1874.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
273 
The Mennonites.- These people are now 
arriving at their new Western homes, A few weeks ago, 
a body of three hundred and fifty arrived in New York, 
bringing a common fund of $60,000, and immediately 
started for their destination, in Nebraska. The industri- 
ous, frugal habits of these people, with their strong re- 
ligious character, will make them as sturdy, persevering, 
and finally as successful a body of citizens as could be 
wished for. 
Exportation of Live Cattle.— A re- 
cent experiment in shipping live cattle from New York 
to England failed, not for want of profit, but because of 
loss of the cattle by death on the voyage. This adverse 
result seems to have been due to bad management, for 
two successful voyages from the River Platte, in South 
America, have been made to England, with live cattle 
and horses. The trips occupied twenty-four days, and 
nearly one hundred head were taken at each trip, arriv- 
ing in London in such fine condition, that they sold im- 
mediately to farmers, for feeders, at a profit of one 
hundred per cent above cost. 
M BLoss of Cuu."— "F. P.," Anderson Co., 
Texas. This is an ambiguous term. It may mean drop- 
ping of the cud from the mouth, during rumination, or a 
suspension of rumination. Both may occur from the 
same cause, viz., indigestion, or eating injurious or 
poisonous plants. If this is the cause, the stomach and 
bowels should be cleared by a strong purgative, such as 
twelve ounces of Epsom salt^, with one ounce o( ground 
ginger along with it. But the latter may occur from the 
animal having swallowed something, which has injured 
the paunch, such as a thorn, a nail, piece of glass, or 
other rough, sharp substance. The symptoms which 
might be looked for in this case, would be a rapid wast- 
ing and weakness, a staring coat, and a dull-colored skin, 
with much loose senrf upon it, irregular appetite and 
bowels, with discharge of gas from the throat, and accu- 
mulations of it in the paunch. Nothing can be done in 
this case but to trust to chances, and a natural recovery, 
leaving the animal at rest, to facilitate a cure of the in- 
jured parts, or the expulsion of the intruding substance, 
if that is possible. 
Packing Butter.— "S. J. T.," Susque- 
hanna Co., Pa. It would hardly he safe to pack tratter in 
glass, for shipment to a distance. It is hopeless for 
those distant from the city markets, to compete for the 
fancy butter trade, in which appearance goes for a good 
deal. But if the butter is extra good, and is packed in 
new tubs or pails, it will always sell at the top of the 
market, wherever it may come from, as soon as it gets 
known . 
Twins. — "C. R. D.," Brookline, Mass. It is 
only occasionally that a twin heifer or bull fails to breed, 
and the fact that this happens, although very seldom, 
should not be considered as evidence of the infertility of 
these animals, until it is proved. We would not, there- 
fore, turn a promising heifer calf into veal, because she 
was a twin with a bull calf. The term, "free marten,'" 
sometimes used to designate such an animal, is a mean- 
ingless term, and the idea that it is necessarily a herma- 
phrodite, or sexless animal, is an absurdity. A pair of 
twin Shorthorn heifers recently sold for $11,000, and 
from a pair of twin heifers a family of excellent Short- 
horns has been raised in England. 
Sand tor a Cranberry Marsh.— 
"T. P.," Huron Co., Mich. The purpose for which sand 
is used to cover the surface of a cranberry marsh, is to 
prevent the growth of weeds until the cranberry-plants 
Can get possession of Lhc norCnCc. Loam -would not an- 
swer this purpose, and it would be worse than useless, 
becau c e it would foster weeds. Only clean sand from a 
river bed or a bank should he used, and should be so 
free from clay as not to cohere when pressed in the hand. 
Forest Fires.— "W. W. S.," Green Co., 
Wis. The danger from fire to fences and farms, may be 
greatly avoided by keeping the fence rows free from 
weeds and in grass. The grass should be mown every 
year for hay. A strip outside of the fence, of at least 
six feet wide, should be also kept in grass, and when 
fires are running, and danger is apprehended, a few fur- 
rows should be run with a plow outMde of this grass 
strip. The too common practice of building the fence 
in the midst of the rubbish of the clearing, or upon the 
very verge of the uncleared ground, is a dangerous one, 
and should be avoided. 
Bloo<l Diseases in Stock:.— Years ago, 
deadly epidemics, which carried off thousands of the 
inhabitants of large cities, and which frequently pene- 
trated into rural districts, with disastrous effects, were 
common. These were considered as mysterious visita- 
tions of Providence, and calamities which were una- 
voidable. But their true nature came to be understood 
in time, and it was found that these fearful diseases were 
inevitable results of a trangression of natural laws, and 
a want of simple sanitary precautions. Exactly the same 
occurs now, every season, with our stock. Cholera, 
amongst hogs, is a typhoid disease, originating from a 
poisoned condition of the blood; and while it is incura- 
ble, it is entirely preventible, by the use of common 
precautious ; so the Texan, or Spanish fever, in cattle, 
black-leg in young stock, rot in sheep, and all the vari- 
ous so-called murrains, which devastate the herd, as well 
as spinal meningitis, and the epizootic amongst horses, 
are preventible ; and if the same care is taken amongst 
stock, as amongst ourselves, to feed well and judiciously, 
to use only pure water, to ventilate and keep clean the 
stables, and to watch the first approach of disease, little 
would be heard of these destructive diseases. 
Bankrupt Farmers. — It rarely happens 
that a farmer, who minds bis business, and refrains 
from speculations, can become a bankrupt, and then only 
through some unfortunate neglect, mistakes, or acci- 
dents, that in general arc avoidable. But at the present 
time, some of those farmers who have gone into tobacco 
growing, and have stored their crops for higher prices, 
tor two or three years past, and have borrowed money to 
carry over their stock of leaf, are in the disagreeable 
position ot bankrupts. Their property will now be sac- 
rificed by their creditors. This is surely a lesson to be 
heeded. We have taken pains to advise our readers to 
observe caution, with regard to this tempting crop, both 
early this season and last, and our caution has been 
widely copied by other papers. Farmers can not be too 
careful about growing special crops, or holding for a 
rise, which may never come. 
Death among Ilorticnllnrisls.— 
By some accident, we omitted at the proper time, to 
notice the decease of two persons well known to the 
horticultural public— Robert Morris Copeland and Mark 
Miller. Mr. Copeland was an occasional contributor to 
the Ag?icultu?ist, and was best known by his work, en- 
titled " Country Life, 11 which is a very full compendium 
of rural affairs. He was. by profession, a landscape 
gardener, in which, especially in New England, he was 
highly appreciated. ITa died at Cambridge, Mass., April 
10th last Mr. Miller, whom we met at the meeting 
of the American Pomological Society at Boston, in Sep- 
tember last, in a very feeble condition, never recovered 
from the illness by which he was then nearly prostrated. 
He was highly esteemed at the West, as a sterling po- 
mologist, and was for many years engaged in promoting 
the interests of fruitgrowers. He established the "Wis- 
consin Farmer/ 1 and, after removing to Iowa, the 
11 Western Pomologist," which journal afterwards be- 
came the "Pomologist and Gardener," and was ulti- 
mately united with the "Horticulturist" of New York. 
After the consolidation of the two journals, Mr. Miller 
remained editorially associated with the Horticulturist. 
Curtailing; Crops.— "Subscriber." The 
idea that farmers can ever restrict production so as to 
control the prices of their crops, may as well be aban- 
doned at once as impracticable. Farmers can not even 
raise exactly what they want each year, because the 
ground must be cultivated, or it is worse than useless, 
and the necessity for raising precisely such and such 
crops is absolute. A farm is different from a stone- 
quarry or a mill, which may lie idle without injury. A 
farm must go on, and it is only seldom that a farmer has 
a choice of what he may raise. But he may very readily 
so provide that his crops, instead of coming upon the 
mnrhet iti a crude state, should be fed to stock, and 
thus be turned mioaehapo in which they might increase 
as by compound interest, or may be made more salable. 
Cheat or Chess Once More.— 
" Farmer," Stamford, Ky., writes : " We want an expres- 
sion from you in reference to the production of 'cheat.' 
(1) Is it a species of grass? (2) or what causes it to 
spring up in wheat fields or meadows ? (3) If a stalk of 
wheat is bitten off below the point, cheat will branch 
out from the root. (4) In places in wheat fields where 
water stands any length of time after a rain, cheat is 
found in abundance. (5) "— (1) In former years, we have 
discussed this subject in full, but are ready to renew it 
when assertions are accompanied by proofs. (2) Yes. 
(3) We have no reason to believe that cheat, or chess, is 
produced in any manner different from other plants— 
i. e., from seeds. (A) This is a statement that has been 
frequently made ; let us have the specimens. We will 
willingly pay the expenses on a box containing plants, 
known and proven to be wheat which bear cheat or chess. 
(5.) In wet places, wheat or its seed is killed, while the 
cheat survives. Oar correspondent should read the report 
of a committee of the New York State Agricultural 
Society, published several years ago. and he will see thai 
all the various methods to cause wheat to turn to chess 
were thoroughly tested. Ten or more years ago, Mr Judd 
offered a large premium for a specimen which should he 
pronounced by competent botanists to be part wheat and 
part chesa. The offer remained open for several years, 
but no specimens were presented. 
IHarrhoea in a Col*.— A "Subscriber,"' 
Lancaster Co., Pa. In case a sucking colt suffers from, 
diarrhcea, we would give the mare cold rice water for 
drink, made by boiling four ounces ol rice in a gallon of 
water. This should be mixed, when cold, with her usual 
drink. One ounce of prepared chalk and one of salt 
should also be given in each feed for a few days, until 
the diarrhcea in the colt is stopped. It is probably due 
to acidity of the mother's milk, which may be caused 
by overwork or indigestion, or from indigestion in the 
colt. Some chalk should also be placed where the colt 
can lick it. The above remedy is also effective when 
young calves are similarly troubled. 
"Esquire."— "E. N. N." Is in trouble, be- 
cause we and others address him as "Esquire," and 
thinks it no more proper than to call him "Rev.," 
"Dock," etc., and asks our views on it. We have no- 
views on the subject whatever, but have found that the 
world runs much easier if we fall in with its harmless 
usages, than to try to reform tliem. It is very absurd to 
say to a man, " How do you do ? " when we do not care a 
snap how he does. Yet it is a part of the grease that 
keeps oiu' social machinery in order. 
ForeigM Imports and Native Ex- 
ports.— The Bureau of Statistics furnish the following 
very gratifying figures, showing the exports and imports 
of merchandise for seven months, ending January, 1874V 
as compared with those for the same period in 1873, viz r 
Period* Tmvort? ^om'c expHs. Foreign 
rei zoas. imports. Specie vaL €xports . 
7 months ended Jan. 31, 1973.. 379,190,969 329,306,257 15,970,897 
7 monthB ended Jan. 81, 1874.. 329,496,105 360,837,772 12,857,469 
This shows a remarkable change in the course of trade, 
being a balance in our favor of over $44,000,000 the pre- 
sent year, in placo of a Ulonco ,\ .:,'.■;■ t nn of nom-ly 
$34,000,000 last year, or a difference altogether of over 
$73,000,000. 
Rape and Vetches, or Tares.—" R. 
D. W.," "Washington, Pa. Rape (Brassica napus) is a 
plant nearly allied to the turnip, hut has not an edible 
root. It is grown for its stalk and leaves, which make a 
fine fall, or winter, pasture for sheep. The crop maybe 
sown in July, or August, upon an oat stubble, broadcast, 
at the rate of a peck of seed per acre, and may be 
pastured from November until covered too deeply with? 
snow. Sheep will gather a good deal ol \t by pawing 
away the snow, if not too deep, through the winter, and 
the green feed and the exercise are excellent for them. 
The refuse of the crop may be plowed under in the 
spring. Tares {Ylcia sa(iva) are a leguminous plant, not 
unlike peas. They may be sown in spring, or fall, (there 
being; two varieties, as in wheat), and cut for green fod- 
der, or for soiling during the summon 2# to 3 btxa&db 
of seed per acre are generally sown. Either of these 
requires rich soil for successful culture. Tares are ex- 
cellent green fodder for horses. 
I>isease or the Lnn{rs.-"J. McD.," 
Perry Co., Ohio. Amongst highly bred animals a disease 
known as emphysema, or the presence of air in the 
cellular tissue of the lungs, is more frequent than In 
other stock. Hereditary taint and high feeding are gen- 
erally the causes. Difficult respiration and discharge, 
mixed with blood from the nostrils, generally accompany 
the disease, as do also an irregular condition of the 
bowels, falling off in flesh, staring coat, and poor ap- 
petite. The presence of the air in the tissue of the lungs 
enlarges their bulk and destroys their elasticity, and thus 
interferes with respiration and the circulation of the 
blood. There is no remedy, and the only means of pal- 
liation is to feed sparingly, bnt frequently, with the most 
nutritious food, to keep the animal still and in the most 
comfortable condition, to card daily with the wire card, 
which will assist circulation, and to give tonics, such as 
half a dram of sulphate of copper, with a tea-spoonful 
of ginger daily, in the feed, 
The Value ofChaiuller's Scraps. — 
" J. H. B.," Westchester, Pa. The refuse of tallow or 
lard renderers is worth more for feed than for manure. 
The fat it contains is valuable when fed, but useless as a 
fertilizer. It is better, therefore, to feed the scraps, be- 
cause then nearly all the nitrogen they contain will be 
found in the manure. These scraps are worth about \% 
cent a pound. 
