1878;] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
407 
our knowledge, l>een published, viz: that certain glands 
■on both the leaves and flowers of the cotton plant exude 
at the proper season a sweet secretion, that serves as a 
Jure to the moths, and brings them to the plant where 
they lay their eggs. This suggests a method of trapping 
the parent insect early in the season. It was found that 
in the few cases where Paris Green was used to destroy 
the caterpillars, it was employed in a crude and wasteful 
manner. When the observations are concluded, we shall, 
no doubt, have a report of great value to all cotton 
growers, and incidentally to the whole country. 
An interesting Account of a large French 
farm, mainly redeemed from what had for hundreds or 
thousands of years been an uncultivated waste, is given 
by our special correspondent on page 413. There are 
hundreds of thousands of acres on Long Island and else¬ 
where, almost at the doors of New York City, which a free 
use of capital, intelligently expended, would change to 
beautiful farms and gardens, at an ultimate large profit to 
the investor, and to the benefit of the country generally. 
Cow-Milking Apparatus—Eater Opin¬ 
ion. —In the American Agriculturist for September 
(page 331) we gave somewhat extended remarks express¬ 
ing our views upon this subject. Numerous inquiries 
continue to come from our readers, and we have been 
canvassing the various reports of trials recently received. 
As stated in September, careful owners of cows may 
keep one set of well made tubes on hand for temporary 
use in cases of badly cracked or severely sore teats; but 
from all we can gather to this date, we advise not to use 
any of these implements for ordinury milking. They are 
unnatural in their action, and several well informed gen¬ 
tlemen of our acquaintance believe that, in their experi¬ 
ence, not only have the teats been injured in some in¬ 
stances at least, but the flow of milk has decreased. The 
end aimed at in allowing them to be advertised in our 
■columns, viz., to obtain a general trial, has been se¬ 
cured, and lest there should injury arise from their use 
by careless persons, we decide to exclude them from our 
business columns—at least until such trials as we advised 
in our former article are made, and until it is positively 
shown that they are valuable for general use, and that 
they have no injurious effect upon the flow of milk. 
Early Chickens.— “ B. K ,” Taunton, Mass. An 
incubator is a good thing if rightly and intelligenfly 
managed, and this requires almost constant personal su¬ 
pervision. The larger portion of all the chickens raised 
in France—the greatest poultry nation of the world—are 
hatched by incubators. A building on the greenhouse 
plan is needed to produce chickens in winter, whether 
batched by a live hen or a wooden one. With such a 
bouse, and conveniences for growing oats and rye under 
glass to feed them until the spring grass comes, chick¬ 
ens can be raised as well in winter as in summer. A be¬ 
ginner will succeed best by setting hens to come off at 
the same time the chicks would hatch in the incubator, 
and then giving each hen 20 to 30 chicks to care for. It 
is well also to let the incubator hatch even the eggs the 
hen sits upon, by taking them from her a few days be¬ 
fore her time is out; she thus is prevented from crush¬ 
ing the young thiugs before they emerge from the shell. 
The best fowls for eggs, in the opinion of many, are the 
Leghorns, white or brown ; for meat the Light Brah¬ 
mas; for both eggs and meat the Plymouth Rocks. The 
“Poultry World,” Hartford. Ct., and the “ Poultry Bulle¬ 
tin,” 54 Cortland St. New York, are good poultry journals. 
Scaly Eegs in Fowls.— “Mrs. 0.,”RinggoidCo., 
Iowa. As we have often stated, scaly legs in fowls 
are caused by a parasitic mite which burrows under 
the skin of the shank and feet. They may be de¬ 
stroyed by applying a mixture of lard and kerosene oil. 
Bloody Milk. —“N. C. T.,” Warren Co., Pa. 
Bloody milk is a symptom of congested udder, which 
soon turns to garget. In a case in the writer’s dairy, re¬ 
lief was soon obtained by rubbing the quarters of the 
udder affected with a mixture of 7 parts of glycerine and 
1 part of iodide of potassium; and giving in the feed one 
ounce of hyposulphite of soda every evening for three 
days, and after that giving half an ounce of the same 
every alternate day until the trouble ceased. 
Cost of Dairy Barn—“P. F. H.,” N. Y. The 
cost of the dairy barn shown on page 425, Nov. 1877, de¬ 
pends on the size. The writer has just built a barn for 
14 cows, 50 feet long x 2t feet wide and 16 feet high, 
with dressed floor above, dressed boards outside; all 
complete at a total cost of six hundred dollars. 
Power of a Horse.— “J. A., Jr.,” Augusta, Ga. 
The tractive power of an average horse moving two 
miles an hour, is equal to 166 pounds. This is steady 
work. If a horse were fastened to an immovable post 
by a chain and a spring balance, and were to make a 
steady pull he could exert double the above power, or 
over 300 pounds, but could not maintain it. If forced to 
his utmost strength in leaping, he would exhibit a force 
at least equal to his weight, increased by his velocity. 
A horse is able by a sudden spring to break a chain that 
would lift a ton or more suspended in the usual way. 
Pasturing Hogs on Barley.— “ T. A. M.,” 
Queensboro, Ky. The awns or bristles upon ripe barley 
would probably be dangerous to hogs turned in to feed 
upon it. But if the barley is pastured when green, it 
would be quite safe, and almost equally nutritious with 
the ripe grain, the straw of which would not be eaten. 
We would turn in the hogs just as the ears begin to show. 
A Feed Back for sheep, which affords double 
security against waste of fodder, is here illustrated. 
Figure 1 shows a rack in quite common use, and it is a 
very convenient one, as it saves much room, is porta¬ 
ble, and the box at the bottom allows the feeding of 
grain. The improved form is represented in figure 2, 
and consists simply in the addition of an extra frame, 
hinged to the outer edge of the feed-box on each side; 
Fig. 1.— CONVENIENT FEED-RACK FOR SHEEP. 
it may be closed and fastened by hook and staple to the 
main rack when not in use. This frame permits the 
sheep to eat from the rack, but is an extra guard against 
the waste of hay, or of grain or roots. It compels the 
sheep to stand square to the rack, so that there is less 
Fig. 2 .— FEED-RACK WITH EXTRA FRAME. 
crowding, and prevents them from putting their feet 
into, or fouling the grain-box. The frame on one side 
of the rack, in figure 2, is represented as closed. 
Boup.— " T. W. S.,” Spencer. Mass. Fowls exposed 
to dampness in severe weather, are apt to take cold, 
which often culminates in Roup. The writer has cured 
this disease by injecting kerosene into the nostrils by 
means of a bulb syringe, and then using it to gargle the 
throat; the latter is effected by holding the throat close 
enough to prevent swallowing, and after the gargling 
pouring the liquid out on to the ground. Repeat this 
once the next day; then feed with boiled rice and scald¬ 
ed milk, keeping water away for a few days. I. K. F. 
Foultry House.-" S. W.” should build in the 
side hill, sloping south, making the floor 18 inches below 
the surface on the front side. The foundation walls 
should be of stone, laid in mortar, and extend to or 
above the surface. A tight floor of boards, raised a little 
from the ground, to make a dead-air space, is cleaner, 
warmer, and better than the bare earth, and permits 
more fowls to be kept in the same space. I. K. F. 
The Best Cement. —“S. W. C.,” Deer Isle, Me. 
“Portland cement” is the strongest, but the dearest. 
“ American Rosendale Cement ” is as good for all or¬ 
dinary purposes, but it requires more time to set. Any 
cement will crack if frozen when saturated with water. 
Salt on Wheat.— A New Jersey farmer writes, 
that he has applied salt to his wheat fields ; and the re¬ 
sult was a healthier growth, an increase in yield, and 
comparative freedom from insects. He writes of another 
who thinks that he cleared a prospective corn-field ol 
wire-worms, by sowing eight bushels of salt per acre, the 
fall previous to planting. Whether salt can be applied 
to the soil in sufficient quantity to destroy insects and 
not be in too great excess for the healthy growth of the 
crop is still an undecided point, upon which careful ex¬ 
periments are needed. Whatever may have been its ef¬ 
fect upon the wire-worms, it was no doubt useful, not in¬ 
deed as directly nourishing the plants, but in acting as 
a solvent of plant-food in the ground, which was not 
before in a form available by the roots of the plants. 
Savins; Seed Corn.— “W. A. D.,” Fillmore Co., 
Minn. To save seed-corn successfully in a cold climate, 
you should not keep it in a warm place, or especially 
where it is warm but a part of the time, as there is danger 
that the changes of temperature may destroy the germi- 
native power. Continued warmth is also conducive to 
decomposition, which will destroy the life of the seed. 
Corn and similar seeds are best kept in a dry, cool room, 
where the temperature is uniform. When your seed from 
the “ small pile kept over the living-room ” failed to ger¬ 
minate, the cause was probably due to both dampness 
and warmth, which incited incipient decay. Seeds differ ' 
greatly in the degree of cold they will endure without 
losing vitality. Corn has germinated after having been 
subjected to the most intense cold of the polar regions, 
and an experiment is reported in which other seeds 
germinated after having been frozen into a cake of ice. 
Trapping tlie Mosquito.—A correspondent 
near Boston sends the following morning treatment of 
the mosquito, which is new to us; it has the advantage 
over the usual slaughter with a damp towel, as it does 
not stain the ceiling, and the disadvantage that it does 
not take the insect fasting: “ My wife has got—out of 
her own head—a little dodge which I think worth know¬ 
ing. We can't abide mosquito-nets over the bed. We 
do the best we can with netting in the windows, sup¬ 
posed to keep out the mosquitoes and let in the air. 
But the plagues do get in, and of a morning sometimes 
my wife is a sight to behold. At daylight they settle on 
the ceiling overhead, digest their supper, and meditate 
on the ‘good time coming’ at the next nightfall. Now 
comes my wife’s turn. She keeps a tumbler with about 
a half inch of benzine in it ; this she seizes, and, mount¬ 
ing on a high chair, or some steps, quickly and quietly 
brings up the mouth of the tumbler against the ceiling 
over the mosquito, which is chlorofoi'med with the vapor 
in three seconds, and falls into the fluid below.”_One 
of the printers in trying this, arranged a twisted wire to 
support the tumbler at the end of a broom handle, which 
much facilitates the operation. 
Home-bred vs. Imported Stock.— A long 
time subscriber to the American Agriculturist , who is 
now engaged in the cattle business in both Iowa and 
Nebraska, writes as follows: “ It is the opinion of many 
persons, that animals imported from Europe are far 
superior to our own. Speculators, taking advantage of 
this idea, are importing draft horses of an inferior grade. 
Yet at the same time many are fine animals of superior 
quality. The same is true of imported Jersey and Dutch 
(or Holstein) cows. The true test of the relative value of 
imported and home-bred cows is a careful comparison of 
the milk and butter records of both; this will give re¬ 
sults to which the mere facts of importation and pedi¬ 
gree will be but secondary. If this test were made, 
thousands of dollars now sent abroad for imported stock 
could be employed and circulated at home to the ad¬ 
vantage of all concerned.” 
Improved Plymouth Bock. —“W. H.,” Sara¬ 
toga Co., N. Y. The Improved Plymouth Rock fowls ori 
ginated with F. H. Corbin, of Newington, Ct. This strain 
reproduces itself true to feather and form. The form 
is peculiar, being plump in the breast and square as to 
body, and is very much better than the original American 
Dominique, which was a smaller bird. The Improved 
Plymouth Rock is one of the best breeds for eggs and 
the table, as it combines the fleshy body of the Asiatic 
fowls, with the productiveness in eggs of the Leghorns. 
The hen is a good mother, and, what is unusual, the cock 
is a remarkably good foster parent to the young chicks. 
A New Early Tomato, “The Alpha.”— 
A basket of fruit of this variety was sent ns on Aug. 23d, 
by Mr. Frank Ford, of Ravenna, O., as the result of his 
experiments during several years in procuriug a variety 
that combined excellence of form, color and quality, with 
earliness. Mr. F. states that the specimens sent were 
gathered 94 days after the seeds were sown in the hot¬ 
bed. For the rest, we can say that in form, color, solid¬ 
ity, evenness of ripening, and good flavor, they are ns 
good as the best. Owing to our absence, the basket sent 
on the 23d was not opened until the 30th, and there was 
but one tomato in the lot that was not in perfect condi¬ 
tion, which speaks well for the marketing qualitiesof the 
variety, the future of which we shall watch with interest. 
