Omaha daily bee., 1886-08-28


improved their qualities to consider
able extent. The noblcmcn of their vi.
entities may have Urofited by their exam.
pie and, as time progressed. an increase
in the good qualities of their cattle might
have followed to time when subsequent
history could give truthful chronicles OF
their condition.
We have traditional reports of the cx.
cellcnces of many of these cattle SO far
back as the seventeenth century, IN
which their weights were known.
The Farmer and His Wife should
Take Vacation.
Lancaster Examiner: | met an old
gentleman the other dav who lives not
more than twenty miles from Lancaster
who said he had not been in this city tor
thirty years and only once in Philadcl
phia. Although this may be an cXtep.
tiOnal case, yet it in Il measure gauges
the travelling propensity of our rural
population Without doubt there are
citizens in this country who have never
seen locomotive, many who never leave
nome more than once or twice Il year,
and then only to Lancaster Our farmers
have no idea of taking II rest by going to
see how others live. This does not come
from lack of money so much as lack of
incentive or desire. Even II county fair,
Il big circus or horse race will not allure
the average farmer from the even tenor
of his way. He works all day, is too
tired at night to read the weekly paper
goes to bed early, and is aroused by the
shrill crow of some dissipatcd rooster
all too early. The whole year is II
monotonous drag, The consequence is
he docs not appreciate the big changes
going on round him; his home is a snall's
palace, secure but dull; he becomes vic
aim of local custom and Il Bourbon in
language, religion and politics. A weeks
travel to the seashOre, to some great in
dustrial center, to the natural attractions
our country affords, to some model farm
or great agricultural fairs held outside of
the county-m short to any place fifty
miles from what is seen every day
would be vast benefit to our farmers.
In this ! do not forget the farmers
wife, whose life is Il long round of house
hold cares and the labor of bringing up
half Il dozen of children. So | say to
our farmers, to the great majority of
them who will not mind or feel the spend
ing of Il colts pricG--taKe Il vacation of
two or three weeks. If the farmer should
tuck his wife under his arm and wander
into parts heretofore unknown, it would
be more than conducive to his health
and happiness and to that of his wife.
1t would add new interest to lite, would
awaken in them new sensations and re-
aIizahons, change for the time being the
current of their thoughts and the sub
jects and objects on which they ordi-
narily dwell; would open their eyes, eX
pand their lungs, improve their diges
ton, increase their circulation and
largely help to rciuvenate them. Such Il
trip would add new interest to home and
to- home affections. Our farmers 90 from
home far too seldom, and particularly
for the purpose OF again counting their
wives and atfordlng them another taste
of the days gone by.
"A Field Long Neglected..
Every country physician should have Il
knowledge of veterinary science, says
Ben: Pcrley Poor in the American cul
tivator, and be willing to prescribe for
sick horses and cattle rs well as for their
owners. Attention, to the diseases of the
lower animals is, nc doubt of less conSe-
quence than curing the maladIes of
human beings, but / do not see why it
should be regarded rs Il matter of in
fcrior dignity TO find remedies for the
diseases OF the animal creation. No sci
cntiiic man considers it beneath him to
inquire into the causes OF the potato rot,
or the blighting OF the wheat crop. The
preservation of the health of domestic
animals is, even apart from cunsidera-
ton of humanity in the relief OF suffering
to the beasts themselves, an exceedingly
| important thing IN u pecuniary point of
view. And besides tins, the study of the
best means for preserving the health of
the lower animals often develops facts
and pronciplcS of no slight value in ref
crence to the human system. Some of
the most serious diseases to which man
is subject are found amazingly near the
same form in horses, and need essentially
| the same treatment.
| think that the whole subject of the
diseases of domestic animals has re-
ceived too little attention from scientific
men, and | am convinced, also, that in
| dividuals who wish to study those dis
eases with view OF making themselves
| useful and earning a living, should have
better opportunities for obtaining
thorough information in regard to them
| than they now possess. l know of no
| field for the practical application OF
! science which has hitherto been so much
neglected, and | am pursuaded that n
| proper attention to the matter would re-
| pay the community fully ten fold for all
the expense that would need to be laid
| out upon 1t.
Willows as Crop.
The money paid by manufacturers for
! the peeled oSier willows used in baSk ct
| making represents ii larg c sum annually.
| Much of the stock is imported, for,
although the climate OF the United States
is admirably adapted to the crop, cult
vators have not been able successfully to
complete with the cheap labor of Europe
in preparing the switches for market,
and no machine has yet been success
fully made 10 do the work.
CAt Macon Ga.), however, this industry
is said to have been successful. COlored
women, girls and boys do the work OF
stripping the bark from the switches, ,and
this labor being plenty in the south, one
planter there, who last year prepared the
switches from over 100000 willows, was
so successful that, as stated, he last
spring set $4,000 additional plants. He
proposes to continue the planting in his
levees until about sixty acres will have
been planted. In three years full an,
nual crop of switches may be produced
from planting. The shoots are from four
to seven feet in height. A ton to the
acre is the average yield, and the willows
when prepared, dried and shipped com
mand $500 per ton in the larger cities OF
the country. The crop is cut mt any time
after the leaves drop in the autumn and
tIs2n prepared at leisure for the manu-
facturers of willow ware. The mode oi
procedure at Macon is as follows:
The switches are taken to the stripping
building and placed-ln a vat filled witt
A