is inevitable. Neglect can and will only lead to unmitigated evil. If the people are willing to drink the milk of cows rotten with disease, and to give it to their children, as they have done in Boston, if they are ready to accept the alternative of having the beef of diseased animals brought upon their tables, I have no more to say. But if they desire to avoid that alternative, they will have to act promptly and strenuously for the eradication and stop of pleuro-pneumonia." It is to be hoped that this appeal to the legislators of Massachusetts, through the Governor of the State, will be heeded, and that thorough measures will be promptly adopted to entirely eradicate the disease. What millions of dollars worth of property would it rob us of in the Great West, if it should once fairly get hold of our cattle! In view of all the foregoing facts, we cannot too strongly urge upon our farmers who import stock from the East, or who buy of those who do import, the great importance of being sure that the stock they purchase is perfectly healthy, and free from this dread contagion. Salt for Cattle. The following extracts are taken from a prize essay by Dr. Tression, lately published in the Mark Lane (London) Express. them: Read of salt, lost seven individuals; the remainder In the Brazils and Columbia, flocks may be annihilated by being deprived of salt. M. Garriott, a member of the agricultural society of Lyons, assures us that the milk of cows subjected to a daily allowance of salt is richer in butter and cheese than when these same cows are deprived of salt. Sir John Sinclair, to whom agriculture owes much useful information, has observed that the habitual use of salt has a marked influence in improving the quantity and quality of sheep. Many English agriculturists have proved by direct experiments that a regular distribution of salt to cattle is especially useful in preventing hoove (meteorization) caused by feeding cattle with leguminous vegetables. have tried it, that when employed in proper And there exists no doubt among those who quantity, it increases the appetite, stimulates in the blood, improves the wool, or hair of the digestion, keeps up the normal supply of salt cattle, prevents disease, and, moreover, enables the agriculturist to fatten cattle upon food which they would not otherwise enjoy, without it were previously mixed up with salt. But there is another important consideration with regard to the regular distribution of salt to cattle, namely, its influence in preventing disease. Its daily use becomes of serious consequence when flocks and herds are menaced with those epidemic attacks which so frequently ravage a whole country at once, when a proper use of salt would either prevent them entirely, or at least reduce them to less disastrous proportions. During one of these epidemics, which sprang up about the year 1840, in the east of Europe, the almost The use of salt in the food of cattle must wild cattle of Uharine, Hodolia and Hungary, not be looked upon as a direct producer of were struck down in much greater numbers flesh, so much as a necessary element of the than those of Silesia and Bohemia, where the economy, without which animals are apt to cattle-breeders habitually distribute salt to perish from disease, but with which the body their beasts. Advancing towards the west, is kept in a healthy and normal state. Not this scourge diminished in intensity, and finalmany years ago, a German agriculturist, Uber-ly ceased to show itself in Germany, where acker, brought forward an experiment which particular attention is bestowed upon cattle, is in direct accordance with this opinion. and where salt has been for many years conWishing to obtain some exact notion of the stantly employed. influence which salt exercised upon his sheep, In Great Britain, in the best farmed disthe flocks of which lived in a low, damp pas-tricts, we find the allowance of salt oscillating ture land, and received habitually a certain around the subjoined figures, taken as a cendose of salt, he fixed upon ten sheep, and tre of basis: struck off their usual allowance of salt. This remarkable experiment was continued for three years, with the following results: In the first year five of the ten died of rot and worms; in this year the remainder of the flock, 450 head, lost only four sheep. The second year a new lot of ten sheep, deprived ALLOWANCE OF SALT PER DIEM. Bullock or cow, one year old... 1 oz. 2. 07. 6 0%. 4 oz. Horses. It is generally admitted, whatever salt forms habitually a portion of the horse's diet, that this animal amply repays the slight Considered as a medicine, salt purges ani additional trouble or expense thus incurred. To mix salt with the food of the horse, colt, mals at the following doses: ass or mule, is a frequent practice in England Horses,.................................. 8 to 10 oz. and America. In these countries the usual Oxen.........................................................................................................................................10 to 16 oz. allowance for a full grown horse of middle height is about two ounces per diem. In Belgium the quantity of salt appropriated to a full-grown horse by the government is little more than one ounce per diem. Sheep.-The Romans gave to their flocks of sheep, every fifth day, an allowance of salt amounting to about half an ounce per head; and this is precisely the quantity which is employed in England and Saxony daily for sheep full grown and ordinary size. Numerous experiments have proved that salt is more beneficial to sheep than to any species of cat tle. Pigs. The best proportion to adopt as a basis appears to be, two-thirds of an ounce per diem for full grown pigs. In administering salt, unless it be used as a medicine, the more intimately it is mixed with the food, the better. This is not an easy matter with fodder, especially that which has been salted to preserve it, in which case we must endeavor to make a rough estimate of the amount of salt in a given weight of fodder, in order not to administer an injurious excess. In farms where oil or rape cake is given in powder, this being rather an indigestible food, the allowance of salt should be mixed with it in preference to any other fod der. | Sheep.. Dogs. 2 to 3 oz. 1 to 2 oz. It becomes a poison at the following doses: Pigs..... The Lambing Season. 3 pounds. 6 to 8 oz. 4 to 6 oz. There is no month of the year in which so much careful management should be given sheep as during this month. The lambing season generally begins now, and the sheep should receive every care that can be given to make it a successful time in rearing lambs. With sheep themselves there is an instinctive preparation for this time, and the farmer, for whose benefit they are given, should watch every opportunity to assist them in their selections of food. Of course, each farmer should know when his sheep will begin lambing, for this is important, and preparations to this end should be made without delay. The very important treatment of separating the rest of the flock should be made with care, before they are too forward, as every handling at that time is injurious. A clean, dry pen or yard, with good cover and plenty of water, should be made for them, so that they will not be in a strange place when the pains of bearing young begin. Their food should consist of clean hayclover is best-with a small quantity of roots, so as to prevent costiveness, but not so much as to increase the secretion of milk, for such treatment tends to cake the udder, and oft It should be borne in mind that an excess of salt is injurious to any animal; and that is why the preceding figures are given as a practical guide. An excess of salt produces irritation and inflammation of the mucous membrane, and causes several kinds of skin disease, especially in sheep. With horses an excess of salt has been known to produce dysentery, and in oxen diseases of the blood. Salt should never be given to cattle when a deficiency of food does not enable them to receive abundance of nourishment; in which case we excite appetite without satisfying it, and the animal loses flesh rapidly. Salt is to be prohibited, also, whenever congestion of any important organ is observed, or where we have perceived inflammation of the bowels. In such cases we must not be guided by the instinct of the animals themselves. In some diseases of the digestive organs | lamb to take food. This is true in most cases salt has proved beneficial. Thus, in cases of of young ewes. If they have been from the rot of the liver, accompanied by loss of appetite. paleness of the membrane, swellings un- ground for a long time, and had but dry food, der the throat, avoid ground which communi- a quantity of hemlock or pine browse should cates the rot, and give the sheep five grains be given them, and a mixture of salt and ashes, of iodine and half an ounce of the spirits of turpentine twice a day, and let them have five parts of salt to one of ash, which should free access to salt. And again for the disease be given every five or six days. Salt is necalled red water," a species of dropsy, give liberal supplies of food, a dry resting place, cessary to give good digestion, and the ash furnishes the material which is, in but small and rock salt. times make the mother refuse to allow her quantities in their hay or straw for the feed- teeth, or incisor teeth. Three couples follow ing or formation of bone; both, combined at an interval of about one week, until the set with a privilege of clean hay to eat as often is complete. The eight incisor teeth remain as they desire, tend to give a strong, healthy until the age of one year, (this shedding is tone to the system, so necessary at this sea- modified by keeping), when the two centre son. They should not be handled, nor at the ones are shed, and their place is filled by two lambing hour should they be watched, for they large broad teeth proper. At the beginning will often delay it until it proves fatal to of the second year the two next the centre them. The lamb should have sufficient time drop out, and their place is taken by two more to try for itself to get food. If it does not larger ones. This dropping out and coming succeed, carefully catch its dam and assist it. in of the teeth continues at yearly intervals, The ewes should not be fed with large quanti-until the age of four, or perhaps a little more, ties of milk-producing food immediately on when the sheep is said to have a full mouth. lambing, for it tends to increase inflammation At five there is scarcely a perceptible differand, instead of being a benefit to them, it se-ence in the appearance of the mouth. At six riously injures them. If the udder of the ewe be covered with wool or tag-locks, this should be removed, which serves two purposes: first, to allow the young lamb to easily obtain its food, and it lessens, in a very great degree, the chances of the lamb's getting wool in the stomach, which is almost sure to produce death. After lambing, roots of any kind should be given, and bran or ground oats. There is a double necessity for water at this period, for, from the dry food it is next to impossible to obtain the proper quantity of milk for the lamb. If you desire a fruitful season with your sheep, too much attention cannot be given to your ewes in giving them the proper food, a dry pen, and warm shelter, pure water and salt, keeping them from cold storms and exposure. They will doubly pay you for all the care and attention you may give, and make you better satisfied with yourself. F. M. G. the teeth begin to diminish in breadth, which continues until they really point to the centre of the jaw. In the coarse wools they then begin to fall, being about eight years old. In the fine wools, especially the Spanish, they may stay in until twelve. The latter, being of greater longevity by several years, do not begin to lose them as soon. If, during the winter, sheep are fed grain, their front teeth remain longer than if they are fed on roots. The mouth of a grain-fed yearling often resembles that of a six year old. The resemblance of the teeth and their separation are very often deceiving. This may be determined by observing the direction of the teeththe lamb teeth stand erect, while the old sheep teeth incline toward the centre of the front of the jaw. The condition of the mouth of a calf at birth depends much upon the period of pregnancy of its dam, Often at birth, and sometimes during the first week, two central Determining the Age of Animals by their Teeth. incisors make their appearance. At the end Observation has proven that the ages of an- of each succeeding week, until five, two come imals, especially the domestic ones, may be at the outside of the first two, making the readily determined by their teeth, up to a cer-mouth full at four weeks of age. After this tain age, after which time it involves considerable guess work. This guess-work begins at different ages in different animals, as we will show. At the birth of a lamb, of a natural period of gestation, we find two small teeth in the centre of the lower jaw, called milk or lamb period the age is marked by the wearing of the teeth; when at four months there will be a broad line in the centre of each. A new change takes place now, which may be called absorption. The space between the teeth will increase, beginning at the centre. Each of more new teeth, making then eight horse and but four foal's teeth. These last are slow growers. Those next the tushes are called pincers, and bear the mark, which consists of a cavity in the top, bearing a black spot. At four, or a little after, these pincers are a little above the gum, making the cavity very plain to be seen. At five, the tushes appear; at six, they are up, white, small and sharp, and the black mark has arrived near the upper edge of the corner teeth; at seven, the second middle teeth fill up, and at eight the mouth is full the pairs will be so affected, at a space of two or three months, as to be easily seen. The process of absorption continues until the animal is about eighteen months old, when two permanent teeth make their appearance at the place where the first pair came. At two past, the second pair of milk teeth will be replaced by a pair of permanent ones. Two new ones will be added, until at five the animal will have a full mouth. From this time the age must be determined by the dark line extending over the pairs of teeth. At seven it has spread over and is becoming very irregular in all the teeth; while at eight there is a dark line seen within the one that first made its appearance over all the teeth. The process of absorption here begins again, and is similar to that seen in the milk teeth, but it does not go that extent. The two dark lines are now rubbed or worn into one, save in the two corner teeth. At ten, the mark in the two central incisors becomes very faint, while passing from eleven to twelve, at which age the mar is gone, save in the corner ones. The animal is now considered old, and in a few years is not able to sustain itself in good condition. The profits of a cow, in most cases, cease be-jockey's horse-dentistry may deceive many. fore arriving at this age. Depending upon the horns for the age of a cow we are often deceived, the rasp to some owners is so familiar. If we add two to the rings of an honest man's cow, we may rely on the age, subject to this fact, that if a heifer receives the male at two years of age, an immediate change takes place, and a ring appears on the horn. The age of the horse, as shown by the teeth, is the only reliable one obtained, and in some cases this method fails. After the age of eight, his age can only be guessed at, and can scarcely be determined by experienced people. Previous to that age it is determined as follows:-The mark is found in the front teeth, next the tushes. When the foal is a few weeks, or, in some cases, a few days old, the whole twelve teeth begin to shoot. At nearly three years of age the two centres of each set are shed, and four horse teeth come in their place. A little after four years of age, he cuts four the black mark has left. After this the teeth will become worn, upon which we must depend. The teeth will fit closely at nine; at ten the cavity in the upper tushes will be filled; at eleven the teeth will be long and foul; at twelve the upper ones will overreach the opposite; at thirteen the tushes will be worn very low, or black or foul. After this age no one need be deceived. The vigor of life is partially restored by feeding a small quantity of arsenic, and improved in appearance by inflating his temples, which are sunken and hollow, with air. The scraping and filing of teeth are often resorted to, and, in fact, by F. M. G. THE BEE-KEEPER. Movable Comb Hives. My first experience with the frames or guides was in 1856. On seeing some notice and description of them, concluded it would be an excellent thing to have control of the combs, and to divide and subdivide at pleasure. I constructed a hive after an original idea, but found it very unsatisfactory, being of the immovable class. Again, in 1861, after reading carefully most of the popular writings on the subject, I constructed several of a style quite different from the former, the frames being nearly square, and with a contrivance to run them up and down without sideway motion. One year's experience convinced me that these two features, in which I had hoped to excel in the construction of the hive, were different stages, that bees universally comreally obnoxious. mence with regular, uniform, worker comb, and after building sufficient for the first de The size of the frames necessary to this form of hive, renders handling in warm mand-increase-they will then diverge from weather, when we draw the frames most frequently, quite impossible, and the contrivance for guiding the frames a nuisance about equal to a prohibit on handling. this order by building store comb, which at once destroys the uniformity; and any depth of frames beyond the actual needs of the colony, increases the tendency to diverge from uniformity. In opening old hives, with comb from one to three feet in depth, I seldom find brood occupying over eight to ten inches from highest to lowest point; and any greater depth of frames is beyond their actual wants, and, as we could show, sometimes really pernicious. But in the matter of drawing the frames, no one will want them deeper than eight inches for convenience, after a fair trial. To the advocates of fourteen inch frames, I often say, But enough was learned of the domestic nature, with the fixed habits of the bee, to assure me that a hive might be constructed that would be practicable and convenient for manipulation. The matter was carefully considered in all its bearings, and I saw several points in which I could improve upon my former productions, and, not strange to say, I found every really valuable feature embodied in the inventions of those who had given far more study and observation to this subject" Would be happy to see you overhaul that than I could have done, besides many more good points. I at once adopted the wisdom and research of the inventor of the hive I now use, and actually bought a patent right; got sold? no, indeed! but regret that I did not sooner acquaint myself with its merits. hive." "Oh really, can't take the time for that; don't like to handle bees much." 3. After careful experiments with movable bottom-boards, we discard them entirely. Nice to theorize on, but dangerous in practice. Cannot control the ventilation or vermination, shrinking and swelling by weather, often neglected, and to be of real service should be inclined, which will prevent one of the most valuable operations connected with the movable frames. Ventilation through the bottom board is found unsafe, and productive of more One thing especially I have learned: that is, practical ideas of bee life and bee-culture are worth buying, even if patents must be bought with them; and the more acquainted one becomes with the real nature of the bee, the more valuable one style of hive appears, and, consequently, the more than worthless char-evils than benefits. I want no passage for acter of the many unadapted and pernicious becomes apparent. This bit of past experience brings me now to state plainly and briefly the style of hive adopted. 1. I use a hive containing about two thousand cubic inches inside the frames, as the best testimony gives that size for superficial surface as necessary for breeding and storage purposes. 2. I prefer what may be termed a shallow hive; only ten inches inside, and frames correspondingly shallow; eight inches inside, by sixteen and one-half in length. It is a fact well known to those who have observed the progress of comb-building in its air or insect that is not directly observable; hence will have the bottoms as near air-tight as cement can make them. The honey bee closes, if possible, with its cement, propolis, all passages not required for ingress or egress. J. C. P. A Chapter of Experience. Shaw. He wished to examine a sketch of the Morehouse hive, by some one interested for it. I am not interested for it, or any other patent hive, and know nothing of them practically. have an individual right of Langstroth's pat |