1877.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
299 
.selves, and very readily submit to reasonable con 
trol. Thus it is always found that greater neatness, 
carefulness, and caution are found about farm 
buildings when they are insured. No careful busi¬ 
ness man will run the risk of losing his property 
by fire, and every farmer should be a business man. 
Scabby Legs in Poultry. 
The unsightly disease which affects the legs of 
fowls, causing them to swell and become distorted, 
is due to a mite, a 6mali insect which is similar in 
appearance to that which causes scab in sheep. It 
is roundish-oval, and semi-transparent, about one 
eight-hundredth of an inch in length, appearing, 
when magnified 400 diameters, about half an inch 
long. If the scales from the leg of a diseased fowl 
are beneath the microscope, a number of these 
mites may be found between them. Beneath the 
scales there are spongy, scabby growths, in which 
the eggs and pupse of the mites are to be seen in 
great numbers. The pupae are very similar in shape 
to the mature mites, but are very much smaller, 
appearing, when viewed with the above mentioned 
power, about one-tenth of an inch in length. The 
disease being of a similar character to the scab in 
sheep, or the mange in dogs and cattle, and it may 
be cured by the same treatment. We have cured 
fowls of the disease, before accurately knowing 
the cause, by applying to the legs a mixture of lard 
with one-twentieth part of carbolic acid. This 
should be applied with a stiff brush, such as one of 
those sold with bottles of mucilage. A very small 
painter’s “ sash tool ” would answer the purpose, 
but something must be used by which the medicat¬ 
ed grease can be applied thoroughly to the crevices 
between the scales. A mixture of equal parts of 
lard, or sweet-oil, and kerosene, will be equally as 
effective as the carbolic acid mixture. It is proba¬ 
ble that lard or oil alone would be effective, but the 
kerosene more easily penetrates between the scales, 
and the carbolic acid is sure death to the parasites. 
The remedy being so simple, it will be inexcusable 
if this disagreeable affection is suffered to remain 
in a flock; while, however, one fowl is troubled 
with it, it. will certainly spread, as the mites will 
burrow beneath the scales of the other fowls. If 
precautions were generally used, the parasite could 
6 oon be exterminated. It should be made a dis¬ 
qualification at poultry shows, for fowls to be af¬ 
fected with scabby legs or feet, in any degree what¬ 
ever, for we know that several poultry yards are 
not free from this disease, and whenever affected 
fowls are sent out, the disease goes with them. 
A New Commissioner of Agriculture. 
It is announced that Gen. William G. Leduc, of 
Minn, has been appointed to succeed the venerable 
Watts as the head of the Department of Agricul¬ 
ture. Some of the political papers are already 
casting slurs upon this gentleman, whose chief 
fault seems to be, that he is unknown to them and 
to the public generally. We are not aware that the 
late incumbent was known outside of his own 
county, until the former President placed him in a 
prominent position. Our present satisfaction in 
the matter, is in the fact that neither of several 
eminently unfit candidates, who tried very hard to 
get the office, succeeded. It is certainly unfair to 
pre-judge the new Commissioner; so far as the 
American Agriculturist is concerned, we welcome 
him to the office with our best wishes for a success¬ 
ful career, and he shall have our hearty support 
until he proves himself unworthy of it. One paper 
finds fault with the appointment because the Com¬ 
missioner has not heretofore been prominently iden¬ 
tified with agriculture. He certainly eaunot know 
less about it than some who were put forward for 
the position. Indeed, if a profound knowledge of 
agriculture were a crime, and either of the former 
commissioners had been put on trial for it, any in¬ 
telligent jury would have rendered a verdict of 
l ' not guilty.” What is wanted for the place is a 
man of general intelligence, broad views, and 
marked executive ability. Our great War Secretary 
was hot a soldier, and the Navy Department has 
been well managed by men who knew nothing about 
the sea. If the present Commissioner is not a prac¬ 
tical agriculturist, and knowing his own deficien¬ 
cies, will surround himself with proper advisers 
and subordinates, he may better serve the agricul¬ 
ture of the country than one who, having had ex¬ 
perience on a small farm, thinks he has nothing to 
learn. These small men measure everything in their 
little pint pot of experience, and all their idea of 
science, is a knowledge of the “ signs of the Zo¬ 
diac.” If we have now a man whose vision is wide 
enough to take in the whole country, and the rela¬ 
tions of agriculture to the national welfare, we 
shall have reason to rejoice. Let us wait and see. 
More About Cutworms.—Climbers. 
[It was not practicable to give all that our corre¬ 
spondent at “The Pines” has to say about cut¬ 
worms with the rest of his article on page 303, 
and in view of the fact that there have been nu¬ 
merous inquiries concerning these insects, which 
this answers, we give the remainder here.— Ed.] 
Not many years ago there was a lively discus¬ 
sion in the agricultural papers on the question 
Can tile Cut-worm Climb I 
The Cut-worm was accused of injury to trees, by 
those who declared that they had by lantern light 
caught if at work. On the other hand, others as 
strongly asserted that it was impossible for the cut¬ 
worm to climb, as it always worked just on the sur¬ 
face, and took off the plants nearly level with the 
soil. Both sides were right, but they, as well as 
the majority of the people at the present time, were 
in error in supposing that a cut-worm was a cut¬ 
worm, and that there was but one, the country over, 
while in fact there are a dozen, and I don’t know 
but more, in different parts of the country, all the ca¬ 
terpillars, or larvae, of Owlet, or night-flying moths, 
of four different genera. The worms that make the 
havoc with cabbages and other crops at the East, 
are two or three species of Agrotis. For some 
reason they have been especially abundant this 
year, and attack almost any green thing that is not 
too large. They have not only made havoc in the 
vegetable garden, but they, probably actuated by 
a desire to know if it is as valuable for caterpillars 
as for cows, have paid special attention to my trial 
piece of Prickly Comfrey, which for a while seemed 
to go backward. Then in the flower beds, they 
have also left vacancies, and where there are only 
one or two plants of a kind that we specially value, 
they select those in preference. The climbing cut¬ 
worms, of which there are three or four, have been 
especially destructive in some of the Western 
States; they ascend the trees at night, and in a short 
time will strip them of every bud. They take the 
fruit-buds first, and then the wood-buds, preferring 
this to any other kind of food. They have several 
natural enemies, but there does not yet appear to 
be any wholesale way of killing or trapping them, 
and the slow process of digging them out of their 
holes, which are easily found, is still the most 
effective. Artificial holes, made by means of a sort 
of dibble that will make several at once, such as 
was figured a year or two ago, have been used to 
entrap them, and they may be crushed in the holes 
by thrusting in the same dibble. A guard, such as I 
have mentioned for tomatoes, maybe used in many 
cases. Eor the climbers a guard of tin may be 
placed around the trees; jarring the trees an hour 
or two after midnight will bring them all down, but 
the better way is to keep them from going up. 
Should this abundance of cut-worms continue, 
they will be a pest of sufficient magnitude to war¬ 
rant, if not a Commission by Congress, at least 
by the State Legislatures to investigate them. 
Thk Potato-Bog in Germany. —It is reported 
in the daily papers that the Colorado potato beetle 
has appeared in a field in Germany, and that the 
government officials caused the field to be covered 
with tan saturated with petroleum, which was set 
on fire. Of course the proprietor is paid for his 
crop, thus sacrificed for the public good. It is one 
of the benefits of a strong government, that such 
measures are possible. 
The Echo Farm Dairy. 
The herd of pure-bred Jerseys, which are de¬ 
scribed on page 393, is kept by the owner, F. R. 
Starr, of Litchfield, Conn., for the purpose of a 
“ g'lt-edge ” butter dairy, as well as for breeding 
purposes. Mr. Starr’s arrangements for his dairy 
are every thing that can be implied in the term 
“gilt edge.” Although the dairy building is a tem¬ 
porary affair, not very well adapted as to room and 
interior arrangement for the purpose to which it is 
applied, nevertheless, in every thing but space and 
roominess, it is all that can be desired. There is 
I the perfection of neatness, order, and cleanliness, 
and evidence on every hand of skillful management. 
The milk is set in deep pans of the ordinary size, 
20 inches deep, and 8 inches in diameter, in a pool 
of cold spring water. The cream, before being 
churned, is forced through a strainer, by which 
it is freed from all lumps, or such undesirable ac¬ 
cidental accessories, as are too common in many 
tolerably well managed dairies. As it is a mat¬ 
ter which relates to cleanliness, it might here be 
mentioned that a very convenient wash-room, with 
every facility for securing perfect cleanliness of 
person and clothing, is provided in the stable for 
the milkers, and the use of the room is enjoined 
upon every person employed about the cow s. Quiet 
demeanor and the kindest treatment of the ani¬ 
mals is also the rule here, and it is hardly necessary 
to 6ay that this is enforced, for no men we have 
seen anywhere could surpass those employed by 
Mr. StaiT in the kindness they display for the 
beautiful animals under their charge. “ It goes 
without saying,” that this feeling is evidently recip¬ 
rocated by the animals. The 6trainer, v'hich is 
made by Parker & Worthington, of Westchester, 
Pa., is so constructed that, by the oscillation of the 
arm at the top, the cream is forced by plungers 
through fine gauze, by which it is brought into per¬ 
fect condition for churning. The churn used is the 
well-known Blanchard, of the largest size, with a 
capacity of 150 pounds of butter, and is operated 
by a horse-tread power. The butter is worked by 
the rotary butter-worker, made by Speakman, 
Miles & Co., Westchester, Pa., shown at figure 1. 
This butter-worker is on the same principle as that 
which received the first premium at the recent dairy 
exhibition at Hamburg, and is very effective and 
successful in operation. The butter is made up in 
round prints, and is packed for shipment to the 
purchasers, in boxes of home manufacture, but of 
very excellent design and construction. For the 
purpose of maintaining a low temperature during 
transit, the ice-chamber is placed in the center of the 
box, and is large, while the box itself is small. The 
size shown at figure 2, (see next page,) holds only 10 
pounds. This box is 14 inches long, 12 inches wide, 
and 10 deep ; and the butter is placed upon loose 
trays (shown at figure 3), which have openings in 
the center, through which the ice chamber passes. 
The trays are an inch smaller each way than the in¬ 
side of the box, so that there is an air space all 
around them, which keeps the butter cool. The 
box, when filled, is fastened by a staple and pad¬ 
lock, and an iron handle is fixed on the lid, by 
which it may be lifted. Larger boxes, (6hown at 
figure 4), holding about 40 pounds, are also U6ed. 
