1877.] 
AMERICAN AGrRICURTURIST. 
395 
To Keep l lies from Aimoyiiis' 
Cows. —“ D. A. G.,” Cynthiana, Ky. Our plan to pre¬ 
vent annoyance to the cows during milking in fly time 
is to have a pailful of carbolic soapsuds, and before the 
milking is begun, the cows flanks and legs are sponged 
over with it, leaving it to dry upon the skin. This 
keeps the flies at a distance, at least for the time of milk¬ 
ing. and is grateful to the cows which have a rest for 
Shat time, if not longer. 
Impaction of the Rumen.—“ W. A. 
C.,” East Berkshire, Yt. When a cow is kept in a dry 
pasture in which the herbage is dry, weedy, and innutri¬ 
tions, she begins to suffer from indigestion. In time the 
stomach becomes filled with undigested coarse matter, 
the bowels become torpid and loose, alternately, the 
kidneys becomed inflamed, and unless relieved, the 
animal dies with all the symptoms of redwater, or the 
so-called Texan fever. The manner of prevention is 
obvious. As soon as the animal, which has been exposed 
to the conditions mentioned, appears to he sick, give a 
■copious drench composed of one pound of Epsom salts 
dissolved in two quarts of warm water, sweetened with 
molasses. In your case catechu and opium aggravated 
the trouble ; and had the linseed oil and soapy water 
injections been given earlier, the cow might have been 
saved. Law’s “Veterinary Adviser” is perhaps the 
most useful hand book for a farmer, it being plain, 
simple, trustworthy, and very complete. Price $3.00. 
Xo Improve Stony Grass Lnud.- 
“ A. H. B.,” Troy, Yt. Stony meadows can he improved 
in a better manner than by plowing and turning up the 
stone. They should be harrowed thoroughly until a 
fresh surface is made, seed should be sown, and apply a 
dressing of 150 pounds of guano, or artificial grass 
fertilizer, per acre. By giving for two or three years a 
fair dressing of compost or fertilizer, the meadow will 
be brought into permanent and good grass. In choosing 
"the seed, at least one bushel per acre of Kentucky Blue 
■Grass should be sown with the other kinds. 
Grain for Fig*-—'“Gr. F.,” Deming, Ind. 
■Corn is not a sufficiently nutritious food for pigs except 
for fattening only. For growing pigs there is nothing 
better than bran with the corn, and milk if it can be 
procured. Milk and equal parts of bran and corn meal 
will make a good food for pigs. If grain has to be 
grown for the feed, we would advise ry as the best and 
easiest to be raised. 
Wlion to Sow Red Top.—“A. H. H.,” 
Moline, Ill. In sowing red top on moist land we have 
succeeded best when the seed was sown in the spring as 
early as possible after the land was free from surface 
water; or when this has been too late, we have had a 
good catch by sowing early in the fall on the dry soil. In 
the latter case the seed does not germinate until the fall 
rains come, when it is not generally in danger of drying 
out. We have lost seed the present year by sowing it 
late in spring; it started into growth, but a dry spell 
destroyed it. Two bushels of seed per acre is required. 
lHmeJisions of Home Made Corn 
Slieller.—“ Subscriber,” Clear Water, Fla. The 
diameter of the corn sheller described on page 296 
(August), may be 20 to 36 inches as desired; the discs 
must be so far apart as to permit the cobs to pass 
through, but so close as to tear the corn from the cobs, 
this would be from 1} to 1} inch; the nails should be 
about one inch apart, and the opening at the bottom may 
be six to 12 inches, the size of this is immaterial, if 
it is only large enough. 
Hog- Cholera.— 1 “ J. R.,” Napoleon, Ohio, 
criticises Mr. Coburn’s statements in his new work on 
Swine Husbandry, regarding hog cholera, stating his 
opinion that the disease is contagious, and no matter 
what the previous care or neglect may have been, a bog 
exposed to diseased stock will be sure to have the 
“ cholera.” He believes isolation to be the only pre¬ 
ventive.—Perhaps our correspondent has not yet read 
the book, and it is not fair to criticise it from reading 
only a brief notice of it in a paper. Neither Mr. Cobnrn 
nor any other sensible man will probably deny that the 
■statement made in the first sentence is generally true. 
But as to the latter, most experienced persons would add 
something to it, viz., that isolation is the only preventive 
against contagion. Why is cholera practically unknown 
in the Eastern States where hogs are better managed 
than in the West? 
Row to Feed all tlie Hay, Straw, 
etc.—“A Young Farmer.” Lancaster Co., Pa. All the 
hay and straw on any farm, whatever size it maybe, may 
be fed during the winter without overstocking the farm 
in the summer time. The stock should be purchased in 
the fall and fed and fattened on the hay. straw, and roots 
raised, with some kinds of purchased food, such as bran, 
oil cake meal or corn, and sold in the spring. In this 
manner the feed is used to greater profit than in any 
other way, and the supply of manure is very greatly in¬ 
creased and enriched. Nothing that can be used as feed 
should be thrown into the manure heaps, when any other 
materials, even sand or earth, can be procured. Leaves, 
road scrapings, swamp muck or ditch scourings are 
worth as much for manure as . straw ; the land is not 
robbed if the straw is fed, but a gain is made through 
the bran or meal fed with it. 
A Good Cow.—“W. F. W.,” Bridgeton, 
N. J., sends a record of his cow, a %-grade Jersey with 
54-Short-horn. She has given an average of 18 quarts of 
milk, daily, for 5 months, gaining 10 pounds in weight 
during that time. The cow is 7 years old, and at three 
different trials one pound of butter has been made from 8 
quarts of milk. She has given her weight in milk three 
times over in 5 months. 
Foisonimg’ l>y Ear-x'img's.—It has been 
stated in Europe, that serious diseases of the ears and 
eyes have resulted from the use of ear-rings made of cop¬ 
per. Those ridiculously cheap articles—it is not fair to 
say of jewelry or of ornament, for they are neither—those 
ear-rings and such trash of which whole sets can be pur¬ 
chased for a fraction ofa dollar, and are worn by persons 
who foolishly think that such stuff improves their appear¬ 
ance, must bo largely of copper. If a sense of the fitness 
of things will not prevent the wearing of such, it is to be 
hoped that the fear that it may poison and seriously in¬ 
jure those who wear it, may. 
Mold iu ;i Milk House.—“W. McK.,” 
Montgomery Co., Pa. Although an underground milk 
house may not seem damp, and may be well ventilated, 
yet the presence of an adjoining ice house will certainly 
give rise to moldine^s, and this will affect the milk. To 
get rid of the trouble temporarily, close the milk house 
tightly, and burn four ounces of sulphur in it upon some 
live coals. Keep it closed for a few hours and then open 
it and air it. To remove the trouble permanently, the 
ice house must be got rid of. 
Caraway is a biennial plant grown for its 
aromatic fruits, or seeds, which are only borne the second 
year. “ C. G. G.,” Manhattan, Kas., has a bed of it, the 
first year from the seed, and wishes to know if it will be 
necessary to take up the roots and keep them, like beets, 
etc., through the winter, and set them out again in the 
spring. The caraway is a notably hardy plant, and so far 
as cold is concerned, the roots, may be left in the bed. In 
some of the older States, and even in Canada, it has be¬ 
come more or less naturalized, the plants surviving a 
Canadian winter. There is more danger that the roots 
may decay, if in a wet place, and the winter is mild, and 
provision should be made for carrying off the water. 
Hisorder of tlie fliitlueys.—“A. L.,’ - 
York, Pa. A difficulty or inability to move backwards, 
and stiffness in the hind quarters, accompanies disorder 
of the kidneys. When it is not accompanied with tender¬ 
ness of the loins on pressure, the disease is slight, but 
should be treated at once. The treatment is to open the 
bowels freely with doses of olive oil or raw linseed oil, 
rub the loins with mustard plaster, give copious drinks of 
linseed tea and an ounce of gentian daily in the food. 
All such irritant diuretics as turpentine, rosin, or salt¬ 
peter, should be avoided. A sheepskin dipped in hot 
water, and strapped over the loins, would be beneficial. 
Weight of a Cord of Manure.— 
“ J. J. L.,” Turner’s Falls, Mass. A cord of manure con¬ 
tains 128 cubic feet, and a cubic foot of manure, which 
contains 75 per cent of water, weighs about 58 lbs.; thus 
a cord of manure will weigh nearly 3% tons. There is no 
appreciable difference between the weight of horse and 
cow manure, except when fresh ; then the cow manure is 
somewhat heavier, because it holds more water. When 
they are decomposed they will weigh about the same. 
How to Use Bean Meal.— “M. T. B.,” 
Lexington, Mass. Bean meal is readily eaten by pigs 
when cooked or scalded, lightly salted and fed cold. If 
the pigs do not eat it with relish, it may be made into a 
slop with milk or mixed with coin meal. Beans mixed 
with corn form a very nutritious food. 
Bean Mai'vesdijig Maclaine.—A Cana¬ 
dian journal, in reference to a statement in the American 
Agriculturist. , that there was no machine in use for har¬ 
vesting beans, remarks that such “a machine is in use 
in Canada, operated by horses, by which several acres of 
beans are harvested as neatly as if done by hand.” We 
do not clearly understand the latter part of the sentence, 
but the fact, if true , is interesting. We referred to the 
beans commonly grown in this country, and not to the 
English beans, which grow with stiff upright stalks three 
feet high. These we were aware are sometimes harvest¬ 
ed by a machine, but this machine would be no more 
useful here than a mowing machine. If a machine is 
made that harvests our common field bean, we will thank 
the manufacturer for a description of it. 
An English Laborer’s Hay’s 
Work.—We notice in the English papers occasionally 
some very hard cases of excessive working of laborers. 
Recently a farm laborer was brought before a magistrate 
on a charge by his employer of refusing to work. He 
had been to work from 5 in the morning, when he fed 
his horses, to 7.30 in the evening, when he refused to 
draw two more loads of hay. The magistrate wisely dis¬ 
charged the man, thinking that he had done a fair day’s 
work. The man’s wages were $3.25 a week with house 
free. Bad as many consider the condition of laborers 
in America to be, yet with at least $6 a week and pro¬ 
visions, etc., much cheaper than in England, our labor¬ 
ers in reality are better off than their brethren in any 
other country in the world. 
Clean. Out tlie Barn Yards.— At this 
season every particle of manure should be taken out of 
the barn yards and the surface scraped clean. There is 
leisure to do this now which cannot behad in the hurried 
time of spring. Instead of a wagon box, use loose planks 
for bottom and sides ; these may be removed or turned 
over one by one from behind, without stopping the team 
and the manure dropped along a row through the 
field. One hand should remain in the field to spread it 
upon each side of the row, and as he can cast it twelve 
feet on each side, the rows may be 25 feet or a rod and a 
half apart. If each load is dropped in aline 80 feet long, 
there will then be 20 leads to an acre; or if 160 feet long, 
10 loads to the acre. Two wagons should be used, one 
going to the field while one is being loaded in the yard ; 
two men can be loading while one is drawing, unless the 
haul is a long one, and it is an easy matter to lift the 
double tree from the empty wagon on to the loaded one. 
Bee Notes for October. 
BY L. C. ROOT, MOHAWK, N. Y. 
The honey yield for the present season is now ended. 
To ascertain whether bees have sufficient honey for win¬ 
ter, leave no room for doubt, but place each hive upon 
the scales, and find its exact weight. If bees are to be 
wintered in-doors, each hive should have 20 lbs. of hon¬ 
ey. If to be wintered out of doors, 30 lbs. should be al¬ 
lowed. It will he necessary to know the weight of the 
hives and combs, to find the exact weight of honey. If 
movable frame hives are used, combs in heavy and light 
hives may be exchanged, both being benefited. What¬ 
ever deficiency there may be after thus equalizing them, 
must be supplied by feeding. Those who have read 
these “Notes” for the past year, will remember that 
many bees were lost last winter, from being too heavy 
with honey, there not being sufficient empty comb for 
the bees to cluster in compactly. If any hives are in 
such condition, and the heavy combs are not needed in 
lighter hives, combs filled with honey should be removed 
and replaced with empty ones, or the honey may be re¬ 
moved with the extractor, and the empty combs put back. 
At this season all upward ventilation should be closed, 
and the entrance, if large, should be contracted. 
Questions snul Answers. 
Moving Bees.—“ I wish to move my bees to a new lo¬ 
cation, about 100 feet distant from the present one. Can 
it he done safely, and when is the best time?”_The 
best time wguld he in the spring, when they are removed 
from winter quarters, yet it may be done at any season, 
by removing them only about two feet at a time, and al¬ 
lowing them to work freely from each hive, at intervals, 
before moving again. 
Exposing Honey.—" Is it necessary to put out honey 
for bees to eat after taking honey from a hive to keep 
other bees from robbing it?”_Decidedly the reverse. 
In all operations, at this season, very great care should 
be taken not to expose honey, or in any othey way to in¬ 
duce robbing. 
Bees in Trees. —“ I have a swarm of bees in the hol¬ 
low of a tree. Will it be best to leave them in the tree, 
or remove them to a hive ?”.... If you are not experi¬ 
enced in handling bees, I would advise cutting off the 
tree, above and below the bees, and after nailing a piece 
of wood on each end, set it upright in a sheltered place, 
After it has given off its swarms in the spring, the at¬ 
tempt may be made to transfer the colony to a new hive. 
National Beekeeper's Convention. 
The beekeepers of this country are to hold a Conven¬ 
tion in New York City, commencing on October 16tli. 
Exhibits of honey and of beekeeping supplies generally, 
will be made at the Fair of the American Institute, 
and the meetings of the Convention will be held at the 
Cooper Union Hall. 
