AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
937 
Food for Chickens—Varieties, &c. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
I noticed in a former number an article headed 
“ Spring Chickens.” My experience has taught 
me exactly the opposite of what your correspond¬ 
ent says, in regard to feeding young chickens on 
“ soaked bread,” and afterwards on “ Indian meal 
weft cooked.” I prefer to feed them on coarse- 
ground corn, or “mill screenings,” and giving 
them plenty of fresh water. Experience has 
taught me, that the “ gapes,” a disease by which 
many chickens die in this part of the country, is 
a small worm which is in the “ craw ” of the 
chicken when it is hatched. By feeding the 
chicken on “soaked bread,” it nurtures the worm, 
till it grows large and tries to get out of the 
chicken, thereby choking it. 
1 prefer the “ Black Spanish ” crossed with the 
common fowl. I never keep a chicken that has 
not golden colored legs and bill. 
J. Heron Foster, Jr. 
Allegany Co., Pa. 
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Gapes in Chickens. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
I have heard of many, but know of only one 
way to cure gapes in chickens. They are caused 
by lice. Chickens of lousy hens invariably have 
the gapes. The lice deposit nits on the down, 
upon the heads of young chickens, which as they 
hatch, crawj into the nose, and so to the wind¬ 
pipe, and become worms. My remedy is to 
grease the young chickens, when first hatched, 
about the head and wings. I also grease the hen 
to destroy the lice upon her. If the operation is 
repeated in two weeks, I will guarantee that not 
one chick in a hundred will die of gapes. 
W. M'Comas. 
Harford Co., Md. 
Remarks —The remedy may be a good ene, but 
we differ from our correspondent as to the cause 
of the disease. 
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Diarrhea in Calves and Pigs- 
To the Readers of the American Agriculturist: 
White oak-bark tea is the very best remedy 
for this disease, which often affects young calves 
and pigs raised on gruel. Remove the ross or 
outer bark, with a drawing knife, and boil the in¬ 
ner bark until it has the appearance of strong 
coffee. Give two or three tablespoonfulls each 
morning until there is a change. Omit it for a 
day or two, and only give more when it does not 
appear sufficiently checked. It is also an excel¬ 
lent wash for sore shoulders on horses and oxen. 
Rub the affected parts freely with it, and if your 
own hands are tender or sore they will be bene¬ 
fited by the application. 
G. T. Shanck. 
Cecil Co., Md. 
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The Slaughter which Daily Sustains Us.— 
When we ride, we sit upon the skin of the pig ; 
when we walk we tread upon the skin of the bul¬ 
lock ; we wear the skin of the kid upon our hands, 
and the fleece of the sheep upon our backs. 
More than half the world are human beings in 
sheep’s clothing. We eat the flesh of some 
creatures, of some we drink the milk, upon others 
we are dependant for the cultivation of the soil; 
and if it is a pain to us to suffer hunger and cold, 
we should be scrupulous to avoid inflicting wan¬ 
ton misery upon the animals by means of which 
we are warmed and fed. 
-- — g -gt-gi—-» 
Patience is a plaster for all sores. 
Stenton’s Land-side Cutter for Plows. 
We present, in fig. 1, an illustration of a very 
simple attachment for the land-side of plows, for 
which great advantages are claimed. This con¬ 
sists of a horizontal steel coulter, having an up¬ 
right shoulder, which is attached to the land-side 
of any common plow by short bolts and screws. 
Fig. 2 is a section of the coulter with the bolt to 
fasten it to the plow. The engravings show the 
mode of attachment sufficiently plain to render 
further description needless. As the plow moves 
forward the coulter cuts underneath the next fur¬ 
row for a distance of 3, 4, or 5 inches, according 
to its width. Those of different sizes may be at¬ 
tached to the same plow. 
Fig. 3. 
Fig. 3 shows a section of ground plowed. A, 
is the place of the plow; B, a furrow slice being 
turned; D, D, the width cut by the ordinary 
plow; C, U, the portion of the overturned furrow 
under which the land-side attachment passed. At 
E is shown the path of the coulter. 
Among the special advantages claimed from 
this arrangement are : that it brings the cutting 
edge of the base of the plow upon both sides of 
the beam, and thus equalizes and even diminishes 
the draft; that the plow rests on a broader base, 
and therefore runs much steadier, requiring less 
holding; and that the loosening of the outer edge 
of the furrow, by the cutter having passed under 
it, enables the same plow to turn neatly over a 
much wider furrow slice. 
We have not yet seen a plow at work with one 
of these attachments, but we can readily con¬ 
ceive that the above advantages may result from 
its use. The only point of objection we can 
imagine, is, that in particular instances the furrow 
might slide sidewise instead of turning over, if 
its outer edge should be loosened too far under¬ 
neath. The inventor states that this is not the 
result in practice. The apparatus is simple, 
Fig. 1. 
cheap, and capable of attachment to any ordinary 
plow by drilling a couple of holes in its land-side. 
Particulars as to price, &c , can be learned from 
the advertising columns. 
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Observing Bee-Hives— Correction. 
In our June number we gave directions for mak¬ 
ing hives for observation. A single error in the 
type requires correction. On page 171, in the 
first line of the middle column, the types make 
us say when we wrote £. Those who are con¬ 
structing hives should note this, as of considera¬ 
ble importance. 
If an after swarm is treated in the way we 
there described, and the queen has her wings 
clipped to prevent her elopement, the eggs 
she lays will produce only drones; and from 
these of course no new queen can be procured in 
case of her subsequent removal. We thought, 
however, that the experiment in this form would 
not lack interest. 
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Notes on Honey-Bees. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
The habits and peculiarities of the honey-bee 
are very interesting to me, and I will state a few 
facts that have fallen under my observation : 
In the fall of 1835 my father took a “ gum," or 
section of a hollow tree, containing a strong stock 
of bees, and placed it with the bees in a square 
box that would hold eight or ten bushels. They 
soon formed a large mass of comb on the outside 
of the gum, but of course inside the box. They 
never swarmed but made a great deal of honey 
which was removed yearly. In the Spring of 1857, 
twenty-two years after they were placed in the 
box, my brother and myself took the gum out and 
placed it on a stand close to the ground, as Mr. 
Quinby directs. They cast a large swarm the 
same season. But they have not done well this 
year, and about a month ago, we drove the old 
stock out of the quarters they had occupied for 
twenty-five years. Now these bees are fully one 
third smaller in size than bees in young stocks 
adjoining. The old brood-combs were black as 
tar, and the cells diminished in capacity at least 
one-third. Does not this prove that bees degen¬ 
erate in size if old brood-combs are used 1 
Quinby and other writers think that it is very 
unusual for swarms to go off without clustering, 
and they doubtless narrate their experience truly. 
But'bees often decamp here without ceremony. 
Only a few days since a stock belonging to my 
brother cast a swarm, and before the last of the 
swarm was out of the hive, the vanguard was a 
hundred yards off; and despite of throwing water 
