Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-01-06
FRONT


over, the animals die and both they and
their lambs are lost, and the care and
feeding through the winter are labor and
money thrown away.
The disease in question is one that is to
be prevented, il possible, by avoiding the
cause. Fragments of rye beard and chaff
from rye straw, used as litter, and of
which the sheep eat at night, lodge in the
eyes. At times the use of Timothy hay
will cause the disease, especially when
the racks are made so wide apart that the
sheep can thrust their heads through the
bars and among the stiff stems and so
wound the eyes, and the seeds or chaff
can get into them. A good form of rack
to avoid this trouble is that shown in the
cut.
The front is made of upright bars two
inches wide and three inches apart; the
back part is of boards set closely together
and sloping forward at the bottom, so
that the hay slides down and keeps close
to the bars in front where the sheep can
reach it. The trough for grain is at the
front. The rack is raised foot from the
ground on small posts six or eight feet
apart, so that young lambs cannot get
fast in any way. Two of these racks may
be set together, connected behind so as
TO form a double rack to be placed in the
middle of the shed, and others may be
built against the sides of the shed. If the
hay loft is over the sheep shed the hay
may be dropped into the racks with the
least possible labor Since / first used
this kind of rack have never had any
trouble with inflamed eyes in my sheep
in the winter.
A frequent cause of this disorder is
the alkaline dust of the soil in the dry,
hot weather, and the intensely hot re-
Election of the heat rays of the sun.
Where this difficulty is experienced the
sheep may be saved by being inclosed
during the middle of the day for some
hours, and let out to feed in the even
ing and night. Another common cause
from which the sheep are turned out
and exposed to a cold storm of sleet or
rain or damp snow; or to dry snow and
bright sunshine, the reflection of which
is painful to the eyes and produces snow
blindness and Inflammation.
After the causes are removed, MIR.
Stewart advises the following: Just re-
move the affected animals to dark
place. Give light cooling antiseptic
medicine, hyposulphite of soda in dram
doses daily being very useful. The eyes
should be examined for any foreign sub
stance, which should be removed, if
easily possible, by soft camers-hair
pencil; otherwise a small quantity of
linseed mucilage-made by boiling lin
seed in little waterway be injected
into the eye, by which the offending
matter will be able to make its way to
the outer corner of the eye where it can
be seen and removed. To this mucilage
may be added a fourth part of solution
of 10 grains of sulphate of zinc in an
ounce of water, and two drops Of wine
of opium. When the eye is cleansed
and this palliative injection has been
used for two days, if the cloud remains,
pinch of burned alum is put into q
goose-quill or small tube, and is blown
into the eye. A few repetitions of this
will clear the eye. 1t would be well to
give all the sheep the aforementioned
quantity of the soda hyposulphite,
powdered and mixed with a little molas-
ses, and spread on the back of the tongue,
and to continue the treatment for a week.