1 
TWO DOLLARS A. YEAR.] 
« TROGMilCSS AND IMPROY RMENT." 
[singtIle; no. jb'iye cents. 
VOL. xrv. NO. 13.s 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 1863. 
1 WHOLE NO. 689. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIUINAL WHKKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With a Corps of Able Assistants and Contributors. 
O. P. liRAVOON, Western Corresponding Kdltor. 
Thb Rural Nkw-Yokkkk is designed to be unsurpassed 
in Value, Purity and Variety of Contents, and unique and 
beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor devotes his per¬ 
sonal attention to the supervision of its various depart¬ 
ments, and earnestly labors to render the Rural an 
eminently Reliable Guide on all the Important Practical, 
Scientific and other Subjects iulimately connected with 
the business of those whose interests it zealously advo¬ 
cates. As a Family Journal it is eminently Instructive 
and Entertaining being mo conducted that it can be safely 
taken to the Homes of people of Intelligence, taste and 
discrimination. It embrace* more Agricultural, Horticul¬ 
tural. Scientific, Educational, Literary ami News Matter, 
interspersed with appropriate Engravings, than any other 
jourual,—rendering It the most complete Aoukiultukai., 
LirBRART and Family N kwh pa eKU In Ainonon. 
V3T For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
WESTERN EDITORIAL NOTES. 
. “THE LAMB EPIZOOTIC OF 1S62.” 
I employ the above title because an eminent 
writer on sheep husbandry has done so before 
me; and because I wish to quote from an article 
under the above head by Henry S. Randall. 
Wo have, iu the West, a ub more experienced, 
intelligent, skillful, and successful shepherd and 
breeder than Daniel Kelly, .Jr., of Wheaton, 
Dupage Co., III. And there are no flocks of 
Spanish MeriilO sheep, East or West, superior to 
his. Receiving a message from him that he had 
something of Importance to communicate rela¬ 
tive to the disease culled by Mr. Randall, an 
epizootic, and known iu the West as diphtheria, 
1 at unco hastened to visit him. Mr. K. is one of 
a small class of men who, seeing effects, search 
diligently for causes; and ho does not hesitate to 
sacrifice proper!ty if he can gain an Item of 
knowledge concerning the physiology of an 
animal, or a diagnosis of a disease which may 
exist in his docks. 
This diphtheria, epizootic, or whatever it may 
properly be called, attracted the attention of Mr. 
lv. as early as the spring of 1861, and experi¬ 
ments resulted in the discovery of a cure of the 
disease in lambs, which was published in the 
Rural sometime during that season. But the 
ernse of the disease was sought for. The disease 
was making alarming ravages, not only in the 
flocks of New Y r ork, but iu most, if not ail, of the 
North-Western States. The per centum lost in 
the spring of 1862 was much larger than in 1801; 
and the loss among the flocks of Illinois the 
present winter is alarming flock-masters not a 
little. Many are talking of going out of the 
business because of the loss of the natural in¬ 
crease of their flocks. 
The discussion of this disease, the present year, 
was opened by an article in the Country Gentle¬ 
man of January 1st, by Mr. Randall, above 
named. He says: 
“The Ituuba affected by the epizootic had the appear¬ 
ance of a general want of physical development at the 
time Of their birth. Their bodice were -mall and lean, or 
if not. they bad a peculiarly flaccid feeling, as if the mils 
cles had re it attained their normal consistent^ The bones 
generally lacked (he usual size. The back and neck were 
thin, the legs slender, the head mall, and the face often- 
times singularly attenuated. When to those appearance* 
was added the not unusual one of a coating of wool and 
hair much thinner and shorter titan usual, the resemblance 
to a prematurely boru animal was striking. 
II Some were brought forth so feeblethat they never rose 
to suck. A portion survived fur a few momenta or hours; 
others lingered along from two or three days to a week.— 
They were usually dull, made but languid efforts to feed 
themselves if their dams were ut all shy, and many of them 
would scarcely follow their dams about the yard or fields. 
Those that survived required extra care, and very few of 
them attained ordinary size and plumpness, however plen¬ 
tiful their supply of milk/' 
Mr. Kelly confirms the above statement 
of the condition of the lamb at birth. He 
asserts that the lamb is often over-size — too 
large to be natural. The bones seem soft 
and small; or rather do not seem to be de¬ 
veloped into bone nor matured. Instead of 
dropped after its time. The time of parturition s 
in cases where the lamb is diseased, ranges from 
about eight days before, to two weeks tiller the t 
proper time. Mr. K. records his ewes, and knows $ 
this to bo a fact. In some cases, when psrturi- v 
tion occurred after time, there was not a particle 
of wool on the lamb; it was more hair or bristles \ 
than wool. Some of these lambs wore brought 
forth so feeble that they never moved a limb,— 
had no life to move. \ 
THIS DISEASE MAY BE CURED. ( 
MA Kelly says, if the lamb lives an hour, lie 
never loses it. Especially where the lamb has - 
strength to linger two or three days, they may he : 
saved if the flock-master knows his business. • 
The lamb should be assisted to nurse. It should 1 
be held to the ewe; and If the ewe is restless she 1 
should be confined. The shepherd should see 
that the lamb gets an abundance of milk, and is * 
kept warm. A woolen doth should also he wet 1 
wit h spirits of camphor , or the tincture of iodine , * 
and put about the neck where it. is swollen, and < 
kept there, and wet. This is sure to cure them. 
There is little, if any, difference iu the effective¬ 
ness of these tinctures. One is about as good as 1 
the other. In all cases the throat of the lamb is 1 
swollen when it is born. If the diseased lamb is ! 
unable to take the whole milk furnished by the 
ewe, some other lamb should he put ou her, so as 
to keep her milk up. The lamb will require it 
iu the end. Then, as it gets strength, it will get 
the food necessary to develop it. Care, watch¬ 
ing, and the application of these remedies will 
secure the life of a lamb, if it has vitality enough 
to live an hour after it is born. 
BUT THE DISEASE IS INHERITED BY THE LAMB. 
Mr. Kelly’s Investigations have resulted in 
discovering that in every instance where the 
lamb is diseased when born, the throat of the 
mother is swollen. And if the throat of the ewe 
is affected, the progeny is sure to bo diseased; 
and the vitality of the lamb, when born, will de¬ 
pend upon the development of the disease in the 
mother. 
The sheep, when this disease is on them, are 
, indisposed to move. The skin has a flabby ap¬ 
pearance; and when they run they waddle about 
and appear just as they do with the Maw sick¬ 
ness, or But. They are invariably swollen under 
the throat—plainly distinguishable by feeling. 
Mr. K. gave me an instance. He said:—“ I 
discovered that the best sheep I have got, had 
this appearance. I. watched her close, because 
of her value. I watched the effect of the disease 
upon the wool; and I must say that it did not 
appear to diminish the fleece at all, for I sheared 
from this ewe, last spring, 124 pounds of clean 
washed wool. And I have not since discovered 
that the wool of a sheep diseased is affected at 
all. This ewe dropped her lamb four days after 
her time had expired. The lamb was large; It had 
no strength. The throat was badly swollen, and 
you could bear it wheeze all over the barn. My 
neighbor Barnes canie along, and said, ; Do 
take your knife and cut that lamb’s throat; it 
cannot live.’ 1 helped the lamb to nurse, and 
wet a woolen bandage with iodine, and applied 
it to the throat of the lamb, and iu two weeks it 
was perfectly well, to all appearance; and is 
well to-day, and is worth $3110. I have refused 
that sum lor it this winter.* 
“ When the lamb was 24 hours old, 1 gave the 
ewe a teaspoonful of gunpowder, but I think 
neither the ewe nor the lamb derived any benefit, 
l gave it because I wanted to learn what 1 could 
do with the rest of them, and because I know it 
to be excellent to give cows and sheep that do 
1 not clean well. 
“Neither does the diseased condition of the 
. ewe appear to affect either the quality or quan- 
; tity of the milk. If the lamb lives long enough to 
- get strength to nurse, the ewe affords the usual 
! amount of milk. Ewes that have lost their own 
1 lambs have brought up others, put on them, in 
f good style.” 
THE DISEASED EWES CAN BE CURED. 
Uaving established the fact that this disease 
t among lambs is hereditary, Mr. K. determined last 
• season to experiment with a portion of his ewes, 
i and see if he could not curt* them and save the 
t lambs of 1863. The first week iu September last, 
- he gave about one pound of' saltpeter—pounded 
f line and mixed with salt—to 140 ewes. Many 
and striking—indeed, Mr. K. called it alarming. 
Every animal diseased was at. once attacked with 
a violent diarrhoea or dysentery, which continued 
several weeks—some of them as long as six 
weeks. It was very violent iu some eases. Mr. 
K. said he did not intend any one should know 
what the cause of this diarvliu'a was unless it 
proved effectual as a cure. His invention was 
taxed to the uttermost to give visitors the reason 
why his ewes were in such a fix, and yet not 
confess the truth. 
The result of this diarrhoea was, that the 
swelling of the throat gradually yet surely dis¬ 
appeared as time passed; and to-day, not an ewe 
t hat got any of that saltpeter, or a sufficient quan¬ 
tity to affect the bowels at all, is diseased; nei¬ 
ther has one of them dropped a diseased lamb the 
present spring; while ewes that got no saltpeter 
and had no diarrhoea, (which were few in num¬ 
ber,) are bringing diseased lambs. Last year, 
about one-third of the lambs dropped wore dis¬ 
eased. This year, not more than two per cent. 
This is not the ease, however, with other flocks 
where the disease prevailed last year. Bo confi¬ 
dent is Mr. K. that this is an effective cure of the 
diseased ewes, that he is going to feed his ewes 
saltpeter again the coming season—those that 
are found diseased, at least. He proposes to do 
so earlier in the season —say in July instead 
of September. 
Ho does not regard it an epizootic; but he has 
not discovered the cause of the disease. It, came 
by degrees upon his flock—eight cases iu 1861; 
33 per cent in 1862; and the present year he 
claims to have checked it ns above described, 
lie is confident it is inherited by the lamb, be- 
cappo he has never found a lamb with it whose 
mother was not likewise affected at the throat- 
swollen there. Some neople assert differently, 
but it is because they have not examined the 
ewe. 11 is not contagious. 
“heads and necks drawn down.” 
In tho article above referred to, Mr. Randall 
says:—“In several flocks a few of the lambs 
were born with their heads and nocks so drawn 
down, and occasionally also twisted sideways, by 
the action of the muscles, that they could only 
suck with difficulty, and by assuming the most 
unusual postures.” 
But ho does not regard this fact as having 
any tiling to do with the epizootic Neither does 
Mr. Kelly. Such cases occur when the lamb 
is delivered wrong—with the fore-leg over the 
head or in some other mal-form. It usually 
occurs in the case of young ewes. In their 
struggles, one of the forward limbs of the animal 
is often caught back. Mr. K. says such cases 
have occurred frequently in his experience tho 
part 37 years as a shepherd —it is not unusual 
at all. 
SOMETHING ELSE. 
Again Mr. Randall says: 
“ In tin! same or other Hooks, another set of symptoms 
appeared. Strong healthy lambs a week or two old, stnl 
denly lost the use of their legs to a greater or less degree. 
Some hobbled about as if lame in every foot; others could 
scarcely walk. A portion grow no worse, and after a few 
weeks recovered, A small number became unable to 
stand even when placed on tbeir feet} but they continued 
to look healthy, fed honrffly when a -LHed, and so far as 
my own immediate observation extended, most of them 
gradually recovered When tint weather became settled and 
Ifi 
V//' AW/;\A , \\ 
t Jar 
irirnm 
' hr m 
: mm 
cotton - uor.JLiiuii gin. 
fOR ARTICLE ON THB CULTIVATION OK COTTON, MICK SECOND PAO0 OP THIS NUMBER. 
Geometrical scale 1 inch to 1 foot. 1, Hoard, 3 feet long 
8 inehea wide. 2, Two standards, perpendicular to board, 
and fastened to it. 3, Two rollers, ?« inches in diameter, 
fitted into tlie standards, anti witli cranks 4, 4, on the op 
posite ends. Tho crank ou the lower on the right fiand, 
too much fresh food—especially fresh clover. If 
taken from the fold, and a hay and grain diet, to 
a fresh clover Hold, more or less coses are likely 
to occur unless groat care is taken by Lho shep¬ 
herd. When a lamb is attacked, tho shepherd 
should at. once give tho laud) a teaspoonful of 
spirits of turpentine mixed with throe teaspoon- 
fulsof warm lard. Lard ia the best oil—Mr. K. 
says tho best physic ever given a sheep. Mr. K. 
says almost any animal that has a fever will eat 
dirt But it was not tho dirt that injured Mr. 
Clapp’s lambs. He, K., came near ruining all 
Of his lambs three years ago, by suddenly chang¬ 
ing them from tho yard to fields containing on 
abundance of fresh clover. He lias had experi¬ 
ence in this matter and knows whereof be speaks. 
THE “EPIZOOTIC” AND FRESH AIR. 
Again Mr. Randall says: 
“ I have conferred with some of tbe most intelligent 
flock-masters in tills State and Vermont on the subject, 
and tbe prevalent opinion among them appears to be that 
It. was occasioned by a want of ‘ exercise and fresh air,’ on 
the part Of the damn during pregnancy Some have as 
rignc'd high condition In Hie dams, and their confinement 
to dry feed, as concomitant causes. 
That our flocks Of sheep in New York were unusually 
confined iluring much of the winter Of 18(11-2 Is certain. 
Uncommonly deep snows fell about the first of February, 
and though they wasted away towards spring, their hard 
cruhl - prevented sheep from straying from tbe immediate 
vicinity of their stables. Many flocks scarcely moved fifty 
yards from their stables during the last ten or twelve 
weeks of their pregnancy. Their appetites were kept keen 
by tho steady cold. Tho free consumption of food, inac¬ 
tion and advancing pregnancy increased their flesh, and 
these causes reacted and rendered them perfectly content¬ 
ed in their confinement. Many flock musters have re 
marked to me that they never before raw their sheep so 
quiet, so disposed to remain constantly in their stables, and 
so fleshy towards spring. Having eaten, they laid most 
of the time iu their bedding until they again rose to cat. 
Flocks accustomed to run in pasture* iu tho winter, and 
{o dig down to the grase, were of course entirety cutoff 
from their usual supply of succulent food. 
b-q blood, the circulating fluid is water-stained; it of these ewes were diseased as above described. 
canyot be called blood. He has ascertained this 
fact by killing the lambs at once to discover the 
cause of the disease. 
Then, again, the lambs, when born, are under¬ 
size. Sometimes the lamb is dropped before its 
time; but the worst cases occur when the lamb is 
& ume; out me w 
-SL 
_- 
But they did not all of them get an equal quan¬ 
tity of saltpeter. They were caUed to tbe troughs 
from the field; and the first who reached the 
troughs got the most The effect was immediate 
* The writer saw this lamb subsequently, and never Baw 
a sounder one, and few better. 
In a foot note he says: 
“The lameness and loss of the limbs, I am disposed to 
consider tlie effects of epizootic rheumatism, equivalent to 
epidemic rheumatism among human subjects, which 
sometimes prevails extensively among children. I never 
witnessed tho malady among lambs before 1802. But on 
mentioning it at a farmers* meeting at. Manlius, N. Y , a 
few months since, I found that it had prevailed in that re 
gion for several y ears. Luther Baker, an intelligent flock 
master of Lafayette, stated that it had several times ap¬ 
peared among his own and ids brother’s flocks, and had 
proved so destructive chut they considered it tin- worst en¬ 
emy their lambs had to encounter. lie said it appeared at 
the time the ewes were let out of their winter incloeures 
to grass, and that it attacked ‘the best Iambs.’ lie ex- 
pressed no opinion as to its origin. A H. Clapp, of Tom 
pey, another intelligent flock master, stated that lie had 
also lost lambs exhibiting tho same sj mptoms; tlmt lie had 
discovered them eating dirt; that on opening their atom 
ach* after death, he had found dirt in them. Mr. Baker 
replied that lie had frequently opened their stomachs and 
found no dirt iu them.” 
Mr. Kelly says the cause of this is simple, and 
the remedy simple and effective. It is the result 
of a sudden increase in the quantity or richness 
of the milk of the ewe— or both—resulting from 
a change of diet. The effect upon the lamb is 
similar to fouuder. It is never known to occur 
except when the ewe is flush of milk. Such 
Case3 are more apt to occur when the ewe has 
“ I believe the causes above assigned for the epizootic of 
1862, are the true ones, or at least they aro the main ones. 
I cannot conceive of any circumstances (consistent with 
ordinary care and good treatment) which would seem bet¬ 
ter calculated to lead to the non development or other ab¬ 
normal condition of the f etus of a naturally restless and 
roving animal like the sheep, than long continued confine 
incut and inaction during pregnancy, the habitual inhala¬ 
tion of import) air, and an unusual, not to >uy morbid se¬ 
cretion of fat. And I should consider abstinence from 
succulent, food, non exposure to the bracing out-door air 
and wind, and deprivation of sunlight, additional or ac¬ 
cessory causes.” 
Mr. Kelly insists that no such cause as 
“waul of exercise anil fresh air” existed iu his 
case. There has been no difference in his prac¬ 
tice of wintering sheep during the past 35 years. 
An d there are instances when tho fatality was 
greater where the flocks were exposed than when 
they were sheltered. Capt I Iammono, of Wayne, 
Dupage Co., lost one-third of his flocks, and 
they were well sheltered. His neighbor, who 
never shelters his flock, but winters them in the 
open air about stacks, lost more. 
Mr. Kelly’s sheep have been kept warmer 
the present season than last—in a new and tight 
barn; and yet the percent, has diminished. It 
does not seem to be confined to sheep in good 
aud the same on tho upper as you sit facing it. 5, Mor¬ 
tices cut in tho standards under the rollers in which to 
put pegs to force the rollers close together. The operators 
sit facing eaeli other, the one feeding, and tho other pick¬ 
ing it from the rollers as it comes through. 
nor in poor condition. Some of his worst cases 
are his poorest sheep. 
And the diet of his ewes is the same precisely 
as that given them for years. Their feed is clo¬ 
ver and timothy at morn and at night; oats in 
, the sheaf at noon, and a half bushel of corn to 
the one hundred sheep daily, wit h plenty oi'gyod 
water and salt twice a week. 
Every flock goes out of the pens into the air 
three limes a day. Kelly says the inclination 
to bn quiet, and disposed to “remain constantly 
in the stables,” described above, is the result, and 
not the cause, of the disease, lie regards it a 
proof that the ewes were diseased; for it is char¬ 
acteristic of the diseased animals that they can 
scarcely be induced to move. Their ears droop, 
and although they eat and drink well, seem 
llesby, and chew their cuds, yet they have a list¬ 
less air, and are not easily excited to move. ' 
vegetable food injurious. 
Mr. Randall says: 
“ Green feed in the winter for breeding ewes, is thought 
by many, perhaps by most of our flock-masters, to he of 
no particular utility. They have generally wintered their 
flocks without it, and they assert that their latnbsnre as 
large, and strong as if they received it, Of the last fact 
they obviously cannot be certain. Who cau say that this 
deprivation of natural food may not he one of tho exciting 
causes of that unexplained and unexplainable loss of life 
or inferiority among lambs, which I t occasionally witness¬ 
ed in the most .-utTcssfully managed flocks? Is it not 
reasonable to suppose that the craving which sheep and 
other herbivorous animals show for green food in winter, 
is the result of an instinct which points out to them what 
is best for their health and tho normal exercise of all their 
functions ? It is not unreasonable to suppose, too, that in 
depriving the pregnant ewe of succulent food, wo deprive 
her Of tho means of furm-liiug a full supply of tho* best 
nutriment to the embryo atiimal.” 
Mr. Kelly says his experience has tanght 
him that vegetable-food in cold weather weakens 
both the mother and offspring. Ewes and lambs 
are both better aud stronger than if fed in cold 
weather with roots. The lamb unty be larger 
when born if the ewe has had a vegetable diet; 
but it will lack the vigor and vitality of the lamb 
which ia bom of a mother whose diet lias been 
good hay and on,Is in Ike sheaf. Hi regards oat 
si raw as well us the grain, valuable, lie knows 
tho effect, but caunot tell why this effect results. 
lie insists the ewe is better off without vegetable 
food until after parturition. The lambs are not 
, so likely to be healthy if tiie roots are fed the 
. ewe before; but would feed roots if ho had them, 
after parturition. He pounds up potatoes and 
j turnips if he has them, and feeds to his nfirs- 
j ing ewes with meal, lie regards oil-cake 
. good at all times; but it is better to teed it 
. alter than before parturition, if fed to the ewe 
i when first pregnant, anil continued regularly, 
i there is little danger; but there is danger from 
feeding it shortly before delivery for the first 
l time: it will cause premature birth. Mr. K. 
*1 HAW ill Mr, K.’s Barn an extreme case. A tine ewe, 
sewn V >-um old. had dronved her lamb two w'-vU alter tlie 
tin,,.. It died without moving at. all- It had no vitality. 
This <!w8’s throat, when 1 saw her (13th Minch,) was swol¬ 
len aslant" "S a bowl a bard bunch. U was the worst 
cave that nod occurred in the (lock. And .'fit this animal 
was cheviot,' tier cud. eats and drink* well, retains her 
llesli, >*«'• the lamb winch she mire s (not her own) is in as 
line condition us any 1 saw in this flock. But tdie looks ill; 
her countenance is not good, her car* droop and it requires 
a good deal of effort to induce her to stir. 
