217 
APRIL S 
T 
3*9£W-V©RICER. 
alarmingly frequent in Massachusetts, Penn¬ 
sylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and the 
affected area seems to be continually increas¬ 
ing in size. If I have been rightly informed, 
it is only within the laBt few years that the 
dairymen of the States west of Ohio have suf¬ 
fered from its ravages. In the Southern States, 
I have only heard of it in exceptional cases. 
A Commission was appointed to investigate 
the disease in New York fourteen years ago, 
and considerable information was collected in 
regard to the more apparent phenomena of the 
trouble, but no discoveries were made that 
would enable the farmer to control it. If this 
commission had been composed of veterina¬ 
rians, instead of physicians, it is possible that 
more would have been ascomplished; for, with 
due respect to the medical profession, it must 
be admitted that physicians cannot be as well 
qualified for investigating the diseases of ani¬ 
mals, as are those who make these a specialty. 
The Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture has, 
also, had a committee at work on this matter 
during the last year, 1 believe, if, indeed, it is 
not Ft, ill engaged at it. 
Just what the auuual losses amount to, taking 
the whole country over, it is impossible to say; 
but if the estimate above mentioned, in regard 
to one State, approached the truth, then these 
must amount to from ten to fifteen millions of 
dollars, or three-fourths as much as the losses 
from swine plague. I am inclined to think 
that this estimate is much too large, but, at 
the best, it i6 a very serious matter. 
Now, why is it that this trouble has increased 
to this extent, when twenty-five years ago, it 
was almost unknown in the United States ? 
Why do its ravages continue to be greater 
from year to year ? And why is it extending 
over States ouce almost entirely free from it? 
We know that abortion may be produced by 
a blow or fall, by diseases of the uterus or of 
its contents, by any serious disease affeeting 
the cow, and by a number of other causes of 
lees general iuterest; but these oauseB affect 
but a single individual, while practically whole 
dairies are affected; so that there must be 
something beyond these, which produces it. 
It is known, lor instance, that a cow aborting 
in a stable induces the same trouble in others 
surrounding her—why ? Abortion ha6 been 
traced, says a celebrated French veterinarian, 
to the miasm arising in hot weather from the 
decomposing organic matter of half-dried 
marshes, and how much more should we ex¬ 
pect such a result from the terribly fwtid odor 
often arising from the retained and decom¬ 
posing membranes of these animals. The con¬ 
clusion of the New York Commission, that the 
trouble was sometimes introduced into the 
dairies by a cow coming from a farm where it 
was known to exist, would, also, favor this 
view. 
It is impossible, however, to explain a vast 
number of well ascertained facts by this theo¬ 
ry; for many dairymen become so impressed 
with the fact of the disease being induced in 
this way that they remove the affected animal 
immediately, and long before any such decom¬ 
position could take place—and still the other 
cows are not spared. Were the succeeding 
cases, then, due to the animal first affected, or 
were there causes connected with the food and 
surroundings, ucuug upon all alike and caus¬ 
ing the disorder, irrespective of the preceding 
case ? The first fact in support of the latter 
supposition is, that although a single dairy 
may suffer to an extreme degree, this is sur¬ 
rounded by other perfectly healthy dairies in 
the same district, and this in the worst affected 
sections of the country. This would lead us to 
infer that there is a local cause. Thus, too 
great inclination of the floor of the stable may 
uudoubiodly produce the disorder, and this, 
acting alike ou all the cows in the stable, 
affects a certain number of the animals, and 
ouch of these being peculiarly liable to it the 
two succeeding years, would give us at ouce 
an cuzootio outbreak of the trouble. So with 
improper food—lhat of which the animals 
must take into the stomach too much bulk to 
get the required quantity or nuti itiveelements; 
dhukiug very cold water immediately after 
coming from a warm stable; eatiug clover or 
other plants covered with frost, etc. These 
each act alike on all the animals ou the farm, 
and may cause the same derangement of func¬ 
tion in a large proportion of those exposed 
to them. 
There are similar causes which may act 
on all the animals of a considerable section 
of the country; thus, iu certain seasons the 
hay is of poor quality, and heuce a large bulk 
must be eaten for support. In other seasons 
the grasses are covered with ergot and similar 
cryptogamic growth which have a decided 
tendency to cause abortion; at other times, 
raiuy seasons, scarcity of food, etc., lead to de¬ 
bility and predispose to the affection. There 
is no doubt aiuoug professional men that each 
of these conditions may give rise to an enzootic 
of bovine abortion. 
dtill we arc not satisfied to look upon such 
pathogenic agencies a6 the foundation of the 
trouble which of late years has caused so much 
complaint. These causes have always existed 
to the same degree as at present, and yet epi¬ 
zootic abortion, as it is now called, is in this 
country a thing of the past few years; and 
more, it is an affection that is gradually ex¬ 
tending itself over sections that were previous¬ 
ly free from it; so that, If we would recognize 
the trouble as it exists, we must look beyond 
the effects of season, of food, of water; we 
cannot stop with the defects of the stables, 
with the miasm of marsheB, or with changes 
of temperature. There is something which 
rendcra the disease immeasurably more fre¬ 
quent now thau formerly. What is it ? 
There has been but one explanation offered 
that seems at all consistent with the facts as 
they occur, and that is that most cases arc the 
direct result of a pre-existing case of the same 
trouble. Are we to consider then that this is a 
contagious disease—one depending upon a 
specific germ which may be transferred with 
the same certainty of effects as is seen in the 
inoculating of other contagious maladies? 
This is a question that has long been debated, 
and for the solution of which we can, even 
now, only bring indirect observations. 
It would seem, however, that we must recog¬ 
nize a division line in the causes of this dis¬ 
ease—ranging on one side all those cases de¬ 
pending upon food and surroundings, and on 
the other those resulting from a pre-existing 
trouble of the same nature; and that it is the 
increase of the latter class which has caused 
the chief losses of our dairy districts. At the 
same time there have been many cases belong¬ 
ing to the former class, and the failure to make 
the distinction has caused much of the confu¬ 
sion and mystery surrounding the affection 
Some of the best authorities in the world are 
inclined to think that the disorder is a conta¬ 
gious one; that there is a principle, or germ, 
which may he transmitted from an affected to 
a healthy animal and produce the same speci¬ 
fic trouble in the latter. It has been found in 
the dairy districts of New York that on the 
worst affected farms an entire change of the 
cattle—selling off the old stock and buying 
new—would free the place from the scourge; 
and this, with the numerous instances in which 
the trouble is brought on a farm by introducing 
a cow from an affected dairy, is convincing 
evidence of the existence of some such princi¬ 
ple. I will relate a remarkable occurrence of 
this kind. 
I have said this disorder was rare iu the 
South; but, a few years ago. Col. Richard 
Peters, the veteran stock-breeder of Georgia, in¬ 
troduced it ou his farm in that State by im¬ 
porting a cow from a farm in Pennsylvania 
where the trouble existed; and not only did 
his pregnant cows abort, but his young heifers 
became sterile. These barren heifers, with the 
exception of two of his choicest, wore then 
sent to Lookout Mountain to pasture during 
the summer, and while there all became preg¬ 
nant; but the two which remained at home 
continued incapable of conception. 
Here there was evidently some pathogenic 
action beyond a sympathy between pregnant 
auimalB; there was something besides the odor 
of the after-birth; something that cannot,be 
explained by a nervous irritability or by a 
spontaneous affectiou of the brain, A cause 
that acted both on impregnated and virgin 
animals; a cause from which these animals 
might be removed and recover their normal 
condition. 
Franck and Roloff, in Germany, have at¬ 
tempted some investigations which show that 
smearing the vagina of a healthy animal with 
the discharge of a cow that has aborted, was 
sufficient to induce the malady; and they have 
examined these discharges microscopically 
aud detected bacteria, to which they attribute 
the pathogenic action. They have also shown 
that the abortion is preceded by heat, redness 
and swelling of the generative organs—that is, 
by a congestion or incipient inflammation. 
Finally, antiseptics, and particularly chlorate 
of potassa (half ounce daily), have proved de¬ 
cidedly beneficial in cases where the disease 
was fairly under way ; and this is accepted by 
many as an argument iu favor of the conta¬ 
gious character of the affectiou. 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
Opium Eating. —We find the following in 
iu the "Hour”: "As with alcohol, paiu aud 
sorrow are often the starting points for the 
habitual use of opium. Its peculiar auodyue 
properties soothe body and mind, it is of 
great value as a medicine ; but it becomes an 
irresistible tyrant when used habitually. When 
its effects are fully developed by loug-couuuued 
indulgence, the eye becomessunken aud glassy, 
the skin of a bronzed or muddy hue, the 
speech thick, the lips fissured, the face hag¬ 
gard and cadaverous, and the physical faculties 
generally deranged. The mental and moral 
conditions of the patient suffer to au alarming 
extent- A desire ior other stimulants is olten 
excited by the use of this strauge anodyne ; 
obligations, also, are forgotten, and a disregard 
or truth is characteristic of the victim. In 
short, body and mind become stupified and 
poisoned. Of course, all do not use it to the 
same excess, and some persons are so consti¬ 
tuted that the repetition of a first dose is 
prevented by the painful reaction, causing an 
extreme faintness and nausea, for which the 
first soothing influence is no compensation. 
But many experience scarcely any of this at 
first, and the delicately organized woman, 
whose will is weak and whose nerves are over¬ 
strung, who suffers, perhaps, from neuralgia, 
finding immediate relief in opium, is in great 
peril of becoming a victim to its influences. 
There is no lack of illustrations of the effects 
of this drug, as treatises on the abuse of opium 
and the contessious of opium-eaters bear wit¬ 
ness. Iu this city there are numerous in stances 
of refined ladies who are under its control; 
and what is true of the higher walks of life is 
equally true of the lower.” 
“Although,” said Gen. Le Due, in the 
course of his late speech at Elmira, “I had 
been identified with agriculture and its pursuits 
for years, beyoud the reception of a few pack¬ 
ages and bundles of seeds, from time to 
time, from the Department at Washington, I 
had no knowledge of its workings. I had 
always supposed that there was something in 
the Department of Agriculture that was 
national in its character, and was not prepared 
to find that this Department was an adjunct to 
the government—holding no higher relations 
to it than a mere seed store for the benefit 
mainly of the members of Congress.” 
Coffee in Typhoid Fever. —Dr. Guillasse^ 
of the French Navy, reports that, in the early 
stages of the disease, coffee is almost a speci¬ 
fic against typhoid fever. He gives to adults 
two or three tablespoonsful of strong black 
coffee every two hours, alternating with one 
or two teaspoonslul of claret or Burgundy 
wine. The beneficial effect is immediate. 
A little lemonade or citrate of magnesia should 
be given daily, and after a while quinine. 
Moles in Gardens.— Touching this irre¬ 
pressible topic the London Farmer remarks 
that it has been very generally assumed that 
the great increase of grubs in the parks and 
gardens around Berlin is in consequence of 
the wholesale destruction of moles that has 
been carried ou of late years. It is said of the 
mole, as of the sparrow, that he eats more 
than his own weight of food every day, and 
if this were made up wholly or principally of 
insects and grubs iuimieal to the gardeners’ 
interests, this voracious appetite would, of 
course, be of valuable service. To determine 
this point a series of experiments has re¬ 
cently been carried out upon moles in confine¬ 
ment, under the auspices of the “Garten 
Direktion.” To one of these prisoners were 
given over-night a hundred and twenty large 
earth-worms and seventy grubs and caterpillars 
of different kinds, Iu the morning it was 
found that the mole had eaten nearly all the 
worms, but had left the rest of his provisions 
utterly untouched. On a second trial of the 
same kind all the worms were found to have 
been devoured, but only a very few of the 
grubs, which latter were probably only at¬ 
tacked when the supply of the former had 
been exhausted. Heuce it would appear that 
the mole in freedom renders but little assistance 
in the extirpation of grubs, etc., so long as 
plenty of other food is at hand. Similar ex¬ 
periments were made by the chief gardener 
in the Royal grounds at Potsdam, aud here, 
too, the resultB showed that the services of 
moles as grub destroyers are far outbal¬ 
anced by the mischief they do iu other ways. 
We think ou the whole that the friends of the 
mole are increasing. 
•* One Tired of Farming,” says in Mark 
Laue Express (London): " We are hoping 
and praying that we may have a good sum¬ 
mer. I fear my crops will scarcely pay for 
labor aud manure, aud nothing for rent and 
taxes. It is quite au exception to findaliberal 
landlord in this neighborhood, I have not had 
one penny abatemeut of reut, so I have noth¬ 
ing to be thankful for. I am glad to see many 
more generous. 
War Upon Insects.— With the approach of 
spring the fanner and gardener will be com¬ 
pelled to renew the war with various kinds of 
uoxious insects, aud it is well to make imme¬ 
diate preparations for the fight, by procuring 
a supply of the insecticides in common use. 
The first that is usually needed is ordinary 
flowers of sulphur, to scatter about the poultry 
yard and house, and especially in the nests 
where the fowls are laying. There are very 
few tpecies of parasites iutestiug poultry that 
can withstand the fumes of sulphur, aud there 
is uo danger of injuring the fowls by scatter¬ 
ing it about iu liberal quantities. The nest of 
every sitting hen should bo well dusted with 
sulphur, and wheu this is done the hen or her 
chicks will seldom be troubled with any of the 
numerous species of poultry lice that are 
usually more or less abundant wherever fowls 
of any kind are kept. 
Freshly slaked lime, well dried, is another 
insecticide that is very useful for destroying 
many of the pests that attack plants, and in 
most cases it may be used quite freely without 
danger of injuring anything but the insects. 
The asparagus slugs that often appear upon 
the young shoots in spring are readily de¬ 
stroyed by liberal applications of lime when 
the plants are wet with dew or rain. Lime is 
also useful in destroying and driving away 
various kinds of flea beetles that infest cabbage 
and cauliflower plants, slugs upon cherry and 
pear trees, cut-worms, and similar insect pests 
found in almost every garden and orchard. 
Strong hard-wood ashes and soot are also in¬ 
imical to a great many insects that, infest gar¬ 
dens : and as they are also excellent fertilizers 
they may be used freely in dnstiDg vegetables 
of all kinds, and especially melons aud similar 
vines. Every farmer and gardener should 
keep a barrel or two of ashes in a dry place, 
ready for use when wanted for dusting his 
plants. _ 
Toracco water or the fumes of burning to¬ 
bacco are death to nearly all of the aphis or 
plant-louse tribe of insects, as well as to many 
larger and equally noxious kinds. White hel¬ 
lebore has long been considered one of the 
most efficacious of all poisons for the imported 
currant worm ; but a New Jersey fruit grower 
of considerable experience finds strong tobacco 
water quite as good as the hellebore, and soon 
washed off by heavy rains, whereby the fruit 
is not rendered unfit for use, as when other 
and more virulent poisons are employed. To 
make a strong solution, put a half bushol or 
bushel of tobacco stems, or even the leaves, 
into a cask or barrel, and press down and hold 
in place with a stone or other weight; then 
pour on hot water enough to cover the tobacco 
and leave it for a few days to steep. After 
steeping, the cask may be filled up with wanm 
or cold water, and the solution is ready for 
use. If a half pound or pound of crude potash 
is added, o> a quart or two of soft soap is 
stirred in. the solutiou will be much improved, 
especially iu its destructive properties. After 
using the first liquid, the barrels may be filled 
again with water and left to steep a few days 
longer than the first time, or some fresh tobac¬ 
co may be added to give the solution the re¬ 
quired strength. Tobacco water is eertainly 
a cheap insecticide, and will frequently be 
found quite as efficacious as those that are 
more costly and troublesome to apply. The 
above uotes on insect destroyers we find in a 
late number of the N. Y. Sun. Although the 
same story has been told over a million of 
times, the hints are timely aud valuable. 
Evert observant man acquainted with city 
life must have seen that, in general, rural 
youth make a fearful mistake in t'Jfeking their 
fortunes in cities, and, therefore, that full sup¬ 
port should be given to every effort which has 
been, or will be made to advance the science 
and art of agriculture by meane of proper 
schools, so lhat this really noble pursuit shall 
have for the minds of our farmers’ children 
that first interest which their good and the 
good of the country demand. 
“ Englishmen can run alone." The 
American Stockman asks "Why should the 
Mark Lane Express not come boldly out and 
ask that a tax so heavy as to effectually pro¬ 
hibit all importations, be put upon American 
stock, dead or alive ?” If the writer of this 
silly question is a reader of the Mark Lane Ex¬ 
press he knows why perfectly well—he knows 
that the reason is because the Mark Lane Ex¬ 
press is opposed to any other kind of protec¬ 
tion in relation to imports than protection 
against disease. The Mark Lane Express 
leaves the nurse Protection to the babies of 
commerce in America and elsewhere and says 
that Englishmen can run alone. 
We may expect shortly to hear, says the 
Mark Lane Express, that the United States 
Government has put a prohibitory duty on 
Australian meat, as it is quite clear the Aus¬ 
tralian graziers can undersell American gra¬ 
ziers iu the markets of the latter. Then why 
should not the American grazier—pretty little 
dear!—be protected as well as the manufac¬ 
turing baby? _ 
In point of fact, writes an Englishman 
residing iu Chicago to the London Farmer, the 
Englishman coming here who will adapt him 
self to the conditions of society in this couutry 
can make as good an average of profit in farm¬ 
ing as in uuy other business. His principal ad¬ 
vantage would be that his capital, would allow 
him to own as much land as he would rent in 
England, and if the value ofthat laud doubled in 
a generation or less, the iucrease would go into 
his pocket instead of his landlord’s. The per¬ 
fecting and cheapening of transportation that 
are going on all the time, and the introduction 
of machinery into agriculture to still a greater 
extent, have the tendency to bring down the 
value of English land aud advance the price of 
Western land. It is not logical to suppose 
that land values will remain stationary under 
such altered conditions., 
