1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



25 



buttermilk that is left must be pretty heavily 

 charged with the two heaping tablespoonfuls of 

 saltpetre. Pretty good cows those four must be to 

 mabe an average of one and four-fifths pound per 

 day, after milk and cream were "used freely in 

 the family." 0. S. Bliss. 



Georgia, Vt., Nov. 7, 1870. 



GRAFTING THE GEAPE TINE. 



I have a grape vine which came from a raisin 

 stone. It is six years old, very thrifty, but has 

 never borne a grape. I wish to know if it can be 

 grafted, and if so, how, and at what time ? If you 

 can tell, ple&se give information through the col- 

 umns of the New England Farmer, and oblige 

 a subscriber. Mrs. h. a. b. 



West Windsor, Vt., Nov., 1870. 



Remarks.— The grape vine can be successfully 

 grafted, though it is not commonly resorted to. 

 The grafting is done at the root, as follows : — 

 wait, in the spring, until the vine has pushed its 

 first leaves to the size of a dime ; clear away the 

 earth from the stem and graft much as is done in 

 apple grafting. Cover with a good body of graft- 

 ing clay, crowded close to the wood, and then 

 press the earth carefully but firmly around, leav- 

 ing but one eye of the scion above the soil. The 

 scion should have three or four eyes or buds, and 

 a little of two year's old wood at the bottom of 

 the cutting. 



It is more convenient grafting if the vine is 

 taken up, and then plant it again, but something 

 is lost in growth. 



HARD, OR CONTRACTED FEET, IN THE HORSE. 



Please inform me what I shall do for a horse's 

 feet that have become dry and hard, so that the 

 horse is lame in consequence ot it, as I suppose. 

 I have tried bathing the feet with water, frequently, 

 this summer, and thought I was taking a great 

 deal of pains to keep the feet moist. I have even 

 stuffed them with green cow manure ; but all the 

 things that I have tried do not seem to do any 

 good. I have no books that treat upon such a 

 subject wherein I can get information. 



Is there not some kind of ointment in your 

 knowledge that would be of value in such a case, 

 to keep the feet in a moist state after they had 

 been soaked out ? Would not urine and salt mixed 

 together, be a good wash to use in softening them ? 

 I wish to try some remedy dififerent from what I 

 have tried yet. Please inform me through the 

 columns of the New England Farmer, and by 

 so doing you will oblige a Subscriber. 



Taunton, Mass., Oct'. 28, 1870. 



Remarks. — The condition in which you describe 

 the feet of your horse is not an uncommon one, 

 and yet the cause and the cure are, to most of us, 

 shrouded in mystery. A full third of all the 

 horses we notice, "point" with the forefoot ; that 

 is, when stopping on the road, or in their stall, 

 they reach out the fore foot and allow it to rest 

 slightly on the toe. Frequently both feet are 

 afiected, and then the suffering animal changes 

 every five or ten minutes, from one foot to the 

 other, seemingly unwilling to bear his weight on 

 either foot, and would not if he could avoid it; 

 In such cases, the foot is thrown out of use, except 

 when the horse is in actual motion, and would 

 naturally decrease in size, as the human arm 



would if held in a sling for an extended time. So 

 the horse's foot, spared in travelling and "pointed" 

 in the stable, obviously changes its shape. The 

 quarters draw inward ; the heels narrow ; the frog 

 hardens and decreases; the sole thickens and 

 heightens ; the crust becomes marked by veins and 

 grows considerably higher. In fact, the foot from 

 being an open, healthy foot, becomes a contracted 

 or diseased member. 



To say, therefore, what ought to be done for a 

 horse's feet that are "dry and hard," one ought to 

 know what causes such dryness and hardness; 

 and this is frequently quite difficult to ascertain. 

 It may be occasioned by too much pressure upon 

 the frog, by a strain, or by stepping upon a stone 

 or other hard substance. 



If in travelling the toe of the shoe becomes worn 

 much more than the rest of it, it indicates that the 

 tendon which covers a portion of the navicular 

 bone, — lying at the inner corner of the coffin bone, 

 — has become injured, and ossification has taken 

 place ; that is, a sponge-like appearance of the 

 tendon. It then becomes extremely painful, and 

 being out of sight, it is difficult to determine what 

 to do for it. 



The only remedies which seem to be relied upon 

 the most, are light work, kind treatment, and keep- 

 ing the feet moist. The latter may be done by 

 keeping the animal standing on moist sand in the 

 stall, and by soaking the feet every other night, 

 for one hour, in hot water, for two or three weeks, 

 and tying them up until the next morning in old 

 woolen cloths. Bleeding is sometimas resorted to, 

 and so is a division of the nerve of the leg ; but 

 they are of doubtful service, and ought not to be 

 resorted to only by experienced surgeons. 



The disease indicated by a pohiting of the foot, 

 is very common, and ought to receive thorough 

 investigation by veterinary surgeons. It makes 

 the horse a very uncertain traveller. He becomes 

 slow and awkward in his gait, shrinks when he 

 goes down hill or over stony ground, and is liable 

 to stumble and fall on any ground. 



"We would not advise the use of cow dung, or 

 the urine and salt which you mention ; but rather 

 stuff the foot with wet cotton, or something which 

 will retain the moisture. The cotton may be kept 

 in by placing a small piece of flat wood across the 

 shoe. "Wet the cotton when it gets dry. 



THE quince JAPONICA. 



Can you, or any of the correspondents of your 

 valuable paper, tell me whether the fruit of that 

 beautiful flowering shrub called ''Quince Japan- 

 tea," can be made of any use ? I have a Urge 

 bush of it, which I have kept in my garden more 

 than ten years, because of the beauty of its flow- 

 ers. This year it bore about a peck of fine looking 

 fruit, somewhat resembling a quince in flavor, but 

 more acid. I think I have heard the shrub called 

 Chinese quince. 1 notice in Botany it is classed 

 with apples and pears in the genus pyrus. 



Inquirer. 



Remarks.— The "Japan" Quince, or as it is often 

 called, the Quince Japonica, is one of the most 



