194 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  4,  189?. 
over  two  year*  old.  Ringworm,  too,  has  its  limits  of  being — 
that  is,  the  disease  will  die  out  of  itself  without  active  measures 
being  taken  for  its  suppression,  but  it  seems  a  folly  and  waste  of 
time  in  this  case  to  let  Nature  work  her  own  cure  when  she  takes 
from  six  weeks  to  three  or  four  months  to  do  it  in.  Not  only  is 
the  animal  losing  condition  during  that  time,  but  also  it  becomes  a 
grand  centre  of  infection. 
A  calf  in  a  thriving  condition,  well  fed  and  well  cared  for, 
will  soon  throw  off  the  disease.  A  weak  sickly  calf,  on  the  other 
hand,  seems  to  give  the  complaint  every  encouragement ;  the 
disease  does  not  die  out  of  itself,  and  remedies  fail  to  make  any 
impression.  This  parasitic  fungus  attacks  the  hair  of  the  patient, 
and  sets  up  an  irritation  of  the  skin  which  must  affect  the  nervous 
and  nutritive  functions. 
The  skin  becomes  rough,  and  is  covered  with  pimples,  which  in 
drying  and  dying  become  scurf.  This  scurf  and  the  hairs  are 
found  covered  with  spores  or  seeds  of  the  fungus,  which  readily 
germinate  and  grow  under  favourable  conditions. 
Ringworm  is  exceedingly  infectious,  and  exceedingly  hard  to 
get  rid  of.  Cases  have  been  authenticated  where  spore  has  re¬ 
mained  some  months  on  tree  bark  in  winter,  and  then  being  placed 
in  a  cultivative  media  has  grown  in  the  usual  manner.  A  tempera¬ 
ture  below  freezing  point  does  not  affect  the  fertility,  whilst 
warmth  and  moisture  favour  the  growth  of  the  spore. 
When  we  consider  how  spores  may  be  thus  disseminated  by 
the  diseased  animal  rubbing  itself  against  trees,  posts,  and  the 
like  ;  how  it  may  be  disseminated  by  the  droppings  of  impregnated 
scurf,  and  carried  on  the  bodies  of  lice,  there  is  little  wonder  that 
ringworm  is  so  prevalent.  With  care,  however,  this  infection  can 
be  dealt  with,  but  the  matter  must  be  taken  seriously  in  hand,  not 
treated  in  a  haphazard  way.  Manure  and  litter  should  either  be 
burned  or  ploughed  in.  After  the  floors  of  sheds,  posts,  and 
pillars  have  been  treated  to  a  wash  of  some  disinfecting  fluid,  then 
must  come  the  inevitable  lime. 
Where  infested  calves  have  been  on  grass  a  dressing  of  lime 
may  be  used  with  good  result.  Mouldy  old  sheds,  rotten  wood, 
decayed  vegetable  matter,  all  prove  most  excellent  hotbeds  for 
propagating  the  seeds,  and  a  little  trouble  should  be  taken  to 
remove  such  obvious  causes  of  danger.  As  to  the  treatment  of  the 
animal  opinions  differ  ;  whatever  dressing  be  applied  should  be 
applied  thoroughly.  The  scurfy  crust  of  the  scab  should  either  be 
washed  or  currycombed  off,  so  as  to  allow  the  curative  agent  free 
access  to  the  fungus  in  the  deeper  tissues.  Need  we  say  that  all 
this  extraneous  matter  must  be  carefully  removed  and  burned  ? 
Sulphuric  acid  with  glycerine  is  very  effectual,  and  should  be 
put  on  with  a  brush.  To  keep  the  rest  of  the  body  free  from 
attack  a  dressing  of  vaseline  will  be  found  most  serviceable. 
Warble  or  bot  fly  is  a  trouble  that  is  easily  combatted,  and  it 
seems  a  great  pity  that  farmers  should  be  so  apathetic  in  their 
efforts  to  remove  this  pest,  which  does  so  much  to  irritate  the 
genus  “  Bos,”  causing  cattle  to  be  ever  on  the  move,  tearing 
and  ragiDg  about,  doing  infinite  harm  to  the  milk  supply,  the 
immature  beef,  and,  above  all,  to  unborn  calves. 
We  talk  about  the  placid,  ruminating  cow,  but  how  can  she  be 
placid  or  ruminate  stung  to  madness  by  the  attacks  of  this  wretched 
fly  ?  The  female  fly  begins  to  lay  her  eggs  as  early  as  May. 
Maggots  have  been  found  in  November  on  the  flesh  side  of  the 
hide  ;  they  are  provided  with  a  fine  channel  up  through  the  hide. 
As  the  maggot  grows  it  assumes  a  club-shaped  appearance.  The 
tail  is  at  the  opening  in  the  skin,  and  through  the  tail  it  breathes. 
The  mouth  is  downwards,  and  feeds  on  ulcerated  matter  caused  by 
its  perpetual  suction  on  the  flesh  of  the  ox. 
The  maggot  must  breathe,  and  so,  therefore,  any  application  to 
the  tail  end  will  have  the  effect  of  choking  the  breathing  apparatus, 
or  running  down  into  the  hole  will  poison  the  maggot.  Get  rid  of 
the  maggot  the  beast  grazes  in  comfort,  and  the  wound  has  a 
chance  of  healing.  The  maggot  leaves  the  warble  hole  itself  when 
iull  grown  that  is  to  say,  about  1  inch  long.  Hidden  on  the 
ground  it  changes  to  a  chrysalis,  and  from  that  chrysalis  emerges 
the  warble  fly,  and  the  mischief  begins  again. 
The  maggots  may,  of  course,  be  squeezed  out  of  the  hide,  but 
a  little  dressing  or  dip  put  on  the  aperture  of  the  warble  hole  is 
equally  effectual.  Grease  of  any  sort  mixed  with  sulphur  and  tar 
can  be  used  without  any  risk.  Mercurial  ointment  requires  careful 
handling,  and  should  only  be  put  into  careful  hands.  Prevention 
being  better  than  cure,  a  dressing  of  train  oil,  sulphur,  and  spirits 
of  tar  rubbed  on  the  spine,  loin,  and  ribs  will  keep  off  any  attack 
by  the  fly.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  flies  will  not  pursue  cattle 
over  water,  nor  are  they  so  abundant  where  there  is  a  little  shade 
to  be  found. 
Not  only  is  damage  done  to  stock  by  the  c instant  irritation,  but 
the  hide,  in  itself  a  valuable  commodity,  is  spoiled  by  the  actual 
holes  left  in  it,  and  by  the  weak  places  that  have  only  partially  got 
skinned  once.  Miss  Ormerod,  who  is  a  great  authority  on  this 
question,  says  that  in  one  year  out  of  102, $77  hides  examined 
60,000  were  found  greatly  injured  by  the  ravages  of  this  fly. 
If  the  maggot  be  destroyed  before  it  gets  a  chance  of  leaving 
its  home  in  the  skin  of  the  bullock,  the  chances  of  warble  fly  in 
another  season  are  practically  done  away  with.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  the  annual  loss  occasioned  by  this  one  parasite  is 
not  less  than  £2,000,000,  and  possibly  far  exceeds  that  sum. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
A  few  fine  days  have  worked  wonders  to  the  land,  the  Cambridge  roll 
is  at  work  on  the  Wheat,  and  doubtless  here  and  there  the  drill  also. 
The  question,  “  What  to  sow  ?  ”  is  exercising  many  minds.  Prices  of 
spring  corn  have  been  very  disappointing,  both  Barley  and  Oats  being 
now  much  lower  in  price  than  was  expected  ;  whilst,  though  Wheat 
may  be  included  in  the  same  category,  yet  the  future  prospect  in  its 
case  is  much  brighter  than  in  the  cases  of  the  other  two,  the  world’s 
Wheat  supply  for  next  year  being  very  unlikely  to  be  an  excessive  one. 
There  is,  therefore,  good  encouragement  to  farmers  to  sow  a  little  spring 
Wheat,  but  it  must  be  put  in  at  once  ;  medium  to  light  soils  are  most 
suitable,  and  white  Wheat  is  the  best  to  sow.  There  is  no  better  Wheat 
than  Hunter’s  White  for  this  purpose. 
On  good  soil,  the  sooner  Oatd  are  in  the  better.  We  have  had  great 
satisfaction  from  a  white  variety  named  Catterick  Hero  ;  it  is  a  very 
heavy  cropper,  with  beautifully  fine  straw,  stands  better  than  any,  and 
the  quality  is  first-class,  which  may  be  realised  when  we  say  it  is  a 
favourite  for  racing  stable  use.  We  think  this  Oat  and  the  Black 
Tartarian  the  only  varieties  a  farmer  need  want. 
The  cross-cutting  of  fallows  must  be  attended  to  at  once,  and  the 
drag  and  harrow  will  shortly  have  their  turn  ;  light  lands  are  already  in 
fair  working  trim,  and  no  time  must  be  lost  in  giving  them  at  least  one 
dressing,  as  we  do  not  know  what  or  how  few  ohanceswe  may  have  later 
on.  A  crop  of  Twitch  got  off  now  is  as  good  as  two  in  May.  “  A  stitch 
in  time  ”  is  a  proverb  exceedingly  applicable  to  the  cleaning  of  land. 
Young  seeds  are  making  a  welcome  move,  and  some  fields  are  showing 
quite  a  nice  bite.  The  woodpigeons,  however,  having  eaten  all  the 
Turnip  tops  available,  are  now  paying  special  attention  to  the  young 
Clover,  and  very  injurious  is  the  result.  We  are  having  organised 
raids  on  these  birds,  every  available  gun  being  brought  into  requisition 
on  Wednesday  afternoons  to  await  their  arrival  in  the  woods  when  they 
come  home  to  perch.  A  large  number  may  be  killed  in  this  way  if  each 
gun  gets  but  three  or  four,  and  we  commend  the  system  to  other  districts 
where  woodpigeons  abound. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
OAMDBN  SQUARE,  LONDON. 
Lat.  61°  12' 40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8/0"  W.:  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
Rain. 
1897. 
February. 
|  Barometer 
at  32°, and 
1  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
leg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg 
Inchs. 
Sunday  ...  21 
30-316 
45-6 
40-7 
W. 
42-4 
51-6 
43-6 
85-2 
36-7 
— 
Monday  ..  22 
30-582 
50-1 
48-1 
N.W. 
42-2 
57  0 
41-6 
90-2 
35-4 
— 
Tuesday  ..  23 
30-621 
45-1 
44-3 
W. 
43-9 
53-4 
44-3 
75-1 
38-0 
Wednesday  24 
30-699 
46-7 
43-7 
W. 
43-9 
50-0 
45-3 
57-9 
37-1 
— 
Thursday . .  25 
30-238 
48-4 
46-2 
W. 
43-7 
62-2 
45-1 
68-4 
40-2 
— 
Friday  . .  26 
30-210 
51-9 
48-3 
w. 
44-9 
58-0 
48-4 
93-3 
44-1 
— 
Saturday  ..  27 
30-330 
44-8 
42  1 
N. 
45-0 
52-8 
43-8 
81-1 
35-9 
— 
30-414 
47-6 
44-8 
43-7 
53  6' 
45-2 
78-5 
38-2 
— 
REMARKS. 
21st. — Bright  sunshine  almost  throughout. 
22nd. — Mild,  with  much  bright  sun  in  morning. 
23rd. — Fine,  with  frequent  bright  sunshine. 
24th.— Fine  aDd  mild,  with  a  gleam  of  sun  at  4  P.M. 
25th.— Overcast,  with  high  wind  throughout. 
26th. — Mild  and  generally  sunny. 
27th. — Sunny  throughout. 
A  dry  week,  remarkable  also  for  uniformly  high  temperature.— G.  J.  Symons. 
