1880. 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



31 



Fattening Sheep. 

 An Ohio sheep raiser, wiitini; to the Rural New 

 Yorker, says : " Sheep [liekeil out lor tlie butcher 

 should be feii ije>it'>''"i''ly and roiruhirly, and upon 

 this point too niueli stress eannot be laid. Care 

 should be taken, liowever, to give tlie sheep only 

 just enough lor one meal at eaeli feedinj; time. If 

 they are given superabundance of hay they soon 

 learn to lie particular in selecting tlie best part only ; 

 and if there is not enougli of this at one feeding 

 time, they will wait half hungry for the next. My 

 own experience agrees with tlial of most successful 

 sheep owners, that I'attening cattle should be fed 

 three times a day, tliougli some of my neighbors 

 think twice often enough. It is also very important 

 that the sheep should not be allowed to sulfer from 

 want of water ; neither shcnild they lack a .supply of 

 salt; for although salt is not so necessary to them in 

 the winter as in summer, still they will thrive lietter 

 If it is fed to them at least once a week at all 

 seasons." 



Catarrh in Sheep. 

 Sheep run at tlie nose sometimes because of cold, 

 but often it is chronic eatarrli, and is not easily 

 cured. If tliey are made to inhale the steam from 

 hot vinegar or a decoction of bojis, they will thiow 

 out a great deal of mucus which will be loosened by 

 inhalation. The steam may be made by dropping a 

 live coal into a vessel containing the liquid, or by in- 

 serting a hot irim. After the mucus has been dis- 

 charged, smear the nostrils with pine tar. Scotch 

 snutf dropped in the nostrils will cause the sheep to 

 throw out the mucus, bnt this remedy is not so 

 etfective as the steaming. A hood may be put on 

 the head of the sheep to prevent the steam from 

 escaping, and the head of the animal must be held 

 directly over the vessel. Sheep affected with catarrh 

 should not be exposed to cold storms or cold winds, 

 as either will increase the malady. 



Bonner's Horses. 



The folowilng is the price which Bonner paid lor 

 some of his horses : Uarus, S'i6,0(HI; Dexter, $:i3,000; 

 Goldsmith Maid, ?:i.5,000;(;rafton, 815,000; Socrates, 

 ?26,000; Tattler, Sl7,000; tien. Knox, $10,000; Poca- 

 hontas, 5-15,000; .Jay Gould, g;!."),000; Startle, S-'0,0()0; 

 Lady Thorn, ?3(l,0U0; Lucy, 825,000; Rosalind, ilO,- 

 000;" total, §:ilO,000. There is §34u,000 worth of 

 horses, besides some forty more of choice and high- 

 priced ones which he has in his pastures and studs. 

 He has a sort of mania for iiigh-priced horses, 

 which can be of little value to bim, except to gratify 

 his ambition to own more good horses than any 

 other living man. 



Entomological. 



The War on Insects. 



Out-worm» — Where cut-worms are troublesome in 

 the Held, a very old and at the sam^^ time very good 

 remedy is to entrap them in holes made near the 

 plants, or hills, if iu the corntield. An old rake 

 handle tapered at the end so as to make a smooth 

 hole five or six inches deep, or more, will answer 

 very well for this purpose. In the morning the 

 worms that have taken refuge in these boles may 

 be crushed by thrusting the rake handle into them 

 again, and the "trap" is set for the next nigbt. It 

 is always well in planting to make provision for the 

 loss of a stalk or two by cut-worms or other causes, 

 as it is easier to thin out than to replant. 



Muij-bectlcs — These are the perfect insects of the 

 white grub, so destructive to lawns and sometimes 

 to meadows. A French plan for destroying, or 

 rather catching, the cockcbafer, a very similar 

 insect, is to place in the centre of the orchard after 

 sunset an old barrel, the inside of which has been 

 previously tarred. At the Ijottom of the barrel is 

 placed a lighted lamp, and the insects circling 

 around to get at the liglit strike their wings and legs 

 against the tarred sides of the barrel, and either get 

 fast or are rendered so helpless that they fall to the 

 bottom. Ten gallons of beetles have been captured 

 in this way in a single night. 



.S/Kr/s— English gardeners place handfuls of bran 

 at intervals of eight or ten feet along the border of 

 garden walks. The slugs are attracted to the bran, 

 and in the morning each little heap is found covered 

 with them. The ground is then gone over again, 

 this time the operator providing himself with a 

 dustpan and small broom and an empty bucket, and 

 it is an easy matter to sweep up the little heaps and 

 empty them, slugs and all, into the bucket. In this 

 way many hundred have beentaken in a single walk, 

 and if a little salt and water be placed on the bot- 

 tom of the bucket the slugs coming in contact with 

 it, are almost instantly destroyed. 



Anis — When these insects are troublesome in the 

 garden fill small bottles two-thirds with water, and 

 then add sweet oil to within an inch of the top; 

 plunge these into the ground near the nests or hills, 

 to within half an incli of the rim, and the insects 

 coming for a sip will get into the oil and perish, as 

 it fills the breathing pores. The writer once entrap- 

 ped in a pantry myriads of red ants in a shallow tin 



cover, smeared with lard, the vessel having aeel 

 dentally been left in their track. Another means of 

 entrapping them, suggested to me by Professor 

 (i lover, many years ago, is to sprinkle sugar into a 

 dampcncil sponge near their haunts to attract the 

 insects. When they have swarmed through t'.ie 

 sponge it is squeezed in hot water, and the trap is 

 reset until the majority of the insects are kllleil. 



Aphix — A remedy for plant lice upon the terminal 

 shoots of rose bushes (or similar hardy plants,) said 

 to work like a charm, is as follows : Take four 

 ounces of quassia chips and boil lor ten minutes in 

 a gallon of soft water. Takeout the chips and add 

 four ounces of soft soap, wbieli should be dissolved 

 in it as it cools. Stir well before using, and apply 

 with a nmderate sized paint brush, brushing up- 

 ward. Ten minutes after syringe the trees with 

 clean water to wash olT the dead insects and the 

 preparation, which otherwise would disfigure the 

 rose trees. 



.S'c«/e— A French composition for destroying scale 

 insects, plant lice, etc., on Iruit and oilier trees, is 

 as follows : Boil two gallons of barley iu water, 

 then remove the grain (which may be fed to the 

 eliiekens) and add to the liquid (piicklime until it 

 approaches the consistency of paint. When cold 

 add two poun<ls of lampblack, mixing it for a long 

 time, then add a pound and a lialf of llowers of sul- 

 phur and a quart of alcoliol. The mixture is applied 

 with a paint brusli, first using a stilf bristled brush 

 to remove moss, etc. It not only destroys the in- 

 sects but gives the bark greater strength. — Chan. R. 

 Dodge. 



How to Get Rid of the Pests. 



Our excellent contemporary, the Hub, publishes 

 the following account of the wood-destroying beetle 

 (L'jctus) which Charles Evans, Cleveland, Ohio, 

 communicates to that paper : 



Of the multitude of insects which devour plants 

 and trees, some attack only the leaves ; others the 

 trunk, and others the roots or various other parts. 

 The nettle is infested by no less than forty species of. 

 insects, which are horn, live and die on its stems. 

 The oak alone has one hundred and eighty-four 

 species, and the hickory is the exclusive home of 

 numerous tribes of insects. One particular species 

 which infests the hickory is the Lyclnx. This is the 

 cliief pest of the carriage wood-shop, and catises 

 more trouble than any other insect in shops whert; 

 second-growth hickory is used. This beetle is of a 

 dark chestnut-brown color, and has eleven jointed 

 antenn:^, club-shaped at the outer end. They then 

 undergo transformation, and eat through the shell, 

 and return to the outside as perfect beetles, in the 

 spring or early summer, to reproduce and cai-ry on 

 their work of destruction, leaving small pin boles in 

 the wood as evidence of their exit. Some call this 

 trouble the " powder-post," and others simply speak 

 of the timber as "worm eaten." Some think that 

 the worms breed in the wood, but this is an error, as 

 investigatiou clearly proves. 



The best method of destroying these pests is to 

 destroy tivery piece of worm-eaten timber before the 

 month of March. If any man in the shop finds the 

 wood he is working is infected, instead of putting it 

 in a corner and saving it, let him immediately use it 

 for firewood, or otherwise destroy it ; for if it be left 

 in the shop it will surely help to continue tlie pests 

 another year. 



Timber cut in the month of August is less liable to 

 be attacked by them, as it then has less sap than 

 when cut in the spring or fall. With a little care iu 

 selecting timber, Imying only that cut in August, 

 and using caution and foresight in the shop and 

 lumber shed, they mayjbe almost if not quite got rid 

 of; but if left to themselves, they will very soon 

 spoil every piece of second-growth hickory about the 

 establishment. 



Poultry. 



Lice on Cattle. 



A correspondent of the Farmers' Adi'oeate says : 

 " Some ten or twelve years ago an agricultural 

 writer observed his bull to be free from lice, but not 

 so the rest of his cattle ; and, thinking over the 

 liiatter, be came to the conclusion that the habit of 

 pawing dirt over himself must have the cU'cet of 

 keeping the lice olf the bull, and he tried dry earth 

 on the rest of the cattle with the best effect. Ever 

 since reading the above, I have usc^d nothing but dry 

 earth, and have repeatedly put it on cattle having 

 lice, and have found it perfectly ellicacious, both as 

 a preventive and a cure. If in winter I find it 

 needed, and cannot get it otherwise, I go into my 

 cellar and obtain a few quarts (no danger of using 

 too much), and dj-y it on the stove ; I then sprinkle 

 it over the back from bead to tail, and, the earth 

 working in and through the hair, destroys all lice. I 

 believe the earth to be just as ellicacious, less dan- 

 gerous and less expensive than tobacco or any of the 

 acids recommended." 



Destruction of Weevil. 



The leaves of the elder strewed among grain will 

 effectually preserve it from the ravages of the weevil; 

 the juice will al.so kill maggots. The leaves scat- 

 tered over cucumbers, cabbages and other plants 

 subject to weevil ravsges effectually shield them. 



Poultry Interest of America. 



Noticing the rapid development of the poultry in- 

 terest iu this country, a New York correspondent of 

 the Connlry (Ir.ntleinan writes : 



A glance at a few simple statistics will surprise 

 even those who have heretofore considered them- 

 selves posted. Mark the change in a few years! 

 Ten years ago not a paper in the country was pub- 

 lished in the interests of poultry, to-day there arc 

 more than a dozen, with a combined circulation of 

 upwards of thirty thousand subscribers. We can 

 add to this nearly a hundred agricultural papers, 

 which devote a de|)arlmcnt to this now important 

 branch of farm industry. A few years ago, there 

 might have been found a breeder here and there In 

 the Kastern States ; now they may be found In every 

 part of the country, ami are numbered by the tens of 

 thousands. Then not an exhibition was made ; to- 

 day there are already over forty advertised to be held 

 In various parts of the country, and as many more 

 will be held later on. F.ven Oregon holds its State 

 exhibition. In every New Knglaml State, there will 

 be from two to half a dozen exhibitions, and in New 

 York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Indiana, there will 

 be six to ten each, and bixleen States arc represent- 

 ed in some way. The cash premiums alone at these 

 exhibitions will exceed one hundred thousand dollars. 



That this interest at the present time l> crowing 

 more rapidly than ever before, is apparcn. on every 

 side. With the Improvement that is now taking 

 place in business circles in every part of the country, 

 the interest iu fine stock including poultry, will also 

 secure a firmer hold. The good prices of the past 

 will be fully maiutained in the future, and really ex- 

 tra choice specimens will yet find purchasers at the. 

 figures obtained in England, where the "gold cup" 

 prize Black lied game cockerel, at the Crystal Pal- 

 ace exhibition in 1S77, sold for tlOO 10s., nearly 

 ?.-iOO. Within two months, $100 has been offered in 

 New England for single birds of last season's breed- 

 ing- ^_^ 



Pickings From the Poultry Yard. 



In no case breed from sickly or weak constltutlon- 

 ed fowls, as your chicks will be worthless and also 

 bring disease. 



Fowls with canker or roup will communicate the 

 disease to all the rest of the flock if allowed to use 

 the same drinking vessel. 



Rucks and geese should always be scalded, and 

 steamed by covering up with a blanket for a short 

 time, before picking; in other respects handle as tur- 

 keys and chickens. 



Cayenne pepper, ginger or mustard for fowls Is 

 quite beneficial . When added to their food it will 

 stimulate egg-production, increase their vigor and 

 make them feel well generally. 



Young and quick-fed animals have more water 

 and fat in their llesb, while oMer and well-fed ani- 

 mals have llesb of a fiimer touch and a richer flavor, 

 and are richer in nitrogen. The former may be 

 more delicate, the latter will be more nutritious. 



Cabbage Is best given poultry whole, hung up by 

 the stalk. At first it may not be touched, but when 

 one fowl begins to peek at it, tlic rest will be tempted 

 to keep on until little remains. Bciug suspended 

 it does not waste or become polluted, and it will 

 remain in good condition to be eaten at will. 



Moderately fat animals are the most profitable. 

 Every ex<'essive fat animal has been fe<l at a loss 

 during the latter part of its feeding. When an an- 

 imal is ready for market, sell it; if there is feed 

 left, buy some more lean animals and feed them. 

 The nimble sixpence brings the profit. 



When soft eggs are laid liy fowls they intimate 

 usually that the egg organs are inllammed. This 

 state is occasioned by the birds being over-fed or 

 too fat. Sparc diet and plenty of green food, es- 

 pecially lettuce leaves in summer, or cabbage in 

 winter, is the best treatment for fowls in such 

 condition. 



Every fowl house should face south, and, if pos- 

 sible, lie upon dry ground. Any available ground , 

 protected by groves, hedges, stone walls or by 

 buildings of any kind, may be used for this pur- 

 pose. Fowls suffer very much from cold storms 

 and wind, and any protection against these is very 

 valuable as a preventive of colds and roup. 



Roup with Pigeons. 

 The roup with pigeons being a very formidable, 

 and often fatal disease, I forward you the result 

 of my treatment of it for the benefit of the fancy. 

 The disease broke out in my loft, of about fifty 

 birds, during the month of October, but attacked 

 only the trumpeter, and all those affected were 

 young birds of 1879 hatch. As soon as the pres- 

 ence of the disease was detected, the birds were 

 removed to a large cage, about three by four feet, 

 placed in a sheltered situation, and were dosed with 

 about a spoonful of castor oil. This one dose of 

 oil was the only internal remedy used, but the 

 birds' throats and beaks were well syringed and 

 washed with the disinfectant' bromo ehloralum, dl- 



