143 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
Remedy for Kickiu;; Coms.— Cows 
seldom kick without some good reason for it. Teats are 
sometimes chapped or the udder tender, harsh handling 
hurls them, and they kick. Sometimes long and sharp 
finger nails cut their teats, and sometimes the milker 
pulls the long hairs on the udder, while milking. Shear 
off the long hairs, cut long finger nails close, bathe 
chapped teats with warm water, and grease them well 
with lard, and always treat a cow gently. She will never 
kick unless something hurts her, or she fears a repetition 
of former hurts. When handled gently, cows like to be 
milked. When treated otherwise, they will kick and 
hold up their milk. It is quite as consistent to whip a 
sick child to slop its crying, as to whip or kick a cow, to 
prevent her kicking while being milked. 
Cure for Iiice on Stock. — 1.' Wash tlior- 
oughly with strong soap suds. 2. Wet every part of the 
animal with a strong solution of alum in water, well 
sopped in. 3. Take of mercurial ointment {Unguentum 
Hydrargyri) a portion as laige as a filbert, mix it with five 
times as much lard, or more, apply it rubbing it in behind 
the horns on the neck and dewlap and along the spine 
till all disappears. Keepthe animalhousedduringstorms 
or cold weatiier, and apply again at the end of a week. 
The last is a very dangerous remedy if not used with care. 
Sheep Palling their 'Wool.— A sub- 
scriber inquires : " What causes sheep to pull their 
wool ? *' It is often attributed to high feeding, and as 
often to keeping poorly. It is a skin disease, probably 
caused by some parasite, like the itch, or mange insect, 
and developed by too much exposure to cold and wet 
storms, foul yards and sheds, a lack of succulent food, 
and the want of a good supply of water and salt. There 
are remedies for the disease, such as a decoction of to- 
bacco water, or mercurial ointment, applied to the skin. 
But there is some danger in applying it to breeding ewes. 
\. sure preventive is clean apartments well littered 
with straw, two or three feedings of roots every week, 
access to clean water and salt, and hemlock or pine 
boughs, fed occasionally during the winter. 
Xo Make a Evre Own a Strange 
l^atnb. — Ewes recognize their own lambs by a peculiar 
odor, and by their voice, color, and foim. Sometimes a 
good ewe loses her lamb, while another one has two. In 
snch instances, it is much better to let the ewe that has 
lost her lamb have one of the twins to rear, instead of 
allowing them to suck their own dam, while a good ewe 
has no lamb. To make a ewe own the lamb of another, 
tie her in a close pen and put the lamb with her. If she 
is inclined to butt, or kick it, tie her head to the rack, 
and her hind feet about four inches apart. If she will 
not butt the lamb, her .head need not be tied. In a few 
days she will own it, and it will forget its own dam. By 
putting one of a pair of twins on a ewe that has lost her 
Iamb, she may be saved serious injury from garget. 
A plan often successful is to remove the skin from the 
dead lamb, and place the whole, or part of it, upon the 
lamb to be introduced in its place. 
Dipping Sheep- Lialor's Compound. 
—A most important operation for the health of the sheep 
and their freedom from vermin. Where there is the least 
tendency or cause to fear such, or where sheep have been 
pulling their wool, make preparations to dip the whole 
flock. When the sheep have ticks only, within a few 
weeks after shearing, they will all, or nearly all, be found 
on the lambs, and these should be dipped, though the 
entire flock ought to undergo the operation as often as 
once in two years. The dipping liquors used are tobacco 
water, arsenic water, and sundry other violent poisons, 
into which the sheep, especially the heavy ones, must be 
dipped with great care. We have abundant testimony 
from those who have used the slieep-dipping compound 
advertised by Lalor Brothers, of its great efficacy, and of 
the excellent condition of their flocks. Mr. Lalor in- 
formed us of its composition before we took the adver- 
tisement. It is, of course, poisonous, taken internally, 
and painfuUn the eyes or mouth. Used with the cautions 
enjoined, it will, we doubt not, remove scab, lice, ticks, 
etc., thoroughly, without hurting the fleece. 
Old Sheep for 'IVool.— W. Farmer, Jcf- 
fei son Co., Ind., inquires if old sheep will yield as much 
wool as younger ones, how many years they may be kept 
for wool with profit, and if their age can be determined 
by their teeth? Young sheep that have attained their 
growth, will yield more wool than old sheep that have 
lost a portion of their teeth. The fi ont teeth are a very 
certain index to the age of sheep, until they are eight to 
twelve years old. As soon as the front teeth begin to 
fall, it is more profitable to fatten the older ones and 
keep younger ones for wool. 
Stretches in Sheep. — When sheep are 
fed no roots, apples, or evergreen boughs, they are very 
liable to costiveness, and when this is extreme, it in- 
duces cholic, or "the stretches." A prevention is much 
better than a remedy. Fattening wethers and ewes that 
are kept, for the most part, on straw and corn, and oil 
meal, ought to have a feed of roots, at least two or three 
times a week, as a preventive, and hemlock boughs 
may be fed freely to advantage— and the same things are 
curative, if the disease is already apparent. Two or three 
tablespoonfuls of raw linseed oil, given clear, relieve 
ordinary cases. More active purgatives are often used. 
Beans for Sheep. — " Subscriber," Portage 
Co., O., asks : " Are beans good for sheep — for wool, for 
fattening, and for breeding ewes?" There is no better 
feed for any kind of sheep than beans, and they are even 
superior to peas for producing a large flow of milk. Fed 
to fattening ewes and wethers, one pound each daily, 
with some hay, corn stalks, and bright straw — or nothing 
but beans and straw — they will make good mutton in a 
short time. After ewes have dropped their lambs, feed half 
a pound of beans daily. Breeding ewes, however, should 
not be fed with beans until after they have yeaned, as 
such feed, by producing a great flow of milk pievious to 
parturition, may induce garget. Beans should always 
be steeped ten or twelve houis before feeding, especially 
if sheep are aged or have poor teeth. 
l>og- ILia'vi's of rVew-Jfersey.— " J. O." 
writes : " By the laws of New-Jersey the assessors en- 
roll all the dogs ; the bills for sheep bitten by dogs are 
brought in the first Monday in October, and the amount 
is assessed on dog-owners"— as it ought to be. 
Profit of Sheep in 18«4I. — "J. O.," 
Somerset County, N. J., writes : " In the fall of 1863, I 
bought 28 sheep out of a drove, at $4.25 a piece ; kept a 
ram lamb of my own, worth $6, which made the cost of 
flock $125. Sold to the butcher 26 lambs, for $143 ; 4 old 
sheep, for $32, and the buck for $13. Killed 1 lamb, $8, 
and sold 84 pounds of wool for $64.68, (which was sold 
too soon, as it advanced 30 cents per pound) making in 
all $258.68, which is gross profits, cost of keeping not be- 
ing deducted. I now have left 24 ewes, which last fall 
were worth as much as the 28 were the year before, and 
21 lambs, which I expect to sell by the first of May for 
$8 or $10 a piece, which will bring the receipts on account 
of the flock up to $326, or more, 
Syi-np from Corn.— J. H. S., Stillwater, 
Minn., writes that some one advertises to send a receipt 
for one dollar which will Instruct one to make syrup from 
corn. — Don't do it. If anyone has a process of any value 
he will go into the manufacture himself and not peddle 
his process for a low price. There are only two ways in 
which corn syrup can be made. One from the stalks 
before the gi.ain is ripe, by expressing the juice and treat- 
ing like sorghum ; and the other, from the starch in the 
grain itself, which is a chemical process requiring a large 
outlay for apparatus to get a product of doubtful value. 
Preserving Butter.— J. H. Becktel iu- 
quires for *'the best method of preserving butter made in 
June or July for winter use ?" When butter comes hard 
and yellow, and is well worked, salted, and packed in 
stone pots, and covered with a wet cloth with a layer of 
clean salt over it half an inch thick, and kept in a cool 
cellar, where the air is pure, it will be first rate the next 
winter. If it comes soft, as it sometimes does in hot 
weather, and the buttermilk Is not all worked out, or if 
it be not well salted, it will not keep well, and if packed 
with good butler the whole will probably be tainted be- 
fore the hot weather is over. 
Ho-»v our Soldiers get Fresh Beef. 
Comical Exblbitlons.— Among other supplies, a 
drove of beef cattle is usually kept near each army or 
division of the army, from which the requisite number is 
drawn lor slaughter, from time to time, and served out 
in rations. These droves accompany moving bodies of 
troops, on foot. When there is a" water base of supplies" 
the animals are taken on transports, usually large steam 
propellers. The transports are anchored in ten or twenty 
feet of water, a little distance from the shore; a side-door 
"or gangway is opened, from the main cattle deck, usually 
five or ten feet above the water. The animals are then 
crowded against this, and they plunge into the water one 
by one, often two or three or more at a time, and 
usually head forward but not unfrequently sidewise or 
backward. The animals ilisappear for a moment, but 
always come up head first, and at once strike out for the 
shore, where they land well washed from fillh, and re- 
freshed by the ducking, especially in warm weather. 
Though they look down very wistfully, when about to 
plunge, they always seem to enjoy it afterwards. The 
whole ])erforinance is very comical and always attracts 
crowds of officers, soldiers, and others if near, who look 
on by the hour. At City Point we more than once saw 
Gen. Grant among the interested spectators— especially 
toward evening. Sometimes two or three steamers were 
unloading at a time, and half an acre or so of well wash- 
ed cattle accumulated on the shore, before they were 
started for the herd grounds. Though the tide often run 
very strong, we never heard of a bullock being lost. 
Cattle are good swimmers. 
Covering Orass Seed.— W. R. Rough, 
Mich., inquires whether the grass seed attachment to 
grain drills should be behind, or before the drill ? Always 
tekind, and never forward of the tubes, or teeth. If for 
ward of the teeth, a large proportion of the seed will be 
covered too deep. The rain will always cover it deep 
enough. Such small seeds should never be covered 
more than one-fourth of an inch. The seed has not 
strength to throw up a stem through much depth of soil. 
Plaster, or CJypsum.- It requires four 
hundred and sixty pounds of water to dissolve one 
hundred pounds of gypsum. It must be dissolved before 
it can be of any service in promoting the growth of 
plants. Therefore, see that it is ground as fine as prac- 
ticable, and sowed early in the season. If ground coarse, 
and sowed after spring rains have fallen, only a portion 
of it will be dissolved in time to benefit the young plants. 
Sow from one to three bsshels per acre on young clover. 
There Is no danger from sowing it too thick. On some 
soils, two bushels of gypsum per acre, and a half a 
bushel of salt, sowed immediately after spring nheat has 
been put in, have a good eff^ect on the crop. 
Poultry Statement. —J. S. Watkins, 
Bergen Co., N. J., says he keeps fowls for his own use 
solely. He began in 1664, with 22 hens and 2 cocks, and 
lost 8 by disease. " They laid 2,793 eggs, which, at the 
average 18 hens, was 1S5 eggs each. They raised lou 
chickens, which were hatched from 110 of the eggs. 
The fowls are a cross between the Black Spanish and 
the White Leghorn, and the hens will weigh about 4>i 
pounds' e.ich. Every hen wanted to sit at least once, 
and somo hatched two broods during the season." 
Fences, dates, and Posts.— A lawful 
fence Ir New-York is 4}', feet high. When repairing rail 
fences, keep new rails together. If not peeled, always 
put the bark side down, as they will last much longer 
than with the bark up. A cheap board fence may be 
made with three boards, six inches wide, with a ridge of 
earth in place of the bottom board. Improve rainy days 
in making gates. A laborer who receives thirty dollars 
per month, and board, ought to be able to make a good 
gate in a day, and set the posts and hang it. It will re- 
quire not more than tw» hours longer to make a good 
gate than a pair of bars. By making the gate to turn on 
the heel stile, instead of iron hinges, the expense will be 
only a little more than for a pair of bars.. ..Posts and 
stakes will last many years loiiger, if well seasoned be- 
fore they are set in the ground. Charred posts will not 
last as long as those not charred. The bark should al- 
ways be removed, as it h.aslens their decay. A heavy 
coat of coal tar applied to posts a foot below and a few 
inches above the surface of the ground, will keep them 
from rotting longer than anything else, except thorough 
kyanizlng. Posts or stakes made out of the but logs 
will last much longer than the top logs. Bul-end or top 
end down, will make no difference in durability. 
Buckthorn. Seeds.— "W. A.," Marlboro, 
Mass.— We have no doubt that the seeds from the berries 
that have remained since autumn upon the bilshes will 
germinate, as they will do so when exposed all winter 
to the weather in a box of earth. 
Diseased Apple Trees.— J. H. Taylor, 
Siskyou Co., Cal., says that his apple trees are attacked 
by a peculiar disease. The bark splits a few inches 
above the ground, separates from the wood, and ulti- 
mately the tree is girdled. It is impossible to tell the cause 
of this without examining the specimens. As to treat- 
ment, we should try heroic surgery. On the first appear- 
ance of the trouble, cut out the affected part down to 
sound wood and bark, and put on a liberal plaster of 
grafting clay. This would probably be an effectual 
remedy. If the trouble were caused by insects or fungi. 
Yellow L,ocust for Timber.— Yellow 
locust grows very rapidly, and the timber is valuable for 
carriage hubs, for pins and wedges in building ships, for 
fence posts, elc. It is often planted in vacant places in 
the woods, and along the highways. When planted close 
together they grow tall and straight. When standing 
alone too much of their growth goes to branches. If 
the seeds were not planted last fall, they must be put into 
scalding hot water to soften the tough skin, otherwise 
