1870] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
S7 
whole mucous surface of the mouth, eyes, etc., causing a 
copious watery discharge, which causes inflatnmatiou and 
sores upon the gills and face, where it comes in contact 
with the skin. There is another disease frequently ac¬ 
companying roup, though we cannot say that cither 
passes into the other, properly. This generally affects 
one eye, causing a great swelling of the parts. It is usu¬ 
ally followed by a loss of the eye, and frequently the fowl 
recovers. We have observed this disease—ns wc sup¬ 
pose, in two forms, which may, indeed, be different dis¬ 
eases. In one form the swelling is fleshy and thick, in¬ 
closing more or less watery fluid:—in the other, it is 
caused by the formation of a dense cheese-curdy growth, 
of tough nature, and yellowish white color. This growth 
often takes place in one of the lachrymal ducts, usually 
just at the entrance of the duct, and wc have seen it so 
large that the entire eye socket was filled with a mass ns 
large as a hickory nut. lustead of forming in the eye, 
this sometimes grows in the roof of the mouth and ex¬ 
tends until it causes the greatest distress,and finally death. 
Taken early, any of these forms of roup may be surely 
cured. It is usually sufficient to give stimulating food, 
and wash the face, eyes, nostrils, mouth, and throat, 
thoroughly, with “Chloride of soda” (chlorinated soda— 
Labaraque’s solution), of half its normal strength. We 
presume “Chloride of Lime’’-water or Permanganate 
of soda, would be equally effective. Delay is fatal: the 
disease becomes contagious as soon as the foetid odor is 
observable, but to what degree is not well known ; drink¬ 
ing from the same fountain is always hazardous. Roupy 
fowls should be isolated at once. 
Bee Keeper's Convention. —There will 
be a Bee keeper’s convention in Albany, March 10th, one 
o’clock P. M., at the State Agricultural Rooms. A general 
attendance is requested. M. Quinbv. 
Olm Bros., of Springfield, Mass., make a 
specialty of sending green-house and bedding plants 
by mail, and offer all the novelties. Their recent cata¬ 
logue presents a new feature—a lithographed design for 
laying out grounds, which may be used for a large place 
or a small one, and will afford useful suggestions to those 
intending to make improvements. 
Stables, Ont'-bnilding;s, ;md 
Fences, is the title of a new architectural work which 
reaches us just as we go to press. The author is Geo. 
E. Harney, and it is published by Geo. E. Woodward. 
The illustrations of farm buildings, rustic work, stable 
fittings, and the like, are numerous, and wo doubt not 
the work will supply a long felt deficiency in our architec¬ 
tural literature. Price, by mail, $10. 
Norway Oats. — Wliat Oats to 
Plant. —Last fall, we asked for the experience of those 
of the readers of the American Agriculturist who had 
raised the Norway Oat, or had tried it in comparison 
with other sorts. We have received a number of re¬ 
sponses, and proposed to print them this month, but 
they are crowded out. The writers who have had good 
seed, with a few exceptions, seem greatly in favor of the 
Norway. The yield in some instances has been enor¬ 
mous. The straw uniformly extolled for stiffness, length, 
and leafiness. The best success seems to have been 
where little seed was drilled in, on good land. The 
plants, when not crowded, make many stalks. In pro¬ 
curing seed for planting, we surely would try some Nor¬ 
way, even if they failed last year. Other varieties 
should be tested also, but of the new kinds, these take 
the lead. They are not white, but of various tints of 
lighter or darker gray, or rather smoke color, never black. 
To Save a Poisoned Bog .—“ H. H. 
II." recommends the administration of flour and warm 
water, as the only effective emetic he has tried, having, 
by its use, saved a valuable dog which had taken poison. 
■Winter Butter in Virginia.— “J. F. 
B.” writes from Greenville Co., Va., that he is milking 
eight very indifferent cows, and averages only 28 pounds 
of butter per week, from October to February, feeding 
corn fodder, and a pint of corn-meal, and a quart of ship- 
stuff, daily, to each cow. It makes him think of the cows 
he used to milk in Vermont, and he thinks if he had such 
now, he could do very well at butter making in that mild¬ 
er climate. This is true ; and farther South it would be 
even better, for winter pasturage is often abundant, 
and might be easily provided. One great need of the 
South is good neat cattle. Ayrshircs and Devons are 
especially recommended. Buy thorough-bred bulls, and 
gradually bring the native stock up. 
Fumigating Trees. —Who lias had any 
experience in fumigating trees in the open air, either for 
the purpose of killing insects, or for destroying fungi 
We are induced to make this queig* by an examination of 
a very ingenious fumigator, made by Badouin & Fteley, 
and which was advertised last year in our columns. If 
ont-door fumigation is really useful, this implement will 
apparently accomplish it. 
Winter aud Spring Barley.—“ C. 
H. G.” There is no difference between them, except 
that the winter barley has, by being repeatedly sown in 
the autumn, become hardy and stands the winter. 
Gypsum in Tennessee. —W. T. Waters. 
—As long as plaster costs you $35 per ton, or even $25 
per ton, it will probably not pay you to use it ns a manure. 
Petroleum lor Roofs.—" Will not pe¬ 
troleum make roofs more inflammable?”—If the roof 
catches fire, the petroleum would favor combustion ; but 
a roof treated with petroleum is not as likely to catch 
fire from sparks. It fills up the pores, and the wood be¬ 
comes hard, firm, and smooth. 
Lime Kilns*. —An article on kilns in Sep¬ 
tember 1867, gives some valuable details with engravings. 
Forest Trees from Cuttings.—“ A. 
W. W.,” Muscotah, Kansas. The only trees likely to 
succeed from cuttings, except in the hands of an expe¬ 
rienced propagator, are the Willows and Cotton-woods. 
Of these the cuttings are best taken before the sap starts 
in the spring. The articlo on Hedging, in February, 
gives directions for planting them. Other trees are best 
raised from seed. 
Flower Seeds Grratis. —Mr. Clias. D. 
Copeland, of Lima, Livingston Co. N. Y., writes that ho 
has a considerable surplus seed of “ Fancy Pinks ” and 
“Sweet Williams,” embracing German, French, Italian, 
China, and Japan varieties, and he will be happy to send 
a free paper of the seeds, mixed, to any subscriber of the 
American Agriculturist who will furnish him their ad¬ 
dress, with a Post-office stamp, for the postage. He will 
find it a larger job than he has looked for, but he is 
willing to risk it, and we vary from our general rule 
not to publish such offers. One of our subscribers for¬ 
merly offered to send a descriptive circular of a certain 
breed of animals. After distributing 13,000, at a cost of 
10 cents each, he was glad to bog us to withdraw the offer. 
Troul»le with a Seed Brill. —A sub¬ 
scriber of the Agriculturist , in Georgia, writes that ho 
has bought a wheat drill, that it sows dry wheat well, but 
it will not sow wheat that has been treated with a solu¬ 
tion of blue vitriol. Neither would it do so after the 
wheat had been rolled in ashes to dry it. If the difficulty 
cannot be overcome, he says the drill is of no use to him. 
He does not mention the name of the drill. With a 
“ cup ” drill, wc have never had any difficulty in sowing 
vitrioled wheat. The only remedy we can think of is to 
use a stronger solution of vitriol. Turn over the wheat 
repeatedly, or run it through a fanning-mill until it be¬ 
comes dry enough tosow. The vitriol will not injure the 
wheat if kept dry for several weeks before sowing. 
Ashes or lime should not be mixed with the wheat im¬ 
mediately, as they will neutralize the vitriol. But after 
the application has destroyed the fungus on the wheat, 
the ashes or lime would probably do no harm. 
Timber in Southern Indiana.— 
“ A Subscriber” has 75 acres of heavy timber two miles 
from a Railway station, where it is worth $2 per cord. 
Shall he clear it or not?—No. We think, if he holds on, 
it will rise in value so as to pay not less than 12 per cent 
interest per annum for several years, and if the trees are 
second growth, they are gaining 3 to 8 per cent per annum. 
illanuring; Corn. — “L. VV. G.” Barreville 
Pa., proposes to plant thin sward land limed, with corn, 
and intends “ to put one handful of dry cow dung with¬ 
out straw on each hill.” He is in doubt, whether to mix 
plaster or lime in considerable quantities with the manure. 
Of course he should use plaster, for thus, any ready formed 
ammonia present, and liable to escape would be saved, 
while lime would drive it off if not immediately buried. 
Besides the soil has probably lime enough. 
Improvements in Field Boilers. 
Mr. N. G. Jenkins, of Brookside, N. J., suggests some 
improvements upon the plan of making rollers, described 
in the January number. His suggestions are excellent, 
but he, perhaps, does not remember that wc describe one 
that any farmer may make, with only a little help from 
the smith. “ I would make the drums not less than 3 
feet in diameter, which gives lighter draught, as well as 
greater weight. In place of the 1% plank in the centre, 
I would substitute a piece of iron, ?a x 4 in., passing 
through the inner timbers of frame-work, with nuts upon 
cither end; this would allow the drums to run closer to¬ 
gether, say not more than 1 inch apart In place of the 
journals 1 substitute a rod of 1-inch round iron, running 
tho entire length of both drums and frame. The rod re¬ 
maining stationary, I use cast boxes, running through 
the head of each drum, with flanges on the same, and 
bolt through the heads. The rod cau be drawn out at 
any time for repairs, or other purposes. I use old tiro 
from wagons, and hoop the drums at each end, and put 
dowels in the centres of the drums, to keep them in 
place, and also arrange a seat for the driver over the 
centre of the roller, which is both easy and convenient.” ' 
Tlae IIonle-Bcllo Apple. —Thos. Gregg, ^ 
Secretary of the Warsaw, Ill., Horticultural Society, 
writes : “ Permit me to thank Mr. Charles Downing for 
calling attention to so valuable a new apple as the Monte- 
Bello, noticed in your January number. The sketch 
given does not, however, do justice to it. It is regarded 
by the members of the Warsaw Horticultural Society— 
which has the honor of bringing it into notice—as one 
of the very handsomest, as it is one of the very best fall 
apples known ; and as the few trees in existence are 
hardy, and good bearers, it is deemed a groat acquisi¬ 
tion. It is a remarkable fact in horticultural history 
that a variety so valuable should have existed in a 
community for over twenty years almost unknown. Now 
that our society has brought it to notice, it is exciting 
much attention, not only abroad, but at home, where its 
merits should have been recognized before.” 
Botf* in Horses*. —A subscriber who be¬ 
lieves that “ a great many horses aro killed by tho bot 
grubs in this section ” wishes a remedy. It is a remark¬ 
able fact that though every quack horse doctor in the land 
attributes all sorts of evil and fatal effects to the botgrub, 
no educated veterinarian believes that they do much 
harm. The best books on the diseases of the horse say, 
they do little or no harm; and the man of all others who 
made the different kinds of bot flies and grubs his especial 
study (Bracy Clark Y. S.) thinks, they do good, rather 
than harm. One thing is certain—there is only one thing 
to be done—that is let them alone. They are now nearly 
full grown and will detatch themselves aud quietly pass 
out in the course of tho season. 
What is a Ton o4' Manure? —Peter 
Henderson says: I must have had over a hundred letters 
during the past year, asking mo how many bushels of ma - j 
nure go to make a ton or how many tons arc in a cord of f 
manure. These letters still come asking the same ques- k 
tions, exhausting not only my stationary but my patience 
in answering. One would think that the slightest reflec¬ 
tion would show that the condition of the article—wet or 
dry—solid or light—would so affect the weight, that no 
comparison between measurement and weight could be 
given. A little exercise of judgment, will make it ap¬ 
parent, that weight only, is tho fair test of value ; for if it 
takes 50 bushels to be a ton, costing $2, it is likely to be 
of no more value than 25 bushels would be, having the 
same weight; for the one article would be strawy and 
loose, the other moist aud solid. 
Van Buren’s Golden Dw.irf 
Peacli and Horse Plum.—J. Beachy, Preston 
Co., W. Va. The Dwarf Peach is worked on the common 
peach stock, and retains its dwarf character. The Horse 
Plum is a purple variety, also known as Early Damson, 
but we cannot tell if it is your common plum. 
Kiimelan Grape. —Mr. F. R. Elliott, in a 
recent letter, says : “I notice you are offering the Eume- 
lan Grape among your premiums as compensation for la¬ 
bor in obtaining subscribers. Perhaps no grape of very 
recent introduction better merits approval. Like tho 
Delaware, it is a sort with which in quality of fruit we 
may hope to tone up and improve public taste, while re¬ 
alizing a profit in its sale. I have watched the growth of 
the vines for two years, and they compare favorably in 
all respects with any and all other varieties. My valued 
friend, Prof. J. P. Kirtland, fruited it the past season, 
with, I think, as good or better promise of value, as any 
other young vine of whatever sort. The question comes 
to me almost daily, ‘ What grape do you advise to 
plant,?’ and I reply, plant mainly of those you have 
heretofore known to prove profitable in your section and ? 
like soils ; but of the new black grapes don’t fail to plant 
some of Eumelan, as a grape of promise. I have known 
several acres of it planted the past year resulting in uni¬ 
form and satisfactory growth, giving good cheer to the 
enterprizing planters, who doubtless congratulate them¬ 
selves on their foresight.” 
Cabbage Insect. —“R. B. K.” Sprinkling 
the young plants with ashes and plaster keeps off the 
“ black louse.” We suppose the “ large white grub ” re¬ 
ferred to is the larva of the May-bug. No remedy short 
of digging it out and killing is known for the White-grub. 
