Year: 1874

A correspondent asks if the milk of a COW badly frightened, 8 short time pre- yious to milking, is a healthy article of food. He says " We have COW that gives good, rich milk, which we use freely in the. family. A few days ago she was badly frightened by dogs, one of whom caught her by the nose short time before the time for milking, and the younger children that partook of her milk were affected wit h derange- ment of the bowels, which we attributed to the milk. As no such trouble has been experienced before or since from the use of this cows milk, and as we know of no cause other than the fright to affect the milk, the thought has oc- cured that this was the cause. Does the frightening of COW ever affect her milk ?"

 Yes fear or any nervous agitation of the COW influences more or less the healthfulness of her milk for the time being. And this is especially the case with animals of highly nervous organi- zations. Fear acts powerfully upon the nervous system, destroying muscular fibre and deranging the secretions. We have known colic and bowel complaint induced by taking the milk of badly frightened COW, and such milk we be- Eeve to be unfit for human consunlp- tion. It is true that the effects from eating such milk may not always be noticed, because the system may be in condition to resist poisonous and un- healthy foods at one time better than at another. Hence, of several persons partaking of such milk some may be affected and others not. Instances of this kind are frequent among persons who have eaten of cheese known to be poisonous.

 Desirable Qualities I'm Q Pig.

 Of all the desirable qualities in @ pig, 8 vigorous appetite is of the first importance. A hog that will not eat is of no more use than mill that will not grind. And it is undoubtedly true that the more pig will eat in propor- tion to his size, provided he can digest and assimilate it, the more profitable he will prove. The next desirable quality is, perhaps, quietness of dispo- sition. The blood is derived from the food, and flesh is derived from the blood. Animal force is derived from the transformation of flesh. The more of this is used. in unnecessary motions, the greater the demand on the stomach, and the more food will there be re- quired merely to sustain the vital func- tions and the more frequently flesh is transformed and formed again, the tougher and less palatable it becomes. This quality, quietness of disposition, combined with small amount of dse- less parts, or offal, has been the aim of all modern breeders. Its importance will readily be perceived if we assume that seventy five per cent. of the food is ordinarily consumed to support the vital functions, and that the slight ad- ditional demand of only one-sixth more food is required for the extra offal parts and unnecessary activity. A coarse, restless animal would gain, in flesh and fat, in proportion to the food con- sumed, only half as fast as the quiet, refined animal. To assume that a rough, coarse, savage, iQ-bred mongrel hog will require one-sixth more food than. quiet, refined. well-bred Berk- shire, Essex, or Suffolk, is not extrav- gant.-Harris..

 How to Feed Pigs. ..-

 used to keep them in my younger days, to furnish meat for my family and to sell to get little spare cash. The kind with small bones, small ears and short nose, that with good keeping, at year old, would make about three hundred and twenty-five pounds of pork was my favorite (the first one I ever fattened weighing two hundred and sixty pounds at eight months old). fo%r hal hnc fa- pigs after they are weaned, to make them thrive they also relish few grains of corn at this time as we'll as a squirrel does few nuts, as they grow along. In the season for it, they should be supplied dally with fresh green weeds or clover; few green corn stalks are also good to feed them in their sea- son, and the slops and refuse of the kitchen with little meal are also good. With this food they should be fed literally, but not to surfeiting, and kept growing right along in 8 thrifty condition till about two months before killing time, during which they should be fed literally with a more concen. trated and fattening food. Boiled pumpkins, thickened while hot with corn meal, are excellent for them, SC also boiled sweet apples, thickened with meal, and so is scalded meal alone and some people think that, fo1 some days previous to slaughterine time, they should be fed with dry corr and pure cold water, as these make the meat harder and sweeter.

 The difficulty in curing poll evil con sists in the frequent diseased condition of the bone and the fstulous nature o the abscess. If it is only simple ab scess, it may be readily cured by open ing it with sharp knife. The opening should be large enough to admit three fingers, and deep enough to reach tho bottom of the abscess. The wound should then be scrubbed out with . piece of sponge tied to the end of , stick, and washed clean with soap ani warm water. Compound tincture o benzoin should then be applied to i with the swab, or mixture of twt ounces of sweet oil, one ounce of creo sote, and one ounce of oil of turpentin, may be substituted. The wound should be dressed carefully once day unti healed. If the bone is diseased, ther is no hope of speedy cure, and sur geon should be applied to.

 Feeding Corn.

 There is always more or less waste i feeding dry corn either in the ear o shelled. We have fed corn in the col with the least waste, when it has beel put into a barrel the day before it wa to be fed, and scalded with boilin water, leaving it to soak until fed This plan has been about as cheap a grinding the corn and feeding ra0 meal.

 Tho Nafuro of fhn PIarun