The Southern agriculturist. (Savannah ;) 1868-????, November 01, 1872, Image 2

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Diseases of Fowls, and Treat ment. The most common diseases to which fowls are liable, says W. W. Hilliard* son, in a communication to the Rock River Farmer, arc moulting, ]>ip, in¬ flammation, asthma, diarrhoea indiges¬ tion, fever, consumption, gout, corns and costivencss. The firs% moulting, as being a natural process of annual occurrence, can scarcely be called a disease ; yet it must be treated as if it were really one, from the effects which it produces. It is most danger¬ ous in young chickens. With adult birds, warmth and shelter are usually all that is required, united with a diet of somewhat extra, stimulating and nutritious character. In a state of nature moulting occurs to wild birds when their food is most plentiful, hence nature herself points out that the fowl should, during that period, be furnished with an extra supply of food. After the third year the period of moulting becomes later later and later, until it will sometimes happen in January or February ; of course, when tins occurs, every care as to warmth should be given ; the use of cayenne pepper alone, administering two or three grains made into a pill with bread, will generally suffice. The feathers will at times drop off fowls, when not moulting, to a very con¬ siderable extent, rendering them often nearly naked. This is a disorder eimiliar to the mange in many other animals, and the same sort of treat¬ ment, viz : alteratives, such as sul¬ phur and nitre iu the proportions of onc-quarier each, mixed with fresh butter, a change of diet, cleanliness, and fresh air in addition to this, will generally be found sufficient to effect the cure; be careful not to confound this affection with moulting. The distinction is that in the latter case the feathers arc replaced by in new the ones as fast as they are and cast, former this is not so, the fowl becomes bald. Fin—To this disease young fowls aicpeculiarly liable, and i that, too, chiefly in hot.weather. The symptoms are a thickening of the membrane of the tongue, especially toward the tip. Thisspeedily becomes an obstruction of sufficient.magnitude to impede the breathing; tins pro¬ duces gasping tor breath, and at this stage the beak will often be held open. The plumage becomes rutiled and neg¬ lected, especially about the head and neck. The appetite gradually goes, by and the bird shows its distress pining, moping and seeking solitude and darkness. The cause of this disease is want of clean water and from feeding too much upon hot exciting food. As a cure, you may remove the thickened membrane or apply a little borax dissolved in tinc¬ ture of myrrh, by moans of a camel liair pencil, two or three times a day, or prick the scale with a needle and give internally a pill about the size of a marble, composed of equal parts of scraped garlic and horse-radish, with as much cayenne pepper as will out¬ weigh a grain of wheat ; mix this with fresh butter, and give it every morniDg, keeping the fowl warm and well supplied with fresh water; pre- rather than those who feed extrava¬ gantly high. The feeding of the lat¬ ter is often attended with waste. To illustrate this point, we nmy mention the case of a neighbor ol our own, a successful farmer sixty years old, who stall fed a yoke of oxen for market last Winter. After eating sixteen hundred pounds (1G00 lbs ) ot corn meal, and all the good hay they wanted they weighed exactly twenty pounds (20 lbs ) more tbau when the feeding began. noticed that the stock of It is some farmers is always in fine condition They never feed high. cry little meal or grain is used, and nothing is wasted about their barns ; while the stock of their neighbors who have abundance of equally good bay and usually as much meal, wiil be lean and hide-bound, and iu low condition every way. The greater success of one is due entirely to his skill in the care of stuck aud the uniform care and at¬ tention it receives. Among the many essentials of successful management, of stock ol the first importance, is absolute regu¬ larity in everything. It has been said that the appetite of a cow or a sheep is a perfect chronometer. They know when feeding time c »mes, aud become uneasy if the feeding does not pro¬ ceed as usual. This restlessness is unfavorable to thrift Absolute quiet and contentment are essential to the most rapid growth. When the feeding time comes, the regular rations should be given with¬ out delay, and with as little noise and commotion as may be. It is not only necessary to observe regularity, but the routine itself should be such as not to interfere with the quiet of the stock. In the manage¬ ment of our own herd of dairy cows, we practicd for a milking. time feeding The roots at night after cows were fed at three o’clock, and alter eating two hours were milked, and the turnips were cut in the barn where the stable is situated, and led to them just at night. If was found that as the time fur turnips approach¬ ed, the cows were all on tiptoe of expectation, watching every move¬ ment, and exhibiting the greatest If earnestness and impatience. a barn door moved, they looked around anxiously for the expected treat. This would begin more than an hour before the regular time for feeding roots ; aud if a basket lull were brought into the barn, no more hav would they cat until the turnips came. It was found to interfere materially with the welfare of the cattle and the product of milk, and the hour of feeding roots was changed. The plan of feeding meal at once on ty ing up the cattle in the afternoon, followed by roots and then hay, proves to be more satisfactory. It may be mentioned that a peek of turnips each, t< d iu this way, has no unpleasant effect on the flavor of tne miik, the same being thoionghly cooied and aerated before closing theyjans for transporta¬ tion.— Ohio Farmtr. The way to fame is like the way to , heaven, through much tribulation. 1 J i serve it from molestation by keeping it. it by lit? itself, ifmpir fir.fl and you cnn will will penerallv generally fin<1 if will «•< t vvidl if von Lave taken tlie disease in time. - ♦ % » - ---- How to Start a Co-operative Dairy A writer in the Albany Cultiva¬ tor makes some good points upon this subject, which we copy for the advan¬ tage of our own farmers : From every point of view the in¬ stitution is a success, and both cheese and butter caa be manufactured under the same roof; a ton of cheese, and 700 or 800 pouuds of butter can be produced in twenty-four hours, all which will find ready market at and large town or city. The business cannot be overdone, for cheese and butter are staple articles— essential* in every family—and there is little danger of producing too much, for our western frontier will consume vast quantities, and as yet can produce but little, owing to the scarcity of laborers. The best way to start a butter or cheese factory is to call a meeting of the farmers in any given district and obtain some man who has had prac¬ tical experience, who knows the busi¬ ness fully, and can give good instruc¬ tion upon the location, the size of the building, the utensils required, Ac., to speak to them on the subject. His expenses should be paid, and also his time, and the money will be well in¬ vested. Then let the farmers form a stock company, appoint a president and directors, and subscribe for the stock; and when the buildings are erected and the needful machinery procured, the farmers’ wives and daughters will rejoice in a respite from heavy toil, and will look forward to the Summer withe ut groaning over the thought of being worked to death. Did the labor of the dairy fall upon men—were they compelled to skim milk and wash a hundred pans or iin.ro every morning and night to work and salt the butter, and put il down—butter factories would have been built by the hundreds long ere this. For men usually avail them¬ selves of all labor-saving machinery. They know the toil of mowing, reap ing, threshing, Ac., and when they I ! can buy or hire the machines, they doit; but they do not comprehend! I the daily work of the dairy ; many ot them imagine it is merely play to stand and skim milk and make but¬ ter iu a cool, shady, pleasant room, never thinking of the endless routine of work demanded of tin* house keeper—the maid ot all work—and j how her overtaxed muscles and nerves swell, throb and ache under all these occupations. Regularity in Feeding Stock. The number of good feeders of, stock among farmers is comparatively small. By the term “good feeders,” j we mean those who by a judicious j economy and care iu management, secure the greatest benefit to their stock from a .iberal use of the forage aud other farm products ted to stock, Covering Manure. It is remarkable that more attention is not given to the subject of cover¬ ing manure from the weather, and especially from too much rain. Those who have given the matter particular attend m have found that the manure so protected is worth double that which is left out in the open air. Two loads for one is a profit few farmers can afford to lose. There is no ques¬ tion which so vitally concerns the farmer as this one of manure. Much that he dor s has reference to it. Straw is not to be sold because it makes manure. Stock is led through t' e Winter for the express purpose of manure making. Articles which will scarcely pay to send to market, art* nevertheless taken to tin* city in order that manure may be brought back as a return load ; and yet the whole ot the manure made, remain a all the season exposed to the sun, wind and rain, until it is diminished in value to so great an extent as it is. The trouble is probably that few really believe that exposed manures undergo this loss. But the matter has been too thoroughly tested class to admit of a doubt. We know first fanners who did not themselves be¬ lieve it, until by actual experiment they found cut its truth. In -arranging*farm buildings, it will pay well to look as much to the pre¬ servation of the manure as of the hay or grain ; and those who have their buildings already finished without these manorial arrangements will find that twenty five or fifty dollars spent on boards for a covered shed will rank among the best investments ever made .—Germ antinen Tt ■ legraph. (Japes in Chickens —W. B. Teget* meier writes to the London Field : "The fatal disease caused by the pre¬ sence of the gape worm, appears unu¬ sually prevalent I have bad il in my own runs, where it has attacked some Sebright bantams; but l have found no difficulty iu curing it by the means of carbolic acid, which 1 lir&t recommended for this purpose in the Field ol last year. So potent, are the fumes of this powerful remedy, and so destructive are they to para s.tic ii!c, that their inhalation for a few minutes even scorns perfectly ef¬ fectual in destroying the life ot the worm. It is not necessary even to em¬ ploy any special apparatus ; a few drops ot carbolic acid may be placed iu a sp>on and held over the fl inic of a candle until the vapor is seen to ri-e, when the head of the young chicken or pheasant (held in the other hand) may he placed in the vapor, which the animal is forced to inhale. Care must be taken not to carry on the process until the fowl as well as the worms are killed. 1 find alter expo¬ sure to the fumes for a few seconds, the bird may be regarded as cured, and may be seen running about quite well on the following day; if not, the treatment should be repeated. The medicinal carbolic acid is preferable to the tarry- liquid used for disinfect¬ ing sewers and drains.'’