1853 . 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Horn Distemper, Horn Ail, Hollow Horn. 
These terms, as every fanner knows, are synonomous. 
They are used to represent a disease among cattle, which 
is usually described in the following manner:— 
Symptoms .—Coldness of the horn, dullness of the 
eyes, sluggishness, want of appetite, a disposition to 
lie down, and sudden and rapid falling off in milk. In 
severe cases, the animal tosses its head, utters a low 
moan, at interval?; and exhibits indications of great 
pain. 
These are the most prominent symptoms, but they are 
such as show themselves only after the disease is seated, 
and generally after the malady exhibits itself clearly 
enough to be easily distinguished as above, twenty-four 
hours decides the point whether the animal lives or dies. 
Now many diseases in the animal, as well as human 
species, which are considered sudden and rapid, have in¬ 
cipient stages, which the observing eye can and will de¬ 
tect and ward off, while the careless and negligent leave 
the matter too long, and often, in consequence, lose 
a valuable animal. 
We wish now to note the incipient stages in horn dis¬ 
temper, a careful attention to which we have never 
known to fail of warding off the severe form of the 
disease. 
First, then we will say, that horn distemper is gene¬ 
rally, although by no means always , the result of poor 
keeping and poor care during our long winter; some¬ 
times, however, whole families of cattle are liable to it 
from hereditary descent. 
When the disease is the result of poor keeping, it 
usually breaks out in the spring, some months or so be¬ 
fore time to turn out to pasture, but it sometimes hap¬ 
pens that animals of naturally good constitution, though 
threatened with the distemper, will weather through 
the foddering season, and after getting out to grass, will 
even get fat during the summer, but the seeds of dis¬ 
ease are within, only waiting an opportunity to break 
out, which usually'happens after the first cold storm in 
October. Every good farmer should have an eye to his 
cattle, he should never let a day go by without noticing 
them. Horn ail may most always be detected in its in¬ 
cipient stages., by observing the following. Some months 
or more before the breaking out of the disease in its 
acute form, the bowels of the animal seem looser, the 
dung is blacker and more fetid than usual, they eye is 
duller, the animal seems weak when walking, lacks ani¬ 
mation and is apt to loiter behind when driven in com¬ 
pany with other cattle, sometimes unnatural shivering 
after drinking takes place. In some cases, drops of wa¬ 
ter fall occasionally from the eyes, and clots of mucus 
from the nose. 
When any of the above symptoms present themselves, 
the following remedy should be administered, and here 
we will say, that we fir-st read of it in the Practical 
Farmer, 53 an admirable work published many years 
ago, and afterwards, some years since, in the Cultivator: 
6 table spoonsful Soot; 
Black Pepper; 
Ginger; 
Salt: 
i, and Indian meal enough to make a 
stiff batter. Mix all well together, and make it into 
four balls; give one morning and evening till gone. 
The four balls will generally effect a cure; should it not 
do so entirely, repeat the dose. We have seen it used 
in many cases, and have never known a failure. Even 
in the severest cases, we have great confidence in this 
remedy. When this fails, we place little reliance in 
boring the horns, slitting the tail, smoking the head, 
and a variety of other remedies often used. 
There is no difficulty in administering the above. 
Some cattle will take the balls from the hand, draw 
them in with their tongue, and swallow them immedi¬ 
ately ; if, however, they will not do this, put a pint of 
meal in a box or manger, cover the ball well with the 
meal, and while eating the meal, the animal will also 
swallow the medicine. By this mode of administration, 
all trouble of tying the creature up by the head, draw¬ 
ing out the tongue, &c., is avoided. 
We have known cattle with a constitutional tendency 
to horn distemper, that have became as tough and hardy 
as other cattle, by proper attention to the first stages of 
the disease. Hundreds of cattle are annually lost in 
the spring, after getting them through the winter, sim¬ 
ply for want of vigilence on the part of their owners; 
and if we can succeed in awakening attention to this im¬ 
portant subject, even with a few, we trust we shall not 
have written in vain. H. C. W. Putnam Valley. 
Best Sheep. 
Messrs. Editors —A correspondent inquires , ee What 
is the best kind of sheep ? 55 I have just received three 
from abroad, which appear to me to be in some re¬ 
spects superior to any I have before seen. They are 
the largest variety known, and have attained, in Eng¬ 
land, the enormous weight of over four hundred pounds. 
For symmetry of form, they are unsurpassed; the flesh 
is heavily laid on the most valuable parts, and the offal 
is light. They have great readiness to fatten, and have 
been proved, by actual experiment, to make more flesh 
and tallow from a given amount of food, than any other 
sheep. It has been decided by good judges that it is 
the best breed of mutton sheep in England. The fleece 
is heavy. The staple long, white and silky, affords more 
clean wool than any other variety. These sheep are 
called Improved Cotswolds, or New-Oxfordshires, and I 
received mine from the flock of John T. Andrew, Esq., 
of West Cornwall, Conn. Eli L. Holden. Claren¬ 
don, Vt., March 25, 1853. 
Lice on Cows, &e.—A correspondent of the Southern 
Planter, shys:—“ I saw in some agricultural work, per¬ 
haps your own, that the water in which Irish potatoes 
have been boiled, if applied to cows, &c., would kill lice 
upon them. I tried it several times with signal success, 
and a few days ago, ordered my boy to try it upon my 
cows, which, at this time of the year, genially are full 
of ticks; the result of which is, that the vermin have 
all taken their departure. 55 
Farming in New-Kampshire. 
Mr. Hiram Noyes of Lisbon, N. H., has a farm 
of 800 acres, on what is called Sugar Hill. The 
soil is a deep, black marl, rather stony. He raises 
from three to five hundred bushels of wheat annu¬ 
ally. He breaks up his sward land in September. 
In the spring he again plows and harrows well. 
Sows one and a half bushels of wheat to the acre, 
and at the same time puts on 100 pounds of plas¬ 
ter per acre. The variety is the Eed Bearded and 
Tea. Average crop from 20 to 25 bushels per 
acre. In the fall, after harvesting, he draws 25 
loads of well rotted barn-yard manure on to 
an acre—spreads and plows in. The following 
spring the land is again plowed, and prepared for 
a crop of potatoes. He plants the u Long John” 
variety. After the first hoeing he applies half a 
gill of plaster to each hill. His average crop is 
three to four hundred bushels per acre. In the 
three past years, 1850, r 51 and ’52, Mr. N. sold 
11,000 bushels of potatoes to a neghboring starch 
factory. For 4,200 of these he got 80 cents per 
bushel. He sold the remainder from 23 to 30cts. 
In the above years he reserved about 2,000 bush¬ 
els for home consumption. His potatoes are en¬ 
tirely free from disease. His beautiful farm in 
appearance, shows him to be a thorough and suc¬ 
cessful cultivator ; and his large crops, all yielding 
him a good profit, clearly demonstrate the truth, 
that by the application of intelligence and prac¬ 
tical knowledge to all matters of the farm, the 
the farmer may arrive to competence and wealth. 
W. A. W. Lancaster, N. H. 
