1874.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Disease in Fowls* Leg*.— "W. H. H.," 
Alton, 111. Sores in the joints of a fowl's legs which cat 
away the joint in two weeks, must arise from a very serious 
constitutional disturbance, and any remedy is doubtful. It 
might be well to try a dose of sulphite of soda as large as 
a pea in a pill of bread or dough each day for a few days, 
and clumgiug the food. The soree Bhould be washed 
daily with warm soap and water. Closely bred fowls arc 
more frequently thus troubled than others, and a change 
of blood would be desirable. 
Co-operative Stow.—" T. E. E., M Plain- 
field. Ind^ The managers of the co-operative store in 
Sedalia. Mo., would doubtless be glad to give— if re- 
quested—information as to their plan of business to 
persons who desire to organize such an institution. A 
town of 1,500 inhabitants ought to present a field large 
enough for such a business. 
For a Jumping; Colt.— " J. H., n Clark- 
eon, Iowa, says if a halter is put upon a colt, and the end 
of the halter strap passed between the forelegs ind fast- 
ened to a strap around the horse bo that he can not raise 
his head higher than a level with his back, he can not 
jump, and it will not interfere with his feeding. 
The Potato Disease. — Early Inst year 
an Englishman whose name ba^ escaped us offered a 
handsome sam as a prize for the best essay on the potato 
e and its cure. The council of the Royal Agricul- 
tural Society, in whose hands the matter was placed, do 
not advise making any award. They recommend, how- 
ever, that a sum of money be appropriated for the care- 
ful invcstL'ution of the potato fungus {Perofiospora znfes- 
tans), which is now admitted to be the cause of the trou- 
ble. What a chance here is for the remarkable micro- 
ecopisl of our remarkable Department of Agriculture. 
A Heavy Ox.— The Butchers' prize for the 
heaviest bullock at the Birmingham (Eng.) Fat Cattle 
Show was this year awarded to a cross-bred ox out of a 
polleu v by a short-horn bull. The animal 
weighed 8,866 pounds. Last year the first prize at the 
SinitliQeld Fat Cattle Show was taken by a polled ox. 
This certainly shows well for the feeding qualities of the 
polled stock. 
Scratches.— " T. G. P.," Heesville, West Va. 
Scratches is an inflammatory suppurative action of the 
akin of a horse's heels and hind legs. It is often very 
difficult of cure. At other times it readily submits to 
very simple treatment, such as washing the parts quite 
clean with a solution of one dram of carbolic acid to a 
pint of water. After the washing the leg-* are wiped 
quite dry with a soft cloth, and anointed with glycerine 
as often as is needed to keep the shin from becoming 
dry. At the same time the horse Bhould have half an ounce 
to an ounce of sulphite of soda In the feed twice a day. 
Care must be taken to keep the legs (lean and dry and free 
from mud, which is in many cos the direct cause 
of the trouble. 
Measure for Hay.— U W. H. W.," Glen- 
dale, Ky. The estimates for the measurement of hay in 
the mow are all intended for solidly packed hay, and the 
average of the whole mow. The bottom of a deep mow 
will be heavier, and the upper part will be lighter than 
the centre, which represents the average of the whole. 
The same refers to a stack. 
Itlultnm in I*arvo. — il E. W. T.," Wico- 
mico Co., Md. Peruvian guano would be a very good 
fertilizer for oats, as will hen manure mixed with earth, 
but It should be used move liberally than guano. The 
beet fertilizer for corn i* the dried blood mannrc ; wc 
have seen some extraordinary resnlth from it. It may be 
procured in Baltimore. No one can justly expect much 
of a corn-Bhcller for one dollar. A dollar's worth of sneb 
an article would be very little and jet ir might be worth 
its cost. Artificial hatching of eggs is perfectly success- 
ful bo far as to produce chickens ; the operation always 
fails at this point because the chickens can not take 
care of themselves and they die meter than tncj 
hatched. A hundred light Brahma fowls will cost from 
$250 upwards if really good ones. 
Concrete Itnildftng;*. — * II. JI. y.,' 1 
Los Angeles, Ca!. The article upon concrete buildings 
appeared in the Agriculturist of March and Angnst, 1872. 
As these numbers may he procured in any desired quan- 
tity it is not necessary to reprint the article. 
Diseased Udder.- J. W. P.," Bureau 
Co., 111. A gathering upon the udderof.JI i 
finally breaks and forms a running sore la as llkolj to 
have occurred from a blow, a kick, or a punch with an- 
other cow's horn as anything. It should now be treated 
by injecting into the sore with a syringe a solution of one 
dram of carbolic acid in a pint of water, each morning 
and evening, until the offensive discharge ceases and it 
begins to heal in a healthy manner, after which it should 
be cleansed daily with the same solution until healed. 
Pipes lor Drains nud Irrigating. 
— " II. II. S." Earthen pipes for drains have been made 
for many years ; there is no patent right upon them. 
Common drain tiles may be used for irrigating by turning 
the water into them, which would escape at the joints. 
It would be simply the reverse of draining. We shall 
be happy to receive the communications referred to. 
Ilitir Cochins.— "W. H. B." Buff Cochin 
fowls are included amongst the profitable egg-producers. 
Nevertheless there are some varieties, as the Spanish 
and the Leghorns, which are more prolific in this respect 
than the Cochins. The Brabmas arc also preferable to 
the Cochins, standing, in our opinion, next to the Leg- 
burns, especially as winter layers. 
Oil Meal.— "C. L., n Lancaster Co., Pa. Oil 
meal may be Uept perfectly well in a dry place. If in 
large bulk it will heat, and if the place is damp it will 
mold. It is best kept in flour barrels or in a bin in the 
granary, and if it shows any signs of heating it should be 
shoveled over or transferred to another bin. Two quarts 
daily will be a fair allowance for a cow. One pint daily is 
enough for a calf, and a pint in each feed will be enough 
for a horse in addition to his other feed. 
Foot and jHunfth Disease in Sheep. 
— "Englishman," Lynchburg, Va. The symptoms de- 
scribed, viz: sores around the coronet of the hoof and 
for two inches up the leg, and between the cleft of the 
foot, also sores upon the lips appear to point to Aptha, 
or what is known as the foot and mouth disease. At the 
same time it may be only a vesicular eruption which fre- 
quently occurs upon the feet and which is conveyed to 
the mouth by contagion in consequence of the animal 
licking the sores upon the feet. Wc would wash the feet 
and touch the sores upon the lips with the following, 
viz: 2 drams chloride of zinc, 1 oz. tincture of myrrh 
dissolved in one pint of water. Each sheep shonld take 
two ounces of epsom salts with a little ginger or a few 
tea-spoonfuls of peppermint water. The feet must be 
kept well washed with the solution and the sheep be 
kept upon a dry barn floor until recovered. 
Windmill. - L. D. S.," Huron, Ohio. For 
information as to windmills write to the United States 
Windmill Company, Batavia, Illinois. 
Poultry for Profit.— " A. J. W.," Tole- 
do, Ohio. The most profitable breed of poultry, we be- 
lieve to bo the light Brabmas; they are good layers, ma- 
in re early, are heavy bodied when mature, have good 
flavored flesh, are good sitters nnd mothers, are hardy, 
very docile and not inclined to wander, can be kept in- 
side of a fence live feet high or less are handsome, and 
are salable either living or dead. Wright's and Lewis's 
poultry book- arc useful works upon this subject. 
Harrowing: Corn.-" J. P. L., 1 ' Ring- 
wood, N. C. When the Thomas harrow is used to har- 
row young corn it is run indiscriminately over the field, 
the young corn not being injured excepting occasionally 
a stalk is torn oul. But no other harrow should be used 
for this purpose in this way. The usual corn harrow is 
a V harrow which has the central tooth removed; it is 
passed over the row so that the plants are passed over by 
the space left by the removed tooth, and each side of the 
row is harrowed, pontiles are used to guide it. 
fthr«*fe! M'nrniiiig in Texas. — " Stone," 
QhlcagO, The only part of Texas now loft I'm cattle and 
Rheepfeeilingujn.il th ■ rang'- is the western part Of tho 
state. In the Baal settlements are becoming too thick 
for the comfort of cattle men. For information as to 
lauds the Commissioner of Public Lauds, Austin, Texas, 
should be written to. 
Darnel. — Tina grass (Loliw/r temHlcntum), a 
DftUre of Europe, is more or less introduced Into this 
country. It has long enjoyed the distinction of being the 
only grass that produced seeds having poisonous quali- 
tifis, Thla character was attributed to it by both agri- 
culturists and botanists of early times* and it has been 
kept BterSOtyped In all the books upon grasses. Mr. 
\|. tander Stephen Wilson has been experimenting with 
Darnel, and hits presented his results in two papers read 
before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. In his last 
paper he stated that he has eaten It mixed with wheal 
and out-meal In very much larger quantities than It would 
be naturally mixed with those grains, in hot and cold 
bread, taking over four ounces of Daniel in a day 
out experiencing any cilects whatever. 
with- 
Xhe Poitou Am*.— "H. P.," Dover, Del. 
To import a Poitou jack would cost a large sum of mon- 
ey. By importing several, each one would cost less in 
proportion. An animal may be purchased in France for 
from $1,000 to $3,000, as they are very highly valued and 
are reluctantly sold. It would not he safe to purchase 
unless in person, so thai there would be traveling ex- 
penses back and forth, say $400, aud freight of the jack, 
which would be at least $150. Still as these animals arc 
exceedingly valuable the importation of a pair of asses 
would undoubtedly be a benefit to the public if it should 
not be profitable pecuniarily. 
Goats lor Milk:.— "8. 11.," Pierceville, 
Ind. We do not know where milk goats that are able to 
milk four quarts a day could be procured. That is about 
the average yield of our common cow. If ordinary g«aU 
yielding a fourth of that quantity would be desirable, a 
thousand or two could be purchased in the cities of New 
York, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia for about the price of 
common sheep, and their removal would be a relief to 
the inhabitants of those cities who have gardens and 
shade trees, upon which these creatures love to depredate* 
Oleo Margarine. — U A. K. ]?.," Kansas 
City, Mo. We would repeat what we have already said 
in noticing the fact that suet is manufactured into so 
called butter, that the product is not butter in any sense, 
nor do wc believe for a moment that the manufacturers 
of the stuff can ever induce people knowingly to pur- 
chase it. If it is put into the market as butter it is a 
fraud, and we would not advise any parties to go into a 
fraudulent business, but on the contrary to avoid it aV- 
thongh it might be a profitable one. 
The Ilnrlingftoii. and Missouri 
Railroad Company have sold along their line in Iowa 
and Nebraska, within thirty-three months, 47S,0S8 acres 
to 4,525 purchasers, on ten years' 1 credit and six per cent 
interest. On sales made since 1872 no part of the prin- 
cipal is payable until the end of four years, while twenty 
per cent is deducted from land prices for prompt 
improvement. 
The Volinia Farmers* Club sends 
us it-; printed programme for 1S7-4 — which shows a judi- 
cious variety of discussions and field trials for nearly 
every month in the year. We assume that this club is 
held at Volinia, Mich., but there is nothing on the pro- 
gramme to show that it is not at Volinia, Japan. Wc 
hope onr Volinia friends will not take this criticism 
amiss, as we only use their oversight to say to the officers 
of societies and clnbs that a large share— half, if not 
more, of the printed circulars and communications that 
come to us mention neither county nor State, and if tho 
post-mark happens, as is usually the c:isc, to be indis- 
tinct, we have no clue to their whereabouts. 
Leather and Farincrs' Fleshings. 
-»" II. F. B.," Sing Sing, N. Y. All the refuse parts of 
the hide of an animal arc valuable for fertilizing pur- 
poses, as is also the liquor in which such refuse has been 
boiled. Long steaming under great pressure is needed 
to make bones easily crushed into powder, and then they 
are not so valuable as the raw bone-dust, because they 
have lost all their nitrogenous matter. Liquid manure is 
best applied by means of a spreader such as has been. 
already described in the Agriculturist. 
Crop for an Orchard.— " G. R. B., M 
Seymour, Ind., has an apple orchard just in bearing. 
He wants to know whether to cultivate ir with some crop 
or saw it to grass, and what kind of grass or crop is tho 
best ouc. — "G. It. li" should .consider that it is nnfair 
to land to ask too mnch of it. As trees are usually plant- 
ed in orchards, tho fruit is all the crop that should be 
taken from tin- land ; if potatoes or other root crops are 
grown they should be so well manured that the land will 
lose nothing. Perhaps the best treatment for an orchard 
is to BOW it to clover and pasture bogs upon it. This will 
keep the soil constantly improving and have the advan- 
tage of disposing of the windfalls. 
Worms in a Cow. — "S. B. D M " Downio- 
ville. C:il. Cows are BOmetiniBS, especially when young, 
troubled with small, thread-like worms of two varieties,. 
The irritation of the skin, which causes the cow to rub 
the hair off, may bo due to the disturbance of the systcna 
consequent upon the presence of the worms. The remedy 
is to giVO before feeding In the morning, one pint of 
linseed oil. two ounces Of oil of turpentine, with hnlf a 
pint 6t Infusion of quassia mixed together. Repeal 
the dose In ten days. Salt regularly given is almost 
a sure preventive of internal parasites in nil farm stock. 
