flock and that is to encourage the ewes to shade in the barn or some cool, airy, dark shed, rather than to shade under trees or along fences, thus during our summer heats when the period of danger from infection is worst they early seek the shelter of the barn and deposit all their droppings there, and do not infect the grass as they surely will if they shade promiscuously beneath the trees or along stone walls or fences. Perhaps the most practical method of warding off the attacks of parasites, is the pasturing of sowed crops, such as oats or rape, or a mixture of the two, or the pasturing of alfalfa sown with brome grass (bromus inermis). Any one of these crops is usually bitten off higher up from the ground than is blue grass or white clover and therefore there is much less danger of taking an infection. The writer after many seasons pasturing of alfalfa has never had a single case of infection arising among the sheep thus treated. surer method of prevention consists of confining the lambs to an airy barn, basement or shed and soiling them with green crops cut and fed fresh every day. This method is really much more practical than might at first be supposed, seeing that from a given area much more feed is secured, and many more animals may be kept thus than when they are allowed to run over the fields, eating too closely in spots and wasting other spots by trampling it down. The writer has seen in France great numbers of sheep kept upon the larger estates in the central valleys near Paris, by this system of soiling in their great, cool, airy, stone built sheds. The sheep eat from racks, green clovers with the bloom on, straw threshed fresh every morning, of which they consume little save the weeds and leaves upon the stalks, a small amount of roots with possibly a taste of grain. Wonderful is the thrift of these flocks, and never a trace of parasitism anywhere, although the climate and luxuriant vegetation would as certainly invite parasitic attacks as in our own land. Something may be accomplished by treating the ewes before going to pasture by ridding them of the egg-bearing worms that would otherwise infect the ground. Several systems of medication have been advocated and nearly all of them abandoned, so that at present we seem to be given choice between two things, the use of coal-tar creosote and gasoline. Circular No. 35, of the United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry, by Ch. Wardell Stiles, Ph. D., Zoologist of Animal Industry, contains a valuable account of treatment for these parasites, from which we quote: COAL-TAR CREOSOTE. "I have had excellent success in treating sheep, goats, and cattle for the twisted wireworm (Strongylus contortus) with a 1 per cent. solution of coal-tar creosote. The medicine is easily prepared and quite inexpensive. It may be purchased of the druggist in small quantities of one ounce, or in pound bottles. One ounce is sufficient for about 20 adult sheep, and the cost of the treatment is less than one-half a cent per head; if creosote is purchased by the pound, the cost is reduced to less than one-quarter of a cent per head. If creosote is called for at a drug store, beechwood creosote will usually be dispensed. This is more expensive than the coal-tar creosote and not so satisfactory in expelling worms. "A 1 per cent. solution of coal-tar creosote is made as follows: Coal tar creosote, Water, 1 ounce. 99 ounces. 99 ounces 6 pints and 3 ounces. "Twisted wireworms (Strongylus contortus) taken directly from the stomach of sheep or cattle die in one-half to one and a half minutes when immersed in this solution. "If, in dosing, this liquid enters the lungs the animal may succumb in a few minuats. If the dosing is performed carefully, as much as 6 2-3 ounces may be given to a full-grown sheep without fatal results. In some cases, however, the animal shows ill effects, from which it usually recovers within half an hour. Six ounces were given to a number of sheep without the slightest ill effects. The following table gives the doses of the 1 per cent. mixture which were used in about 400 cases without ill effects: Lambs, 4 to 2 months old, 2 to 4 ounces (about 60 to 120 c. c.) Yearling sheep and above, 3 to 5 ounces (about 90 to 150 c. c.) Calves, 3 to 8 months old, 5 to 10 ounces (about 150 to 300 c. c.) Yearling steers, 1 pint (about 480 c. c.) Two-year olds and above, 1 quart (about 960 c. c.) "Sheep, goats and calves which received this treatment showed a marked improvement a few days after receiving a single dose. In experiments with creosote at Washington, D. C., sheep were drenched with a 1 per cent. solution and killed immediately afterwards. Upon opening the fourth stomach, it was found that the wireworms present were dead. In some cases where this was tried later, the wireworms were found to be still alive; but it is believed that the explanation of this fact has now been discovered (see below page 59.) Creosote does not appear to have much effect upon the worm below the stomach. "If an overdose is given by mistake, and if the sheep appears severely affected by it, the animal should be placed in the shade. Even in some cases of very severe overdoses, where the animal is given up for dead, practically, it may entirely recover within an hour or so COAL-TAR CREOSOTE AND THYMOL. "If, in addition to the stomach worms, the animals were suffering from severe infection of bowel worms, such as the hook worms, better results were obtained in the treatment when powdered thymol was added to the creosote. In cases of this kind, the creosote solution is prepared, as directed above (page 1), and 30 to 80 or even 100 grains of thymol added to each dose after it has been measured. "Thymol is expensive, the price varying in different parts of the country. It may be purchased by the ounce, but it is considerably cheaper if purchased by the pound. Avoid using thymol which has become yellowish or reddish and which has run together in the bottle so as to form a solid mass. Powder the crystals and have the druggist measure 30 grains. Give 30 grains to a lamb, about 50 grains to a yearling, and 70 to 80 or 100 grains to older sheep, according to size. In experiments I have had excellent results with a single dose of the creosote and thymol mixture. If necessary, however, the dose could be repeated after a week. GASOLINE. "Gasoline has gained considerable reputation as a vermifuge. Three objections, however, arise to its use, and I cannot, therefore, consider it an ideal treatment. These objections are: (1) Not less than three doses, and usually four to six, are required to expel the worms. Its use involves a great expenditure of labor, and it is therefore impracticable on the large ranches. (2) While several doses are not necessarily injurious to the stock, still, if the doses are large, repeated drenches cause a more or less severe congestion of the bowels. Not only that, but repeated handling of range sheep, with the necessary preliminary treatment of withholding food, is injurious to the animals. (3) If used on animals suffering from pleurisy, it is likely to be fatal. I have had several fatal cases of this kind. "Nearly all vermifuges are, however, more or less poisonous in one way or another, and gasoline, if properly used, is not particularly dangerous. The necessity of repeating the dose from four to nine times in order to effect a complete cure will, however, militate against its general adoption. "If gasoline is used, ammonia also should always be kept on hand. If an animal is suddenly overcome by the effects of gasoline, a small amount (a teaspoonful or so) of aromatic spirits of ammonia may be given in water as a drench, to be repeated if necessary, and will usually result in the recovery of the patient. The usual doses of gasoline for stomach worms are: Lambs, Calves, 1 ounce. 66 "I have used these doses repeatedly without any serious effects. Each dose is mixed separately in linseed oil, sweet milk, flaxseed tea, or an egg, and given as a drench. If given directly in water, it is more severe on the patient. "An ounce and a half of gasoline has resulted in the immediate death of a full grown ewe, but in some cases I have given to fullgrown sheep as high as 2 to 3 ounces without serious results. I have also given as much as 3 ounces to a yearling steer, and 7 ounces (within an hour) to a horse without causing serious symptoms. I have also given 3 ounces to a full-grown chicken; the animal became very stupid for a time, but eventually recovered. On the other hand, in one case, a yearling steer, in apparently quite healthy condition, succumbed within two minutes after a dose of 11⁄2 ounces. These large doses were given experimentally to determine the danger point, and they should never be used by farmers in treating stock. "In one instance a steer was suddenly overcome because the man who was administering the dose for me accidentally held the head too high and the medicine entered the lungs. The animal fell immediately and appeared to be almost dead. I happened to have a hypodermic syringe with me and some tablets of sulphate of strychnine. A hypodermic injection of this substance was immediately given and within five minutes the animal was feeding as if nothing had happened. This incident led me to overdose several animals with gasoline and then try to revive them with hypodermic injections of strychnine. In all cases the treatment was successful. It is thus seen that injury from gasoline may be counteracted by either aromatic spirits of ammonia-or by strychnine. METHOD OF DRENCHING ANIMALS. "The popular method of drenching is with a bottle. The use of a drenching tube is, however, far more necessary. A drenching tube may be made by taking an ordinary tin funnel, which may be purchased for five or ten cents, and inserting the narrow end into one end of a rubber tube or hose, say three feet long and threeeighths of one-half inch in diameter; into the other end of the rubber tube is inserted a piece of three-eighth inch brass or iron tubing about 4 to 6 inches long. "The metal tube is placed between the animal's back teeth, and the sheep or calf is allowed to bite upon it. The water or drench is poured into the funnel, which may be held by an assistant or fastened to a post at a convenient height. The man who holds the metal tube between the animal's teeth can control the animal's head with the left hand, and by holding the tube in the right hand, near the point of union of the rubber and metal tubes, he can easily control the flow of the fluid by pinching the rubber hose. Care must be taken not to hold the patient's nostrils closed, otherwise the dose will enter the lungs. "It is usually advisable to fast animals 12 to 16 hours before dosing. POSITION OF THE ANIMAL DURING DRENCHING. "Different persons prefer to hold the animals in different positions during drenching. Thus (1) the animal may be left standing on all four feet; or (2) it may be placed on its haunches, one man holding its back up against his own body; or (3) it may be placed directly on its back on a sloping piece of ground, its head being in a direct line with its back, and higher than its rump; or (4) it may be placed upon its side, the head being brought around so that the horns are squarely on the ground; the operator may then place one foot on one of the horns (especially in the case of semi-wild cattle) and thus aid in holding the animal still. "So far as administering the doses is concerned, the position on the back (3) is by far the easiest in the case of sheep, and the side position with head down (4) is the easiest in dosing cattle; furthermore, in these positions there is much less danger of an accident by getting the dose in the lungs. If animals are dosed standing or on their haunches, the nose should never be allowed to go above the eyes; otherwise the drench may pass down the windpipe into the lungs. "By dosing sheep with water colored red and blue with dyeing material, and killing the animals immediately after the liquid was swallowed, the following results were obtained: "If the dose was given with the sheep standing (1) almost the entire quantity went directly into the fourth stomach; if the sheep was placed on its haunches, the fluid passed in part into the fourth stomach and in part into the first (the paunch); if the sheep was placed directly on its back (3), or if a steer was placed on its side (4) with head down, almost the entire dose passed into the first stomach (the paunch). If the animal, even when standing (1) struggled to a considerable degree, a portion of the fluid passed into the paunch. "It will be immediately apparent that these facts are of practical importance in dosing. If, for instance, gasoline, turpentine, or creosote is used, better results may be expected if the sheep is dosed standing." The writer craves the indulgence of the reader for having devoted so much space to the question of treatment of parasites. It is indeed the most vital matter concerning the health of the sheep that will come to the shepherd for solution and a fore knowledge of systems of treatment when necessary may save great loss and much tribulation of spirit. SPRING WASHING, SHEARING AND DIPPING. When the writer was a boy, it was the almost universal custom to wash the wool upon the sheep's backs before they were shorn. A stirring time was this "sheep washing," and quite a picnic for the lads, the flock being penned in a close pen at the brook side at some point where the water was waist deep, and two men wading out seized the sheep as they were thrown to them and squeezed the wool with each hand to expel from it somewhat of the dirt and oil, then helped the sheep to climb up the opposite bank where they staggered off, astonished by the great weight of their own fleeces. They dried in a few days and then they were allowed to wait until the "oil rose again" after which they were shorn. This washing did not in anyway take the place of scouring to which the wool must be subjected after going to the manufacturers' hands, but merely made it somewhat lighter, so that it shrunk less after being bought. The only excuse for this washing is that the wool became slightly lighter before transported to market. However, buyers discriminated so much against the unwashed wool that it was really profitable to administer this farcial pretense of washing. In the writer's own country, washing has entirely gone out of practice and all wool is sold "in the dirt," which is as it should be, and doubtless another generation will see a total disappearance of the custom. Indeed if the flock is shorn as early as it should be, it will not be practicable to wash at all. There may be locations, however, where the buyers will so discriminate against the unwashed, that it will still be profitable to run them through the creek. The dipping tank will serve for this purpose, if there can be provided a stream of water to flow constantly through it, otherwise the water would soon become so foul that the wool would be in worse condition than before. In Pennsylvania, as in other of the old states, various quaint customs still exist, and one of the quaintest that needs abandonment is the habit of tying sheeps' feet when shearing. This is not, of course, praeticed by skilled shepherds anywhere save in the case of the black faced mountain sheep of Scotland, and is really a mark of ignorance of the shepherds, seeing that they will struggle far worse with their |