is brown and yel¬ 
low - banded. The fly 
aims to deposit its eggs 
within or close to the 
nostrils of the sheep. 
This is accompanied by no pain to the sheep, 
and probably, only by a disagreeable tickling 
sensation. The animal, however, seems to be 
aware of the effects soon to follow, for the eggs 
hatch in a short time (the books say immediate¬ 
ly) and the little worm ascends the nostrils 
making the poor brute almost wild with ner¬ 
vous distress. It tosses its head, 
snorts, runs, stamps, and mani¬ 
fests the most acute excitement. 
TheZamepass up thenostrilsand Fig- 2. 
penetrate the sinuses where they attach them¬ 
selves and develop. Youatt says: “Having 
traced their circuitous course through an aper¬ 
ture under the turbinated bone into the maxil¬ 
lary sinus, they sometimes lodge there; others 
proceed thence into the frontal sinus and some 
reach the cavity of the bone of the horn. They 
are found occasionally in every cavity with which 
Fig. 3. —GRUB, UPPER SIDE. 
that of the nose communicates.” The little grubs 
are at first white. They attach themselves by 
means of two hooks like those of the horse bot, 
and live upon the mucus secretions of the cavi¬ 
ty in which they are lodged. When fully grown 
they present an appearance similar to figs. 3 
and 4, which exhibit the upper and lower sides. 
There seems to be a 
great disparity be¬ 
tween the size of the ■ 
maggot and that of 
the fly, but it is 
not more than frequently occurs. When ma¬ 
ture, the grub is able to exert a great force in 
wedging its way out through the narrow open¬ 
ings by which the little maggot entered, and 
again causes the sheep very great pain and 
nervous distress. It falls to the ground and 
burrows some inches below the surface. Its 
skin hardens to a shell, and the chrysalis, or 
pupa hatches into the perfect fly in 40 to 00 
days. Thus the eggs are laid in July to Sep¬ 
tember ; the larvae leave 
the sheep and enter the 
ground in April to June; 
the pupae remain in the 
ground until the flies 
hatch out, in the heat 
of summer, and this is 
Fig. 4. —GRUB, I.OWI 
SIDE. 
their round of life. 
Farmers often plow several parallel furrows 
at a distance of 8 or 10 rods apart for the sheep 
to bury their noses in. A daub of pine tar upon 
the nose is the best preventive and must be fre¬ 
quently renewed. Wild sheep may be made to 
smear their own noses somewhat by putting tar 
in the troughs and sprinkling salt over it. As 
the fly has never been known to eat anything, 
and in fact, has no perceptible mouth, efforts 
at poisoning it would fail. The grubs are 
easily examined in the spring by getting the 
butcher to split open a few pates of rather ill- 
conditioned sheep, if such can be found in mar¬ 
ket. Several grubs will probably be found in 
some. They appear to have but little effect on 
the general health of the sheep; but no doubt, 
when occurring in large numbers, they increase 
the violence of inflammatory and nervous dis¬ 
eases, and perhaps cause them, especially at 
the time, of entering and leaving the sinuses. 
Superphosphate for Turnips.—T here will 
be a great demand for this fertilizer for the turnip 
crop soon after this mouth (Juty) comes in. Its 
effects upon turnips are wonderful, and a small 
quantity goes a great way—150 lbs. to the acre 
distributed evenly in the drills, or 200 or 300 
lbs. sowed broadcast, are about the quantities 
usually employed. The value of a superphos¬ 
phate depends upon the amount of phosphoric 
acid present. Bones are the usual source of 
this substance. It exists in them, combined 
with lime, in the form of a phosphate of lime, 
called “ bone earth,” which is insoluble in wa¬ 
ter and slowly soluble under the influences act¬ 
ing in the soil. In true superphosphate, part of 
the phosphoric acid, still combined with lime, but 
with water also, is quite easily soluble, and the 
remainder is more easily acted upon than raw 
bone, unless it be ground very fine. Turnips 
grow very fast, and need soluble manures to 
promote this rapid increase; and though they 
do not take a large quantity of phosphate from 
the soil, they seem to need it in abundance and 
in a soluble condition ready at band, or they do 
not do their best. In buying superphosphates, 
the purchaser is at the mercy of the seller; and 
unless the State offers him some security, the 
only reliance he has, that he gets what he pays 
for, depends upon the interest or honor of the 
maker and seller, which too often fails him. 
- .-—aO *—-• - 
Earth Sewage—or the Removal of the 
Waste-water of Country Houses. 
In order to secure the full benefit that the 
Earth System offers, it is necessary to provide 
for the inoffensive and economical removal of 
the waste water of the house—not only that of 
the kitchen sink, but that from sleeping-cham¬ 
bers and dressing-rooms as well. 
This may be done by two systems. The first 
(Fig. 1) comprises a cask nearly filled with 
earth, with a board cover, and having a large 
wooden funnel (with a lid) leading to the in¬ 
terior of the cask. It may stand beside the 
house, and receive, just below its top, the waste- 
pipe of the kitchen sink. It should have a 
leaky bottom, so that the water it receives may 
escape after it has been filtered by the earth. 
The space between the top of the earth, and the 
board cover, should be packed full with horse 
manure; which will prevent freezing, and the 
puddling of the earth, which would keep the 
water from running through. The wooden 
funnel should also be tilled half way up with the 
same material. The kitchen waste will take 
care of itself, and the slops from the chambers 
need only be poured into the wooden funnel. 
The only obstacle to the successful working of 
this arrangement is the freezing up of the earth. 
We have had no trouble (in the latitude of Hew 
York) in keeping it in operation all winter. A 
large hogshead, arranged as above, took care 
of the wastes of a household of four persons 
from November until March, without attention ; 
and at the end of that time, the earth (having re¬ 
tained the impurities of the water) had become 
a most valuable manure. Only dining last 
week was the water escaping from the bottom 
of the cask perceptibly impure, and this was 
the signal for changing the earth. 
The same cask has, during the summer, re¬ 
ceived only the water from the sink, and, being- 
uncovered, it is bearing a marvellous growth of 
weeds, which nbt onty look well, but prevent 
the faintest odor from escaping from the surface 
of the earth. Another cask (covered) is doing 
satisfactory work with the up-stairs slops. 
A still more satisfactory plan is shown in 
Fig. 2. This provides for the complete absorp- 
Fig. 1.— CASK FOR HOUSE SEWAGE. 
tion of all the wastes of the bouse directly by 
the earth itself, and requires but little attention. 
At a convenient point in the garden or lawn, 
a kerosene barrel, A, is sunk with its open end 
level with the surface. The house drain, D, 
runs to it with a good fall, so that every thing 
that passes the strainer of the kitchen sink will 
