The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-12-29

Z-Catch pen.
B-Tank or swimming BATH
CIDrsining- pen.
D-Hook.
| Your tank. of course, requires to be lot into
the ground, 30 that it is nearly flush or even
with the top of the ground. so that man can
walk alongside with hook shaped as in cut,
| to push their heads under the water. as well "a
| to lift up their heads if necessary and prevent
drowning. You must nail Stats across the
sloping end of tank so that the sheep may
climb out. You require two draining pens so
that one pen full may drain dry whilst filing
the other; SO that you may lose no time. for
you must bear in mind that sheep as rule
get nothing to eat whilst around an old dip.
ping corral, SO that it is absolutely necessary to
get them away as soon as possible, without
hurrying your work too much 80 that you
may no. fail in doing good job. Now, don't
walk off with the idea, please, that any mild
dressing in the shape of dip will eradicate
the disease by one or one dozen dressings
For that matter, desperate diseases require
desperate remedies" and although the scab In
sheep, If taken in season, is hardly q desperate
disease, it goes desperately hard with a be.
ginner. Sometimes if he comes out in the
Spring at shearing time with half q crop of
wool, and it is four or FIVE cents per pound be-
low the market price, and counts up loss of
perhaps 20 or 20 per cent. Of the herd, he is do
ing we'll.
III sheep once gets the scab started on him
In good or bad shape, he loses flesh rapidly,
gets very weak, of course, and with the loss of
wool he stands rather slim show of standing
off much cold weather. It cost me great deal
in cash and sheep before l found out how to
euro it. 1 believe carbolic acid properly ap-
piled to be sovereign remedy for it, but it is
expensive; bnt, nevertheless, it is a sure cure.
To my certain knowledge, tobacco used strong
enough is a cure, but always used little car
boic acid with it. Turpentine is good, so is coal
oil, and many other things. Many recommend
blue ointment, and it is good and will cure as
far as it goes, but it don't go far enough, SIM
ply because it don't spread over surface enough
as an oil will. Take two or three gallons OF
coal oil to one gallon of lard oil, pat in about
pint of carbolie acid in solution, not a pint
of crystalizcd acid mix. and put in with it q
few pounds of strong tobacco. and see if it don't
fetch Mr.. Scab.
Your sheep may have raw and bleeding
places on him rs big "a the palm of your hand.
the dressing may, and possibly will, blister in
the hot sun, but your new growth of wool will
come all right, I'll guarantee that. Rub it in
good, if you have to use scrubbing- brush or
curry. comb, to loosen up the old hard scsb in
places. This, of course is to spot with, as are
also the remedies mentioned before when sheep
show the first symptoms of the disease.
close observer will notice change in the
color of the wool. when it just starts. 1t will
look dirty, aud oftentimes wet, from the sheep
biting and pulling at it, if it be on any portion
of the body they can reach with the mouth.
Ono of the standard remedies in the West il
lime and sulphur used as hot as can be borne
by the sheep without scaldng. The sheep
should stay in the dip or swimming bath from
one and one.half to two minutes. If the flock
is not too scsbby one thorough dipping is suffi-
cient. There are many patent dips used, but
as this is not intended as free advertisement
for patent sheep-dips. shall mention none
here, although know of one or two that ap-
pear to do the work fairly well and are con-
venient to use, but I know nothing of the
chemicals of which they are made.
A cheap and effective dip may be made for
home use by taking the I've of wood ashes and
boiling sulphur with it in large iron boiler,
and diluting with water to reduce to proper
strength. l cured the scab in small flock Of
about 1000 head of sheep with that kind of
dip, and dipped all the scabby sheep In coal
oil barrel set slanting in tho ground, as many
farmers place them to scald hogs. / used 1t
pretty hot. 1t killed it out of the flock COM
pletely, so that for two years afterwards I
never had to use an ounce of any kind of dip
for the scab.
Many people claim that all dips are more or
less injurious to both wool and sheep. would
say here, as compared with the scab, am sure
it is q positive benefit everyway. And am
not sure that it Injuries the wool to any great
extent, for / am Of the opinion that anything
that is hot enough or strong enough to burn
or injure the wool, will come pretty near cook
ing your sheep. ! have often noticed that
sheep badly dosed with the scab when dipped
and cured will shed the wool in patches and
the new wool start afrest, so that the old wool.
before it is pulled off by the brush, looks. and
is, dead and dry on the sheep. But l think
you may place that to the credit of the scab
mite getting pretty we'll down to the roots of
the wool, so that to all intents and purposes the
wool was killed by the insect, and not by the
dip. That is my opinion. mind you, and you
can take it for what 1t Is worth.
I think that by feeding sulphur with their
salt in the Summer time, when sheep require
lots of salt on the fresh, green feed would provo
to be preventative and possibly cure for the
scab in sheep. Of course person would need
to use lots of sulphur, and feed it with fine
butchers salt in the place of using tho com.
mon rock or mineral salt commonly used, In
order to mix.
This opinion regarding feeding sulphur is
based on the knowledge that it will cure the
disease known as the Itch on the human being,
which is similar to the scab in sheep. Ispeak
from personal experience Afssr the Vas !