306 TliAXSACTIOXS OF THE AjfSRTCAN INSTITUTE. 



neighbor. Set out early in spring, after a dee]) and tliorougli spading. 

 Keep clean and let grow two years if plants are little, so as to get 

 strong roots. Then in the spring of tlie third year you can begin to 

 cut for your table, but with a sharp knife, slanting. After the 15th 

 June let grow. Cover well with coarse horse manure in winter, 

 and loose between roots with a fork early in the spring. 



Mildew on Gooseberries, 



Mr. A. C. Weaver, Papin, Wisconsin, asks for a remedy for the 

 mildew on the gooseberry. 



Mr. J. B. Lyman. — Dig around the bushes so as to prune the roots 

 somewhat ; in the trench thus made mix wood ashes and two quarts 

 of dirty salt ; hoe clean all around the bushes and sprinkle refuse 

 cliarcoal or the dust from charcoal pits on the surface. This has 

 cured all mildew on some soils. 



Gapes in Chickens. 



Mr. J. B. Lyman, — Gapes are produced by a little wliite worm in 

 the chicken's throat. The best preventive is to make sure of health- 

 ful conditions for the fowls in all respects. They should have free 



Tano-e and an abundance of their natural animal food. Another 



o 



important rule, change roosters every 3"ear, The poultry will be 

 healthier in all respects. Give the chicks a little, and only a little, 

 boiled yolk of an egg when they are a day or two from the shell. 

 Chickens often have their constitutions undermined by being overfed 

 when very young. After they are a week old, feed liberally with a 

 variety of grain, such as cracked corn, barley, oats, refuse from the 

 table, animal food, etc, etc. If a chick does well he will grow half 

 an ounce a day, or a pound a month. As a preventive of gapes stir 

 up their pudding with vinegar instead of water once in a while, say 

 twice a week, and give them a little black pepper. If, in spite of 

 these precautions, you have a chick when he is about the size of a 

 robin breathing as though be had a bad cold and coughing, at the 

 same time opening his mouth as though something choked him, his 

 case must be attended to at once, or he will never grace the breakfast 

 tableas a " spring chicken," 



Take a small, slender quill, about five inches long, and strip oft' 

 the feathers on one side. Dip it in a mixture of melted butter and 

 black pepper ; holding its mouth open with the thumb of the left 

 hand, carry the feather down the little fellow's throat as far as possi- 



