4:08 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
I\oi*c in a. Horse's Abdomen. — "F. 
A. G.,*" Stirling, 111. The uupleasant noise referred to 
ie frequently cuuscd by an accumulation of wind or gas 
in the bowels. Some horses are subject to chronic 
flatulence on account of indigestion. A remedy might 
be sought in feeding moist food with bran niashes, or 
some linseed meal, so as to keep the bowels somewhat 
loose, adding half an ounce of salt to each feed, and giv- 
ing a dram of copperas with one ounce of ginger at night, 
for a week or two. It is often incurable. 
Lands in Eastern Virginia. — "C. 
F. S.," Guernsey Co., Ohio, may commuuicate with 
Chaflin, Staples & Co., of Richmond, Va. 
The Preparation of Plaster.— "W. 
W. S.," Hallock, III. It is very probable that plaster 
would act favorably upon clover in your soil. We have 
known it to be used with success in most of the Western 
and Northern States. The rock plaster can be purchased 
cheaply at Saginaw or Grand Rapids, Mich., and in 
Syracuse, N. Y. The freight from either place in bulk 
would not make it too costly for use. It should not be 
burned before being ground, nor should any plaster be 
purchased that contains any impurity whatever. It can 
be ground, after having been broken into small pieces, 
between common burr-stones, such as are used in a grist- 
mill. There is a great deal of ignorance as to the use 
and nature of plaster where it is not much known. It is 
not lime, nor does it possess any of the caustic or other 
qualities of ordiuary lime, but is a perfectly distinct 
compound of lime, sulphuric acid, and water. 
IHieliins Machine.— "E. M./» Santee, 
S. C. The Carter Ditching Machine, to which we have 
referred, would not answer the purpose of clearing out 
the ditches of rice plantations. It would not be difficult, 
however, to construct a machine to be drawn by mules, 
which would clear out the growth of weeds and the ac- 
cumulated mud, and deposit them upon the bank, if it 
Ehould be found cheaper to do the work in that manner 
than by hand labor. It is a question of cost altogether. 
As to Pigeons.-"E.M.," Santee, S. C. 
The common domestic pigeon would probably be as 
profitable to raise as any. A loft over a poultry house 
would answer very well for the roost and nests, but it 
should be kept perfectly clean. Peas are favorite food 
fur these birds, as many a gardener knows to his cost, 
barley or oats may also be fed to them. 
Cultivation oritarley.— "C. J.," Roan- 
oke Co., Va. It is better to make barley a spring crop. 
If fall wheat happens to be a failure, the ground may be 
replowed and sown to barley very conveniently and 
profitably. There is no better crop than this with which 
to seed down to clover or timothy. Barley is imported 
from Europe to supply our markets, and this fact would 
imply that its culture ought to be profitable. As feed a 
good crop of barley is more profitable than oats, and 
there is no grain better for horses, pigs, and poultry. It 
thrives better under heat than oats, but must have a good 
Boil and clean tillage. If you have these, we know of no 
reason why you may not grow this crop with profit. If 
you can raise 20 bushels of wheat per acre, you ought to 
produce 40 bushels of barley. 
Guano Tor Grass.-" H. C. C," Gardiner, 
Me. A usual dressing of guano for grass is 250 pounds 
per acre. It depends, however, upon the nature of the 
soil whether two tons of hay per acre can be growu 
yearly. We have known the above quantity of guano to 
Rouble the crop of grass, but in a dry season we have 
fenown it to fail of effect entirely. 
Stable for a Colt.— " J. H. B.," W,ater- 
town, Ct. We would prefer to keep a colt or a horse in 
what is called a loose box, rather than in a narrow stall, 
and tied up. There is always some danger when a horse 
is tied in a stall, but none in a properly constructed 
loose box. The box should be 12 feet square, with walls 
G feet high ; the feed trough should be made to swing 
outside of the box into the feed passage, so that there is 
nothing inside that could cause any accident whatever. 
A valuable horse is thus safe from accident, and the cx- 
ira cost of such a stable is repaid in many ways. 
Cheese B»ress.— " E. F. P.," Anderson Co., 
Texas. In the Agiicultwist of April, 1874, will be found 
an engraving of a cheese press, which any mechanic can 
make, and metallic hoops. The power may be applied 
Dy means of a lever, or the screw may be procured of 
Millar & Co., Ulica, N. Y. 
SontH CfinroUna Phosphates.— There 
arc 38 coinpanieB cngngctfih mining phosphate rock in 
South Carolina. The produce la^t year was 112,515 tons, 
of which 18,000 were used in manufacturing fertilizers in 
Charleston, 41,975 tons were shipped to Northern ports, 
and 52,720 tons were shipped to Europe. 
Scalding- Feed.— "A. B.," Hancock, N.H. 
—It would be very advisable during the winter mouths 
to cut the hay or fodder fed to cows, and after mixing the 
meal, or shorts, to be fed with it, to scald the whole with 
boiling water in a feed box or barrel. It should be cover- 
ed closely with a lid or thick cloth, and allowed to cool 
down to a moderate warmth before feeding it. If the 
feed for 10 or 12 head is thus prepared, a 10-bushel box 
or chest would be large enough to scald the feed in, and 
that quantity of feed, closely covered, would take 12 
hours to cool down sufficiently to be fed. More feed 
thus prepared would be eaten than of dry feed, and it 
would be more digestible. Each cow should have at 
each feed a bushel of cut hay with oue quart of meal, and 
half an ounce of bait. 
The Dairy iu Colorado.—" W. W. L.," 
Rockford, 111. There are numerous grassy valleys in the 
mountains of Colorado, where dairying may be carried 
on successfully. These are too small for stock-raising 
purposes, and are therefore free from interference from 
stock men. Thfc water is cool and pure, and it is 
doubtful if there are any better locations for co-operative 
butter or cheese factories, than these retired valleys. 
Half-bred Colts.— "W. M. S.," Asnley- 
ville, Mass. No half-thoroughbred colt that is of any 
value, could be bought for $75. The fee for the services 
of a good stallion is often $50 to $100, and the service of 
very few real thoroughbreds could be had for those prices. 
The value of any good colt, four or five months old, of 
common stock, ought to be $75. It would therefore be 
labor lost in seeking a half-thoroughbred for that price. 
Abandoned Farms in the East. — 
"T. E. L.," 'Wilmington, Del. The statement that large 
portions of the New England States are depopulated, and 
farms abandoned by hundreds, is too absurd to need a 
denial. No person should suppose that any farm is aban- 
doned by its owners, or that any laud is thrown out of 
cultivation, where farm products bear the price they do 
in New England. These abandoned farms and houses 
exist only in imagination. There is a large portion of 
New England that is fit only for pasture, and we have 
seen hill-fa*rms that persons used to level, smooth land, 
would consider of little value, that on the contrary are 
profitable dairy farms and worth $100 an acre for pasture 
alone. If any person wants to buy a good farm, iu a 
good locality, in New England, he would have to pay at 
least $100 to $200 per acre. Sheep farming, however, 
can not be made profitable as a special business on the 
small farms common in New England, and there is no such 
wide range to be had there, as in some parts of the West. 
Reclamation and Protection of 
Land. —This is the title of a small work, by David 
Stevenson, Vice-President of the Royal Society of Eu- 
ginecrs, descriptive of the methods of embanking tidal 
rivers, for the purpose of reclaiming marsh or over- 
flowed land, which have been adopted successfully in 
Scotland. By the system described no less than 7000 
acres of laud have been reclaimed on the banks of the 
river Dee. Considering the vast field which is presented 
to us in our tidal rivers and estuaries, for both improv- 
ing navigation, and making valuable land, this book will 
be found of great interest and value. Published by 
A. & C. Black, Edinburgh. 
I\ew Market tor drain. — A cargo of 
oats, and one of wheat, have been recently shipped from 
San Francisco to Callao, Peru. A cargo of barley has also 
been*6hipped to Iquiqui, in the game country. These 
cargoes are the first that have been shipped to these 
ports from California, and mark the opening of a new 
trade in grain, 
Failure to Breed.— " J. N. P.," Sharon, 
Pa. Ground rye has no injurious effect upon the breeding 
of a mare, any more than other grain, unless it is fed 
in excess, so that the mare is kept in too high condition. 
If the condition is too high, the mare may be reduced by 
bleeding, or by extra work with a reduction of feed. 
Bleeding and turning the marc to grass with the horse, 
is often resorted to in such a case as this, but the shoes 
should be removed for fear of injury by kicking. 
Bog and Blood Spavin.— U H. E. H.," 
Brownsville, Pa. In 1873 we said " bog and blood-spavin 
are two different things, although they often exist to- 
gether. Bog-spavin rarely causes lameness, but is fre- 
quently incurable. 1 ' You have not quoted this correctly. 
Blood-spavin is an aggravated form of bog-spavin, and is 
an unsoundness in a horse, while bog-spavin is not an 
unsoundness, unless it interferes with the action of the 
joint, which it rarely does. Windgalls rarely cause 
lameness, and are not of themselves an unsoundness. 
These blemishes are often hereditary, but are generally 
the effect of hard work, and in this case, if cured, will 
appear again upon the first return of the original cause. 
Lauds in Nebraska.- For the benefit of 
several enquirers, we would say that the lands belonging 
to the Union Pacific and Burlington and Missouri rail- 
roads in Nebraska, are situated iu tUe valleys of the 
Platte and its tributaries. These lands are as rich as any 
in the West, and the climate is exceedingly healthful. 
Spring wheat, flax, oats, and corn, are the chief grain 
crops raised on the newly broken prairie. The lands are 
sold at low prices and on easy terms of payment, and the 
country is settling very rapidly. There is no State in 
which agriculture is more liberally fostered by the gov- 
ernment, than in Nebraska. The only want is timber, 
but timber may be much more easily and quickly growu 
upon a prairie farm, than a farm can. be cleared out of 
timber lands. 
Salt as a Fertilizer. — " A. F. R.," 
Newark, Ohio. Salt being readily soluble, should be 
sown upon wheat at that period when it can be appro- 
priated by the plant most usefully. As its effect is in 
some manner as yet undetermined to stiffen the straw 
and help the plant to appropriate the necessary silica for 
this purpose, it should be sown in spring, before the 
grain commences to car. Early in April would be a good 
time to sow it upon this crop, or upon rye. For oats it 
should be sowu when they are six or eight inches high. 
Sale of a Jersey Herd. — The herd of 
Jerseys belonging to I. II. McHenry, of Maryland, were 
sold at public sale on the 2nd of September. The prices 
realized were very low, varying from $17 up to $405. H. 
C. Kelscy, of Trenton, N. J.; W. E. Dougherty, of Harris- 
burg, Pa.; and Col. F. D. Curtis, of Kirby Homestead, 
Charlton, N. Y., were the principal purchasers. The 
highest prices were $310 for an imported cow, " Gold 
Drop," over six years old, and $405 for " Laura," 5 years 
old, bred by Mr. McHeury. 
The Swivel I'low.-"A. R. C.," Ham. 
Co., Ohio. It depends somewhat upon the soil, whether 
a swivel plow, as indeed any other plow, will turn a per- 
fect furrow. There are some soils in which no iron plow 
will turn a perfect furrow, mill steel plows must be Used. 
There are no steel swivel plows yet made, and we could 
hardly say that any iron swivel plow we have yet seen or 
tried, will do all that is claimed for it in every soil. 
Roup in Fowls. — "Old Subscriber," 
Crescent City, Cal. One of the symptoms of roup is 
inflammation of the eye with swelling, and discharge of 
fetid matter. Unless some remedy is applied, the eye is 
destroyed or the bird dies. A remedy which is generally 
effective, is to*wash the eye, mouth, and nostrils, with a 
solution of chloride of zinc, one ounce in a pint of water, 
by means of a feather. The cause is frequently cold, 
inflammation resulting from feeding too much grain, foul 
uuveutilated quarters, or over crowding. 
Lands in Iowa. — The settlement of Iowa 
has progressed so far, that desirable hoinestep.ds upon 
government land, can no longer be procured. It is only 
in a few of the northwestern counties, that any govern- 
ment lands remain unoccHpied. Rather than take these 
for nothing, a settler had better pay a fair price for lands 
near a railroad ; indeed he will save money by so doing. 
There are 1,500,000 acres of the best lands in central 
Iowa, belonging to the Iowa Railroad Land Company, 
offered for sale at from $5 to $7 per acre. This part 
of the State is well watered, is a good grass, corn, and 
wheat region, and is only a short distance from Chicago. 
Tlie Texas Cattle Trade- The present 
year's cattle trade at Topeka, Kansas, is 25 per cent 
larger than thai, of last year. In 1873, 118,'^06 head were 
handled ; in 1874, 155.300 have been handled, and there 
are 115,000 more in the State to come forward. The 
whole number shipped and to be shipped from the State 
the present season is estimated nt 500.000, worth 10 mil- 
lions of dollars. This is but the beginning of the cattle 
business, which has grown to these proportions since 
the opening of railroads in Kansas. The demand for 
these cattle is yearly increasing, and the produce keeps 
pace with the demand ; the immense facilities forraisiug 
cheap cattle in the States of Texas. Kansas, and < tolorado, 
being unequalled elsewhere, at the same time the use of 
improved or pure bred bulls is largely adding to tha- 
value of the stock now raised. 
See Page 433. 
