tai'ifT arrangements with the United States 
since the expiring of the old treaty, in the 
hope and belief that another one would soon 
be formed. But we begin to despair of this, 
and very naturally ask ourselves if the pres¬ 
ent one-sided system which gives United 
States products free access to our markets, 
but shuts us out from theirs, ought to con¬ 
tinue. But retaliation is quite foreign to the 
sentiments alike of our Parliament and peo¬ 
ple. Nothing will he done in that spirit. 
But self-defense and self-protection are 
mighty instincts and first laws of nature. 
Under their influence we must shape our 
commercial policy so as best to protect our 
own interests. It is impossible to disguise 
the tact that there is a strong and growing 
feeling throughout our Dominion against 
present tariff arrangements. At the Detroit 
Commercial Convention, held three years 
ago, ex-Vice-President Ham tux of Maine 
said ho did not believe in Free Trade in 
slices. Just so. Free trade on the Canadian 
side of the frontier, and Protection on the 
American side, is not quite the thing. For 
a nominal fee you flsh in our waters, and 
then put heavy duties on fish of our catch 
if we export them to your markets. Your 
breadstuffs come hero free; ours are taxed 
fifteen or twenty per cent, if they essay to 
cross the lines. Pennsylvania and Ohio coal 
comes hr to Canada without duty,while Nova 
Scotia coal is barred out of the United 
States. Your Onondaga salt comes here 
free, while our Goderich salt, a new and 
choice product, cannot get a market, though 
it is a for better article thau is yielded by 
the New York salt works. Be not surprised, 
then, if a public sentiment comes into ex¬ 
istence among us that will change the pres¬ 
ent state of things, and do not. impute such 
a movement to a spirit of retaliation, for it 
lias its origin in no such feeling, but in a pub¬ 
lic sense of justice, fair play, and legitimate 
self-protection. 
Ontario Fruit Crower*' Association. 
This useful organization has been stimula¬ 
ted of late to fresh activity by legislative en¬ 
couragement and aid. Among other praise¬ 
worthy endeavors, it offers the following pre¬ 
miums for 1870: 
1. A n honorary medal to the originator of 
an}' new fruit, which, after testing, is found 
worthy to he recommended for general cul¬ 
tivation. 
3. Fifty dollars for the best new seedling 
lute winter apple. 
.'!. Thirty dollars for the best seedling har¬ 
vest apple. 
4. Twenty dollars for the best seedling au¬ 
tumn apple. 
5. Thirty dollars for the best essay on the 
cultivation of the raspberry, blackberry, 
strawberry and currant 
(i. Fifteen dollars for the second best essay. 
7. Twenty-live dollars for the best collec¬ 
tion of insects injurious or beneficial to the 
various kinds of fruits. 
These are small sums to offer as premiums, 
but it is gratifying to see something done by 
way of recognition of the importance and 
value of such services to jiomology and hor¬ 
ticulture. 
properly observed, we consider it as sure a 
one as those which in this and other diseases 
arc commonly termed “ sure cures.” 
We would advise the. mixture of no other 
ingredients with blue vitriol in the hot solu¬ 
tion. They might be harmless, and possibly 
beneficial. Bui they are unnecessary—and 
we cannot always be certain that two ihiugs 
which would bo separately good, will not, 
when united impair each others effects. It 
is an excellent maxim to 44 let. well enough 
alone.” 
lent flock master, whose statements are as 
reliable as any man’s in the State, informs 
us that three years ago he hud a flock of 
sixty Merino ewes and forty lambs affected 
From unavoidable causes 
anafcian Otpartiumt 
usbanbrg 
EDITED BY W. F. CLARKE. 
with hoof rot. 
they were entirely neglected from the 20tli 
of June to the 1st of October. The flock 
got very lame, and many of them had mag¬ 
gots in their feet, and but a shell of the hoof 
remaining. At the last named date he boiled 
tobacco leaves (of his own raising) to a 
strong decoction, put in all the blue vitriol 
that would dissolve, pared the feet, of each 
sheep carefully and thoroughly, and then 
set it in a trough containing enough of the 
hot liquor to cover the fetterlocks. It was 
held there until another sheep was ready to 
go in—averaeiug probably about live min¬ 
utes. The heat of the water was constantly 
kept up. The sheep were then let into a 
dry yard for a couple of hours, and after¬ 
wards allowed to go to their pasture, which 
was also dry A week afterwards the en¬ 
tire flock was again submitted to the same 
treatment, and the sheep whose feet ap¬ 
peared to be sound were thrown out, so that 
they were not submitted to the third pro¬ 
cess, which took {dace, the same as before, 
at the end of another week. The flock was 
entirely cured by this treatment, and has not 
had a lame sheep in it since. It is worthy 
of remark that during these processes, and 
during the remainder of the season, the 
sheep were kept in the same pastures they 
had run on, in their diseased condition, aW 
the preceding summer. This is a significant 
commentary on the views of those who 
imagine that drenching rains and even the 
snows of winter are not sufficient “ to get 
the contagion ont of the land I” Lutueu 
Baker of Fayetteville and Frank Jerome 
of Pompey subsequently cured their flocks 
permanently by the same treatment. 
Our original process was equally effectual, 
and required considerably less labor and ex- 
penso. Bin it was, we think, specially 
favored by circumstances. In both cases it 
took place at the setting in of winter when 
the ground was frozen In cold weather the 
ulcers of hoof rot do not ordinarily dis¬ 
charge any matter to inoculate healthy feet; 
and, thus, when the remedy was applied we 
may suppose there were no eases of the dis¬ 
ease in the stage of incubation, i. e., where 
inoculation had taken place but was not yet 
followed by the actual disease. This was an 
advantage, unless we are to suppose the 
solution of vitriol would act as a preventive 
us well as a cure. The frozen ground also 
kept all mud and moisture from the feet 
when the sheep were out of their stables; 
and the dung produced on dry keep, and in 
well littered stables, neither moistened nor 
dirtied their feet. 
For greater certainty of success—to make 
a margin for a less perfect preparation of the 
feet—we would advise at least two parings 
and immersions of the feet In all cases; and 
in the season of pasturage, when inoculation 
could be going on, and when it would be far 
more difficult to keep moisture and dirt from 
the feet, we would counsel the third repeti¬ 
tion of the process throughout the entire flock 
—not discharging any as cured at, the end of 
the second one, as Mr. Baker did. Blue 
vitriol has the great advantage that when 
applied to a well foot it does not make the 
skin between the toes sore (and thus possibly 
render inoculation more easy,) as do the 
strong acids with which many persons treat 
this disease. The second and third pro¬ 
cesses require comparatively little {taring; 
and it is best, when one’s hand is in, to 
“ make a sure thing of it" at a little addi¬ 
tional cost. 
Whether it is best to use water or a decoc¬ 
tion of tobacco in the hot vitriol bath, may 
depend upon circumstances. The ivatcr is 
sufficient. The vitriol effects the cure. But 
tobacco decoction is an admirable applica¬ 
tion to ulcerated surfaces on sheep. It is 
the deadly enemy of parasitic insects whether 
In sores or on the skin. We are inclined to 
think it produces healing effects. Therefore 
if the stems or imperfect leaves can be pro¬ 
cured cheaply enough, we would use it; 
otherwise we would use water. 
In this as in other processes of treating 
hoof rot, we think the feet should not for 
some time be exposed to wet or dirt, to 
wash off, dilate, or absorb the application, 
or relax the tissues. We thiuk it would be 
safer not to allow the sheep to run on grass 
wet with rain or dew, for several days — 
indeed, we should prefer, though it might 
not be absolutely necessary, to have their 
feet kept dry, except when in the bath, dur¬ 
ing the whole course of treatment. 
Wc have often known flocks in skillful 
hands cured by applyin, 
H. S. RANDALL, LL. D., EDITOR, 
Of OonrtJ.M> Villas*. Cosmic Covxty, New York. 
OUR CANADA LETTER. 
Wool Industry— The Tariff.—The following Is 
from the annual report of the Commissioner of 
Agriculture: 
“ A period of depression has been realized by 
our wool growers during the past four years, 
which has been shared by all other wool-grow¬ 
ing countries, but which has been greatly modi¬ 
fied und relieved by the operation of the present 
tariff, which has prevented the utter prostration 
of this necessary brauch of Industry in the pres¬ 
ent, and assured Its vapid recuperation in the 
future. A sufficient quantity of carpet wools, 
not produced in this country, has been admitted 
from abroad at low rates of duty; a sufficiency 
of most grades of clothing wools has been pro¬ 
duced at home and sold at lower prices than 
when foreign wools wore admitted at nominal 
rates, and an Impetus has boon given to the pro¬ 
duction of combing wools, which will not only 
greatly benefit the textile) interest, but improve 
the quality and the quantity of mutton in the 
markets of the bind. Dissatisfied with the pres¬ 
ent receipts and gloomy over future prospects, 
many farmers have sacrificed a portion of their 
flocks during the past year. It is estimated that 
four millions of culls worn killed for pelts and 
tallow. American agriculture, in all its branches, 
la peculiarly eubjot l to periods of elevation and 
depression from the impulsive notion which 
stimulates over-productlrm at one tiino. follow¬ 
ed by panic abandonment of the temporarily 
unprofitable pursuit. The wool interest has 
often suffered, not merely front ordinary causes 
of fluctuation, but. more disastrously still from 
tariff changes, frequont and extreme a-* well as 
unexpected. It Is essential to the welfare of 
this important industry, that the present mod¬ 
erate schedule of duties should bo continued 
without modification.’* 
11 congregation." It is often said: “You 
can cure a few sheep of hoof rot, but not a 
flock.” And under the treatment of a great, 
majority of even pretty careful flock masters, 
experience seems to corroborate the truth of 
that remark. We kuow flocks not exceed¬ 
ing one hundred in number, which have 
been “ doctored" for the malady for more 
than two consecutive years—doctored care¬ 
fully in the opinion of their owners, and usu¬ 
ally as often as the flock exhibited much 
lameness—yet they retain the disease linger¬ 
ing among them. If the season is dry, the 
laud dry and the pasturage moderately 
short, but very few cases will occur in sucli 
flocks, particularly so if those which do oc¬ 
cur receive timely attention. If the season 
is wet, or the laud wet, or the grass long so 
as to retain moisture—and especially if two 
or more of those conditions concur—a good 
deal more care will be required; and some¬ 
times the disease will display considerable 
of its original contagiousness and virulence. 
It is not to be -wondered at that sheep 
farmers Bhould get thoroughly tired of fight¬ 
ing this long battle unsuccessfully; or that, 
ou the recurrence of a peculiarly bad season, 
exciting and spreading the disease again, 
they should become discouraged and sacri¬ 
fice their flocks at almost any price. This 
has often happened. In the present depres¬ 
sion of sheep husbandry, it has not required 
bad seasons to consign multitudes of good 
flocks to the “ pel ter,” which, had they not, 
had this disease lingering among them, 
would have been resolutely preserved by 
their owners. 
Can hoof rot he cured in flocks ? That is, 
can it be cured by tbc exercise of that de¬ 
gree of skill which the average of farmers 
can and will employ, after having a fair 
share of experience in treating the disease ? 
All the real skill required is in the prepara¬ 
tion of the foot for the application of the 
remedy, This preparation consists in so 
paring away the hoof that every ulcerated 
part of the foot win be brought freely, and 
for a sufficient time, in contact with the 
remedy employed. There arc some other 
conditions requisite to successful treatment, 
but those require no exhibition of skill. Wo 
now answer our question above by saying 
that we clo not believe a majority of farmers 
and such help as they employ will ever ex¬ 
ercise the requisite skill to prepare the foot 
for the successful application of remedies, if 
they are applied in the ordinary way. . By the 
ordinary way, we mean by a swab or stick, 
or brush, or by squirting them through a 
goose quill in the cork of a bottle. 
The preparation ot the foot is frequently a 
nice operation. It requires a familiar knowl¬ 
edge of the appearances of the disease, close 
attention, careful cutting and proper instru¬ 
ments to cut with. If ninety-nine sheep out 
of the hundred have their feet properly pared, 
and a single ulcer so far covered up that the 
remedy will not sufficiently reach it remains 
in one of the feet of the hundredth sheep, 
the flock is not cured—that single nicer will 
run its course, and will lead by degrees to 
the re-inoculation of the flock. To meet this 
difficulty we, many years since, after paring 
the lioofs of a flock as careflilly as wc could, 
tried the experiment of immersing the feet 
in a hot vitriol bath, in this wise:—Into a 
tub which will conveniently hold two sheep 
we poured a saturated solution of blue vitriol 
and water as hot as it could be made and not 
scald. The liquid was about four inches 
deep, and was kept hot by adding to and 
changing it. Two sheep's feet were pared 
and they placed standing in the tub, where 
they were held by an assistant. When a 
third one was ready the first was taken out, 
and so on. About five minutes were con¬ 
sumed in paring the feet of each, so that 
every sheep stood in the hot liquor about ten 
minutes. The hot liquid penetrated to every 
cavity of the foot where ulceration could ex¬ 
ist, and doubtless bad a far more decisive 
effect on the ulcers than would have beeu 
produced by only momentarily wetting them. 
The flock, consisting of one hundred, were 
perfectly cored by this one application. A 
number of years afterwards we cured a flock 
of iambs, equally promptly and effectually, 
in the same way. 
Some comparatively recent cases of the 
same k.nd have come under our notice, 
which we record with great satisfaction. 
Chester Baker, Esq., of Lafayette, Onon¬ 
daga Co., N. Y,. an experienced and excel- 
Tiio first of theesses was published In Sheep 
Husbandry in the South, in 1S18, and both in the 
Practical Shepherd In t8t>«. We presume that they 
have also been heretofore published in this depart¬ 
ment. 
The Necessity and Profit of Keeping Sheep.— 
C. L. Flint, Esq., Secretory of the Massachu¬ 
setts Board of Agriculture, in Uls address at 
Martha's Vineyard Pair, spolce as follows on the 
above subject#:— 1 “Ho did not mean to Imply 
that sheep husbandry may not he made equally 
profitable, when fallowed intelligently as a spe¬ 
cial object, of attention. It lias Us ups and 
downs, like any other special pursuit, hut in 
the Ions run it may be made as profitable as any 
other branch of farming. And, indeed, whore 
grain growing is adopted as a loading pursuit, us 
it often Is at the West, It becomes almost neces¬ 
sary to unite sheep husbandry with it as another 
permanent Interest. 
** Sheep husbandry, intelligently followed, may 
bo mada to keep up the fertility of a farm, that 
is constantly liable to exhaustion by the contin¬ 
ual growth and sale £f..rr«iln. Sheep, also, can 
bo made to work up the surplus straw ou the 
farm, whioh should go into the sheep-yard, to 
be trodden down Into a nob and very valuable 
manure. In England, a oountry that offers us 
many valuable loosens In progressive agricul¬ 
ture, it la oonsldei'e^Ah Important and essential 
element in an improved system of farming. 
Work Uup Into manure, therefore, and apply it 
to the corn crop. By moans of sheep or well 
selected cattle, you can maintain tbe fertility of 
your 1 iuub-, and. Indeed, Increase their produc¬ 
tiveness." 
ly ripened. The summer of 1869 has beeu 
an exceptional one, but its great lesson,—the 
importance of underclnnniag,—ought not to 
go unheeded. For want of drainage, crops 
were put in late,—tardy growth, late matu¬ 
rity, harvesting under difficulties, or in the 
face of impossibilities,—all followed from the 
same cause. In a dry hot season, like that 
of laat year, we are taught the importance of 
drainage too, for a porous, aerated soil, is far 
lees effected by drouth and heat than one of 
opposite character. 
Our Legislature has just passed a Drainage 
Act, of which I will try to give you an out¬ 
line in my next. Surely there is no direction 
iu which a Government can better promote 
the interests of agriculture than this, and in 
so far as law can facilitate and encourage the 
underdraining of farms, it should he made to 
do so. 
Alitiko Clover. 
In your issue of Nov. 13 Alsilce clover Ib 
spoken of an fast taking the place of red 
clover in some parts of Canada. Th« is, 
I think, a stronger statement than the facta 
will sustain, although the value of Alsike is 
beginning to be understood among our farm¬ 
ers. In the immediate neighborhood of 
Brooklin, Out., the Alsikc is probably super¬ 
seding red clover, thanks to the experiments 
ami efforts of Mr. 11. M. Thomas, who has 
been at great pains, first to test, and then to 
make known, the excellence of this clover. 
His efforts arc being rewarded by a larger 
demand for seed than ho can possibly sup¬ 
ply, and 1 believe there is no better quality 
of seed than that raised by him. But, taking 
Canada as a whole, it is only hero and there 
a farmer who grows A Bike. Tt, is, however, 
an encouraging circumstance that the seed 
is in great request, and 1 doubt not that fair 
trial of it will fix a reputation for it that will 
make it rank as one of our staple and indis¬ 
pensable crops in a farm rotation. It yields 
more to the acre than reel clover, makes good 
hay after the seed Is Ihraslicd out of it, flour¬ 
ishes in low, wet. places where red clover 
will not grow at all, is greatly relished by 
all kinds of stock, both a3 green forage and 
winter fodder, and finally, makes the finest 
bee pasturage of any plant that can be raised 
to advantage in these latitudes. Such a cat¬ 
alogue of excellences must insure its wide 
cultivation w hen it becomes more generally 
known. 
Reciprocity • 
Is it safe to say anything oc. this subject 
in your columns? I advert to it for two 
Leicester Sheep,— pure bred, are asked for by 
a correspondent of Rural. Let those who havo 
them tor sale udvertlse; let those who want thorn 
look in our advertising columns. 
mumt Information 
nan 
CURE FOR CORNS. 
The Journal of Applied Chemistry say3: 
“ Soak the feet well in warm water, then 
with a sharp instrument pare off as much of 
the corn as can bo done without pain, and 
bind up the part affected with a piece of 
linen or muslin thoroughly saturated with 
sperm oil, or what is better, the oil which 
floats upon the surface of the pickle of her¬ 
ring or mackerel. After three or four days 
the dressing may be removed, and ihe re¬ 
maining dead cuticle removed by scraping, 
when the new skin will he found of a soft 
and healthy texture and less liable to tho 
formation of a new corn than before. We 
have, this recipe from a source which wo 
cannot well doubt, and publish it for the 
benefit of many suffering readers.” 
The pain occasioned by corns may be 
greatly alleviated by the following prepara¬ 
tion :—Into a one-ounce phial ask a druggist 
to put two drachms of muriatic acid, and six 
drachms of rosewater. With this mixture 
wet the corns night and morning lbv three 
days. Soak the feet, every evening in warm 
water without soap. Put one-third of the 
acid into the water, and, with a little pick¬ 
ing, the com will be dissolved .—Jessie JPiesse. 
MEMORANDA. 
English Drum ml for Beeswax. — A circular 
issued by A. ft. Macrae, Produce Broker of Liv¬ 
erpool, Oct. 86th, calls attention to the exten¬ 
sive demand in Europe for American beeswax, 
as follows: 
American apiarists &ro perhaps not. genera)ly 
aware of the enormous consumption of tho 
above article in Europe, and tho pre-eminent 
value of the United States’supply. Independ¬ 
ently of the very largo yield of mineral and 
vegetable waxes, England alone must consume 
sonic S.OCO Ions a year, to the value of, say 
$2,100,000! Tts worth is assessed by color, purity 
and melting point, and the latter process readily 
exposes adulteration or foreign matter. To¬ 
day's quotations, taking gold at- 131, are ns fol¬ 
lows, viz.; 
American bright pressed yellow..4ii <$S le, F tb 
44 rough mixed “ ..43 4 
West Indian 44 . .■ilhO'T ;1 T.'o. 14 
East Indian 44 ..il’iGWjc. 44 
African 44 44 
As an instance of the consumption, it ruay bo 
mentioned that one European palace alone is 
said to burn ten thousand wax candles nightly! 
Sweet Milk for Been.—W. B. Winter, Kees- 
ville, N. Y„ writes us ho has a swarm of bees he 
is feeding, and asks If sweet milk is good for 
taem. He lmd scon a statement that German 
apiarians say that it is ihe best substitute for 
honey, has tried it and finds the bees eat it very 
well, lie asks if he shall feed It or buy sugar, 
and if it will pay to food thorn rye meal. Lot 
men of experience answer. 
Movable Comb Hives.—“Is there any descrip¬ 
tion of moveable comb hive not covered by a 
patent? What does It cost annually to use the 
Langatroth patent for, tay, twenty-live hives?” 
So asks a correspondent. In answer to the first 
question, wo do not know of any; the second 
inquiry wo cannot answer. 
ig remedies in the 
usual way, hut every experienced sheep 
farmer knows that in a great majority of 
eases they are not so cured. And many of 
the flocks said to he cured, are sure to de¬ 
velop the disease again when unfavorable 
conditions occur and continue for any con¬ 
siderable length of time. We believe tho 
hot vitriol bath is by far the surest remedy ; 
and when the paring is reasonably good, and 
the other conditions we have mentioned are 
January C’arc of Bees.— L. C, Waite, in Rural 
World, says:—“Some apiarians recommend en¬ 
largement of entrance-, of hives and removal of 
shade before them, oil some warm day of this 
month, to give tho bees an opportunity to tiy 
and discharge their fasces, which is it good idea. 
Great care should 1)0 taken, however,’that the 
day selected is really warm; for if the air is 
chilly aud the wind strong, many will perish.’’ 
remove Dirt from the Lye.—Take a hog’s 
, double so as to form a loop. Lift the 
.nd gently insert the loop up over tfio 
. aieh will occasion no disagreeable feeling. 
‘ose tho lid down upon the bristle, which 
„,ow be withdrawn. The dirt will surely bo 
t the bristle 
