336 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
ufacturers of any thing. And again, I say, “what a 
fortune a Yankee could make here;” just come and see. 
The late drouth has curtailed our corn to perhaps 
less than one-half the usual crop; the oat crop is less 
than half, and tobacco about half. Corn is selling at 50 
cents the bushel, wheat 75 cents, oats 30 cents. Beef 
from $2 to $4; cows and calves, $8 to $16; common 
sheep, 75 cents to $1.50. Ordinary wool, 30 to 35 cents. 
Hire of man per month, $5 to $8; women, about nothing. 
This sheet, thus far written, has been lying on my 
table about ten days, during which time I have ascer¬ 
tained that my identifying the greensward as the Ken¬ 
tucky blue grass, is a mistake. I have both the green 
sward and Kentucky blue grass, but did not know till 
now what the latter was. The Kentucky blue grass 
grows in tufts very much the size and appearance of 
timothy, only that the blades are of a deep green color, 
and glossy appearance. It appears to be quite hardy, 
growing both late and early, and both in wet and dry 
weather. 
The tobacco crop is now improving wonderfully, so 
that in the state perhaps three-fourths of the usual crop 
may be marketed. 
I desire to say a few more words in reference to our 
mountain lands. Thousands of cattle are annually fatted on 
the mountains of Amherst, and thousands of acres on 
which they roam may be bought for one shilling, and 
perhaps less. 
I suppose it is useless to tell either a Yankee or New- 
Yorker that the wool growing on a sheep is proportionate 
and adapted to the climate in which he is, and hence one 
advantage or profit in feeding sheep on mountains. Sheep 
are very healthy, and liable to but few diseases here. 
I have not noticed a sheep with rot for several years; 
and as to foot-rot I never heard of a case in the state. 
The greatest pest to our sheep is the worm in the nos¬ 
tril, which is often mistaken for the rot; and although 
irrelevant, I will take occasion to say, those worms m ty 
be dislodged and cast out, by laying the sheep on 
his back and pouring a spoonful of oil or melted lard 
in each nostril. 
A flock of sheep can feed plentifully on our mountains 
till near Christmas, and through the winter they can be 
supported mostly by the growing rye; the snows being 
light and seldom lying more than two or three days. 
Suppose a flock of 600 sheep. 
Sheep account. Dr. 
To wages, one man 12 months,. $100.00 
“ “ one boy “ . 25.00 
“ finding man and boy,. 75.00 
“ feeding 600 sheep the winter,. 300.00 
$500.00 
Cr. 
By 150 old and young sheep sold,. $225.00 
“ 2000 lbs. wool sold, at 35 cents,. 700.00 
$925.00 
Annual profit on $500 cost,.$425.00 
A man and boy can attend 1000 sheep, which is per¬ 
haps as many as should be together, even in a healthy 
region. 
This estimate does not give a just profit, but let it for 
ti. * present suffice. Za. Drummond. 
Amherst Co., September 10f/&, 1845. 
REMEDY FOR « THE HOOKS.” 
Mr. Editor —The remedy you give for the hooks, in 
the September No., is cruel and unnecessary. Mr. 
Yoinatt, in his book on the horse, describes the hair, 
commonly called hooks, as a cartilage that wipes off the 
horse's eye, and keeps it clean. When the eye becomes 
inflamed, the Haw sometimes projects. The remedy 
which I have known successful in several cases, after a 
few days application, is to dissolve sixpence worth of 
white vitriol in a pint of rain water, and put a drop 
Or two in the corner of the horse’s eye, two or three 
times a day. I have been told by one who has seen the I 
effects of cutting out the haw, that the horses in every 
case became blind, not long after. Some weeks since, 
our family horse had a bad cough, the consequence of 
taking cold; after having it about ten days, I gave Ho- 
mcepathic remedies, twice a day, for a week, at the end 
of which time the horse was well, and has been ever 
since. Charles H. Tomlinson. 
Schenectady, Oct. 1st, 1845. 
THE SCAB IN SHEEP AND ITS CURE. 
Mr. Tucker —Until laeely, I was under the impres¬ 
sion that the flocks of this country were entirely free 
from this troublesome and infectious disease, but in 
some of the eastern agricultural papers, I perceive many 
complaints about it, and various cures suggested, which 
it would be wrong to let pass unnoticed. I am unable 
to say what causes the disease, but I do know that it has 
been for years, I believe I may say for centuries, a source 
of much trouble to the flock masters of Ireland, and that 
sheep coming off a journey, where they have been bought 
at some distant fair, have invariably shown symptoms of 
the disease, when the stationary flock has been entirely 
exempt from it. That it is infectious there is no ques¬ 
tion, and consequently every shepherd should be very 
careful to remove the infected sheep from the rest 
of the flock the moment he is discovered In its 
incipient stage it is easily subdued, but if allowed to take 
root without applying a cure, it is very difficult to get 
rid of. There is no excuse for a shepherd who under¬ 
stands his business, allowing it to make any headway, 
because the symptoms are so evident, that they cannot 
pass unnoticed, except from palpable and unpardonable 
neglect, or from ignorance. On the infected part, the 
color of the wool becomes changed, and is easily no¬ 
ticed; if the disease breaks out on the neck or shoulders 
or along the back, which is almost always the case, the 
sheep is constantly throwing up its head and bending its 
back, as it were to ease itself by that position; if a 
blotch occurs on any part of the body where it can turn 
its head to, it takes the wool in its mouth and endeavors 
to pull it out. When any of these symptoms occur, the 
sheep is certainly more or less diseased, and should be 
immediately taken and examined. The shepherd should 
always have by him a strong decoction of tobacco, into 
which should be put good coarse Liverpool salt, in the 
proportion of 1| bushels to 40 gallons; the older this 
tobacco water is, as it is called, the better, so as it loses 
none of its strength. The shepherd should have a quart 
bottle, into which to put his tobacco-water, stopped 
with a cork, through which a quill is put, similar to 
those bottles from which bitters are served at coffee¬ 
houses. If the skin is not very thick and hard, and will 
yield to the finger and thumb when squeezed, all that is 
necessary is to divide the wool over the infected part, 
and from the bottle through the quill, to pour the tobacco- 
water, and rub it, or rather scratch it well in with the 
nail of the finger; if the skin is very thick and will not 
yield to the squeezing of the finger and thumb, you must 
take the small blade of your penknife, and puncture the 
skin, closely all over the infected part, to the depth of 
one-eighth of an inch, then put on your tobacco water, 
and rub it as before well in with the nail. One such 
dressing is generally sufficient, but it may be that a 
second light dressing may sometimes be required. There 
are ointments recommended by many, the principal in¬ 
gredient of which is mercury, which should never be 
admitted to use by any good shepherd. First, if the 
sheep gets wet while under the influence of if, it is certain 
death to the animals; next,although such ointment will 
cure the disease, yet the remedy isasbad as the disease is 
itself, for it renders such portion of the fleece useless. It 
raises the scab from the skin and leaves it in the wool, and 
so disfigures it as to make it unsaleable; besides wherever 
the mercury touches the wool, it destroys its vitality, 
making it dry and brittle, and entirely useless to the man 
ufacturer for any purpose; moreover the sheep once 
dressed with this ointment never regains its constitution, 
and is liable every spring after, to peel off its wool, 
from those parts that were touched with the mercury. 
The tobacco juice kills the scab effectually, and doc 
