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SW “Ohia” | Hey all!
Thought you may find this interesting.
The family spent Thanksgiving evening together at my Grandmothers, and I had an opportunity to snap a few pictures of a family heirloom. This book belonged to a Great-Grandfather on my Father's side of the family, the second generation of his family to farm in this county. He dropped out of school and took over operation of the family farm at 17 after his father (my Great-Great-Grandfather) passed away without warning in 1932.
I have always found it fascinating to hold this book, and know I am reading the same pages as those who had come long before me. The spine is broken and the cover is falling apart, but that makes it no less interesting to flip through. To look at how livestock was cared for in those days, and compare it to now is always an interesting experience.
The recommended treatments for conjunctivitis were feeding dissolved Epsom salts, and treating the eye with a *cocaine* solution, or if that is unavailable, a mixture of Silver Nitrate and granular Morphine. Amazing to think that stuff was available over the counter then. Lead Acetate (also called Sugar of Lead) is a very common astringent throughout the book.
Reading the Practical Recipes from Farmers section is even more interesting. Everything from saltpeter to chopped tobacco could be recommended for treating bloat. Many of these recommendations hold merit today, such as using Tincture of Iodine to treat ringworm. Some of these recommendations too contain stuff that has been long-since made illegal, such as one recipe suggesting the use of a diluted Opium mixture (Laudanum) to treat scours.
Perhaps our great-grandchildren will look back upon us with the same opinions. They will wonder how we possibly survived raising cattle and crops with "only" the technology and knowledge we have now. Somehow my great-grandfather kept his family alive and farmed for many decades using this era practices. He even bought a brand new Farmall H one year, after a particularly successful tobacco crop. They milked, ran beef cattle, raised tobacco, hay, and other grains, and eventually my Great-Grandfather worked for the county until his death in the mid-1990's. I could not imagine the change he saw in his life, being born in 1915 and almost seeing the new millennium. From a hand-pumped well behind the house to running "city" water. From plowing with horses to using 150hp tractors. From a new fangled "telephone" to the internet of today.
Imagine if the men of that generation could see today's GPS/auto-steer technology, or planters with 16 rows, or current land prices.
I could write a book about our family and their farming experiences, as I am sure many of you could as well. Hope this post was worth the read.
Thanks!
P.S.: Here is a complete scanned copy of "The Practical Stock Doctor," 1904 edition.
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 Practical Stock Doctor 1.JPG (146KB - 704 downloads)
Practical Stock Doctor 2.jpeg (119KB - 708 downloads)
Practical Stock Doctor 3.jpeg (127KB - 689 downloads)
Practical Stock Doctor 4.jpeg (102KB - 662 downloads)
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My Great-Grandfather's Copy of "The Practical Stock Doctor"--Published 1921
